Review: Exciting plot twists!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 25, 2011
Tag is one of the best written and most entertaining books that I can remember reading. I have a feeling that this book will stick with me for a long time sitting on the same metaphorical shelf as The Foutainhead and 1984.Through smashwords, I had my choice of formats. I picked the pdf version because from what I could tell it best portrayed the intended formatting. The layout of the book was great. I thought the chapter titles / location / time headings was a great juxtaposition between the scenes. I did find it strange that the cover image of the book isn't included in the pdf version, when I know pdfs support image and all the other digital formats did have the cover. The cover image itself is really cool looking. The image appears to be a close up of some sort of camera lens and doesn't provide any clue to what the story is about, but is quite relevant due to the Orwellian surveillance in the story. The tag line about 6.3 billion people about to die really intrigued me.The plot pulled me in right from the prologue. The prologue is in the form of UNPOL case file containing an incident report and the transcript of the truth treatment for which the captured individual successfully resisted. From there the story pans back to a room in which our main character, Jonah, is finding out that the detainee has said he will only speak to him even though there is no known link between the two.The story is very exciting with plenty of plot twists and intrigue. I almost missed my train stop a few times because I just could not get enough of this book. The timing of the action and the calm was perfect. The double meanings of the word tag as both a unique ID number and a game of pursuers was woven deep throughout.What really made this book for me was just how plausible all of it is. The time period is set about one hundred years in the future and the societal evolution was done perfectly. Everyone has a personal "Devstick" which is successor to today's smart phone. One's Devstick is the all-in-one device that connects you to the world around you. It contains your unique Tag and acts as a NFC style payment device. My favorite feature is the upgraded navigation feature in which the device actually triggers guide lights that are built into the sidewalks so that the path you need to travel actually lights up on the sidewalk in front of you.Even with the heavy role technology plays in the story, Royle doesn't weigh it down with the in depth nitty gritties of the technology, but instead shows us how it all works through the interactions the characters have with it. One of the best examples of this is when Jonah takes a trip to the moon. Being his first time there, it is as new for him as it is for us reading it. His interactions with his gravity boots as he tries to get the hang of it all is very amusing.I really enjoyed Royle's writing style throughout the book. He switches between Jonah's first person account and a third person omnipresence. While most of the time this worked really well there were actually just a few places where the switch happened a little too quickly. One of the things I liked best about the writing was all of the shortened words. Lev for magnetic-levitation transportation, Env for environment, Dev for device, Vac for vacation. All of the word invention made perfect sense and really worked to show how the language had evolved.As a whole I felt like this story was written with me in mind and I really have no bad things to say about it. It was so good that I'm worried that the sequels can't possibly live up to this one. The end of TAG include an expert from K:OS, book two of the Zumar Chronicals. The excerpt shows a lot of promise and I am very much looking forward to reading what Simon Royle comes up with next.Review by: Kevin of Sift Book ReviewsSift Book Reviews received a free copy for review from the author. This has, in no way, affected the reviewer's opinion.