Review: Worldcatcher by Casey Waldam

Review: Worldcatcher by Casey Waldam

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My relationship with YA literature has been interesting, to say the least. When I was in high school (as the target audience for stories in this age category) I did not often find myself reading YA for fun. It just did not interest me at the time.  

Now, years later, I find myself wanting to occasionally look at offerings in the YA to see what it is like today. While I have not read a lot from it, I have enjoyed what few works I have picked up and find myself enjoying most of the stories in a similar way that I enjoy works in Adult Fiction. Literature, in any category, really has the power to speak to anyone, and Casey Waldam’s story of a young boy thrust into a galactic science fiction adventure is no exception to this. The short of it is, I enjoyed the story she has delivered here, and feel it’s a very strong offering for both young readers and adults!

With that out of the way, let’s dive into the review!

Summary

We open to a prologue where a young, unnamed girl is trying to escape confinement. She is captured by an unnamed group and thrown back into her cell, where she calls out to a boy named Ben.

Moving on from the prologue, we meet Ben as he is waking up from a nightmare involving this girl. He feels like he should know the context of his dreams, but he is unsure why. However, when a mysterious black car starts following him and his family is murdered, Ben finds out that those dreams are more than what they originally seemed, and the girl means more to him than he thought, which leads to confusion and a desire to know who she is.

Before he knows it, he finds himself thrust into a conflict that threatens his home Earth and everyone on it. Will Ben be able to sort out his past before Earth is destroyed?

Thoughts

So, the opening of this story confused me a bit and I was a little caught off-guard when the narrative shifted from the perspective of the young girl to a boy I had not been introduced to. That said, as the story went on, I enjoyed how Waldam melded the two plotlines together. I have seen that narrative technique before, and I am fond of how it has been used across many different stories.

Waldam’s story is no exception to this, showing Ben’s straightforward narrative while also keeping up a sense of mystery and intrigue as the story went on. Seeing how the plot unfolded with Ben and his sister Ann being stalked by the black Taurus kept me hooked, interested in whatever was about to happen! I will say that – despite the strong setup with mysteries such as the Taurus – I do think Waldam needed to spend more time on certain action sequences that are present in the story. Cases where the action goes too fast in this story are rare, but they do happen. That said, there is not enough time to discuss the problem in full here, so I will delve more into this in the writing section to explain what I mean and how such a problem could be handled in future works.

For now, let’s move on to characters!

Characters

Ben Kensi

Right off the bat, I liked Ben a lot. When I was first diving into this story, I was concerned that I may not like him or enjoy the narrative he is involved in. However, it turns out that I needn’t have worried. Ben is an extremely likable individual with good morals, it is clear he cares for the people in his life, and at the same time he goes through some trials and tribulations that test his character and morale. And when I say this, I am not talking about the training sessions toward the end of the novel. I am talking about his family.

I enjoyed seeing his relationships with his foster parents Chris and Lindsay and his sister Ann throughout the story. I honestly think one of the best indications of his kind heart is how he treats Ann after the disaster with his family. I have always loved when the strength of a relationship between two characters is clear and presented in a way that tugs at the reader’s heartstrings. To me, these types of relationships are vastly more compelling than romantic interactions, despite both relationships being strong when handled well. I just think romantic interactions are easier to mess up, so therefore have always preferred familial love and interactions over romance. And, in this story, I feel like the familial love is more important than the romantic love that is set up.

The Girl from the Prologue

From the moment this mysterious girl is introduced, I found myself intrigued by her story. I find it interesting that Waldam decides to give her psionic powers, because I was introduced to what psionics were over this past summer when I read another story that dealt with the concept. Waldam’s psionic is built up with some mystery, keeping me hooked and interested to learn more about her. Once we do learn more, I found myself feeling pity after all she went through. It seems like the people in charge in the novel just do not care at all about how their actions will affect her, painting an image of an adolescent who has seen more than her fair share of pain and suffering. And that is terrible to know – she is so young.  

