I am not entirely sure when this post will be going out. I am writing it before Christmas, but I probably will not post it until the New Year.
As it is, I read this book in an evening, and am writing this the following day.
I will introduce the book, and then we can get into my review! Also, isn't the cover gorgeous?
In the near future, humans have gone beyond simple space travel. By the year 4054, multiple solar systems are inhabited, and taking a spaceship is as commonplace as taking an aeroplane.
Unfortunately, not everything about the future is so advanced. The central planets, led by Earth, have risen high at the expense of cheap labour on distant worlds. Dissent is widespread and arrests are common. Sometimes prisoners are released; sometimes they disappear without a trace, sent to labour camps in other solar systems.
When Ames Emerys receives a letter telling him that his brother Callum has died en route to the remote planet of Kilnin, he takes the first ship he can off Earth, desperate for answers. But the secrets Ames uncovers prove far more dangerous than he could have imagined.
And trouble isn’t far behind.
My Review!
Space travel, humans occupying multiple plants on different solar systems, and a mystery. It’s 4054, and Ames has received news that his brother Callum has died. But there are already things surrounding Callum that Ames cannot believe, so why should this be any different? Callum was arrested for murder, the same Callum who would apologise if a bully hurt his hand hitting him. And everything about Callum since has been shrouded in darkness, files offlimits, and any communication impossible. Besides, Ames can’t even think about dealing with what would happen if Callum really was dead.
Despite having a travel-ban put upon him, Ames puts himself on the first ship he can to the planet Kilnin, his mission simple. Find his brother. He knows people on Kilnin who have told him they saw Callum, although according to what Ames was told, Callum never reached the planet. With so many lies and so much deceit, Ames is desperate to know for himself what happened. On the way, Ames finds himself a partner, and his one man team doubles in size.
Ames is a character you cannot help but like. He might be a bit of a criminal himself, and some of the laws he seems to regard as simply guidelines, but it is clear that nothing will stand in his way. Callum means everything to him, and you can’t help but believe he will be able to get to the bottom of everything. After all, nothing seems to have stood in his way thus far. Besides, having two different coloured eyes, and hair that is a different colour on either side of his head leads to a great built-in disguise – simply flip the hair, using it to cover an eye, and he looks like a different person.
The whole world that has been created is a wonder to behold. Earth has grown so polluted that the entirety of the population has breathing problems, and you can no longer see the night sky. Stargazing has become a thing of the past. But, with space travel, a whole new world has opened up. People can leave Earth, for the right price, and go to live elsewhere. But, of course, with such advances in technology and science, there can be one thing that can cause a massive downfall – a corrupt leader, with a secret agenda. The political aspects within this novel have been depicted wonderfully, with people in their day to day lives either strongly for or against the leader. People feel so strongly, insults fly, and most keep their political opinions to themselves, to avoid confrontation.
If I have one complaint, it is that there was not enough for me to read. I finished reading this book, which is about 100 pages long, and was instantly desperate for more, feeling almost empty after the ending. The world within these pages is one that, although there is corruption and destruction, I wanted to spend more time in, and get to know more. This made me want to learn the history of the future, and the different things that have been suggested to be potentially possible are incredibly interesting. Everyone expected flying cars by 2015, thanks to Back to the Future II, and obviously that never happened. But what about in a few thousand years time? How will space travel develop? Will we eventually be able to mould other planets for our use, and will we end up destroying them as we will our own planet?
With plenty of action, and a clear mission for Ames, this book is a wonderful science-fiction adventure. You can read it well within an hour and a half, as I did, and when you are done, you will certainly be off to find more books by this author.
And done!
I am honestly a little too tired right now to try and think up something amusing or in anyway smart to write down here, so I'm just going to leave it as it is.
That's all for now...
Bye!
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