The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction

by Robert Goddard

First published in 2023.

Date read: Nov 2025

This is book 2. Book 1 is The Fine Art of Invisible Detection.

418 pages

Paperback

Note: Check out 'lines from the book section' below! I've tried something different.

Thoughts

• It’s mindbogglingly amazing how much information is jam-packed into fiction books, if only you look for it! This book is a gold mine.

• This books is political/ historical fiction or fiction revolving around events that happened in the past that have a significant impact in the unfolding of events.

• I like books that start numbering their pages from page 1.

• Many many characters, initially it gets hard to keep track of the names and who does what. Helpfully, there is an index in the beginning – a glossary of principal characters.

• Some readers might find the alternating timelines a little choppy to read. Just makes it more interesting and requires the reader to actually engage with the book.

• Didn’t think that the second book was be as good if not better than the first one. But it is. It is more grounded, more local.

• Parallel timelines beautifully unfold such that the characters in the parallel timelines actually meet at the very end, but not in a science fiction way. And it is not a love story.

• The wonders of good writing and a good, solid plot!

You'll like this book if

• You liked the first book and all the you’ll-like-this-book-if that comes along with it

• You often find yourself stuck in difficult situations and tend to find creative ways to get unstuck

• You like surprises

• You like learning new things

• You fancy being a detective

• You like well written characters

• You want to visit Japan

• You like independence

• You are stubborn

• You believe in fate and deliverance (deliverance = the action of being rescued or set free)

• You like a good plot and parallel narratives

• You like investigative journalism

• You like political/ historical fiction which is based on real events

• You appreciate translations, although this is not one

A not-so-quick vocab booster (explore at your own risk)

• Acrid: unpleasantly bitter or pungent

• Eyrie: a high or inaccessible place from which someone can observe what is below them

• Incommoded: inconvenienced (someone)

• Rectitude: morally correct behaviour or thinking; righteousness

• In hock: having been pawned; in debt

• Hangdog: having a dejected or guilty appearance; shamefaced

• Eponymous: (of a thing) named after a particular person or group; e.g., things that have been names after the protagonist

• Susurrations: whispering or rustling

• Seam: an underground layer of a mineral such as coal or gold

• Vaunted: praised or boasted about, especially in an excessive way

• Live high on the hog: have a luxurious lifestyle

• Staved off: avert or delay something bad or dangerous

• Staved in: break or crush something inward, usually by hitting it or pushing it with force

• Stuck in my craw: something that is deeply annoying, offensive or difficult to accept; something that is unfair or wrong, disturbing

• Cataclysm: a large-scale and violent event in the natural world; a sudden violent or political upheaval

• Stinted: Supply a very ungenerous or inadequate amount of (something); restricting the amount of

• Embargo (verb): impose an official ban on

• Sanguine: optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation

• Chequered: marked by periods of varied fortune or discreditable incidents

• Discombobulated: confusing or disconcerted

• Diffidence: modesty or shyness resulting from a lack of self-confidence

• Anodyne: not likely to cause offence or disagreement and somewhat dull

• Plaudit: an expression of praise or approval

• Oenophile: a connoisseur of wines

• Probity: the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency

• Ignoble: not honourable in character or purpose; of humble origin or social status

• Ginger it up: to make something more lively, exciting, or interesting

• Gumshoe: slang for ‘detective’

• Warren: a network of interconnecting rabbit burrows

• Leery: cautious or wary due to realistic suspicions

• Guile: sly or cunning intelligence

• Euphemism: a mild or indirect word or expressions substituted for one that is too harsh or too blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing

• Rumbustious: boisterous or unruly

• Cat’s cradle: something that is intricate, complicated or elaborate

• Suborn: bribe or otherwise induce (someone) to commit an unlawful act such as perjury

• Unqualified: (in context) complete without reservations [it’s funny how a single word means completely different things]

• Shadow-boxing: the activity of sparring with an imaginary opponent as a form of training

• Ad infinitum: again and again in the same way; forever

• Stratagem: a plan or scheme, especially one used to outwit an opponent or achieve an end

• Phlegmatic: (of a person) having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition

• Chandlery: the shop or business of a chandler; which means a dealer in supplies & equipment for ships, boats and more historically, household items

• Plosive: denoting a consonant that is produced by stopping the airflow using the lips, teeth, or palate, followed by a sudden release of air

• Anatomize: examine/ analyze in detail

• Fatalism: the belief that all events are pre-determined and therefore inevitable; a submissive attitude towards events resulting from a fatalistic attitude

Random fun facts based on phrases in the book

A skeleton key is a type of master key in which the serrated edges has been removed in such a way that it can open numerous locks. The term derives from the fact that the key has been reduced to its essential parts.

China Syndrome is a hypothetical unclear reactor accident where the molten core of a reactor melts through its containment structure and into the earth, burrowing “all the way to China”. While not a real, scientifically proven event, the name is used to describe a worst-case meltdown scenario. The term was popularised by a 1979 movie of the same name.

How to lose a tail at a train station at your own risk, if you are ever in danger #101 (an excerpt from the book)

Note: tail (verb) = follow and observe closely, in secret

(Warning: please do not try risky things, I do NOT advocate it)

Altogether it looks to Kodaka as if he has a tail. He loses him swiftly enough, using a technique his father taught him. It involves getting back on the train, waiting for the tail to follow, then leaving again just as the doors close. Effective, when you’re quick enough on your feet to pull it off, as Kodak is.

