Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

The Victor's Heritage by Anthony Caplan My rating: 4 of 5 stars Corrag is categorically unsatisfied with her choices in Democravia. She does not want to be put on the fast track to augmentation; the thought of her brain being accessible to the level of hierarchy it would be is unsettling. So she decides that a youth liaison to the Repho doesn’t sound so bad. What she doesn’t realize is the roller coaster she has just stepped on to will not stop until she comes full circle. The Victor’s Heritage is the second in the Jonah Trilogy. The post apocalyptic thriller follows a teen character who I actually like, which is rare. She is thrown into an impossible situation and responds with fortitude and determination, and what most would consider quite a mature attitude for a teenager, although I certainly remember it from my own teenage years. While I would recommend reading the trilogy from the beginning, I did not find it hard to follow or requiring a large backstory to keep up, i...

The Digital Now by Roland Allnach My rating: 5 of 5 stars Carly has always been a member of Patrol; it’s always just another day. She patrols with her partner, Graham, they eat the same food, put down the same endorsed, cyclical riots, drink and party. Until she suffers a severe crack on the skull from a dropped brick, and has to be reformatted. After all, that’s got to be where all these strange thinks are from, right? Or is it possible that she has unlocked a part of herself that Central fears? Can she possibly be on the run from Central, or is this all a part of a much grander manipulation? Set in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian future, The Digital Now explores both the positives and negatives of an autocratic, central authority that makes the call on who lives and dies, rations the meager provisions, and guides consumer desires in a way that makes them think they are doing it all on their own. Written in an unapologetically Orwellian/Huxlian style, The Digital Now is a throwba...

Fire War by T.T. Michael My rating: 4 of 5 stars Anthony Jackson is determined to finish up his Marine tour for the NAU and get home for good. He has a wife and daughters to reconnect with and a life to build. His last assignment is to train some new snipers, and he is good at what he does. He doesn’t realize that his assignment will lead to a new world order with Canada, Mexico and the US joining forces, and turning into a country he barely recognizes. What will happen when the nation feels more like Orwell’s 1984 than the current date of 2076? Fire War imagines the US turning into a dictatorship, abandoning the principles of the current Constitution, due to extreme security measures adopted after major terrorist attacks. While set in the future it is not hard to imagine this outcome, particularly given current debates over similar issues. While at times it can feel a little preachy, Michael effectively outlines a scenario that is plausible, which is what makes it scary. I hope...

The Dragon's Breath by Jamie Sedgwick My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Iron Horse is chugging along but are beginning to have a fuel problem. If they don’t find Starfall in the next town they may be stranded. There may be starfall in that town, but there is something else no one expected to find, a mysterious fog that causes terrible hallucinations that the residents deem “Dragon’s Breath.”. All the Iron Horse crew members experience the effect, save Socrates. Can they figure out where it comes from to prevent it among their crew? And what about the residents of Stormwall, how do they combat it? Most importantly, will they find fuel to continue on their quest or be stranded in a strange kingdom? Book three in the Aboard the Great Iron Horse series is jam packed with sword fights, relationship drama, dragon fighting, and intrigue, all in a post-apocalyptic setting with a steam punk twist. While it is book three of a series, I felt that the story stood well on its own, even if you ...

Cloud Red by Daisy White My rating: 4 of 5 stars Red was born after the floods, but can’t shake the feeling that her father was recently murdered because he knew something about them. She won’t rest until she finds out who killed her father and why, but she might uncover some rather damaging, even deadly, political information the process. Can she find out what she needs to know without risking her life or her friends? And why does the sky have those pink streaks running through it? Cloud Red is an engaging young adult novel about a rebellious teenager who is determined to track down her father’s killer. It is set in a post-apocalyptic portion of England, where there has been a Noahesque flood, and only a small portion of Great Britain had water that receded enough for survival, although now that too is threatened. The brave new world has to survive in not so pleasant conditions, but teenagers are still teenagers. The setting is interesting and the characters are written honestl...

Rotville by Bryce Bentley Summers My rating: 4 of 5 stars Subject 501 may be it. The one that demonstrates the perfect outcome of all their hard work. Now they just have to make him obedient, and fortunes will follow. But Subject 501 has other plans, and unknown friends that may just help him escape. Titus is not about to let all his hard work and the countless hours of research and experimentation go to waste all because of one subject and a couple of kids. Rotville is an excellent post apocalyptic thriller that mixes pathogen outbreak, zombie mania, advanced neural tech and political hubris to create a compelling story of a human experiment who is able to save the innocents. There is a lot of action that is well described (although it did get a little tedious for me at the end) which enhances the story well. The plot is both easy to follow and still surprising, and I was so happy to see that the author accounted for the obvious in certain points, such as noting the necessity o...

Legend of the Stone: Chapter I by Lucas R. Ballard My rating: 1 of 5 stars Lucas is a project. Tortured by scientists and soldiers since his discovery at age 8, he has managed to survive everything they have thrown at him. He is an asset, but a resentful one. When the opportunity to escape arises he takes it, and takes out many of the torturers while doing so. He finds a rare friend who saves his life, and together they discover the power of the stone he found during his escape. Will he and Juan survive their attempt to hijack a freighter and leave the moon, or will their stone-enhanced powers be too little, too late? I really wanted to like this book. The premise of Merlin’s magic returning to humans after he casts it out intrigued me, as did the prospect of it coming to a man mottled by experimentation. But the writing was just.so.bad. There were run-ons and fragments, tenses jumping in and out all over the place, strange redundancies, and obvious wrong words, like “cloths” in...

Meritropolis by Joel Ohman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Charley has just achieved a score of 118, one of the highest in Meritropolis. That score will afford him a lot of perks, but seeing a little girl about to be zeroed brings back memories of his brother, Alec, who was also zeroed as a child, and sends him into a blind rage. He saves the little girl, for now, but at the expense of his best friend, who is chosen to be put outside the gates in her place. Charley vows then and there that he will fight the System, because he knows all life is valuable, regardless of what the System dictates. But should he fight the system from within or attack from the outside? And are they really the only people left after The Event, or is that just another lie perpetuated by the System? Set in the post-apocalyptic AE 12, author Joel Ohman explores what would happen if we were all assessed only by what we could contribute to society, and how we would make the decision that some are worth saving but ot...