You ever read a book that's 100% not what you expected it to be? That's very much the case here.
Dawn is a non-fiction in which we meet Proton "Pro", a proton who experiences the birth of the universe. From there on we follow him and his colleague protons throughout billions of year as we see the universe, planets and later life on Earth take place and evolve. Once humans enter the picture we follow various people throughout history.
Okay so that sounds like a fun premise. Having the story of our universe and life on Earth being told in story-form through the POV of a proton is a super fun idea. And the book definitely had some great elements and moments. The catch? This book tries to blend religion and science. Yep, a good chunk of this book isn't directly based in science but rather a mix between science and christian theology.
It doesn't subscribe to either one 100%, either. There's no young Earth creationism here and evolution does very much take place. But at the same time the universe was very much created by "the Creator" according to Proton and his friends, and the humans we follow once they enter the scene basically just act out various Bible stories and we get to see Pro's reactions to them.
Look, I am not an anti-theist and I actually consider myself agnostic to an extent. But I just don't feel that this book executed its concept very well, especially since I feel like this book will probably piss off people on both sides. Scientists and people who subscribe to science only will be irked by the Biblical elements, and strict christians won't like this meddling with their Biblical stories and characters with the additions of science-y elements like evolution and the Big Bang.
I also feel it's honestly very restrictive to only have this book touch on christian stories. Like, if you want to bring religion, beliefs and mythology into the mix anyways, why not go all out? Use elements from many different religions and mythologies throughout history. As long as it's done with respect I feel like it can be done without feeling biased towards christianity like it does here. Or, you know, maybe do the opposite and just cut religion (or science, take your pick) out of the mix entirely. Because I just don't vibe with this christianity-science blend. I'd have liked to see either more science or more different religions and beliefs represented.
Overall this is a book that definitely has its moments and in concept is great, but I just don't like the execution that much. I don't think it's downright offensively bad (though I'm sure there's quite a few scientists and christian fundamentalists who disagree with that statement) but it just wasn't for me.
Rating: 2.5/5
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