Dark Matter By Blake Crouch Is Absolutely Amazing & I Can't Believe It Took Me This Long To Read It

Mike steps into the multiverse to talk about his first experience with Blake Crouch in his 2016 sci-fi thriller Dark Matter.
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0:00 Introduction & excerpt reading
2:21 Background info
3:20 What Is It About?
4:33 What Makes It Good Or Bad?
12:52 Why You Should Read It
14:34 Final Thoughts
#MikesBookReviews #BlakeCrouch #DarkMatter

[@JohnCarlosMartinez]

This was the book that got me back into reading fiction. One of my favorites. If made into a movie and done right it’ll be epic.

[@yaasinalikondeth6724]

Its being made into a series by Apple, not sure when its released or even when production is supposed to start

[@shabahfarook7527]

Imma start reading it tonight

[@georgekhumalo5283]

Your wish has been granted

[@chiokehart-kelly3481]

I want to know your thoughts on the series now.

[@danielcorey2156]

I can’t wait for you to read Recursion. It’s even more ambitious and mind-melting. To me, Crouch is the Christopher Nolan of the book world. They are both great. I prefer Dark Matter overall, but still loved the hell out of Recursion.

[@JohnCarlosMartinez]

Chris Nolan of books. Amazing description 🤝

[@frank_scalise]

My experience as well.

[@PhantomJelly]

Yes! Recursion was absolutely nuts

[@tarag7292]

I love that you said that because I love Christopher Nolan. And you make a great point. He is the Christopher Nolan of the book world. I love Dark Matter, and I am so looking forward to reading Recursion.

[@danielcorey2156]

@@tarag7292 His Wayward Pines trilogy is also amazing. I just picked up Desert Places. It is pretty much straight up horror. VERY dark.

[@bungdilly6333]

Dark Matter reinvigorated my love of reading after a decade. It has it all. Romance, mystery, horror, action, noir. The list goes on. One of my absolute favourite books.

[@jean-philippelavoie7138]

I wonder if another version of me just finished Dark Matter and was pulling for another version of Jason!

[@arnavkmr3895]

Exactly my thoughts...

[@julesf494]

Same!! Also kinda feel like I'm in the Jason chatroom now 😂

[@larryjilesjr9358]

🤯 what a thought 😊

[@wizflame9960]

The only problem i have is, not having an epilogue. It would be nice seeing jason and his family playing out their normal day in the new world/ or having a casual chat with their multiversal counterpart

[@ketellynmanique539]

For me, Dark Matter made me so excited for his other books, and when Recursion came, I was so blown away, that it almost (ALMOST) took the 1st spot of my favourite book of all time (which is Dune)... anxious to see what you think of Recursion!

[@JamesI88]

So you like recursion better then?

[@BookBlather]

Great intro! Loved this book. Read it in one weekend it was so addictive. First got turned on to Blake Crouch with the Summer Frost novella.

[@moonbot7613]

I absolutely loved Dark Matter. It’s everything I want in a one off book. I’m a huge Robert J Sawyer fan and it seemed like Crouch wrote his “science” like Sawyer does in his books.

[@amandapelland]

Dark Matter was one of my favorite books I read in 2020. So happy you read this book Mike and dedicated a review!

[@alisham7340]

No other booktuber is able to make me want to read a book as much as you. 😊 Ive heard of this book before and heard it was good (but not what it was about) and wasnt overly interested in picking it up until now

[@CRohrscheib]

Blake Crouch is a huge fan of Michael Crichton so it's not surprising to see the influence in his writing. I personally liked Dark Matter more than Recursion (still very enjoyable), although it's a 50/50 split between readers. I actually rank Wayward Pines above Recursion even though it's nothing like like first two. Looking forward to see which you like more!

[@thecaffeinatedbookwyrm3051]

I read this in 2017 or 2018 and I loved it. This video reminded me of just how much I loved it. I almost want to re-read it. But.....TBR.

[@jmmarie6377]

I've had Dark Matter for years in my shelf. Now I can't wait to pick it up. Thanks for the review Mike!

