Edge of Time by Thalia Kalkipsakis

Edge of Time by Thalia Kalkipsakis is the third and final book in the Lifespan of Starlight trilogy. It brings a long-awaited conclusion to the story that I started reading two years ago, with Lifespan of Starlight and the second book Split Infinity. After the cliffhanger at the end of the second book, two years was a long time to wait for the third book. Now that they're all out, I highly recommend reading them all in a row. Because it's an excellent series.

On the run from the government, Scout's decades-long disappearance is about to catch up with her …

When Scout returns from her longest time-jump yet, she finds that nothing has gone to plan. Her friends have been captured by the authoritarian regime, Mason is nowhere to be found, and something strange is happening each time she skips.

Then, deep in the city, a citizen is discovered whose chip exactly matches the first ever time-skipper. Who is she? How did she learn to time-skip? And could she hold the key to travelling backwards in time?

Uncovering the truth could offer Scout a chance to shape a new future – if she can let go of her past.

It took me a little while to orient myself at the start of this book after the gap in time (lol) since I read the previous book. The opening of Edge of Time is not overly burdened with reminders of the earlier books, but there were enough that I was able to get my bearings. I think I would have been sucked into the story more quickly if I had not had to wait so long before reading it. On the other hand, that's pretty much my biggest criticism of this book.

After Scout jumps into an unfamiliar future, the world is not magically a better place, alas. Instead, the dystopian future she started out in only keeps getting worse. (Poor future-Melbourne.) Also, all the plans laid by her and her friends go awry one way or another, leaving Scout dissatisfied with the world she's living in, when she has time to not be terrified of whatever the latest disaster is.

One aspect I found really interesting about the narrative structure is that there were several possibilities presented for how the book could end, but none which would simultaneously satisfy Scout and make a good ending for the series, right up until the actual ending started happening. Which was delightful. After a bit of uncertainty on my part that the ending would do the series justice, I was really pleased with how Kalkipsakis brought the book to a close.

I really enjoyed this series and I highly recommend it to fans of any combination of YA, dystopias and time travel. (Also, the covers are really pretty.) I recommend starting with the first book, Lifespan of Starlight, however, since this series is very much one continuous story (with cliffhangers) and not at all standalone chunks. It's three acts of the same story that don't work without the proceeding parts. I will be keeping an eye on any (YA) SF that Kalkipsakis writes in the future.

5 / 5 stars

First published: June 2018, Hardie Grant Egmont
Series: Lifespand of Starlight book 3 of 3
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from Kobo

Want by Cindy Pon

Want by Cindy Pon is a near-future science fiction YA book set in Taiwan that stands alone but is also the opening of a series. It's the first book by the author that I've read, though not for lack of trying; most of her other books are unavailable in Australia and Europe and it felt like I had to wait a while for Want to make it to Australia. Hopefully the planned sequel will arrive more promptly.

Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits that protect them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother, who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost.

With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.

Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is or destroying his own heart?

This novel is set in a near-future Taipei in a world where pollution has gotten bad enough that the rich walk around in environment suits and the poor die young. Zhou and his friends want to change the status quo and hatch an ambitious plot to do so. It involves infiltrating the world of the rich in the hope of helping the poor of Taipei. (The title comes from the idea of the divide between the "haves" and the "wants".)

I really enjoyed this book. Although I ended up reading it over a longer period of time than I usually do with YA books (for external reasons), I was consistently engaged with the story and the characters. It's told in first person from Zhou's point of view, meaning we see the most into his world, his past and his feelings. He sits somewhere in the middle among his friend group in terms of privilege and current circumstances, and we see the lives of the poor from several angles as well as the lives of the rich.

I found the story fun to read even when it was dealing with heavy concepts (aside from a few more poignant moments). I particularly found some events near the end delightful (but I won't spoil them here) and I felt that the book ended on a really strong note. Although the world's problems aren't completely resolved by the end of Want the main plot lines of the book draw neatly to a close. While I want to read the sequel because I enjoyed Want, I would also have been satisfied if no sequels had been planned.

I recommend this book to fans of YA, dystopias and near-future SF. In particular, readers looking for diverse settings in YA books will find much to like here. It's nice reading a book that's both not set in the US and acknowledges the existence of the rest of the world. I enjoyed Want and hope to read more by Pon in the future, whether it's the sequel or one of her other books (may they lose their geo-restrictions).

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2017, Simon Pulse
Series: Yes, book 1 of 2 planned so far
Format read: ebook
Source: Borrowed from the library (via Libby for Overdrive)

#ReadShortStories about horrible things (101 to 105)

After a little break from short stories, in which I got sucked into a few novels, I am back at it. I'm still making my way through Not So Stories and still trying to break that book up with other stories to lighten the mood. I was less successful at lightening the mood in this batch, however, as the two random stories I chose were not exactly cheerful, alas. They're all strong stories, though.

How the Ants Got Their Queen by Stuart Hotston — A clear metaphor for colonialism, it’s ills and aftermath. Although the story was not subtle, I still found myself enjoying it. And the direction of the ending was not overly telegraphed, which was nice. Not a cheerful story (of course), but a good read. Source: Not So Stories edited by David Thomas Moore

How the Snake Lost its Spine by Tauriq Moosa — As you can guess from the title, this is another creature-origin type story. I liked the ideas in it, but I didn’t find it to be as strong as some of the others. The writing could have been tighter where I found it a little dull in places. Not bad overall, just not one of the best. Source: Not So Stories edited by David Thomas Moore

The No-One Girl and the Flower of the Farther Shore by E Lily Yu — An unusual story about a girl living on the fringe of society after her grandmothers’s death and the village in which she lives. Also a magical flower. I liked it but I’m not sure I fully understood it, mainly because the structure was not what I am used to. Source: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/yu_03_18/

Unplaces: An Atlas of Non-existence by Izzy Wasserstein — I liked this story and the way it was told, somewhat obliquely. Annotations to a non-fiction book about fictional/lost places tell of a dystopian future world in which hope is not lost. Source: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wasserstein_03_18/

The Cat Who Walked by Herself by Achala Upendran — This story is about how common domesticated animals, as well as Man and Woman found their place. I found this story quite upsetting in how it just kept escalating in patriarchal (not sure that’s the right word—hegemonic?) terribleness. The ending was satisfying but didn’t erase what went before. Source: Not So Stories edited by David Thomas Moore

#ReadShortStories (46 to 50)

Three stories from the same issue of Uncanny, this batch. After realising how many short stories I was enjoying from Uncanny, I thought I should support them and subscribe. (It's also possible to support them on Patreon, but a yearly ePub subscription isn't very expensive, so I went with that.) They have rather more stories per issue than I realised, so I'm not even halfway through issue 20 (Jan/Feb 2018) yet. Expect more in the near future.

My favourite story from this batch was hands down "Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse" by SB Divya and, in fact, prompted me to finally pick up her novella, Runtime. Keep an eye out for my review of that in a couple of days. Also, if you happen to know whether "Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse" and Runtime are set in the same future, please let me know! I'm not sure whether they are, but I feel like they definitely could be.


