Letting Go by D. F. Huettner

Reviewed by Megan Powell

Jason's lover Faith has left him. But she hasn't left him for another man (though there is someone she will clearly become involved with). She's left him to work on a mysterious project. Faith (archaeologist), Peter Duncan (physicist) and John Wyngaarden (musicologist) are conducted some sort of research at Stonehenge, and eventually discover that they need Jason's help. Still unable to let go of Faith, Jason answers the call.

Huettner wisely chooses not to focus on the actual project. Theories of alien design of Stonehenge can easily slide from the realm of science fiction down the slippery slope of crackpot newagisms. (No, that isn't really a word, but you get the idea.) For the first half of the novella, Jason simply knows that he's being used as a computer expert; only at the end does he finally learn what Faith and her team have been working toward. From a character perspective, this is also quite appropriate and effective: Jason has far more of an investment in Faith than in any project.

Jason is the ideal narrator of this type of story. He's an outsider to the project, looking in like the reader. His emotional attachment to Faith makes him unreliable but, since the story is being told after Jason has had an opportunity to reflect upon what happened, he is aware of this unreliability. Any reader who has ever had an unhealthy relationship will instantly identify with Huettner's narrator, and will wince as he makes all the mistakes of a man still in love.

The novella's pace doesn't slacken, again due to the focus on Jason's relationship (or lack thereof) with Faith. Project setbacks or breakthroughs are all viewed through the lens of how Faith reacted to Jason, or how Jason reacted to Faith. Weeks of research pale in comparison to that human element, and can be glossed over. Huettner (through Jason) makes it clear that he is aware that readers expecting hard science fiction will be disappointed. He also makes it clear that it doesn't matter. This is not the story of a research project at Stonehenge; this is the story of Jason wrestling with his relationship with Faith.

Letting Go by D. F. Huettner 4GoodBooks.com

Summer 2002 update: This book is now available from ebooks-for-sale.com.

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