Review: Well done
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 27, 2012
This is a very nice introduction to Jet and her world.Jet is a survivor. This tough and stubborn female lead navigates a polluted earth of which alien beings, the Nirreth, have almost total control. Jet's always been led to believe the Nirreth are the Enemy, so when she's captured to be taken to their green space, she's ready to fight to the death. After all, the Nirreth eat humans, right? But learning about the Nirreth up close and personal brings more questions than answers, and Jet wonders if she'll ever find her way back to her old hand-to-mouth existence on toxic earth. Or if she even wants to.Jet is a scrapper, to be sure, and I liked her a very much. She works hard to take care of her family, who barely get by in a post-apocalyptic world. When she's captured by the Nirreth, though, some of Jet's deep-seated beliefs are challenged, and Jet is smart enough to consider that what she thinks she knows might be all wrong. One of my favorite things about JC Andrijeski's characters is that they are never completely black or white, and with so many shades of gray, it's difficult to tell friends from enemies.  A "good" guy can do "bad" things yet still be a "good" character. Protagonists and antagonists are never simplistic - they have personal agendas and, as a reader, I can never quite predict what will happen.The Culling is a nice prequel to a world that promises to be intriguing.