Praying to the God of Small Chances by L Chan — A flash piece about wanting a miracle cure for the protagonist’s father’s cancer and an encounter with a god of small chances. The idea was interesting, but there just wasn’t much to the story, even considering that it’s flash. Source: http://arsenika.ink/fiction/praying-to-the-god-of-small-chances/

She Still Loves the Dragon by Elizabeth Bear — A lovely story about a knight errant who set out to meet a dragon and do the one thing she had not done: stand naked in front of the dragon she loved. Written with strong references to songs and ballads, including the ballad this story would become. It was a very nice story but I didn’t love it as much as I felt like I should have (whatever that means). Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/still-loves-dragon/

Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse by SB Divya — This story was right along the lines of what we were after for Defying Doomsday: it featured a protagonist with disabilities and an apocalypse. Also queer relationships. The apocalypse itself was a bit unexpected — I didn’t realise at first that it was set in the (former) US — and centred around what seemed to be a fracturing of the country into police states and safe states. The setting was very extreme (violent and oppressive) and affecting, which contributed to making this an excellent story. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/contingency-plans-apocalypse/

The Hydraulic Emperor by Arkady Martine — An interesting story about aliens, desire, obsession and sacrifice. I found it an interesting read that got into various characters’ psychology, not just the narrator’s. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-hydraulic-emperor/

Four-Point Affective Calibration by Bogi Takács — A flash story about calibrating a psychology (?) experiment and what different emotions mean to the narrator. Also what aliens mean to the narrator. Source: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/four-point-affective-calibration/

Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh

Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh is a standalone YA science fiction novel and the author's debut. It's set in a nearish future Seoul, during a very long-running and high-tech war. It's also been described as "K-drama meets Pacific Rim", which is not entirely inaccurate.

After a great war, the East Pacific is in ruins. In brutal Neo Seoul, where status comes from success in combat, ex-gang member Lee Jaewon is a talented pilot rising in the ranks of the academy. Abandoned as a kid in the slums of Old Seoul by his rebel father, Jaewon desires only to escape his past and prove himself a loyal soldier of the Neo State.

When Jaewon is recruited into the most lucrative weapons development division in Neo Seoul, he is eager to claim his best shot at military glory. But the mission becomes more complicated when he meets Tera, a test subject in the government’s supersoldier project. Tera was trained for one purpose: to pilot one of the lethal God Machines, massive robots for a never-ending war.

With secret orders to report on Tera, Jaewon becomes Tera’s partner, earning her reluctant respect. But as respect turns to love, Jaewon begins to question his loyalty to an oppressive regime that creates weapons out of humans. As the project prepares to go public amidst rumors of a rebellion, Jaewon must decide where he stands—as a soldier of the Neo State, or a rebel of the people.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I've made no secret of having watched too many K-dramas (Korean TV shows) in the past couple of years, and this book hit a lot of the same buttons for me as those shows. The biggest difference, really, being the futuristic setting and the inclusion of other satisfying science fictional elements. (Really, I've watched a lot of fantasy/supernatural K-dramas — if you have any science fiction recommendations, please tell me in the comments.) It's not just the setting which hits the K-drama notes, but the casual Korean phrases the author left in the text — it was like Viki subtitles but with much better grammar. But on to the actual story...

About a hundred and fifty years in the future Jaewon, our first person narrator, is a poor kid from the wrong side of the river (literally the Han river) who is on a scholarship to a prestigious military academy in the upper-crusty Neo Seoul. A lot of the story places him between two extremes: rich school friends with promising futures on the one hand, and local gangs and unskilled labourers and foot soldiers on the other. The war affects everyone in this strangely post-nation world, but of course it affects some people worse than others.

Against the backdrop of Jaewon trying to do his best and not get into too much trouble, other people are brewing trouble around him. There are the rebels who want Korea to go back to being a country, there are weird medical experiments, and there's a shady past surfacing to further complicate matters for Jaewon. There's also a romantic storyline and a troubling storyline for one of Jaewon's friends. I particularly liked the fact that although there is a major war on and children are being recruited into the military, the teenaged main characters aren't expected (by the narrative, as well as by the adults) to save the day and fix the world. Given some of the set up, that would have been an easy trap to fall into. The only thing I didn't really like in this book was the history of the ongoing war, which was a bit weird, especially with how it was being referred to. That said, the present consequences and so forth were fine, so I was able to overlook it without too much trouble.

This was a very enjoyable book to read and I think fans of YA science fiction (particularly dystopias and similar) will find a lot to like here. Honestly, I feel a bit weird calling this a dystopia. Because it absolutely is, fighting mechs can't change that, but aside from the constant large-scale war it didn't feel that much more dystopian than parts of the real world (and they had levitating phones). Anyway, I strongly recommend this book to fans of YA, nearish future science fiction and mechs. I especially recommend it to readers interested in a non-USian setting.

5 / 5 stars

First published: 2017, Tu Books
Series:No (or, well, not yet? I'd read more if a series were to eventuate)
Format read: Hardcover! Try not to die of shock ;-p (actually the ebook isn't available outside of North America, so I had no choice)
Source: Book Depository :-/

After Atlas by Emma Newman

After Atlas by Emma Newman is a companion novel to Planetfall, which I previously reviewed here. You don't have to have read Planetfall to read After Atlas — both books stand alone entirely — but some background/historical context for After Atlas will be clearer sooner if you've read the other book first. Even if you spend most of After Atlas trying to remember the names of the Planetfall characters before caving and checking when you're near the end, as I did. Also, it should be possible to read the two books in either order.

Gov-corp detective Carlos Moreno was only a baby when Atlas left Earth to seek truth among the stars. But in that moment, the course of Carlos’s entire life changed. Atlas is what took his mother away; what made his father lose hope; what led Alejandro Casales, leader of the religious cult known as the Circle, to his door. And now, on the eve of the fortieth anniversary of Atlas’s departure, it’s got something to do why Casales was found dead in his hotel room—and why Carlos is the man in charge of the investigation.

To figure out who killed one of the most powerful men on Earth, Carlos is supposed to put aside his personal history. But the deeper he delves into the case, the more he realizes that escaping the past is not so easy. There’s more to Casales’s death than meets the eye, and something much more sinister to the legacy of Atlas than anyone realizes…

Planetfall wasn't exactly a cheerful book, so I picked up After Atlas because I was in the mood for a depressing read. Boy, did it deliver in that regard! Set on a dystopian Earth forty years after the colony ship in Planetfall left, After Atlas follows a detective assigned to a murder case. Carlos the detective, also the first person narrator, is owned and enslaved by the Ministry of Justice and contractually forbidden from revealing that fact. Because of the NDA included in his contract, most free people don't believe slaves like him exist, which makes for some interesting social interplays (and bitterness).

A large part of After Atlas is a murder mystery, with the victim the leader of a cult Carlos escaped when he was sixteen. The cult insist on having Carlos be the investigator and, of course, the situation brings up a lot of difficult memories for him which also serve to fill in the reader on his backstory. The story of the cult and of Carlos's connection to the departed spaceship end up being key components of the story, along with the murder itself.

