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The Rift: A Bolingbrook Babbler Story - The Bolingbrook Babbler Stories 2
Genres: Fantasy/SciFi/Speculative, LGBTQ+, Science Fiction (Sci-Fi), New Adult
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
Formats: Ebook, Audio, Paperback
Lies divide the world — but so does the truth.
Tom Larsen once devoured the outlandish stories of the Bolingbrook Babbler, mesmerized by tales of UFOs and monsters lurking in the shadows. Now a member of the skeptical movement, he’s more interested in debunking the garish lies he once believed.
When a drunken incident allows a woman to publicly humiliate him, Tom doubles down on a career of antagonistic commentary. Then, three years later, a chance to confront her and expose her anti-skeptic agenda falls into his lap.
Determined to publicize the truth as he knows it, Tom unwittingly unearths rifts that go beyond his town’s — and even the galaxy’s — borders. As he pursues his goal, he forges new alliances with old enemies, and encounters weredeer, secret societies, and even time travel.
But each encounter changes Tom’s perspective more than the last. And the closer he gets to the truth, the less simple it looks…
Aliens, gender politics, and conspiracy theories collide in this X-Files meets Fargo urban fantasy sci-fi set in Chicagoland.
Reviews
Wishing Shelf
"A richly written novel filled with memorable characters. Highly recommended!"
Amazon
I had a good time reading this book, though I had some reservations before I started. As soon as the adventurous part of the story began – which was pretty quickly – you could feel the author entering his comfort zone. With all the disappointment and crap involved in Disney’s monopoly on entertainment, I’ve been hoping to see more adventurous fiction that doesn’t rely on any of their properties – in spirit, like fic with the serial numbers filed off. And being an AMAB reader over the age of forty, post-YA wasn’t going to do it for me either.
The Rift was an entertaining high speed journey into Brinkman’s “Bolingbrook Babbler” universe, inspired by the UFO / amazing bat-boy end of the tabloid spectrum, and best of all it required no prior knowledge of his oeuvre. We follow a character being introduced to the world of paranormal conspiracies and don’t have to choke on a bunch of references to deep lore.
This is one of those books that *needed* to be self-published because it’s too unconventional, too niche, to be sold to major publishers. You can have a story with wild original content, but to sell that it needs to fit into some kind of recognizable mold, like surreal literary fiction or magical realism. The Rift is genre fiction in a very functional 20th century style, without the frippery of Catherynne Valente or poetic ostentation of litfic regulars.
A Trivial Knot
The specific focus on skepticism produces interesting results, where the skeptical movement is juxtaposed with the reality of the paranormal. It’s delightfully absurd, but also hints at deeper interpretations. It implies a dilemma: do you side with the skeptics, who conceal the truth even as they fight for it, or do you speak the unbelievable truth? It explores, in a metaphorical way, the faults of the skeptical movement—something that can be quite difficult to talk about in a non-fictional context, if I do say so myself!