I enjoyed this fairly short sci-fi novel (novella). The writing was competent if a bit simplistic. The plot was pretty good though and kept me reading till the end.I enjoyed the setup in New Seattle, a polluted, multi-layer city where the rich lived at the top and the poorest at the bottom, in the most polluted air. The city is run by triads who profit from selling medicines that keep those wealthy enough to buy them healthy in the dreadful smog. My cynical side sees all sorts of parallels with our own society here.The 'insta-love' of the main characters was somewhat unbelievable, as one was drugged and hardly said a word and their first 'wonderful' night contained plenty of sex, to be sure, but not a lot to base a lifelong romantic partnership on, I'd have thought. Still, if you suspend disbelief here it does get better as they interact.This story, imo, is the right length. I don't think there was enough there to make it into a full-length novel, but it was pretty good as it stands.So yeah, good world-building was the best part, and a neat plot just the right size for the work. As others have mentioned it borrowed heavily from both Romeo & Juliet and Robin Hood (alas no helpful apothecaries or villainous sheriffs showed up). The world building was good, but I didn't get a strong sense for either Lynx or Rion. Lynx was like a little kid just discovering that boundries are flexible and should be tested and that you shouldn't believe everything you're told. Rion, on the other hand, was so enmeshed in Katana's dealings that I had to wonder what led to his self-discovery and subsequent subversions and how long ago it occured. Overall it was a decent story that ended far too vaguely for my liking.
What do You think about Dark Sun (2011)?
It was good but just as the story started to be really interesting the book ended :(
—msangerdavies1
Where's the sequel? This one needs a followup!!! Loved it.
—Bekk