Newman paints a pretty bleak picture of humanity in this series and especially in this book. Honestly, I was surprised at how bleak some parts were and I recognise that's not for everyone. But I really enjoyed the book and the story and the issues it raised. I will definitely read any more books that come out in this series, although I'm not sure more are planned. I recommend After Atlas to fans of dark SF (I wouldn't call it horror, though) and to anyone who enjoyed Planetfall, although it's a pretty different read in many respects. I've enjoyed all of Newman's books that I've read, but I should warn you that if you've only read the Split Worlds series, this series is very different, so be warned.

5 / 5 stars

First published: November 2016,
Series: Planetfall series, book 2 of 2 so far (but both stand alone)
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Split Infinity by Thalia Kalkipsakis

Split Infinity by Thalia Kalkipsakis is the second book in the Lifespan of Starlight trilogy, following on from book 1, Lifespan of Starlight, which I read and reviewed recently. I really enjoyed this sequel, and it made me realise that the only reason I didn't give Lifespan of Starlight 5 stars (I gave it 4.5) is because reading bad goodreads reviews before reading the book had me anticipating it taking a turn for the crappy, which it didn't. Split Infinity continued on in the same trope-avoiding way as the first book. Oh, also, the blurb and this review contain MAJOR SPOILERS for the first book.

A split-second decision, a single time-skip. The world that you know, gone in a blink.

Now a sharp and adept time-skipper, Scout jumps years ahead to find the world transformed. Technology has accelerated and the people she knows have grown up, or disappeared. Most pressing, the government that she was trying to escape has used the time to prepare for the return of the time skippers. Caught between finding the mother she left behind and time-skipping ahead with Mason, a series of events lead Scout deeper into the tunnel than ever before.

The only way out is by the strength of her love and the power of her mind. The illusion of time has one more surprise, one with the power to change everything.

As you probably gathered from my preamble, I enjoyed this book a lot. One of my favourite things about it is that Scout, the main character, is pretty smart and doesn't make stupid decisions for no better reason than to further the plot (a YA pet peeve of mine). In fact, whenever I thought "she should do blah" to solve whatever problem she was facing, she generally did or did something even more clever. That's not to say that the book was predictable, just that obvious smart courses of action weren't conveniently ignored by the protagonist.

I mentioned in my review of the first book that I didn't think the government quite counted as dystopian because almost everyone (who wasn't in Scout's position) was basically doing OK. In this book, which is mostly set a bit further in the future than we see in the first book, the repressiveness of the government took a turn for the worse and definitely feels more dystopian. Whether or not Scout (and friends) will be directly addressing that beyond just trying to keep themselves safe is unclear. Although it's more dystopian than the first book, it's not following the obvious beats of a YA dystopia (yet — I suppose the third book could change that).

On the topic of not following obvious beats, there were a few time travel beats that I thought this second book might end on and to be honest, until the very end I kind of wanted it to end that way. But once the end game was playing out, it became clear that the book wasn't going to end quite the way I expected. There is another cliff hanger, though (that bit I did expect).

In my review of the first book I didn't talk much about time travel because I didn't want to give that aspect of the story away. This second volume is very much more of a time travel narrative, so I think it should be mentioned. One of the things that I think makes this series so successfully compelling is that it took two unrelated, solid ideas — everyone being chipped and time travel — and combined them to make a story greater than the sum of its parts. It helps that the portrayal of being chipped is done in a relatively fresh way (like when Scout has trouble crossing the road without a chip), and that the method of time travel is novel and both constrained (jumping forward, not moving from where you were and arriving naked) and liberal (anyone can learn to do it).

Finally, Scout has a very close relationship with her mother, which doesn't change when the whole time travel thing starts. Scout's mother isn't conveniently out of the way or kidnapped, does worry about her, and is a motivator for Scout to do various things. Her mother's strong presence is balanced by the fact that Scout has a lot of freedom, especially for a 14 or 15 year old, but I appreciate her not being orphaned or neglected from the outset.

To reiterate, I enjoyed Split Infinity a lot and would whole-heartedly recommend it and the first book to fans of character-driven YA and science fiction. Although there is a romantic element in the books, it was actually stronger in the first book than the second, and isn't very prominent overall (and wow did I appreciate the fact that Scout didn't do anything to stupid for cute boys). I am eagerly awaiting the last book in the series, alas I think I'll be waiting about a year to read it.

5 / 5 stars

First published: May 2016, Hardie Grant Egmont
Series: Lifespan of Starlight book 2 of 3
Format read: Paper!
Source: Purchased (from Big W...)
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge, Aussie Science Fiction Reading Challenge

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa is the conclusion to the Blood of Eden trilogy. I previously reviewed the first two books, The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure. While I enjoyed the first book, I didn't particularly like the second, which is why it took me so long to get around to the third. In the end, I picked it up on a whim when I saw it in the library. In case you can't be bothered clicking on the links for the first two books, the worldbuilding premise of the series is that there have always been vampires, but when a plague threatened to wipe out humanity, the vampires, concerned about their blood supply, took over and more or less started farming humans. The main character, Allison, came from one city-farms, but was turned into a vampire at the start of book one. Anyway, the rest of this review, including the blurb, contains spoilers for the earlier books.

Vengeance will be hers.

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster? With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

Monster.

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions - her creator Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost - the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, her triumph will be short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

THE FINAL HUNT IS ON.

When I started reading this book, I couldn't actually remember exactly why I'd disliked the second book. I did remember the cinematic fight scenes from the first book, though, and the general premise if not all of the details. It was actually very easy to pick this book up even with a three year gap since reading book two; the author does a good job of reorienting the reader at the start. And the fight scenes are, again, cinematic.

As is to be expected from a book three of a trilogy, the plot was mostly centred on the Allie and friends completing their saving-the-world mission. The story opens with Allie not caring about anything else after the death of her boyfriend in the previous book. She is travelling with her sire and Master vampire Kanin (who taught her how to fight and is all about honour and being nice to humans), and the significantly less honourable Jackal, and there is a nice rapport between the three of them, even when Allie is in the depths of despair and anger.

Although I think the prose could have been tighter, I enjoyed this concluding volume of this trilogy. I certainly liked it more than the second book, and I'm glad to have finally finished the series. In general, I'd recommend it to fans of vampires, post-apocalyptic tales and YA. If the premise sounds interesting to you, give it a go. If you got through book two but haven't read book three yet, I do recommend doing so.

3.5 / 5 stars

First published: 214, Harlequin Teen
Series: Blood of Eden book 3 of 3
Format read: Paper *gasp*
Source: Borrowed from the library

The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig

The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig is a book I've had a strange mental relationship with since before I read it. For whatever reason, I kept thinking it was YA (it isn't) and then put off reading it because I didn't feel like a YA dystopian and because it felt a bit too close to potential Defying Doomsday slush. Then one day I decided to start reading, got about a chapter in and put it down for a while because some other book seemed more pressing. The second time I picked it up, however, I was hooked (and read it exclusively till the end).

Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair one is an Alpha — physically perfect in every way — and the other an Omega burdened with deformity, small or large.

With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracised while the Alphas have gathered the world's sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: Whenever one twin dies, so does the other. Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side by side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.

Although, as I've said, The Fire Sermon isn't a YA book — mainly because the main character is in her mid 20s — it does, upon reading, feel like one in some ways. Primarily the dystopian world which needs fixing and the anti-establishment sentiments of the main character, which seem like they might lead to some sort of revolution by the end of book 3, and the way in which the main character is a catalyst of change. On the other hand, it's a longer and more complex novel (plot-wise) than most YA dystopians that spring to mind. The characters are also adults and act like adults (while having similar adventures to their YA counterparts), which is refreshing. (If you're wondering, there are no on-page sex scenes, only kissing.)

I was pleasantly surprised by the world building in this book. I've had my fill of vague and/or nonsensical apocalypses and regular readers will know how fond I am of rigorous world building. The Fire Sermon was set 400 years after a nuclear holocaust in what I was lead to believe was formerly Tasmania. There's a bit of magic to the effects of the nuclear blast — everyone is born with a magically-linked twin and there are a few people around who are seers — but it fits well with the history and feels cohesive. The society is dystopian for two primary reasons: fear of technology because technology once blew them all up and the fact that one of each set of twins (the Omega) is born with a physical deformity or, in a few rare cases, is a seer. Omegas are shunned by Alpha society and forced to live on the fringes. The only reason the Alphas aren't already practising eugenics, is because if one twin out of an Alpha/Omega pair dies, so does the other.

Our main character, Cass, is of course an Omega and a seer. Being a seer makes her unusual but I appreciated that she wasn't the only one. In fact, one of the bad guys is also a seer. The other advantage of being a seer — other than, y'know, seeing the future and/or past — is that they look physically normal. In Cass's case this meant that she and her twin weren't split until they were 13 because their parents couldn't tell which was the Alpha. Usually twins are split as soon as they're weaned and sent away to an Omega settlement. Being an Omega has a profound effect on Cass's life as it makes her a second class citizen but Haig also shows us how it affects the Alpha twin and also how different people can react differently to the situation.

I really liked Cass as a character and Kip, who she spends a significant portion of the book travelling with, was also very readable. After things in Cass's life take a turn for the worst, she finds herself on the run with Kip, both of them unprepared. I thought the portrayal of the journey, with a lot of almost dying from hunger or thirst, was plausible and there were not unlikely lucky breaks for them, which often bother me.

There are more things I'd like to talk about in this review, but they happen later in the book and are definitely spoilers. Suffice to say that I approved of the world building reveals as they happened. And there was a brilliant reveal near the end that I didn't see coming until I was in the revealing scene, so that's always exciting. I wasn't sure (and couldn't be bothered checking) whether The Fire Sermon was a standalone or the start of the series. It stands alone fairly well and while I'm definitely looking forward to the next book, I don't feel like I have to read it for plot-completion reasons.

All in all, The Fire Sermon was an excellent read that exceeded my expectations and was a solid example of both the post-apocalyptic and dystopian subgenres. I highly recommend it to fans of both, in particular fans who are looking for a meatier (and longer) story than the YA side of the genre tends to provide. I see no reason why fans of YA dystopian or post-apocalyptic stories would not also enjoy The Fire Sermon.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: March 2015, Gallery Books (US) / Harper Collins (Commonwealth)
Series: Apparently book 1 of what appears to be a trilogy. Stands alone fairly well.
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Captive by Aimée Carter

Captive by Aimée Carter is the second book in the Blackcoat Rebellion trilogy, following on from Pawn, which I reviewed about a year ago. This review (and the blurb) contains some spoilers for the first book in the series. This is my first review of 2015, but the fifth book I've finished this year.

For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate the Prime Minister's niece, her frustration grows as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoats keep her in the dark more than ever.

But in the midst of discovering that her role in the Hart family may not be as coincidental as she thought, she's accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape.

As one shocking revelation leads to the next, Kitty learns the hard way that she can trust no one, not even the people she thought were on her side. With her back against the wall, Kitty wants to believe she'll do whatever it takes to support the rebellion she believes in—but is she prepared to pay the ultimate price?

I really enjoyed this book. It does not suffer from middle book syndrome and takes some unexpected turns along the way. Things seeded in the first book are developed further, most notably the rebellion of the series title. Captive takes the story to the next level, shows us more of the world (well, more of the dystopic US, no word on what's happening in the Rest of the World) and sets up the last book for the dramatic conclusion.

I like Kitty. She does have a tendency to rush headlong into danger without a huge sense of self-preservation, but it does certainly push the plot forward, even if things don't always turn out the way she hoped. She can be a little too trusting — and there's one point in particular that really drives that home — but given that she has so few people that know who she is, let alone anything else, I found it understandable. I still cringed when her actions led to bad things. But then, if you live in a world that doesn't give you access to accurate history books (and forget about subversive dystopian novels), I can see how you might grow up without immediately understanding your own social context.

In Captive we also learn more about the ominous "Elsewhere" which was introduced in stages in Pawn. It turned out to be part less bad than what I expected, and part worse in some aspects than expected. I know that's pretty vague and sort of requires mind-reading to make sense, but I want to avoid spoilers.

Captive was a captivating read (sorry, couldn't resist) which made a good reward/break book in between some heavier stuff. And whenever I say things like that, I always have to pause and wonder how oppressive regimes, torture and war can feel like a "light" read. I think it must be in the writing style and pacing. Anyway, The Blackcoat Rebellion trilogy is a great read and I'm looking forward to the last book which is not coming out until November, alas. Highly recommended to all fans of YA and dystopias.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2014, Harlequin US
Series: Blackcoat Rebellion book 2 of 3
Format read: Hardcover of dubious American quality
Source: Purchased from a non-Amazon-owned online book shop

Once We Were by Kat Zhang

Once We Were by Kat Zhang is the second book in the Hybrid Chronicles trilogy. I read the first book a couple of years ago with the gap resulting from US and Australian release dates not being aligned and generalised confusion/lack of release date tracking on my part.

Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.

Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.

Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.

After the long gap (in number of books read, even if you're not willing to agree that two years is that long in actual time) since book one, I mainly remembered the worldbuilding — still my favourite aspect of this series — and the ending of the first book. Luckily, there was enough recapping near the start to bring me up to speed quickly. I found it useful, but I suppose someone picking up Once We Were with What's Left of Me fresh in their minds might find it a little tedious. But it only lasted about one short chapter, promise!

As I said, the worldbuilding remains my favourite aspect of this series. The story continues to support the exploration of the two people in one body aspect, even as the plot deals with more immediate external concerns. The dystopian pan-American society wants to eradicate all hybrids — people who don't "settle" into just one soul per body — which puts the main characters in permanent danger. But while dealing with that they're also grappling with the issue of how to have a boyfriend when your body is not solely your own. Really, it continues to be an interesting exploration of such issues.

