Book Review: Terraforming Earth - Phase 1: "The Plagues Era"
The first book in a sci-fi series set in the not so distant future that promises to be a thrilling ride.
Social and economic differences seem to be even steeper than they are today. Earth is a dying, polluted, overpopulated world where the only possible escape seems to be the advent of amazing mind chips and other means of virtual reality, such as the much-anticipated virtual reality system called “Digital Nirvana”.
Not everyone is happy with the solutions offered by virtual reality, however. Religious groups refuse to be chipped. Some look to the stars, hoping that the conquest of space may be the natural next step for humankind to escape their agonizing world. And some of the world’s elite hang on to the belief that the world can be cleansed and saved…by disposing of millions upon millions of “useless mouths to feed”.
Caught in the middle of this apocalyptic dystopia we find Rake Cunningham, a seasoned cop whose best traits may be his cynicism and paranoia, and his good friend, Doc Holiday, a brilliant and attractive scientist specialized in the new virtual technologies.
When a series of unexplainable and tragic incidents begin to take place, Rake and Doc Holiday come to discover that Rake’s annoying tendency to be a conspiracy buff may not be as crazy as they both had originally been led to believe.
What I liked about this book:
The author has done his homework here. Not only is Dean C. Moore up to day with his technology and science; he’s also a gifted story-teller who rarely gets lost in complicated jargon to explain how the nano-technology and the virtual wonders of his futuristic world are supposed to work. Moore does a wonderful job of explaining to the reader how a “chiphead” can connect to the Internet directly in their heads, for instance, without sacrificing any action, mystery or suspense.
The premise is brilliant. Like George Orwell or Aldus Huxley, among others, before him, Moore has a knack to understand the human condition in general and the consequences that our present actions can produce in the future. Every little futuristic detail in this book seems to be the natural, organic next step in this current Age of Technology. In other words, it’s not hard to believe that all the nanobytes and the chips and the virtual reality introduced in the book could be real and very commonplace some day in the near future.
Characters are likable (or unlikable, as the case demands it), realistic and well fleshed out. Even minor characters show the reader their qualities and virtues as well as their flaws and shortcomings. And although the main characters couldn’t be more different if they tried, their chemistry works quite well throughout the book.
What I didn’t like:
Some chapters and paragraphs are a little too long, although the author does a good job to keep the story moving along. Besides, having been accused of committing the same sin myself as an author, I’ll take long chapters and paragraphs any day of the week, as long as the author is able to spin a good yarn and to provide his world with good exposition.
In fact, the story could benefit from a little more exposition at the beginning of the book, for my taste. Maybe it’s just me, but I found it hard to understand the differences between the many chips and their functions, based on the properties (and the cost) of every chip, upgrades and the like.
Conclusion:
Author Dean C. Moore has created a terrifyingly grim vision of the future here. Alas, for as chilling as this possibility might be, it may also be a realistic prediction of the path that our world could take if we don’t become mindful of the many problems afflicting us today and change directions before it’s too late.
That being said, the odd couple of Rake and Doc Holiday do provide a glimpse of hope for humankind in future installments…just as long as they can make it past the many challenges and dangers awaiting them down the road at nearly every turn.
You can purchase Terraforming Phase 1: "The Plagues Era" (FutureScape) here
