Review: Intriguing dystopian concept
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 29, 2011
The year is 2187. Ever since the Passing, it's a whole new world, one that is comfortable to Lila Howell, but somewhat distasteful to Susanne Newton. Lila is a young archival historian who makes a living by using her psychic gifts to interview people at the end of their lives. This information is essentially used by forthe current government as intel. When Lila is assigned to interview Susanne Newton, Lila's confused. Susanne is not dying, and there's something suspicious about the work order. It seems that someone high up in the government is not being honest about the facts of this case. As Lila gets more involved in Susanne's story, Lila starts to make some surprising realizations that may have far-reaching implications. Suddenly, the New Dawn doesn't look so warm after all.Almost immediately, the dystopian world described in this book reminded me a bit of Margaret Atwood's classic, "The Handmaid's Tale". Something about a new society without aggression, where everyone has a proper place and rules were made to be followed seemed familiar. I love "The Handmaid's Tale," so that was definitely a plus for me. This story is by no means a copycat, in fact, it's quite different, but the feel of the society is similar. When Lila was a child in the city, she was given by her parents to be raised in a Creche, and there she was tested to assess her talents and IQ in order to determine her rightful place in society. Those who don't live in the cities may live on farmsteads, and they are not yet under the control of the new government. Susanne comes from a farmstead, and she personally lived through the Passing. Her experience with some integral events makes her knowledge quite valuable to the current government.I found the characters interesting; in particular, Susanne and Lila held my attention, and the development of their relationship kept me reading. Lila goes through some significant changes in her perspective of her society in his story, and those changes were worth reading. The story told by Susanne is riveting, and it's easy, yet somewhat terrifying, to imagine the world changing in the way she describes.This is the first book by this author, and I think that showed. The book definitely needs another edit. The dialogue in the story often seemed much more stilted than expected, even with the idea that this was an entirely different, perhaps more "proper," time. There were also a number of inconsistencies in Lila's character, which made it somewhat confusing.Overall, what I liked best about this story was the concept. There really is an intriguing plot, and a thorough editing, along with some revising to maintain consistency and lend some additional maturity to the writing style, would go a long way. I especially loved the timeline provided right in the beginning, as it really sets up the story well. In fact, when I was finished with the book, I went back and read that timeline again, to make sure I caught all I needed to catch. In the course of the book, I would have liked to have seen some additional use of the psychic abilities of various characters, particularly Lila. Although it was difficult at first to engage in the book, by the end, I didn't really want to put it down until I found out what happened. The twist at the end left me scratching my head a bit, and gave me more questions than answers, but I know there's a sequel in the works, so perhaps they'll be answered there.Read the full review at gracekrispy.com on the MotherLode book review blog