The main action of the plot is less creative but still written interestingly enough. At the end of the first book I was a bit uncertain about where the series was going; or more accurately, I was disappointed that it seemed to be following the dystopian formula. It does seem to be continuing in that vein with this instalment focussing on acts of rebellion. However, the framing of the worldbuilding is sufficiently interesting that I'm invested in the story and definitely want to know how it ends. (I'm also kicking myself that I didn't buy book 3 at the same time as book 2, sigh and curses at pricier hard covers.) I should also add that this is a dystopian series that remembers the Rest of the World exists and, in this volume, even touches on why they aren't doing anything about the Americas. There are also some nice titbits about world history and how it both differs from and parallels our world (to clarify, two people being born in one body was something that always happened, not a new development or anything).

Once We Were was an engaging read that I pretty much read in a day. I have enjoyed this series a lot and I am looking forward to reading the last book. It explores a science fictional concept in an interesting way, albeit in a YA dystopian framework. I highly recommend this series to YA fans and also to SF fans who find the central "What If" interesting.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2013, Harper Teen (US, the Australian release was later but still with HC)
Series: Hybrid Chronicles book 2 of 3
Format read: Paper, gasp!
Source: Purchased from a non-Amazon-owned online book shop

The Ark by Annabel Smith

The Ark by Annabel Smith is the author's third novel but the first book of hers I've read. It's an epistolary novel (or, as I've seen someone call this style, the novel version of a found-footage movie), told in emails, transcripts, a few news clippings and related materials.

The year is 2041. As rapidly dwindling oil supplies wreak havoc worldwide a team of scientists and their families abandon their homes and retreat into a bunker known as The Ark, alongside five billion plant seeds that hold the key to the future of life on Earth. But The Ark’s sanctuary comes at a price.

When their charismatic leader’s hidden agenda is revealed it becomes impossible to know who to trust. Those locked out of The Ark become increasingly desperate to enter, while those within begin to yearn for escape.

I'm always a bit trepidatious, picking up a science fictional book by an author whose previous books have been non-genre. Sometimes those books can seem like genre tourists, not quite understanding the trope they're using (or not using). But I need not have worried in this case. The Ark is a solid science fiction book, with well thought through worldbuilding, a convincing premise and reasonable technological developments.

The Ark tells the story of the community living in a sealed seed vault. The why and how their community became sealed is most central to the story, while other personal relationships and the story of the unrest outside the vault are part of the background tapestry. I quite liked the way in which the external unrest was conveyed. Most of it came across in a series of emails between a couple in the vault and the wife's sister on the outside. We got glimpses but never a full picture, which gave us enough information to draw our own conclusions and make assumptions about the conditions outside.

The Ark is a quick read, surprisingly so given its apparent length. The formatting of the various documents (some more than others) makes the text sparser than in most books, so I was turning pages more quickly. That said, it's still a complete story with a proper plot (but I will say it wasn't obvious where the plot would go until it did). I would be interested to read more set in the same world because I think there are a lot more areas of her world Smith could explore if she chose to.

On the other hand, I found that the story-telling format and the way sections of the book focussed closely on different characters made it harder to become attached to said characters. For example, in the first section following the correspondences of a couple with the wife's sister, I never really warmed to the wife, even though I cared about what was happening to all three of them. And the second section was about a teenage boy (whose mother was a scentist), which gave us interesting worldbuilding information, but I didn't really care about the character, even when I should probably have been cheering for him later on. I enjoyed the story, but my one main criticism is that I would have liked more focus on character.

I should also comment on the interactive portion of the book. I read the ebook version, which exists (only?) as a PDF to preserve the unusual formatting that distinguishes different forms of communication. (It was a perfectly adequate reading experience on the iPad, if you're wondering, unlike some PDFs — ARCs mostly — which seem to exist only to make me annoyed with them.) There is a companion website — also available as an app, which I was advised was designed for phones while the website was better for iPad — with background content. There are sort of mood-setting short films of the bunker and what I found most useful: a slang dictionary for the teen-speak section. There is also a space to upload and peruse fan fiction, if that's your sort of thing. The book stands alone perfectly well (even with the slang), but for those wanting more, the website is an interesting place to poke around. I did, however, find that the setting clips made more sense after I'd finished reading because not everything is obvious from the start.

I recommend The Ark to SF fans, particularly fans of apocalyptic fiction. In particular, readers interested in an Australian flavour should definitely have a look. It was an enjoyable read that I just about inhaled in one sitting. There aren't too many epistolary SFF novels around (I can think of one off the top of my head and that's not coming out until next year), so it's a novel take on the apocalypse genre. 

4 / 5 stars

First published: September 2014, self-published
Series: Don't think so.
Format read: Review copy of finished PDF ebook
Source: Courtesy of the author
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge, Australian Science Fiction Reading

Pawn by Aimée Carter

Pawn by Aimée Carter is the most plausible dystopia I've read in a long time, possibly ever. It would be easy from the blurb to dismiss it as "just another dystopian future for the USA", but I'm glad a decided to give it a shot anyway.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

You don't have to look too hard to see Pawn as a scathing indictment of American classism masquerading as a meritocracy. Really, you don't have to spend more than ten minutes on any vaguely social justice-aware Tumblr to see where Carter is drawing inspiration.

The meritocracy Kitty lives in is not really as "equal opportunity" as it is advertised to the people. Although everyone takes the same test at age 17, the rich kids get better schooling and much more support from tutors etc, while the poor kids are lucky if they get any one on one time with their teachers. Taking the same test doesn't mean much if you're not taught the same things. (And the most privileged few children don't even have to take the test to acquire their inherited ranks — the oddest thing in this universe was the dictator being an inherited prime ministership.) To compound the have/have-not gulf for Kitty is the fact that she is dyslexic. Although she is quite smart and spends extra time studying, she can't read. With no one to read the exam questions to her, she can't finish the exam in time and does not get assigned a position that would utilise all her abilities.

After luck brings her to the world of the highly-ranked (and supposedly smart), Kitty starts to see the propaganda she and other low-ranked people are taught is nothing more than that; propaganda. The world of the already privileged is completely different and practically inaccessible to lower ranks. This world probably has the most plausible links to the real world that I've come across. Although the world of, for example, The Hunger Games also has some parallels with the real world, I can't quite see it actually coming to pass, unlike Pawn, which is less of a stretch from the real world and has more parallels, albeit unsubtle ones. (Although one would hope that some aspects wouldn't literally come to pass, even in a dystopic version of present-day USA.)

Pawn was an engaging read albeit not a terribly unpredictable one. But so long as you don't mind not being surprised by world-building plot twists, you shouldn't be disappointed. And although it is very US-centric, there is a mention of the Rest of the World. Well, one country is mentioned in passing. But! The fact that the Rest of the World exists and exists as something that the US government has to bother interacting with, is definitely a plus in the scheme of recent YA dystopias.

