Impulse: A Jumper Novel

What a great read. The veiled political commentary is irritating (I’m a conservative and the author is obviously a flaming liberal), but the writing is so clean, the characters so well done, and the plot so well developed, that I overlook that. This is really a good story. I am shocked that I hadn’t discovered it sooner. Now, I’m looking at some of the author’s other writings.

This was an interesting story, but lacked the maturity and excitement of Jumper and Reflex. Cent's experiences seemed like a female mirror image of her father's, as was her personality. The Hyacinth storyline seemed like a bit of an afterthought. It just made me miss the excitement of Reflex. It never seemed that Cent was ever in any real danger, and the teenage bad guys were a bit caricaturish and improbable. While I was disappointed in the quality of the story, it was still great to hear from my old friends, Davy and Millicent. Jumper and Reflex will be reread often, but probably once around is sufficient for Impulse. Not at all bad, just not as good as Jumper or Reflex.

This continuation of Gould's teleporting Jumper family is mostly told from the point of view of Cent, the 16 year old daughter of Millie and Davy. I really enjoyed it. Yes, there IS a lot of family relationships and girl teen growing up after living away from people for most of her life. But the threat from the nasty Evil Corporate Types does reappear in the last third of the book, to great effect. I loved how Cent found ways to teleport that were different from what her parents did, and yet very remarkable. The writing is again smooth as glass, the scenes very well done, the plotting is excellent and the final resolution of the story (no spoilers here) brings Cent into a new level of being Her Own Young Woman. Very nicely done. Highly recommended.

Most of the reviewers of this book must have read a different book than the one I read. Really, the whole book feels like the plot of a WB teenage drama. And the plausibility factor is way down. We are asked to believe this girl risks her whole family's lives multiple times for trivial reasons. "Jumper" was great, "Reflex" was good. This is at best a book for young teenagers. Spoiler alert, same review for Book Four, "Exo"

I enjoy Gould's writing, but fans of previous "Jumper" novels should be advised this is a very different book. It is written in the first person perspective of "Cent", David and Millie's daughter, and is much more a YA bildungsroman than the more scifi (though still YA oriented) material of the past books. For this reason, I didn't enjoy it as much. It's a fine book, but not the same as the previous Jumper books in writing or quality. (Still beats that horrid movie though)

Great story. His writing style is quite different from other authors and some parts are a bit difficult to interpret but overall a good read. He did a great job with location descriptions, he must've actually went to some of these places when he was researching. I recommend this series.

Gould wrote a real human and humane character, Davy, as his first jumper in the novel Jumper; the story was Davy's. In the second, Reflex, he added Milly, but I did not connect with that character as fully as I did with Davy; Reflex was still Davy's story. With Impulse, this story is all Cent's. This story can stand on its own; one does not need to have read anything about Davy or Milly to find Cent's story warm, funny, sad, and real. This is no 3rd book in a series; it is a 1st book on its own.

Other reviewers have laid out the plot and story lines. So, I won't. The thing is: don't waste your time reading the reviews, read the book.

You'll love the central character, Cent.

Not only is IMPULSE a page turner, but it is one of those rare books you are comfortable with almost immediately. One you don't want to put down, yet one you don't want to end.

I hope Steven Gould writes more about Cent. I don't want to never hear from her again.

David and Millie return. 17 years have passed since the events of Reflex and they now have a 16 year old daughter, Cent. They live in isolation and Cent is home schooled. When Cent learns she too can jump, they decide to move to a small town so that Cent can attend high school. The book is mostly a book about attending high school for the first time, dating, dealing with bullies and other standard high school drama. Some of the bad people from Reflex appear out of the blue at the end of the book, but they don't really play much of a role until the last pages of the book. Although Cent is a pleasant character, there isn't much sizzle to the plot. However, I would enjoy reading a follow up book on Cent, but she needs a better story.

While I love his writing, I felt there should have been more to this book. I desperately wanted Cent to have more depth. The original Jumper novel to me was so fascinating because of Davy's flaws and growth as a character. At the end, I felt it was more of a bridge towards another idea to be fulfilled later.

Impulse had a really good story. I enjoyed reading Impulse. The continuing story of David and Millie and now their daughter Cent. Impulse is more of a "young adult" book I guess as i've seen basically anything with the teenager as the main character being labeled young adult. Overall great story and I definitely would like to see more books featuring these characters again.

The book description says it all. This was the first in the series marketed as a "young adult" book and it shows. Certainly not a bad thing but it almost seems less serious than the first two. Takes a step back from government conspiracy into high school drama. Worth reading if you're a fan of the series though.

A respectable addition to the Jumper anthology. the main story revolves around Davy's daughter but he plays a decent supporting role. Davy's daughter uses her ability in new and innovative ways which make this a good story that's not just a duplicate of the previous books.

This third entry in the "Jumper series" is an excellent contribution to the series, turning now to the jumper couple's daughter, Cent. The book nicely mingles life threatening risks with snowboard fun with classic high-school angst. Highly enjoyable.

Steven Gould is one of my favorite authors. I have read all his books and rate them all with 5 stars. I will buy any new book of his sight and description unseen. I have been reading science fiction for over 50 years and I am highly gratified by how the quality of writing has improved over the last 20 years or so.

I just finished this one, and wow, it definitely stands up to the rest of the series. I really enjoyed the perspective of a regular old teenager who is granted this amazing ability, and seeing how she chooses to use her skills, or abuse them. If you like analyzing the logical aspect of superpowers, you should definitely check this out.

the book is great on several factors
1. cent tries jumping a different way a.k.a. impulse
2. old foes are back
3. steven gould keeps you wanting to read more with the way tells a story
I hope steven gould keeps going with this series

Really liked the other novels in this series. Not a classic, but fun read with a nice take on teleportation. Yet, this reads more like an installment of Twilight. Had to check the cover a couple of times to make sure I hadn't picked up a teen romance novel. And the "eco-friendly", "help the world" theme makes up a great deal of the novel without moving the plot forward one iota, doesn't help. Hard to believe this was written by the same author as the other books.

If you've enjoyed the previous Jumper, Other Jumper, etc. books, you'll enjoy this, too.

It bugs me a little that basic physics don't apply, but I'm a physics nerd, and I like the books anyway :-)

An attempt to illustrate the life of a jumper from the perspective of a teenage girl raised by jumpers. Fitting. Not quite thrilling, though. I await another Jumper installation much sooner than this one came.