The Title Tells My Tale

Maybe Starting At The Beginning Would Be Better

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green (2022) –Extraterrestrial robots, dubbed the Carls, appear on Earth, create chaos, and then disappear. In the aftermath, humanity is desperate to understand the new structure of life and knowledge. The death of their friend April, who was popularly identified with the Carls, sends a group of young people on a search for answers. Answers that no one may want to hear.

Soooo, I managed to start a two-book series with book two. Hank Green and his best-selling author brother John have swum across my screen several times in the last year. So, when I was looking for something new to read, I thought I’d explore. While the first book, “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing” gets a mention on the back of this book, there’s no indication that the two are related. ABFE was the only HANK Green book I found on the shelves, so I grabbed it and went. This creates the usual issues for the reader. You’re entering a world that expects you to have knowledge of the basics of the universe. The Carls, April May and her tragic death, the basics of the upset caused on Earth by the arrival of powerful, alien machines.

Yeah, I had no clue.

Not realizing at first that I was joining mid-stream, I assumed the story would reveal itself slowly. That’s a routine storytelling style that I don’t have many complaints about. But it seemed really slow here. But the rest of the story is good enough that I kept on plugging. It wasn’t until I began preparation to write this review that the truth was revealed. This book is the sequel to Green’s debut novel, “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing”.

Sigh.

It’s fine.

So is the book, happily.

Green is a fine storyteller who keeps the action moving. There are twists and turns along the way to keep you surprised and interested. Consistent with his reputation, Green is a master of weaving pop culture references into the story as well. It was fun read, which was what I needed at that point.

The book looks at a variety of issues that face our modern world. That includes the role of, and our reliance on, social media. The central character in both books, even if she’s dead, is April May. What we discover (this is the last time I’ll note this – that readers of the first novel already know) is that April is a flawed human. Impulsive and charismatic, she became the face of the alien robots. As result, she is the focus of the negative reaction in some quarters, resulting in her death. The group that had assembled around her during her rise to fame now must proceed with that at their center. Who are they and what is their place in a post-Carl world? There is the additional challenge of a world that no longer understands itself. The Carls brought the world the Dream, a communal experience for the planet while it sleeps. When the robots left, so did the Dream. The Carls are gone; the Dream is gone, and April May, the ultimate internet star, is dead.

In this book, humanity begins a slide into depression without the ultimate social gaming environment. A longtime critic of the Carls professes a change of heart and begins work to replace the Dream. The remaining friends are called into a new challenge through a mysterious book. The “Book of Good Times” knows what they are going to do before they do it. It offers advice and gives instructions on what they need to do next. Following those leads will lead them to places they could not have imagined.

I really enjoyed this book. It would be interesting to know how I’d feel if I’d read the first book, well, first. The best news is that you can pick the story up with this one alone.

4 Stars – Recommended