I picked up Pawn because it looked interesting enough and the blurb had potential. I'm glad I did, because I ended up enjoying it more than I expected. This is the first book of Carter's that I've read and I will definitely be picking up the sequel, Captive, when it comes out. I highly recommend it to fans of YA dystopias and to anyone else who finds the premise interesting.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: December 2012, Harlequin Teen
Series: Yes. Book 1 of ?
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher, sort of via NetGalley

Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes

Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes is a post-apocalyptic YA novel about an autistic girl and her brother (and her service dog). I have mentioned in the past that I tend not to read blurbs between deciding to read a book (in this case because it was mentioned on the Diversity in YA blog) and actually reading it. In this case, that meant what I was expecting was a post-apocalyptic story with an autistic girl. What I got was also dystopian and had time travel, which threw me a little at first (because obviously I didn't look closely enough at the cover when I started reading either).

After a virus claimed nearly the entire global population, the world changed. The United States splintered into fifty walled cities where the surviving citizens clustered to start over. The Company, which ended the plague by bringing a life-saving vaccine back from the future, controls everything. They ration the scant food and supplies through a lottery system, mandate daily doses of virus suppressant, and even monitor future timelines to stop crimes before they can be committed.

Brilliant but autistic, sixteen-year-old Clover Donovan has always dreamed of studying at the Waverly-Stead Academy. Her brother and caretaker, West, has done everything in his power to make her dream a reality. But Clover’s refusal to part with her beloved service dog denies her entry into the school. Instead, she is drafted into the Time Mariners, a team of Company operatives who travel through time to gather news about the future.

When one of Clover’s missions reveals that West’s life is in danger, the Donovans are shattered. To change West’s fate, they’ll have to take on the mysterious Company. But as its secrets are revealed, they realize that the Company’s rule may not be as benevolent as it seems. In saving her brother, Clover will face a more powerful force than she ever imagined… and will team up with a band of fellow misfits and outsiders to incite a revolution that will change their destinies forever.

Despite the shift between my expectations and what I got, I loved this book. At first I thought the time travel aspect was rather strange — and honestly I still do, but not in a bad way — but it contributed to a complex and full world. One of my pet peeves with a lot of dystopian YA is poorly thought-through (or lazy) world-building, but Viral Nation certainly doesn't contain that flaw. Although the world is revealed slowly as the characters learn more about it, so I admit I was a little sceptical at first. (Side note: I think the blurb is slightly wrong because I remember the text mentioning 48 cities, not 50, which makes more sense since who knows what happened to distant Alaska and Hawaii after civilisation collapsed?) But as the conspiracy is revealed, it becomes increasingly interesting, especially since by the end we still don't know everything, partly thanks to the time travel aspect, but mostly because the author hasn't revealed it yet.

That aside, Viral Nation hooked me in from the very beginning. From the prologue, in which we glimpse the pandemic that wreaked havoc across the US (little word from the rest of the world, but less obnoxiously than most), to the teenage protagonists in chapter one, I was sucked in. Clover is completely a sympathetic character and I found myself cheering her on almost immediately, and cringing when social situations went badly for her. I also grew rather fond of her dog, despite being more of a cat person. ;-)

West, Clover's older brother, is also a point of view character. Again, I was a little sceptical at first when his point of view popped up before Clover's, but I'm pleased to report he was not there to steal Clover's limelight. He was an important character in his own right, but not at the expense of Clover's character, which made me happy. I picked up Viral Nation because I was keen to read about a non-typical protagonist — an autistic one in this case — coping in a post-apocalyptic world. I'm glad I did and I was pleased that there wasn't anything poorly done (as far as I could determine, but I am by no means an expert on autism). It added an extra dimension to the book (although for a YA book of this nature it already had rather a lot of dimensions to be getting on with) and although Clover's autism ended up being integral to the plot, I didn't find that was done objectionably. Also, it was nice to see an autistic girl for a change.

The only disappointment with Viral Nation is that it's the first in the series. It's not that I don't want to keep reading about Clover and friends — I do — it's that I can't keep reading now and I want to know what happens. The second book doesn't come out until next Northern summer. Sigh. On the one hand, if it was a standalone, I'd already know how everything turned out but there's no way Grimes could have fit as much worldbuilding depth into a single volume (y'know, unless it was a very loooong single volume).

I highly recommend Viral Nation to fans of YA post-apocalyptic dystopias. Adult fans will also enjoy it, as I did, although like me they may find themselves sceptical of it at first. Fans of intelligent characters who do not make incredibly stupid decisions to further a weak plot, should also find something to like here. Readers looking for a minority main character, especially an autistic one, will hopefully be very pleased with Viral Nation. Possibly also dog lovers.

5 / 5 stars

First published: July 2013, The Berkley Publishing Group / Penguin US
Series: Viral Nation book 1 of ? (my guess is trilogy)
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Chasing the Valley by Skye Melki-Wegner

Chasing the Valley by Skye Melki-Wegner surprised me. The cover and the blurb led me to assume it would be a fairly stock-standard and and unoriginal read and I put off starting it a little bit.

But I was wrong, and it was evident from the first few pages. Danika became a street kid after losing her parents at the age of eleven. For reasons that we only begin to understand in this first book, the King enjoys bombing some of his subjects to keep them in their place. They're not ordinary bombs, however, they're alchemy bombs which can cause all sorts of weird and unpleasant things to happen on impact (y'know, as well as killing people). After hearing about a group of teenagers planning to escape the city for the fabled and safe Magnetic Valley, Danika falls in with them and the bulk of the story is about their dangerous journey south to the Valley.

The level of technology (albeit mostly alchemy-powered) brought to mind a cross between steampunk and fantasy. There are trains and biplanes (see cover) but also a lot of riding beasts of burden to get around. The beasts, called foxaries and basically giant foxes, were possibly one of my favourite bits of world-building — I want one! But they win by a small margin since Melki-Wegne's world is detailed and consistent. The explanation of the magic system is well woven into the text without info dumps as are many of the customs of the people. The only thing that struck me as odd and a smidge implausible is the taboo against teenagers revealing their magical proclivities before they turn eighteen. Their magic declares itself with tattoos on their necks and the custom is to keep their necks covered up until their eighteenth birthdays. Danika describes revealing her neck prematurely as akin to walking around naked. Which is well and good, but I can't help but feel that a lot of nefarious people wouldn't care much about the taboo and I didn't think that aspect was explored sufficiently.

Chasing the Valley is an excellent tale of growing friendship and camaraderie. In some ways it's a traditional journey type story but Melki-Wegner brings enough originality to the table (in worldbuilding and so forth) to make it stand out. Her writing is polished and, as I said, I could tell as soon as I started that I was in for a good read. I'm glad I read this and I am very much looking forward to the rest of the series. This book is a cut above a lot of the YA renditions of high/epic fantasy I've come across.

I highly recommend Chasing the Valley to fantasy fans of both the adult and YA parts of the genre. If you're in any doubt about reading this, I suggest having a look at a sample to help make up your mind. As this début is so strong, I expect we'll see many more good things from the author in the future.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: July 2013, Random House AU
Series: Yes. Book one of three
Format read: eARC
Source: publisher via NetGalley
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Tankborn by Karen Sandler

Tankborn by Karen Sandler is a one of not that many YA dystopian novels I've read that is also proper science fiction. As well as the political aspects requisite in dystopian novels, it also deals with genetic engineering with a backdrop of planetary colonisation. I'd been meaning to read it for a while, since Shaheen recommended it, and I'm glad I finally got around to it.

