But hell am I glad I read it! It reminded me a lot of Genesis in some ways but with a much better story and a range of characters to go with it. That's the best word to describe this book. It's sophisticated, thought-provoking, and almost impossible to put down. I was especially enchanted by the knowledgeable science fiction references - Fringe, Doctor Who, Spider-Man - and the extremely clever annotations in the transcript, which tell the reader much about its fictional, futuristic 'audience' and ably satirize certain forms of the scholarly writing of our day.įurthermore, this is a novel about ideas: individualism, self-determination, responsibility, and 'progress,' among others. The haunted, hunted tone of psychological horror means this is perfect reading for the Halloween season, as well. Not only are the characters and their plight vividly and believably drawn, but also the science fiction premise is quite brilliant. Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers: the protagonist makes this connection himself, in fact. The young man on the tapes describes how one day his world (and everyone in it, save for three others in his village) utterly changed around him. I'll simply say that the text is framed as an edited book, of which the main part is a written transcript of discovered audio recordings. It's quite difficult to review this book or even explain its premise without spoiling the well-paced surprises it offers. I intend to foist this one on as many people as possible, as well. The moment I can pre-order the sequel, I will.

Where to begin? This is one of the best books I've read this year, and one of the best young adult dystopian/science fiction novels I've read, period.

0.4 by Mike A. Lancaster