[@bkidd2914]

Thank you for this review!!! I just finished it and loved it!

[@willsmith-dv9xs]

Apple Tv made a tv series after this, the premiere is May 8.

[@varonicachaney3479]

This book sounds like so much fun! Thanks for the review!

[@space_quartz]

But the ending!!! Oh my god, I have so many questions! What happened to all of the other Jasons? What world did Charlie pick? What life will they live in the future? What about their friends and other family? What about Charlie's crush? Where did the people in his actual world think they went?(cause he's a professor and his son is in school) What if they found all of the Jason's there? So many questions

[@cortneybowman7297]

Well... I finished this one a little after 4 am and then couldn't sleep because my head was spinning and trying to grasp everything that I had just read. I slept for a little over an hour before I had to get up for work. I was entirely useless that day; all I could think about was the book and everything that had happened. This was soooooo good. I didn't love Recursion as much, it was heavier on the science end which I am sure you will love. The concept and ideas were fantastic, but the science was too in depth for me. Enjoy!!!!

[@alynam82]

I read Dark Matter on Christmas the year it came out, and my reaction was the same as yours. I loved it and wanted it to be longer! Haven't read Recursion yet, but plan to. I did read Abandon, which was a great 4☆ winter thriller, mixed with some historical horror.

[@whutzat]

I KNEW you were going to enjoy this! I personally like this better than Crichton because I felt Crouch injects more emotion than Crichton. The ONLY part that bugged me was that a certain female side character...I was PISSED that we don't get to know what happened to her!

[@s.p.8508]

I hit a fantasy slump recently and haven’t been able to get into any books, so I picked this up based on your recommendation yesterday…. And I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. Holy cow, that was so ridiculously good! Am I a crouch potato?!?!

[@cruddddddddddddddd]

Okay. I’m excited to read this now

[@mikeptheoldbookworm.4751]

"Wayward Pines" is also good. Crouch was still an indie author when he wrote this. Got adapted for television and that was the start of all of it :)

[@gouthamsai7043]

Just completed reading the book , it was one hell of a ride filled with mixed emotions ,and I hope the family got to a world where they can lead a happy life

[@metalflameful]

Just burned through this masterpiece in one day because of your recommendation! It's been so long since I was this invested in a story and actually felt emotions from one.

[@dannyh7446]

Just finished reading it. What an amazing read, hope recursion is on this level. Just pre-ordered a signed edition of upgrade. Think I just found an author I really like. Definitely gonna get some Crichton books now after hearing your comparisons

[@Histoiresience]

We did a dark matter buddy read on byzans last week alot of us hated it i loved it 🤷‍♀️a really funny mixed reviews

[@calebmauer1751]

Nice Stargate shirt! I've been rewatching SG-1. I just watched the time loop episode in season 4.

[@belieber663]

My all time favourite book. I cannot stop thinking about it!!!

[@mikesbookreviews]

It's phenomenal

[@DallasfanTen]

Enjoyed this book, most people preferred this one. But I liked Recursion even more, mind bending book that will stick with me for a long time. Trying to find something that is on par with Recursion, it was Wow!

[@sunnydub107]

Found out they were turning this book into a show and decided to read and man this got me back into reading. Sci-fi might be my new genre. Can’t wait to Recursion but currently reading Upgrade by Blake Crouch. His writing is very fun.

[@michaelshaffer3339]

Randomly came across your channel from the wheel of time reviews. I'm about a year behind you on that- but was pleasantly surprised to see we have read a lot of the same authors and books. Cant wait for book 6 of the red rising series, and most of blake crouches work is great too. Ever read any Ken Follett? The Kingsbridge series is very well done.

[@clarkkentnaruto4322]

Thanks Mike for that review. That sounds like a great read. I know how you feel about Michael Crichton, I do the same thing whenever I read a science fiction book.

[@justincantelo7623]

Great review 🤓 I really enjoyed this book and Recursion. Since you liked this I highly recommend Patrick Lee, his Breach trilogy is very much akin to this style, his Sam Dryden series has sci-fi elements but is more grounded action 🤠 thank you for your content, always excited to see your uploads.