Part of the blurb (last paragraph omitted because spoilers — why do publishers do that?):

Best friends Kayla and Mishalla know they will be separated for their Assignments. They are GENs, Genetically Engineered Non-humans, and in their strict caste system, GENs are at the bottom rung of society. GENs are gestated in a tank and sent to work as slaves as soon as they reach age fifteen.

When Kayla is Assigned to care for Zul Manel, the patriarch of a trueborn family, she finds secrets and surprises; not least of which is her unexpected friendship with Zul's great-grandson. Meanwhile, the children that Mishalla is Assigned to care for are being stolen in the middle of the night. 

The most prominent aspect of Tankborn is the rigid class structure that segregates the society. Natural-born humans are ranked from the rich, land-owning high-status trueborns down to the servant class low-borns. Beneath them all are the GENs — genetically engineered people with small amounts of animal DNA included in their make-up giving them extra talents and making them less than human. As one might expect with the main characters being GENs, a lot of the social commentary revolves around non-GENs being varying degrees of horrible to the GEN main characters. However, there's definitely more to it than that.

For a start, the GENs have a different religion to trueborns. The trueborns follow a religion that is implicitly vaguely Christian (or at least monotheistic and involving worshipping a similar god), while the GEN religion involves worshipping the Infinite, who whispered to the prophets how to create GENs and whose plan for GENs involves servitude. It's a case of using religion to control the masses, hardly a new idea, but not one that I think I've come across in YA. It was done well, even as it unravelled, and Sandler didn't pull any punches.

She knew it was the Infinite's will, that a GEN's trial of servitude was the only way back to His hands.

The GEN religion is very much based around keeping GENs in their place. A further example:

But liberation for GENs on Loka [their planet] would violate the Infinite's laws. It would only be right for GENs to taste true freedom in the palm of the Infinite's hand.

And so forth.

As with any dystopia, we see the fabric of the society start to unravel, partially at the hands of our main characters. Despite this being the first book in a trilogy, I was pleased to see that it's story was self-contained, hooks for the sequel notwithstanding, as I was half expecting the main action not to be resolved. Since book one merely described the first step in the (standard YA dystopian trend of) dismantling of society, I look forward to reading how it all progresses.

I had only two small peeves with Tankborn. The first is that both the romantic couples liked each other a little too suddenly and their relationships became serious a bit more quickly than I would have expected. I can see why it fit with the plot that way, but it did make me go "Hrm."

The other thing is the technology. Tankborn is set on a colonised planet with the GENs being invented (for lack of a better word) some time after the colony had been established. (Incidentally, I hope we learn more about the colonisation process in the future books. I am deeply curious and would be disappointed if some form of Conspiracy didn't surround colonisation.) So it's a future where interstellar space travel has been perfected. But the technology they were using on the planet — aside from the GENs who had fancy artificial neural networks — consisted mainly of readers similar to iPads and smartphone-style wrist watches. Which isn't exactly bad per se, but that's kind of he level of technology we're at now. It struck me as a bit unimaginative. On the other hand, the Author's Note did mention that the story originated as a screenplay in the mid-80s, which could account for it.

All in all, Tankborn was a good read. I highly recommend it to fans of dystopias as well as fans of general science fiction. Although it's marketed as YA, I see no reason for readers of all ages not to enjoy it.


4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2011, Tu Books
Series: Tankborn, book 1 (of 3?)
Format read: ebook on iPad
Source: US iTunes store (ebook not available outside of US, paper book only available as an import, as far as I can tell)

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa is the second book in the Blood of Eden series, which started with The Immortal Rules. The premise of the series is: when a virus threatens to wipe out humanity, vampires come out of hiding to protect their food supply and more or less set up "safe" areas where humans won't die of the plague (which causes rabid zombie-like creatures) and can provide uncontaminated blood for their vampire protectors.

I enjoyed The Immortal Rules a lot. I thought the writing was cinematic with just the right amount of action and tension. By contrast, when I first picked up The Eternity Cure I was very disappointed. The writing was much more pedestrian and lacklustre. After about 60 pages I put it down and read something else. When I came back to it, about six weeks later, with severely lowered expectations, I found I was ultimately still able to enjoy the book. There were some descriptive and action passages which I found myself skimming over to get to the dialogue which was more enjoyable to read.

The mundanely written action scenes were a particular let-down since there was so much action in the story. And a lot of twists. It was nice to be surprised by expected developments but by the end there had been so many twists and turns, it was wearying. It did keep me turning the pages because the tension rarely let up, but many of the developments had me groaning.

On to more positive things! The worldbuilding and plot were well thought out. Every time I though "hang on, that doesn't make sense" it would soon be explained how that particular element fit seamlessly into the plot/world. Although the ending sets us up for an obvious showdown in the last book, it also left me keen to find out how the worldbuilding questions will be resolved. (Will there be a cure for rabidism? Will humans be able to live independently from vampires on a large scale? Will Allison and friends indeed save the world?)

The characterisation was also well done. Allison continues to be a believable character and her angst about pretty much everyone else is justified and not angst for its own sake. The character that got the biggest rise out of me was Stick. In the first book, he was Allison's friend pre-vampirification, but then things change. When we encounter him in The Eternity Cure, his new situation makes him a massive prat and I really wanted to bash him over the head with something every time he appeared. He was so frustrating! But getting an emotional rise (on purpose) is a mark of good character writing.

Unfortunately, unlike in The Immortal Rules, there weren't any female characters other than Allison which was disappointing. Hopefully that will be remedied in the sequel.

I recommend The Eternity Cure to readers who enjoyed The Immortal Rules, with the caveat of not having overly high expectations. I think the story is worth continuing with despite some of this volume's shortcomings. I am looking forward to reading the last book and seeing how everything turns out. For readers who haven't picked up The Immortal Rules yet, I highly recommend doing so, particularly fans of vampires or dystopias who might be sick of the usual stuff.

3.5 / 5 stars

First published: May 2013, Harlequin Teen Australia
Series: Blood of Eden, book 2 of 3
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a book I've been wanting to read for a long time. The premise sounded interesting and the style of the opening intrigued me. Also, the new US covers are really pretty. Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.

The story opens with Juliette living in appallingly poor conditions in a mental hospital/prison where she's been thrown thanks to her superpower of being able to hurt and kill people with the touch of her bare skin. Then the dystopian government (or one specific leader there of) decides to use her as a weapon. Adam, a childhood sort-of-friend of Juliette's, works his way into the army so that he can be close to her with the hope of breaking her out. Also so that he can be the love interest right from the get go.

Distopia is as dystopia does.

