Review: d4 by Sherrie Cronin

Book cover from d4 by Sherrie Cronin. Ariel sees the future.

Sherrie Cronin’s “46.Ascending” series consists of 6 novels each of which focusses on a member of the Zeitman family who have a special power. In d4 the main character is Ariel who is able to see the future.

Book cover for d4 by Sherrie Cronin

Admittedly d4 is not strictly time travel, but there’s a knowledge of the future which I suppose in another novel a time traveller might learn. So call it pseudo time travel. Besides I recently read, loved and reviewed z2 where Alex was able to warp time and manipulate the speed of its passage and I wanted to read more from Sherrie!

Brief synopsis

Ariel works for an investment company which specialises in “high frequency trading” – buying and selling stocks and shares and things based on short term fluctuations in the market. She has 3 clients, one of whom is intent on amassing the world’s wealth with help from his own ability to see the short term future. When he finds out that Ariel has a similar ability to see the future he tries to coerce her into assisting him.

Against this backdrop is the knowledge of a long term future where humankind is threatened. How Ariel deals with her clients, and the relationships she makes with them, seemingly affect the likelihood and the outcome of the future of mankind.

Wrting style

Sherrie really hits the spot when it comes to beautiful writing! Characters have depth and background and these attributes come into play in their conversation with each other as well as how they react to certain given situations. Like in z2 they’re introduced early on and the connections between them become evident fairly quickly.

There is also realism in that the line between the good and the bad guys is either fuzzy, or moves completely. I suppose that in the end, motivations and feelings of people define whether they are good or bad.

The main plot line within d4 is clearly defined, and the pace is steady. A lot happens – not necessarily through direct action like in z2 but through movement of knowledge from one character to another. Consequences of holding that information are key in what happens in d4! Let’s call this an intellectual property -action novel!

d4 is set in Ireland, Greenland and Iceland. A map is included at the front of the novel so that we know where some of the towns in these countries are – which highlights the following point: the assumption is that most readers are probably not familiar with these locations, possibly because not many other novels are set here. Sherrie gives us a breath of fresh (and probably very cold) air!

I should add that thankfully accents are described and not spelled out phonetically (which is a pet peeve of mine). Actually there’s a special case with one word, but this is added for a slightly humourous angle!

A special note needs to be made about tension in the novel. You’d think that with several of the characters having knowledge of the future there would be little space for intrigue and mystery. I don’t know how she does it (and I hope it’s not my stupidity!) but Sherrie masterfully maintains suspense throughout the novel. Ariel knows what’s going to happen next – but we don’t!

Several small details help to ‘pad out’ d4 with more elements of realism. For example, Ariel’s ongoing confusion between Fergus and Ronan shows her vulnerability as well as providing a touch of humour.

“d4” – What’s in a name?

Talking of names…

I’m giving this a little section of its own partly in response to an entertaining – but nonsensical – review I read on Goodreads which is so inaccurate it’s almost comical. The reviewer starts off with an insane comment opinion different to my own that the name “d4” comes up out of nowhere.

Interested in knowing what’s behind the name? Me too! Personally, I think the name stands out. Most time travel novels have “time” in the title. It’s getting old and stale. Names like “d4”, “z2” and “46.Ascending” are different and call attention!

The Goodreads reviewer had trouble in understanding where the name “d4” came from. “d4” is the name of Baldur’s organisation. Not difficult to pick up (from page 38 or thereabouts), and hardly scientific stuff – although if you want that, it comes on p 138 where “d4” is explained in glorious mathematical detail (although I must admit that I find it unlikely that Ariel would have followed the path she took to discover this).

Personally, I love the naming of the book (and of z2 which equally has a brilliant basis)!

Links with other novels

Like z2, d4 is a novel which is loosely connected with others in the 46.Ascending series – but only loosely; it can be read independently from the others and still make sense.

Since Ariel is a member of the Zeitman family, each of whom are the main characters in the other novels (x0, y1, z2 and c3), there are clearly come cross references. Having read z2 I was aware of the links back to that novel, but there were also others which I must admit whetted my appetite. For example, Ariels’ brother Zane is able to morph into other shapes, and there’s a comment that one of his friends, Toby, owes him a debt which can’t be repaid.

I’m guessing that’s covered in y1 and I’d love to read it, though I should specifically point out here that the cross-references don’t come over as a cheesy way of begging the reader to rush out and purchase all of the other novels in the series. In fact, you’d probably hardly notice that they’re there at all if you didn’t know about the other novels in the 46.Ascending series.

