Emergence - David Palmer

[Romeo]

I read this a couple times a long time ago. It's a very interesting "aftermath" story. The book is taken from the shorthand notes of an 11 year old girl, who is beyond genius. A new species of human is born because of mutations caused by a flu epidemic. And when a bio hazard wipes out mankind, they are the only ones left (because they are naturally immune). This 11 year old girl is left alone (there are very few of these "new" humans) in an almost deserted world. The plot and story are VERY compelling.

And the most intresting part of the story is that it's taken from the girl's diary, which was written in shorthand. So all the "extra" words like "a, the, an, ..." are left out. Very condensed feeling - almost like the thought it being formed in your own head instead of coming from the page. At one point another character picks up the journal and writes in it, not using shorthand. It sounds so strange after all those pages of shorthand.

It will take you a chapter or so to get used to the feel of the shorthand. But after that you'll feel like you're speed reading. And you won't be able to put it down.

I just thought I'd add this to the list, since it was definately a unique book. And it's one of the very few that I've read more than once, and would read again.

Here's an amazon.com link:

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/ ... ce&s=books

Very good reviews, and descriptions.

[duchess of malfi]

It's wild that you would bring this up today, because I ordered a used copy from Amazon last week, due its very strong recommendations, and it arrived last night.
The reader reviews at Amazon were very glowing over this novel.

[duchess of malfi]

I finally got around to starting this book tonight on my lunchbreak, and so far its great!!!!!

Very unusual, very creative. I love it!