Shatter Me suffered from a touch of nonsensical-dystopian-worldbuilding-itis. The US has become a military dictatorship for no clear reason (climate change was mentioned but didn't seem to be a severe contributing factor). As is usual in these situations, the rest of the world almost doesn't seem to exist (other countries are mentioned in passing eventually, though not so we'd know what was happening there). And, of course, the people in power, especially the leader Juliette interacts directly with, seem to be evil. How original. Sorry, but I'm a bit sick of this sort of world building. It started more promisingly when Juliette was still locked in her cell.

What is more promising is the style in which the story is told. It's in first person and Juliette constantly speaks in hyperbolic metaphors. She also second guesses herself a lot, particularly at the start, so that she says what she really thinks says what she thinks she should think. With the strike-through. Your mileage will vary as to how much you like the writing style. At times the poetic way in which she speaks came off as eye-rollingly wanky, but at other times I found the hyperbole endearing. She also has a habit of counting things a bit obsessively but I didn't feel this impinged on the story in a negative way once I got past seeing the numbers written in digits when she's doing this.

Juliette's attitude of disgust towards herself and her abilities was perfectly understandable. She never meant to hurt anyone and the fact that she can accidentally would be difficult to come to terms with. What did bother me a little bit was the instant feelings she had towards Adam when he showed up, but this was mitigated by the fact that she did in fact remember him from her childhood.

Warner, the local leader of the dystopian government, was a pretty good villain. He was appropriately power-hungry and creepily obsessed with Juliette. And good at hurting Juliette both intentionally and as a side-effect of being a power-hungry maniac.

Right up until the end I wasn't sure if I would bother reading the sequel. I didn't hate the reading experience overall, but neither did I love the story. However, it ended on a promising note, which is currently swaying me towards wanting to know more (when it comes out in paperback... if they keep the same pretty covers), pending friends' reviews, perhaps. All in all, I've definitely read worse YA dystopian books. I think Mafi uses both the twist of Juliette's abilities and the hyperbolic narrator's voice well to distinguish her book from others in the genre.

I recommend Shatter Me to fans of YA dystopias. Particularly to those who might be looking for something a bit more interesting in terms of stylistic choices. I am interested to see where the series goes — apart from the obvious bringing down the government, I'm not entirely sure. Not a terrible read, but not one of my favourites.

3.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2011, Harper Collins US (Allen & Unwin in Australia)
Series: The Juliette Chronicles, book 1 of 3
Format read: paperback, US edition (as pictured above — the Australian covers are pretty terrible, especially in comparison)
Source: Christmas present (requested)

Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken is an unusual YA dystopian novel. It's unusually long for YA (almost 500 pages) and the world Bracken has built is not how I would have envisaged her initial premise playing out.

One day, children in America aged between 10 and 14 start dying suddenly and unpredictably. It starts just before Ruby's tenth birthday. She survives but, it turns out, she and the other few survivors aren't normal or lucky. They have powers which make the adults terrified of them. So terrified that they're sent away to faux-rehabilitation camps. Ruby spends six years in such a camp, pretending to have the most benevolent set of powers although she actually has one of the most dangerous sets, before she's broken out by a vigilante group. And so the main adventures of being on the run begin.

I had a big problem with the underlying premise of this novel. There are several sets of "psi" powers (as in the Greek letter Ψ, presumably because it sounds like psychic), coded by colours in the book: greens are basically savants, blues can move things around with their minds, yellows can influence electricity, oranges can influence other people's minds, and reds... I'm not sure but they sounded dangerous, possibly they can manipulate fire. I can understand people being afraid of oranges, but what I really really don't understand is why the kids were all locked up instead of being militarised or at least used for the benefit of the country. Bloody hell, the US was the only country to be afflicted and they didn't use it as an opportunity to get an upper hand on the rest of the world. No, instead their economy crashed and all the other countries stopped talking to them. And how did no one fully consider (and do something about!) the long-term implications of children either dying or having psi powers? If you lock up all the surviving children, what's going to happen to the country when you're old and there is no younger generation to keep things going? What. The. Frack. I understand the reasoning behind society falling apart, but even I have slightly more confidence in the US government to make use of the situation. It's not as though they were disorganised; they did manage to lock almost all the kids up in camps. And then left them there, or got rid of the most dangerous ones. About the only sensible thing they managed to do was to experiment on some of them (which is horrible for the children, of course, but a logical thing for a government to do in the circumstances), but that doesn't seem to have gotten them anywhere.

Rant over. On to the other aspects of the book.

Unlike some YA books which codify special powers up front, Darkest Minds refers to them indirectly, leaving the reader to work them out gradually. I enjoyed this type of presentation, although not knowing exactly what other kids were capable of was a bit frustrating, especially when it was clear that Ruby did have some idea.

I liked the other characters sixteen-year-old Ruby spends most of the book with: two blues, one, Liam, an idealistic hero wannabe who orchestrated a breakout at his camp, and Chubs, a geek who is the one to usually point out their stupid ideas. There's also Zu, a ten-year-old yellow who the others look after and who saves the day a few times. The budding romance between Ruby and Liam was slow and believable. There was no ridiculous instant attraction (which would have been all the more ridiculous in the setting since Ruby had spent most of her six years in the camp segregated from the boys), and no making (overly) stupid decisions because of their love.

For someone whose education stopped at grade four and who was not exposed to any TV, books, movies or other pop-culture for the past six years, Ruby knew way too much. Aside from a few pop-culture references (which I didn't object to coming from the other characters who'd spent much more time on the outside than she did), she knew far too much about rock music. What ten year old has enough of an appreciation of Led Zeppelin, the Doors and the Who to still remember what they are six years later? There were some appropriate gaps in her knowledge (she didn't know how to drive, couldn't read maps) but generally I felt that she knew too much for her circumstances.

The story moved too slowly for my liking, however. The writing was technically fine and the prose was mostly above average so that I didn't feel the urge to skip paragraphs. However, the story dragged. At almost 500 pages it was unnecessarily long. There were a few definite sections of not much happening that could definitely have been compressed, especially one part where it was inevitable that things were going to end badly, but they took rather a long time doing so (perhaps to lure the reader into a false sense of security? It didn't work). It was the prose and the emotional ending which pushed this book up an extra half-star for me.

Ultimately, Darkest Minds wasn't a terrible book. I know I've criticised it a lot, but that's because it was the sort of book where I could clearly pinpoint what didn't work for me. Being the first of a trilogy (according to wiki), it doesn't quite stand alone. The story is not complete, there are questions left unanswered (like, why wasn't the rest of the world affected?) and characters whose fates are unknown. However, for the first of a YA trilogy, it stands alone better than some. The main arc of the story is complete and we are not left with a cliffhanger. I recommend it to anyone looking for a meatier/longer YA book than average. Or perhaps to someone sick of ultra-high-stakes dystopias (although I don't promise that the stakes won't be raised in the sequels). It's definitely not a quick read fluff book.

4 / 5 stars

Published: January 2013 (should already be in Aussie shops), HarperCollins AU
Series: Darkest Minds, book 1 of 3
Format read: eARC
Source: Courtesy of the publisher, via NetGalley