Nerds That Geek Book Review: 'Manhattan Transfer'

​Written by John Edward  Betancourt

There's nothing I enjoy more, than being able to sit down on a quiet weekend afternoon and bury my nose into a quality book. There's just something incredibly magical about being able to be swept away to another world and another place if only for a little while. It's a habit I'm trying to get back into as much as possible, and as I've re-started my weekend reading fiesta, I've found quite the surprise.

Specifically, what the heck do I choose to read? There are books to be found everywhere these days in every single medium and while it's a good problem to have, it does make a digital search a little more daunting. But after a little narrowing down by genre and subject matter, I found a nice little gem in the science fiction genre from author John E. Stith; Manhattan Transfer. 

Now this book answers the question as to whether or not there is life out there in the universe besides us, by introducing us to a race of aliens, who express their curiosity about mankind in the most extreme fashion by carving the city of Manhattan out of the ground and transporting it and the people within the city limits to a planet far, far away and well...I'm going to leave it at that for the plot because this is an intricate story that needs to be experienced and that's largely due to the fact that Mister Stith does such an incredible job of world building. In fact that's really what we are going to be talking about today when it comes to this review, John's amazing ability to create a world and draw you in because once you open this book up, you're going to have trouble putting it down. 

Really what caught my attention about this book, is the sheer fact that it wastes no time in getting down to business. There's no excess of pages here, no long and unnecessary build up to the titular moment where the aliens arrive and do their thing, this story is presented as a disaster would unfold for all of us in real life...out of the blue and moment by moment. The capturing of Manhattan arrives just like that, and the next thing you know, the rich characters that populate this world are forced to spring into action to survive in their strange new home. It's refreshing to say the least because by getting us right into the story and right into the mess these characters are in, we are instantly part of this world and instantly part of their lives and now we are vested and have to know how it ends, and that's where the fun begins since in no time, you find yourself turning page after page to understand more about this strange new world and the incredible situation the people of Manhattan are now faced with.

Either way, it's a fun read, and fair warning, you may find a couple of moments in this book that seem slightly out of date and there's a reason for that. This novel was originally published in 1993, and since the digital age allows for writers to reach so many more people, everything from yesterday is new again and this book is actually a re-release to cater to a new generation of science fiction fans, and as an added bonus, John is actually re-releasing a ton of his work over the next few months, so expect to see more reviews of John's work here at Nerds That Geek. But in the meantime (while I delve into the next release) if you're a fan of science fiction and are looking for a fun novel that delivers a unique idea and wastes no time in giving you everything you want, check out Manhattan Transfer, you'll be glad you did.

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