[@moondra3481]

I am currently listening to the audiobook and my mind is blown this book is sooo good one more day and I will probably finish it...finally a book that exercised my mind with a subject matter I love.

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

I loved this book!!!! ❤ I liked Dark Matter better than Recursion but it was still good. Wayward Pines is very mind-twisty!

[@emilynewhart7648]

I LOVED listening to this on Audible!! I was gushing about it to some guys at work that also like sci-fi. I lost the story somewhere in the "planet hopping" part only because I was confused on where the book was going. But it picked me right back up and loved it all the better for it!! What really helped the pacing of the story for me was I couldn't guess how the story was going to end. Everytime I thought I knew it would take a hard turn.

[@horizon_universe9349]

I see this book everywhere lately ! Want to get my hands on it !

[@frank7411]

I really loved both Dark Matter and Recursion, but there was a 3 year gap in between those two for me, which made Recursion seem very fresh, I'm sure. They do have some similarities. His Pine series has been on my TBR for a while, I'm just waiting for that thriller itch to hit me.

[@markb3534]

Good review! That was a pretty intense book.

[@demidrek-heyward]

great stuff Mike

[@arneezzyy]

Just finished Dark Matter and I loved it!! I read a comment on here that said Blake Crouch is the Christopher Nolan of books and that made me so happy. C. Nolan is my favorite director of all time. I love all of his movies and Interstellar is my favorite movie of all time lol. I just picked up Recursion by Crouch so I'm super excited to read that one next!

[@danecobain]

I liked this one a lot and so I'm looking forward to getting to some more Crouch!

[@Michael_L_Morrison]

Sounds interesting. I'll put it in my TBR.

[@kflott]

Just finished this one on your recommendation, loved it. I grew up on Crichton then moved more to fantasy but this was a great read!

[@NatashaMusa]

I heard this on audiobook and it was so good. Definitely one of my favorite reads.

[@arnavkmr3895]

Audiobook was good

[@deathbyduckie]

I think I read the Wayward Pines series in five days. I couldn't stop once I'd started. I plan to read Dark Matter this summer.

[@markb3534]

I saw the show, haven't read the books. Are the books still worth it having seen the show?

[@deathbyduckie]

@@markb3534 I preferred the books. The show rushed showing the reason why they couldn't leave the town. I only watched a couple of episodes so I can't really say properly but it's worth a try.

[@TheBookishMom]

I read this last year and ended up really enjoying it!

[@teresaboyer5707]

You are really going to love Recursion! I liked it better even than Dark Matter, and I’m a newbie to this genre. I have also read 2/3 of Wayward Pines and they were good, but liked the most recent ones better. Can’t wait till you read Recursion!

[@ChaplainMalachai]

Just got finished with this book. Absolutely amazing! Read it in a day. Could not put it down. As someone who grew up on Crichton, I love this and he is definitely the heir apparent. I look forward to reading more of Blake Crouch. He subjects his main character to tortures I think even Joe Abercrombie would say "that's messed up."

[@brittanyhager8027]

I absolutely loved Dark Matter! I have yet to read Recursion but it's high on my list

[@raquelhybridge6911]

Love Michael Crichton. I’ve read almost all of his books. I’ll be reading Eaters of the Dead next month. I finished Dark Matter last week and really enjoyed it. Will be reading his other stuff for sure. Recursion later this year. Then, Wayward Pines.

[@novaj640]

This was a great book. Complex but interesting and the writing style flowed good.

[@carlagrubbs6392]

Thanks mike

[@jasonmorris678]

I had searched for authors similar to Michael Crichton and Dark Matter was one of the listed books. I grabbed the two books on that list my library had, and this is the title I couldn’t put down. I read it until I fell asleep and finished it right after I woke up.

[@mikesbookreviews]

It really is fantastic.

