Review: Incredibly entertaining!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 17, 2014
Jamie Waters has written something I’ve been looking for in the science fiction genre for a long time: a well-crafted romantic science fiction. As a writer myself, I know it’s not easy to pull it off—either you focus too much on the romance, leaving the science seeming like an afterthought; or vice versa. But in ‘The Two Towers’, the author succeeds in crafting a well-balanced tale populated by characters you can—and will—root for.In the ‘Two Towers’, you encounter a severely damaged earth, and the only safe place left on the entire planet are the confines of the so-called Two towers—built and maintained by a corporation called the Omnilab. But like today, living in the Two Towers is mostly a privilege among the top 2% of the population—it is prohibitively expensive. Beyond the Two Towers is a ruined landscape reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic world made evocatively famous in such video games as ‘Fallout’ or novels such as Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’—amid a scattering of slums and low-life communities, people scrat out a living by whatever they can trade with. Against this sordid backdrop is the story of a sharp, quick-witted hacker, Kayla, who stumbled upon a strange artefact that happens to have something vital to do with the people running Omnilab. She ends up working with Carl, who is driven by his own self-interest in exposing the corruption within OmniLab’s ranks. But what started out as a cut-and-dried mission turns out to be merely the tip of a far-reaching conspiracy that will pull you in and send you on a white-knuckle suspenseful ride—and that’s only for starters.Indeed, ‘The Two Towers’ is a sleek, futuristic techno-thriller, mitigated only in the right places by the deepening attraction between the two main characters. There is so much at stake, and at times, it’s jaws-dropping to see how author Jamie Waters manages to execute and flesh out the many layers of plot twists and complications. What’s more, the writing reminds me so much of William Gibson in his ‘Neuromancer’ days—but of course, Jamie Waters has her own distinct literary style that will draw you in.I highly recommend ‘The Two Towers’ to anyone who loves a fascinating read. It will completely absorb you into its tangle of twists—and I mean that in the most positive way. Get a copy.