Probability Angels by Joseph Devon

[Amateur_Voice]

http://www.josephdevon.com/files/stories/cover_images_small/Probability_Angels.jpg

Probability Angels by Joseph Devon (Probability Angels was given to me by courteously of the author via goodreads first reads. This in no way affected or influenced my review for the novel.)
Source: Author via Goodreads First Reads
Released: January 7th 2009
Published by: CreateSpace
Page Count is 282
Summary
Matthew Huntington's problems seem to keep growing. Not only is he seeing things in garbage cans but his mentor doesn't think he's working up to his full potential, his best friend can't offer any solace but drunken confusion and his wife is dying in Central Park. Of course, the fact that Matthew himself died over two decades ago isn't helping things. (Description from goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6616833-probability-angels).com)
Review
The terrible summary of the story aside, Probability Angels was a difficult read, but incredibly amazing. Not because of the plot, which was original; the characters, who were extremely well developed; or the dialog, which flowed seamlessly perfect and fit the characters nicely. This book was difficult because it was an incredibly heavy read. Every time I picked it up something would make me stop and I would think on it for several days. It got me thinking a great deal which does not happen that often for me.

Matthew, the character you are introduced to in the description is not the main character. You would think so, since the story follows his existence as a Newbie and the change to life as Tester, but he's still not the main focus of the story. Probability Angels doesn’t have one main hero. It has five: Matthew, Epp, Kyo, Mary, and Bartleby. All of them are Testers. As a Tester, you have to obtain gain energy to survive and Push people for energy.

Matthew is relatively new to his second life. Its been twenty years since he died in place of his wife and he is still learning the ropes. When his wife dies he has to make his Second Choice. He can either follow his choice for the remained of it’s life to the grave and fade out, or cut ties and become a tester and Push people into greatness and gain power and knowledge from his Pushes. This is what Epp, his mentor tells him. Epp with 2,000 years under his belt is the strongest Tester currently in existence. His character is thoughtful, highly intelligent, and arrogant. Usually arrogance is the flaw in characters, but for Epp it is a defining trait that made him push his own abilities to what they are today.

What I liked most about Probability Angels was the concept of Pushing. Pushing represents a symbiotic relationship for both Tester and human. Whoever is Pushed gains inspiration, you might say. The Tester doing the Pushing, if he survives, gains energy. The stronger the charge, the stronger the Push. To compare what a Tester is to something more familiar, think of them as Muses. Without them nothing would happen in the world because no one would Push them to do it.

Note: Due to extreme length of original review this one has been majorly condensed for this post. Also, Probability Angels was given to me by courteously of the author via goodreads first reads. This in no way affected or influenced my review for the novel.

This Book Review (in it's entirety) Can Also Be Found At My Blog (http://amateurvoicekp.blogspot.com/2011/04/probability-angels-by-joseph-devon.html)

[Majyk]

This sounds kind of interesting. Too bad my library doesn't have it; I was actually thinking about reading it.

[Amateur_Voice]

Its a great book, but I over thought a lot of the content and it made my head spin quite a bit. Its not that popular yet so you can get it from amazon for pretty cheep.