And as a follow up – He can deploy the assorted tactics at this disposal to lose a tail, but the effort stales with repetition.

chōme, bauchi, and gō are Japanese terms for parts of an address. They break down a location into increasingly specific sections.

chōme: numbered city district, the largest division

banchi: block or lot number within that district

gō: specific building or house number within a banchi

These three terms are often abbreviated in writing and separated by hyphen, e.g. 3 (chōme) – 5 (banchi) – 10 (gō).

Treasury tags are stationery items used to bind paper together using a short length of string with metal or plastic crosspieces at the end. These are very cool and useful.

Lever arch files are different from ring binders in that they are capable to holding more sheets as compared to a binder. Ring binders are more for daily tasks and hold fewer pages.

A shōgi board is a 9 x 9 square grid used for the traditional Japanese game of shōgi (Japanese Chess).

Some Japanese words (I have a Japanese keyboard now! This is only hiragana and katakana, no kanji; pardon any errors)

• Genkan げんかん: entrance area immediately inside a house

• Konbini コンビニ: convenience store

• Sanyaku さんやく: refers to highest ranks in sumo wrestling

• Tsukebito つけびと: a personal attendant or apprentice in sumo

• Rikishi りきし: a sumo wrestler

• Ryokan りょかん: a traditional Japanese inn, often featuring rooms with tatami mats and futon beds

• Engawa えんがわ: a traditional Japanese architectural feature; a wooden veranda or porch that wraps around the outside of the house acting as a transition space between the interior and the garden

• Shōji しょうじ: (in Japan) a sliding outer or inner door made of a latticed screen covered with white paper

• Koban こうばん: police box – a small neighbourhood police station

• Hanko はんこ: a personal seal traditionally used in Japan as a substitute for hand-written signature

A few lines from the book and when to apply some of them (had to cut down a lot)

When you find yourself out of your depth: As for the suggestion that she might be out of her depth, she recalled something her father said to her in childhood when he took her for swimming lessons: ‘If you don’t try to touch the bottom, Umiko, you won’t need to worry about how deep the water is.’

When the struggle is real: ‘When I hit a dead-end,’ Kodaka was fond of saying, ‘I go back to the beginning.’ AND She began to wonder if her trip was actually going to achieve anything. Maybe she was wasting her time. Or maybe not. Kodaka would have said – as he often did – that you only knew if a lead was a dead end when you reached the end.

When you need to prepare, prepare well:

Kodaka has prepared for it so meticulously he doesn’t feel nervous, although he can’t suppress all apprehensiveness. Experience tells him there is no plan that can’t go awry if circumstances conspire against it. So, he is confident but not complacent. He is going to invest his every move with a great deal of care.

When you need to appreciate life:

‘I am lucky to be alive – and I must make the most of my luck.’

AND ‘Fate has delivered this opportunity to him. He doesn’t intend to waste it.’

When it's time to slow down:

He had the distracted air of someone perpetually trying to fit too much work in to too few hours.

When you are faced with rush hour, literally:

She sat on the bench on the [train station] platform, waiting patiently for a train with a level of occupancy she judged she could tolerate.

AND

‘Time became… elastic… during that period.’

When you don't know what the hell is going on:

Everything from that period felt strange to her, because it seemed to belong to the memory and experiences of someone other than herself.

When you are different from the herd:

‘You find that… comforting?’

‘I find it practical. And I am comfortable with practicality.’

When you want to zone into your auditory sense:

‘The echo in the background is… quite particular. All spaces create their own unique sound. It’s to do the way noises and voices bounce off their surroundings, how they mix in the air, how they… interact.’

AND

And other layers of sound subtly reveal themselves.

When you find yourself struggling with yourself:

This was, Wada knew, the most prudent course of action. She also knew it was a course of action she would find it impossible to follow. There was nothing to be gained by struggling with her own instincts. And she knew better than to try.

AND

She closes her eyes for a moment, as if to ward off the world that is closing in on her.

AND ‘I try to accept all turns of events, both the expected and the unexpected, in the same way.’

When you find yourself struggling with a decision:

His mind locks on the decision he has just taken. He feels liberated, as if a load has been lifted from his shoulders.

A word to the wise

And she also had no doubt that to continue ignoring the level of threat this meant she was under was foolhardy.

AND

She knew her stubbornness could as easily be a handicap as a strength.

AND

Patience is a part of a private detective’s armoury.

AND

Order and neatness solved all problems, she believed, even though it wasn’t actually true.

AND

Sometimes people cannot be helped. However hard you try.

AND

Responsibility, once assumed, abides with the bearer.

Pithy lines for laughs

‘I am sorry but this cannot wait.’

‘Another urgent problem?’

‘The same problem. More urgent.’

‘And the future has to be built, before it is rebuilt again a couple of decades down the road. Construction, you see, is a business that never stops growing.’

When her phone rang, she was inclined not to answer.

He was a man with a sketchy recent past and an utterly opaque present.

It was strange to be in such a place when the place itself was her destination.

P. S. – In what order do you usually read a book? Do you jump right in? Or do you read the foreword or the acknowledgements or about the author first? Or are you someone who jumps right to the end? Do you read through glossaries and further readings?