Review: A Life Eternal by Richard Ayre

What if you knew you could never die? How different would your life be? How different would you be?

I did not like this book.

I usually try very hard to find something good to say about everything I read. I don’t believe there really are any “bad books.” A Life Eternal may have me revise that opinion.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. There are probably readers out there who’ll enjoy this book, but they certainly aren’t reading the same things I am.

I picked this up because of the tagline - and, yes, the cover looked cool - because that’s the sort of esoteric pondering I think to do. Probably every writer and potential supervillain is obsessed with the idea of what if.

A Life Eternal, however, is a very long drudge through nearly every notable historical moment in the 20th-century, with the protagonist beating on about how he hates humanity, how inferior they are, and how he totally lacks all feeling towards them whatsoever.

(But he hates them.)

This is a concept book along the lines of Ayn Rand and Lionel Shriver. It’s neither about characters nor story, and, to be honest, there aren’t actually any “characters” at all.

Actually, the first chapter is quite good, and there were several beautiful sentences I highlighted, which perhaps raised my expectations too high.

While A Life Eternal is decidedly not my type of novel, if you are a fan of Ayn Rand or Lionel Shriver, give it a go and see what you think.