Moving on from the sadder implications, I found myself enjoying how she was built into the world. As I said before, Waldam does not tell the reader anything right away, instead opting for the plot events to reveal her personality. As a result, what we get is an incredibly tragic figure, but one that will not take mistreatment lying down. This character is amazingly strong! Besides all that, I found myself incredibly interested in learning about her connection to Ben. I will discuss why in the structure section, as how she works in the story is more apropos there.

Avi Ronejson

What I am going to say about this character will not provide much detail, as I am still unsure overall how to feel about him. I guess I do feel some degree of pity and sympathy for him, as I think even he was blindsided by some events of the novel. That said, how his character intertwines with Ben’s has me questioning if down the road he could turn to darker motives, given he basically kidnapped Ben. He always seems to be planning things that involve Ben, while rarely allowing Ben himself to be part of the planning that goes on, so I have my suspicions given what Waldam allows us to see go on with him.

That said, the buildup of his character and the entire team he leads is fantastic! I love how, even when he is seen before Ben meets him, the reader is kept in the dark about what exactly is going on with him. This leaves suspense and mystery surrounding his character that I still do not think is entirely resolved, because I don’t think we are seeing just how he’ll factor into the overall narrative yet. We only know that he is watching Ben.

Structure

I think the structure of this novel is one of its strongest aspects besides the likable characters. Like I mentioned earlier, I particularly enjoy how Ben’s story is intertwined with the young girl from the prologue. Waldam sets her character up first, and the way the novel is written makes it almost seem like her story will somehow intertwine with Ben’s, although how that will occur is not apparent right off the bat.  

 Setting the story up like that gives context about – not only Ben’s situation – but the world he is living in. And, in this story, the worldbuilding is crucial to creating a compelling plot. We do not know much about this girl until far into the narrative. Waldam, by introducing her first, is providing a hook. I think it is a given that this story will continue in another novel, so I believe it is a great idea to expand even more on the girl’s background and character and tie her into the story in an even bigger fashion. We get some information, but I think there is more to show about how her story factors into the society being built, just like there was more to Ben’s story than what the reader was first told on the surface.

Writing

As I said in that last section, one of the characteristics of the structure is the intertwining of the perspectives and stories of Ben and the girl from the prologue. To do something like this, there need to be distinct characteristics in the writing to tell the sections apart and make them different. There are two completely different tones with the sections involving Ben and the girl. With the girl’s sections – especially in the beginning – Waldam opts for an ominous, mysterious tone as the child does what she can to escape the situation she is in. This sets up her world as threatening and mysterious, making the reader want to know more while also engaging them with a sense of uneasiness.

During Ben’s sections, we see a more mundane situation set behind a tone that can turn dark and ominous at any moment. In the first chapter where we are introduced to him, Waldam’s writing sets up an interesting similarity to the imprisoned girl. In that opening chapter, the writing almost suggests that Ben is also a prisoner himself before he gains more awareness of his surroundings. It is only when he picks up his cellphone in that scene does the tone relax, showing an ordinary morning for a high schooler, showing distinct differences from the girl’s world, but also making it more believable when the two worlds begin to overlap.

The one issue I have with the writing is (as I hinted earlier) the action sequences. Now, granted, the climax was gripping, and that is important. Unfortunately, though, there are one or two scenes that are built up to be highly intense and of great importance, but Waldam blows through these sequences so quickly that it leaves little impact on the reader. If I remember correctly there is one scene where Ben is sneaking up behind someone while on a mission, and he gets caught, but I remember little else about the scene other than those two details. I think with that scene, there is nothing of emotional significance to attach it to. Therefore, it left no impact on me, so perhaps an easy fix would be to get the girl involved somehow, like she wanders off and gets attacked, so she and Ben fight the assailant together. Perhaps that would help make it more memorable in the moment.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed this quite a bit! Waldam is a great writer and the narrative she has woven together is gripping! Her characters are easy to sympathize with, the world is beautifully built, and the conflict carrying the story is captivating!

In the end, I would recommend this to a young science fiction fan looking for a solid mystery with a rich world, fun characters, and an intriguing plot line that will keep you hooked until the last page is turned!