Summary
They built the worlds we’d always wanted. After all, they knew us better than we knew ourselves.
In an AI-controlled future, humans live in “reservations” – enhanced remakes of long lost eras and exotic locations from the height of the Anthropocene. From Hong Kong to the Nevada desert. From subtropical Southeast Asian island to the French Riviera, our lost kingdoms were reborn, along with some strange new mutations.
Amid the sun-soaked boulevards and foothills of the idyllic Twin Seeds reservation, Ellen and Chambers’ peaceful life is shattered when they discover an artificial being who closely resembles their late daughter. Pursued by the sinister agents of the powerful and ruthless Conoco organisation, the young girl awakens to spectacular and deadly psychic powers.
The family race through one bizarre and beautiful procedurally-generated world to another, fighting for survival, and to uncover her true lineage.
Amazon
Plot/Characters
The dialogue in this story was frustrating. The characters themselves were fine – even enjoyable and interesting – but the dialogue killed them. How you ask? The overuse of ‘…’ is the answer. I get if one did it but they all did it, example “Ellen…being a…parent…is…a job for…other” and every single character’s speech is like this. The dialogue feels comical at times with excessive verbiage and tone, while other times it is informal and endearing. The swing between them is jarring.
There is also a fair amount of head hoping where the point of view is confusing. Not to mention the over the top villain. That behind said I really liked Chambers as a character. He was gruff and loving. There was real potential there that just never got to shine.
Plot felt like it was on repeat – they get into trouble, Leah works her magic, they escape to a new place. Start over at step one. A lot felt unnecessary and really should be slimmed down.
Overall
Overly descriptive in a way that made it difficult to extract a coherent image. The writing was difficult to enjoy form its stilted prose to its meandering storytelling. There are nostalgic references, but they feel out of place more often then not. The jumping through time and settings a challenge the writing didn’t rise to – but a very awesome concept that did come together at times. It was like a series of side quests that didn’t often tie back to the main story in a meaningful way other then to develop the Leah as a character.
Had I not promised to read this (and I keep my promises) I would have quit before it even got started. That being said I did like the ending. I also think video game enthusiastic who like winding stories and lots of side questions would very much enjoy this novel. It just had too many negatives for me to.
Rating
2 stars
A sci-fi adventure that needs to go back to the writing board with a complete overhaul before it’ll shine.