Assessment:
Plot/Idea: What a Wonderful World, a speculative fiction novel, melds ecology and environmental science with questions of spirituality and faith for an idea-rich narrative that also entertains.
Prose: What a Wonderful World reads cleanly and has effective pacing; the author has a clear handle on storytelling. This said, the prose can sometimes have a dry quality, as if mirroring the scientific-minded content over the more spiritual aspects of the storyline. Dialogue is compelling, and character interactions meaningfully carrying the story forward.
Originality: Bailey's narrative is sparklingly original. While the work ultimately leans into more spiritual (Christian) explanations, the author doesn't discredit the value of scientific inquiry, raising intriguing questions in the process.
Character/Execution: Bailey crafts a host of characters–an ecologist, a reporter, and a Biblical scholar–who offer different perspectives on the circumstances. Each player carries significance and ultimately approaches the curious and sudden disappearance of avian species, flowers, and other things of beauty, with intelligence and natural curiosity.
Date Submitted: May 21, 2024
Foxworth, a self-proclaimed atheist, and Grant, who "hadn't made up his mind about God yet," connect with Bible scholar Marcy Cambridge, who shares some convincing scripture aligning with the recent events, but neither are sold on the spiritual side to the phenomenon. Still, the three team up to investigate, eventually landing them in the sights of a group that offers bribe money to skew their findings, then later threats of violence, putting their lives and the lives of their loved ones at risk. Bailey delivers a slow burn as this layered science fiction unravels more devastating changes on Earth: the sky and the ocean lose their blue pigmentation, plants die, and a drought threatens mass hysteria. As panic sets in worldwide, the three central characters must each rely on their areas of expertise to find answers.
This heart-pounding, "end of days" thrill ride takes readers on a speculative journey rich with scientific theories and evidence, paired with the unexplainable, unforeseen presence of a higher power. Bailey contrasts the factual position of science with faith’s perplexing beliefs, spinning an intricately complex tale that resonates as it delivers real world suspense. Readers who crave a cataclysmic race against the clock will be riveted by Bailey’s tension building.
Takeaway: Science and faith are at odds in this apocalyptic thrill ride.
Comparable Titles: James Rollins's The Seventh Plague, Demitria Lunetta’s In the After.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
