It Takes Death to Reach a Star

April 30, 2018
The first collaboration between Jones and Worthington (the Action of Purpose trilogy) is a reasonably standard postapocalyptic dystopian work. Thanks to a one-two apocalyptic punch of war and disease, most of the world is uninhabitable; only one remote area of Siberia remains a place where humans can live. Dystopia fans looking for the usual tropes—a highly unequal future society, protagonists from each half thrown together, machinations by the dictator in charge, etc.—will get all that, explained in straight-up exposition dumps by the two narrators (Demitri, a member of the genetically modified elite Graciles, and Mila, a scavenger and member of the tough but poor Robusts) and in ponderous conversations between characters telling each other what they both know. There are a few interesting twists involving Vedmak, a second personality inside Demitri who might represent a failure of the bioengineering and culling that the Graciles practice, but the limitations and sheer grunginess of the setting keep the story solidly predictable. Readers looking for innovation in worldbuilding or characters will be disappointed. Agent: Italia Gandolfo, Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary.

May 15, 2018

The Third World War has come and gone. In the aftermath, everyone was so busy championing their religious ideology or acquiring wealth and resources that they failed to notice the small things. In the void arose the New Black Death, a disease that spread to every place on Earth except a gulag in Siberia. Survivors renamed this last inhabitable city Etyom, where two groups have emerged: the Robusts and the Graciles. Now through genetic modification, they live on several centuries later. One difference in this future world is a dimensional rift in which beings reside on the other side who can reach into the realm of humanity and manifest themselves as tormenting voices. Opening a portal to that sphere may potentially bring something worse than anything the world has yet known. With what remains of humanity caught in an internal elite-vs.-poor struggle, there is a need for some to rise above and care about something greater than themselves. VERDICT There are lots of moving pieces in this interesting attempt at merging the best of apocalyptic fiction and sf from Jones ("Action of Purpose" trilogy) and Worthington (Children of the Fifth Sun). And fans of both genres may find it compelling.--Mark Hanson, Maranatha Baptist Univ. Lib., Watertown, WI

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2018
In Etyom, a dark, freezing city in what was Siberia, there are two races of survivors of the New Black Death (NBD) that swept the globe after WWIII. In the walled cities on the ground live the Robusts, descendants of the poor who were immune to the NBD, while up in the skies live the Graciles, genetically engineered descendants of the superrich. Readers enter this complex world through Mila, a plucky and resourceful Robust, and Demitri, a brilliant Gracile scientist with a dark secret. Their engaging first person narrations alternate, while the action and twisting plot, blending political intrigue and caper, keep the story moving at a fun and brisk pace. But there is also much to ponder in this well researched tale, serious issues like the place where science and faith collide, human interference in evolution, and race and class biases. Cinematic, thought-provoking, and immersive, this is a great option for fans of darker, grittier, and more science-focused dystopias in the manner of the novels of Philip K. Dick.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)