Review: Stunned by how much I liked this
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 29, 2014
This is a prequel but stands very well on its own.I liked it, and I'm amazed by how much I liked it. I can only attribute that to Aldric, someone I adored from the beginning. Aldric was a soldier whose fellow soldiers and command released nuclear weapons basically destroying the earth. The water and fish are unsafe, people are dying of cancer and have been sterilized by the radiation. A new type of forest is over taking the planet, a forest that consumes corpses. Seeing where the earth was headed, many of them escaped to space ships but there wasn’t room for all of them all so many had to stay behind. Aldric is one of those forced to stay behind due to his orientation because they wanted healthy connected breeders on the ships. They’ve left enough food behind for 100 years, the end of which everyone will die off, if they don’t die off before that due to the non existent birth rates.The story is told only in Aldric’s POV. He’s is a loner, by choice and necessity, always on the move. I was entranced by him from the beginning. He has a history, a painful history, that he’s hidden for five years and keeps moving to keep from discovery. He’s met a lot of people in his travels, but Daniel catches his attention from the beginning, different from anyone he’s ever known. After Aldric saves Daniel from a gang, Daniel hires him as a bodyguard. We don’t miss out not having Daniel’s POV, Daniel is essentially an open book, it’s Aldric’s thoughts and interpretations that are intriguing. His attraction to Daniel is inevitable.Daniel’s part of a unique group of people who chose to stay behind to record the history of those who remained. He’s an optimistic sort but treats Aldric somewhat callously, though it’s not Daniel’s intent to hurt Aldric, he just doesn’t feel that level of affection for Aldric. Not at first. For Daniel has his own secrets and regrets.I felt for Aldric the entire story....his loneliness, his affection for Daniel, his desolation when he realizes Daniel does not care for him the same way, his pain from his disturbing past. I felt them but thankfully the author doesn’t wallow in them or use them to make Aldric weak.The ending was somewhat predictable and the problem of the Forest Boys given a light hand, but it fit and I couldn’t imagine anything else.I did have my niggles though. While grateful there wasn’t a world building info dump, I could have used more. I’m still not sure I understand who the different sides were and why the war happened. I also don’t understand where the space ships came from or where they are going. Then there was a murder that meant to pose an emotional impact but didn’t work as Aldric only met them once and I’m not convinced he had that kind of empathy in him at the time. Finally there were times the Aldric/Daniel chemistry didn’t’ work.Mostly though, I enjoyed this story. A bleak world with a set end date that had so much hope. I’m very curious now about the rest of the series.I received a copy of this story from the author at no charge in exchange for an honest review.