Book Review: Fluke : Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Fluke : Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Christopher Moore
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Fantasy   Fiction   Humorous

Fluke starts off as a semi-comical dilemma in Maui - where dozens of whale researchers have established a home base. Nate Quinn and Clay Demodocus are intent on deciphering the mystery of the "song" of humpback whales, and daily visit the channel in which the whales spend their time, taping the vocalizations and searching for clues to the reason for the "songs."

But the pattern of their days is rudely interrupted when their research center is trashed, one of the boats is sunk, and important photographs mysteriously disappear. Moore creates a fictional atmosphere of jealousy and tension between the various research groups and at first the two men blame the staffs of other research labs in the area.

But when Nate mysteriously disappears on a research trip to the channel, and when one of their young assistants also disappears, Clay is convinced that more ominous events are in the wind. Assisted by a spacey assistant who speaks in a bewildering mix of pidgen Hawaiian, Jamaican rastafarian slang, and broken English, Clay realizes that the tapes of the whale songs can be converted to English by analyzing a binary code.

The converted tapes indicate that Nate and the assistant have only been kidnapped and are being held against their will. But where? And at this point, "Fluke" becomes a science fiction fantasy involving a parallel system of evolution, the suspension of the passage of time, and a second fully realized universe beneath the sea.

For this reader, the switch to science fiction was more than abrupt, and did not track well with the other more traditional setting of the early portion of the book. But it is an entertaining read in many ways.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM