Barrento presents an intriguing parable of Creation, as the universe expands and contracts into a singularity, and starts all over again. He raises questions of fate and choice, and sometimes comically suggests how religious beliefs possibly arise. It reads like a fable, with an undercurrent of philosophy. There is a certain amount of repetition, but usually for a purpose.

One aspect of the storytelling that did not work for me was the lack of named characters. There is God, the five gods, and the altruistic god (the Beanpole), the Prince, Magdalene, and so on, but often Barrento resorts to unnamed characters. I found that it distanced me somewhat from the personal experiences. Fables usually employ stock characters, but I think this novel would have benefited from a few more distinctive, identifiable characters. ( )

A smoothly written, intriguingly different fable, of faiths and science and fate and free-will and more, Pedro Barrento’s The Prince and the Singularity is singularly absorbing, odd and fun. And thought-provoking. And unobtrusively irreverent. And magical. And cool...

A hall filled with hapless gods playing cards, a man learning to walk on water, a Magdalene so different and so vaguely familiar, a prince with a mission... Behind it all are lessons and reminders of how we twist the truths of faith to suit the falsehoods of our own concerns. The fable stretches from the infinite past to the present, then slips through time, as a man untouched by time looks for meaning, and more. But perhaps “Life... just is.”

There are hints of many familiar faiths, and even of fairytale and history. There’s a creation myth with wheels within wheels. And there’s that curious hint that what “just is” just might be more. As timelines twist, doors open and close, and always there’s the prince, master or man until... Well, just until.

It’s different. It’s rich. It’s intriguing. And it’s a truly absorbing read.

Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy and I offer my honest review. ( )

Won a copy of this on goodreads.com. It was a very interesting book read it in about 2 hours, had awesome ideas of the world and how it was created. ( )