The Seam: Secrets Beneath the North Pole by Deborah A. Wilson is an interesting and complex work. Dr. Winston Thornberry has acquired an unusual book, one that only furthers and deepens his lifelong quest. He has asked questions others consider impossible and finds himself only wanting more answers. Finally, he takes his unusual book and his faithful dog Asher and goes on an expedition deep into the Arctic hoping that he will be able to find answers there. The more he spends his time in solitude the more he learns to wait and that sometimes patience is the key to acquiring his answers. His personal quest slowly evolves into more when he runs into a group of unknown and rather unusual beings that don’t provide answers so much as a process by which he can become ready to find answers. Though wishing to prove his doubters wrong, Dr. Thornberry must work on finding peace only in knowing for oneself.
This was a bit of a weird book but also a bit of a good one. I actually rather enjoyed watching as Dr. Thornberry worked on finding the answers that he had so desperately longed for and am curious about where his life will go now that he has found them. The one thing I didn’t necessarily like very much was the lack of explanation for a lot of things. I felt like the background of the book and these beings wasn’t explained very well or perhaps maybe just not enough for my personal taste more than anything. This was a topic that was left very vague and I am not sure if that was done on purpose to keep us guessing or what. I also felt like the sense of time was a little iffy as well. This one is definitely not a big issue but was something I noticed. There were parts where it seemed to imply more or less time had passed before then implying the other and I am not entirely certain how much time had passed in any one section except for perhaps the very end but even then I am not entirely certain. This definitely adds to the overall vague feeling about somethings but I would still have preferred a bit more clarification on that. It was still a great read and one that I thoroughly enjoyed reading though and it kind of made me think about a few things. Still worth my time though and I am happy giving it three out of five stars.
This book is a work of speculative fantasy and deals with some potentially interesting topics though nothing is explicitly indicated about some of it. I think this book would probably appeal the most to readers who enjoy that type of work or even for readers who just enjoy fantasy in general. It was definitely an interesting read though. The book is aimed at adults but there was absolutely nothing in it that would make me hesitate to recommend it to younger readers. Honestly, the only thing that would impede younger readers from enjoying this is their ability to understand some of the nuances that it contains so they should feel free to consider it as well. If you decide to try it out, consider sharing your thoughts in the comments. I acquired this book through the Reedsy Discovery program and you can find a copy of my review there as well.