My Review
Thanks to Anne for organising this tour and to the author for my copy of this book.
In some dim and distant future, humanity lives in a sprawling, many-layered city called Karakorum, billions upon billions living in squalor, and beneath the earth many more slave away pulling minerals from the mantle, sending all the resources to The Pillars. They follow the religion of Sapienism, that reveres ‘pure’ Homo sapiens genetics, and fears the Sypians, humans who developed the ability to connect as a hive mind. All humans have implants and modifications to allow them to access the neural net that connects everyone, yet they fear those who can do so without any implants.
Sorcha, a child who lives on the outer edge, in a faction called Eto, plays a game called Scratch and catches the attention of another faction called Delos. She has no implants. Lunn, a Grunder, humans who’s ancestors took body modification to extreme lengths and who are generally rare, has protected her from the time he found her as a baby in a shuttle he shot down. After catching the attention of Nathan, the Consul of Delos, Sorcha and Lunn go on the run. They make it to another faction, called Roma, and the protection of Lama Bolo, the high priestess of the Modor, the founder of Sapienism.
Then things really start to go wrong.
As the reader follows Sorcha, Lunn, Nathan and Bolo’s adventures through Karakorum, we discover the history of the Sypiens, and Sapiens, Karakorum and The Pillars. Nothing is as it seems, and Sorcha must play one final game of Scratch against the Modor if the people are to be freed from their hopeless lives.
It’s a good narrative, with memorable main characters, emotional depth and a horrifying civilisation that’s very clearly described. It sounds like a sensory nightmare, which is probably what the author is going for. The manic despair of the citizenry, slowly revealed over the course of the novel builds up to a horrifying vision. The idea of Scratch is very imaginative and powerfully described, especially the idea of the flow state. The chapters from Alia’s point of view and the history of humanity that resulted in Karakorum add to the slow build of tension that results in the final battle between Sorcha and Alia. The writing was brilliantly descriptive at times.
But, I’m gonna be honest with you. The book needs editing, really badly. There were a lot of homophones that hadn’t been picked up on and the narrative could do with tightening up and tidying up. The ending left me disappointed and confused. I supposed the author is setting up for further adventures? The writing was okay but the author tried too hard and it often felt forced. It’s stuff that a good editor and a lot of practice will deal with.
I do want to read more of Sorcha and Lunn’s adventures. What will they do now, from their new positions in the world, far from the Baltic coast of Eto? But, and I say this as one self-published author to another, the author needs to get a professional editor.
Don McVey has worked for over 20 years in the Film and TV industry. After winning the H.G. Wells award for his short story ‘Transference’, he decided it was time to get round to writing a novel. His debut novel Karakorum was released in May 2023.
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