Thanks for the premory

Now for the real juice of the novel!

Ariel ‘remembers’ the future, or to use her word – she has “premories” of the future. I think it’s a really nice touch to give Ariel’s capability a word, and I’m embarrassed to admit like much like a test rat in some psychological experiment of some ilk, I found that having a word to call it kind of made her experience more understandable to me!

Much like memories, Ariel’s ideas about the future are fuzzy. They can consist of sounds, smells and meanings – and she is also able to assign a level of likelihood of occurrence. Her premories arise mostly through physical contact with an object or a person.

It turns out that Ariel is not the only one in the novel with this ability. But where Ariel can see a few weeks ahead, other characters can see only a few seconds into the future; others a few hundred years.

Mikkel describes Ariel’s range into the future as being in the Goldilocks zone – not too close and not too far. Indeed, Ariel and other characters were described as being like a telescope, binoculars, magnifying glass or a microscope depending on the extent of their view. Very nice! 🙂

Another really nice explanation of the range of views was given by Siarnaq who likened the phenomenon to being tuned in to different frequencies. I couldn’t help wondering if there was a connection between this and Ariel’s name! 😉

Just as touch can trigger a premory, it can also trigger a contagion of sorts between those with the ability; each gains a view of what the other can see. When Ariel has prolonged physical contact with another who can see short term, she suffers after-shocks – little flickers of the short term future.

Again, this shows the command that Sherrie wields in her novel by adding in these extra details to make a fully comprehensive phenomenon.

On a personal note, I didn’t like the terms “psychic” or “clairvoyant” to describe Ariel’s ability to see into the future. For me, these words conjure up images of dodgy spiritualism, gypsy caravans, josticks and cheap gaudy bling. What Ariel (and the others) have is much more tangible.

Actually on that note, d4 is a good example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The book cover shows a girl (presumably Ariel) doing a pose (presumably yoga, because Ariel practises yoga) by a lake. Maybe you can make out a “D” form in the sky, and the legs make a “4”, but it’s a bit ‘soft’ for the solid novel content. It looks like I’m reading a book about relaxing techniques whereas reading d4 is an exciting read!

A philosophical approach to the future

Underneath the main thrust of the story line lies a gentle question – what do we do with knowledge of the future? This is expressed most clearly towards the end of the novel, but prior to that there are several conversations and inner thoughts where this is brought to the fore.

One aspect I enjoyed was a hint of multiple time lines, though perhaps this would more accurately be described as several branches of possible futures. Knowing the future means that an action can be taken to avoid a particular outcome sometimes. In d4 the point is that the final long term outcome may be the same no matter what actions are taken, but in the short term things can be made better for that particular time line.

This is a philosophical point in itself – if we know the future can we take actions to avoid it?

One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.
Quote from Kung Fu Panda movie. Image credit: www.buzzle.com

Closing

Like in z2, d4 closes with a section describing the outcome of several actions of several characters, and extrapolating this into the future. The section stands out from others as the writing style differs slightly. It closes and wraps up; it’s to the point – but not rushed.

At first I was a little disappointed with the end which was a bit of an anticlimax given the suspense which had so far been building up. It seemed a bit of an easy way out, but reading further I think this was the only realistic conclusion to that particular thread. And here lies the power of the ending…it keeps going!

I love how the plot keeps moving onwards into the future and doesn’t stop where I think most other novels would have (OK –z2 didn’t either! 😉 )

Rating * * * * *

Another 5 stars for another brilliant novel in the 46.Ascending series by Sherrie Cronin!

d4 possesses the wonderful writing style that Sherrie has already shown in z2. It has a steady and gripping plot which incorporates a fully thought out phenomenon of seeing into the future, as well as addressing the philosophical question of what to do with that knowledge.

You can read more about d4 on Sherrie’s d4 blog, and about the 46.Ascending series here.

Read my interview with Sherrie over on Time Travel Nexus where she reveals some amazing insights and behind the scenes information!

Paul

If you enjoyed this post, you might like to visit or like time2timetravel on Facebook

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to receive future posts sent direct to your email!

Disclaimer: Sherrie kindly sent me a free copy of “d4” to read in exchange for honest review. This is it!

Star ratings:

| 5* Excellent! | 4* Good | 3* OK | 2* Not good | 1* Crud |

Summary
Review Date
Reviewed Item
d4 by Sherrie Cronin
Author Rating
51star1star1star1star1star

What do you think? Leave a Reply! :)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.