17: A Secret of the Universe - Stephen L Gibson

Started: back in September or October 2007
Finished: Around April 1st 2008

There were aspects of this book that I loved. The book was meant to be the story of a man discovering he was an atheist and exploring that, whilst also maintiaining a close friendship with a devout Christian and Creationist Intelligent Design Believer. I have to say that I hugely enjoyed some chapters in particular in which there was in depth discussion on the bible, Christianity, and skepticism, but on the whole I found the book kind of frustrating. I think you can totally tell that Steve (the author) is an "ex-christian". He uses such corny language, and his characters, even the most abrasive of atheists says stupid things like "you have to know how much your friendship has meant to me" and blah blah blah. However, as I listened to the audio version (read by the author), it might just be the performance that is really bothering me (not that it was at all bad, just totally condescending and corny). Overall, I did enjoy the book, until the last chapter.... but I won't spoil. Let's just say that you know how drawn out the ending of The Lord of the Rings is... well it's got nothing on this book!

Rating: 2.5 /5