[@dpeady78]

Just finished it this morning - I definitely wanted more science explaining how he did what he did A good romp though and as you say, could’ve been longer

[@DanielGFreeman]

I Loved Dark Matter! Really looking forward to Recursion too. I watched wayward pines and really enjoyed it and will give the book series a try too. I think I read Dark Matter in two sittings - there's just no place to stop.

[@BaldBookTuber]

I gotta get into this dude’s stuff. Hopefully yet this year.

[@WMax-rm3ue]

Great book!

[@noeditbookreviews]

I just read the first chapter and, wow. I'm definitely eager to continue. The next day- Aahaah that was awesome! Great ending!

[@stuart1346]

Read recursion first but excited to try this

[@markb3534]

Just now finished. Let's hear it Mike!

[@Renee_Kellhus]

I found dark matter to be slightly better than recursion. U definitely gonna love it or even more than dark matter. I also read Summer Forest which was released last year as part of the forward collection I didn't love it cause it felt derivative but the writing was good & its about 150 pages short

[@Ulmo90]

Just finished Dark Matter, what an amazing book!

[@NamasteBbooktube]

Wow! Sounds brilliant. 🌍🌍🌍🌍

[@actung74]

A fantastic read and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I'm sure Dark Matter will be among the top reads of the year for me by the time the end of the year comes round. Have you read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig? Along the lines of Dark Matter but very different, a little slower to get going but get going it does, another great read.

[@CrapSandviche]

Yo, this coming Saturday the Bearded Fox.... come talk books!!!

[@korbaselectah]

Thanks

[@bridleybateson5622]

That intro is my favourite yet! Totally see what you mean with the Quantum Leap reference. This is a brilliant book, however (and I don't say this lightly) I think the Pines trilogy is even better.

[@nsartin23]

Watched this review, picked up the book, read it in 1 day. Incredible!

[@alexm3448]

Definitely dug the book. Blame crouch was obviously a big Sliders fan in the 90s though

[@strawberrylime33]

Just finished this book yesterday and am dying to discuss it! So much fun! Also, where did you get the drawings of scenes from the book? I wish i had these drawings while i was reading, it would've helped me picture some of the scenes better.😊

[@danielvanrooyen9602]

Blake Crouch is great for cleansing the pallet for all the epic fantasy I read. Great author with some very cool ideas in his books.

[@VARIABLENEWSNETWORK]

I just Subscribed to your Channel because I recently read Dark Matter… 3 times, in just a couple weeks and I found your channel because I just found out they are making a series out of it. I have to work the day it comes out so I am planning to watch the whole series on the 12th. I got my popcorn and beer ready. Having only read Dark Matter, any recommendations on the next Blake Crouch books? Start from the beginning?

[@Erm1785]

i didnt read my summer reading book and its due in 3 days so now im here

[@tropicaltuna]

Seems like you're on a good run with the sci fi books lately! I'm in the Dark Matter was better than Recursion camp; looking forward to your thoughts! Maybe it's because Blake Crouch does screenwriting, but I can really 'see' his books in my mind when I read, just like a movie. As I read Dark Matter I kept saying to my boyfriend "they have to make this into a movie it's perfect for it!'.

[@nuneke0]

Multiverse theorie makes for good sci-fi but if you really think about it becomes absurd quite fast. It's not only about the choices we have as individuals, the universe braches every time a single atom decays at a specific time or doesn't. The amount of "space" and energy to create a nearly infinite amount of parallel universes is just absurd. Energy is sparse and everything tends to the lowest possible energy state. However, the only thing the universe has plenty of is time. So I think it's more likely that we live all our lifes, just not at the same time in different universes, but in series, one after another. But you don't get reborn into this universe, the whole universe starts over and over again.

