“Hollow World” by Michael J. Sullivan – The Emptiness of Tomorrow

Ellis Rogers is a man who has always played it safe, more or less, trying to walk down the right and peaceful path, harming nobody and helping those around him.

However, it seems destiny decided to spit in the face of his when it dropped a terminal illness straight down on his back. With nothing more to lose, Rogers decides to take a leap of faith and actually test out the time machine he has been building in his garage. Much to his surprise, the thing really does work, and it takes him far into the future, where the cure for his illness may very well exist.

However, as Ellis is increasingly drawn into this world, the more he sees that his values, preconceptions and morals are all challenged, and that what everyone sees as utopia being extremely flawed. As he inches closer to his initial objective, Ellis finds much more than he could ever imagine through answers coveted for God-knows how long.

Such is the premise of Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan, and though it is labeled as a science-fiction novel, it is more in the sense that it all takes place in a futuristic society and time travel is involved.

There are few action scenes and thrilling, edge-of-your-seat twists and turns, with the focus being placed instead on character development and the exploration of questions which don’t really have ultimate answers, such as what it truly means, in the end, to be a human being.

There is also a decent amount of text devoted to the reflections on having a terminal illness and what it implies, though you will probably be glad to know that though it serves as driving force for the protagonist, it doesn’t exactly maintain a constant presence.

I have to say that the study of the whole society itself ended up being rather interesting, especially since it is what we envision as perfection, at least on paper. It is a place with no crime, poverty, disease or even death; man has managed to conquer everything thrown at him. However, perfection is extremely fragile for the smallest flaw takes it away.

Naturally, this society in the book does present some very unique oddities and “challenges” for lack of a better word, and seeing it through the eyes of a character with the mindset of today helps to feel those differences, making the world seem rather alien, despite it being populated with humans.

At some point, the values and standards of the society do begin to unravel as certain events are witnessed and brought to light, and it is a delight to watch how extremely orderly people react to such a disorderly chaos.

All being said and done, Hollow World is a slower, more elaborate and carefully-written science fiction story which places the brunt of the focus on character development and the discussion of philosophical ideas. If that sounds like your kind of science-fiction novel, I guarantee you won’t regret picking this one up.

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Michael J. Sullivan Personal site Michael J. Sullivan is an American author who is known to write epic fantasies and science fiction novels. His debut series is perhaps his best-known body of work: The Riyria Revelations. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2010 Goodreads Choice Award for The Emerald Storm.