PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5
From the author of “Jestus,” “Jestus on Rampage,” “Parallels,” and “Impossible Tales” comes yet another mind-boggling tale of science fiction in the book “Fentoscience: The Startling Discoveries of Professor Bagdenborg” by VS Sury. The novel is a treatise based on a blend of fact and fiction, sprinkled with a touch of eccentricity. The humorous and amusing protagonist, Professor Bagdenborg, gives rise to an almost new genre of sci-fi novels.
Fentoscience centers around the character of Professor Bagus Baglicochus Bagdenborg, also known as Jestus Jesticus Jestimedes, a super-ultra genius. It unravels his discoveries in the field of science, showcasing his attempt to liberate science from the constraints of mathematics and the laborious process of experimentation.
With a rational mindset and a boundless, wild imagination, he identifies himself with a hundred names that reflect his multifaceted character and numerous talents, particularly his passion for science, especially physics.
The plot of the book unravels many novel concepts and ideas in different areas of scientific understanding put forth by the Professor. Here, characterization is of key importance. The Professor is cast as a larger-than-life character about whose past little is known, and it is thought that his death is far away in some unknown future.
In this sense, he is presented as a timeless yet timely being, which authenticates his knowledge and provides a basis to accept the rationality of his ideas based on long-term learning and experience. However, it is also mentioned that no one has really seen him much in recent times, but he is considered to have been alive and seen at Heathrow. Though mostly untraceable, rumors claim that he was also seen in the Himalayas. Yet, so far, not too many people know about him as he is a reclusive loner.
The characterization is unique as the Professor is depicted with utmost intricacy in terms of his persona and abilities, though there is little about his physical appearance. The point of the author is to focus on conveying scientific knowledge through a reliable character. However, there is an element of fiction that makes it acceptable for readers to know that this gifted character, who proves the impossible as possible and vice versa, is a citizen of 12 countries and a true mystery.
Keeping the logic of deductive reasoning intact, Professor Bagdenborg argues that “fento” is a finer state than “nano,” more particulate, more minute, and specific. This is what he terms as “fentologic.” Professor Bagdenborg is also apprehensive that his innovative ideas may not be accepted by the larger society so he chooses not to publish them, but havoc is unleashed when one of his admirers leaks a few chapters of his recorded concepts by smuggling and purloining some of his books.
The book Fentoscience has several high points that serve as climactic scenes or rather as revelatory in the manner of mostly against-the-grain scientific ideas.
The language of the book is of moderate difficulty, though well-written with plenty of explanations and discussions of rather startling observations as presented in “The General Theory of Shells” and “Theory of Cosmic Shell.” There is in-depth focus on topics like gravity, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, and so on, some of which is explained through diagrams and flow charts.
The lucidity of the writing tries to make things easy for readers, to simplify the complicated information, though the book is densely packed with information, highly complex, and too theoretical. There is some extent of wordplay in the chapter titles as well.
On the whole, the book can be followed provided readers have some prerequisite of basic science as the book needs attentive reading.
Divided into three parts with twelve chapters and a huge book list for further reading, this book flips genres, turns things around, and engages the reader to understand the world through a new lens. This innovativeness is commendable though it makes the book too niche-specific and not so easy to read.
Can’t wait to read it? Buy your copy of Fentoscience right away!