[@justinthyme2666]

I read DM first and loved it. When Recursion was released, I dived right into it and never cared for it. They do seem really similar, but not a rehash in my mind. Similar pacing, too, but I felt like that worked against Recursion and I lost track of things a few times. To me it just wasn't as tight as DM. I've actually thought about rereading at some point, though, as I'm very much a mood reader and I wasn't feeling it at the time of reading Recursion. The WP trilogy is pretty interesting. I loved the first book. The second book at one point really changed directions to me and I was actually like 80 pages from the end and was like, I don't care. I skimmed it and looked at a summary of the third and didn't regret my decision. You'd probably really enjoy it all, though. I started following your channel to expand beyond King, harry potter, and lotr, but I'm really more a Harry Bosch kind of guy. Still enjoy your content, though.

[@zacharyburklow5909]

Hey Mike, I watched your Dark Matter and Recursion book reviews and decided to pick up both the other day. I’m currently reading Project Hail Mary, but getting close to being done. I was curious which of the two Blake Crouch novels would you recommend first? They both sound awesome so I’m having a hard time deciding which one to dive into first haha.

[@lenas9487]

Michael Crichton's A Case of Need I've read and re-read and really enjoy it!

[@mtt9355]

I absolutely loved dark matter and recursion. I couldn't put them down had to keep reading

[@lenas9487]

I read and loved this one!!! And I don't usually read books like that! Any other books similar to this one that I should get my hands on? I enjoyed Pines too!

[@ScottnCarol4JC]

I loved it.

[@YourBrainonBooks]

This book was so dang fun

[@venezuelaavi]

Great book, read it last night and couldn’t put it down

[@sevuz1]

Bought this on my kindle 9pm and decided to read first few chapters and go to sleep.. Now it is 3am and I have finished the book. Talk about a page turner! Only Project hail mary and the martian have felt this impossible to put down. Thanks for the suggestion, Mike! Loved it!

[@narutobullock]

No matter who loses, Daniela will always win in this world lol. She has an infinite number of ideal Jasons to select from, lol.

[@nicodemogawronski2052]

I loved the book but I am used to longer books and would have loved to have some more pages about other worlds

[@robertvandenbergh5454]

It was a great book!

[@ivancruz5735]

Dark Matter was intense! It was a little slow at times, but loved how crazy it got. Gonna read Recrusion soon.

[@DINU19317]

did u read recursion is it worth?

[@AverageJoesLibrary]

I have Recursion and have wanted to get to it since I've had it. another regretful can I've been kicking down the road. It would make a great pallet cleanser I think.

[@adamborst]

I pounded the audiobook in 3 days, I couldn't turn it off. I could have taken another 100-200 pages as well. I think the ending was about as good as you're going to get. Man this was fun. I'd have loved a little more other world exploration but that probably takes away from the pacing. All in all, I think it was very good easily 4.5 of 5 stars for me. Btw, what if you're a cop on the orginal world at the end of the story, how do you possibly reconcile everything you find. Thank you Mike for another wonderful suggestion!

[@JuanMartinez-ib7mz]

Took me a while but finally got to this one. Read it in 3 sittings, being a slow reader, automatic 5 stars. I'm oficially a Crouch Potato now!

[@corinnereneesbookreviews9896]

Sounds pretty good. My mother loves Michael Crichton. Maybe my husband would like it too

[@akellerhouse83]

I liked Dark Matter, Recursion and Wayward Pines. If you liked Dark Matter I don't see how you wouldn't like Recursion too. Wayward Pines is a little different but I think they're all pretty good. All his books get going quickly and don't let up with the action.

[@myoldchannel0690]

This was one of the most page-turneriest page turners whose pages I've ever turned.

[@inocanandrei6950]

I am just two chapters in and I like it. I read Recursion on audio and I love it. And I think you will like it too.

[@jeffeby2218]

When you talk about the science in the book, I would love to know your opinion of the verbiage Frank Herbert threw into "Destination Void". I felt like I was reading above my grade level when I first read it. Later, I realized he put together an app[roach that was fictional but had some start points on current understandings of intelligence at that time. Blake Crouch is a great writer who knows how to tell an engaging story.

[@bryce4622]

With your love of horror and, now, Blake Crouch, you gotta try the book, Draculas. Written by Crouch and 3 other authors, it's a blast. Vampires that are actually scary.

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

Man that shirt is great.