As a big fan of Charles Soule in the world of comics, I have wanted to dive into his prose novels and it seemed like The Oracle Year would be a good place to start. This is the right decisions. The Oracle Year is a fast-paced story that takes on our view of faith and power in ways I never saw coming. Soule has a strong ability to craft a solid, unique, and captivating story and this book is no different.
Knowledge is power. So when an unassuming Manhattan bassist named Will Dando awakens from a dream one morning with 108 predictions about the future in his head, he rapidly finds himself the most powerful man in the world. Protecting his anonymity by calling himself the Oracle, he sets up a heavily guarded Web site with the help of his friend Hamza to selectively announce his revelations. In no time, global corporations are offering him millions for exclusive access, eager to profit from his prophecies.
He’s also making a lot of high-powered enemies, from the President of the United States and a nationally prominent televangelist to a warlord with a nuclear missile and an assassin grandmother. Legions of cyber spies are unleashed to hack the Site—as it’s come to be called—and the best manhunters money can buy are deployed not only to unmask the Oracle but to take him out of the game entirely. With only a handful of people he can trust—including a beautiful journalist—it’s all Will can do to simply survive, elude exposure, and protect those he loves long enough to use his knowledge to save the world.
Stories featuring a character with the ability to tell the future or the concept of an oracle are not uncommon, it’s how The Oracle Year is built that makes it stand out in the crowd. With stories such as this, I tend to put myself in the shoes of the person who has the ability and see how I would handle it. I’d like to think I would be altruistic about it and help others, but like Will Dando I would likely use this newly found power for personal gain before ever attempting to help others. But who knows?
What I expected to turn out as a Final Destination style narrative, where Will knows the future for specific events and works towards preventing them, ended up so much better. The Oracle Year is not only a tale of the future, but also one that deals with peoples concept of faith and the surrounding elements as well as wielding power over others, including governments. The person who has the ear of The Oracle, has the power over others in ways that have never been seen before. This is huge.
This governmental twist is something I would’ve avoided in reading these days, with the current political climate, however it is needed to further this story. It’s how this story moves forward in many ways and I was glad it was apart to it. Just think, what is our current politicians had the ear of Will Dando…
While I knew of the talent of Charles Soule, The Oracle Year completely exceeded my expectations. What started as a fascinating premise quickly evolves into a thought-provoking exploration of faith, power, and influence. Soule crafts a story that is thrilling while surprisingly relevant. The Oracle Year is a smart and addictive transformation of a familiar concept that was hard to put down.
The Oracle Year is available at bookstores everywhere from Harper Perennial. The audiobook, narrated by Charlie Thurston, is available via Libro.fm!
