Unforgotten

December 15, 2013
On the run from Diotech, the biotechnology company that created her, Sera has time traveled with her beloved Zen to an English farm in the year 1609. When Zen becomes sick, however, and Sera uses her superhuman strength in front of witnesses, the two of them lose their safe haven. So begins a journey through time and geography that brings Sera to a future New York as well as to a hidden submarine. In the beginning, most of the duo's plans and knowledge originate with Zen, but once he is confined to a sickbed, Sera begins scheming and acting on her own. She finds a rival (and the de rigueur third leg of a love triangle) in Kaelen, another Diotech creation who introduces himself to Sera as "like you....[o]nly better." Sera's real-world knowledge sometimes feels arbitrarily spotty: She's never learned about sex, for instance, and when she comes to Zen feeling "this crazy...urge. Like a craving," his offer to explain what's happening by showing her comes off as more sinister than romantic. The mechanics of time travel, memory implants and other key plot elements don't always hold up to scrutiny, but the point here is less airtight worldbuilding than romance, quick life-or-death action, and glimpses into an imagined past and future. A solid second installment that should please fans of the first. (Science fiction. 12-18)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Sera awakes to a clear morning on the outskirts of 1609 London, with her boyfriend, Zen, lying beside her. Zen is the son of a scientist working for Diotech, a group that created Sera in the year 2115. She is a trillion-dollar genetically engineered masterpiece: beautiful, fast, strong, and brilliant. Diotech didn't expect that Sera would fall in love with Zen and flee its machinations. The teens escaped by "transession" also known as traveling through time. This entry picks up after the cliffhanger ending of the series opener, Unremembered (Farrar, 2013). Now living in a time without tracking technology, the lovebirds hope to enjoy their new hideaway. Sera, however, attracts the attention of superstitious villagers while saving an ailing Zen from a crashing apple cart with her superhuman abilities, and she is found guilty of witchcraft. As the protagonist is being burned at the stake, Diotech transesses her to 2032 New York. Once there, Sera must save Zen from a mysterious illness while at the mercy of Diotech's newest superhuman creation, Kaelen. Though inexplicably attracted to handsome Kaelen, she knows she can't trust her feelings. Teens are sure to enjoy this romantic sci-fi adventure full of drama and plot twists. Sera is a well-developed main character who is empathetic as she carries readers through her story as fast as her superhuman legs can take her.-Mindy Whipple, West Jordan Library, UT

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