Jason M. Hough follows The Darwin Elevator with the second in the Dire Earth Cycle. I am always reluctant to reveal too much plot about a novel, hoping that someone who reads this review will be intrigued enough to read and enjoy the novel as much as I did.
Not a fan of reveals, but hard not to when you like it so much...
With the arrival of the second Builder ship, the mystery deepens. Tania watched as it opened like a flower to spin down another fine metal line and a second elevator was connected to Belem, Brazil. Several platforms had detached from the Darwin elevator during the overthrow of the council in the last book and are now attached to the Belem line. Without supplies from Earth, they are quickly running out of air and water.
At the base of the Belem elevator, Skyler discovers many tall, black buildings deposited by the Builders. Despite their massive size, they seem to float and can be easily moved in any direction. Each one projects a plague suppressing Aura, meaning non-immunes can explore the new area with relative safety.
Skyler soon discovers a group of plague-immunes unaware of the Darwin elevator.
A brother and sister who have escaped from a maniacal leader, and the camp of immunes he holds prisoner, ostensibly to rebuild society. It's up to Skyler to train Ana and her brother Davi into a fighting team and rescue them all.
In Darwin, Russell Blackfield is trying to maintain his control over the Nightcliff base with the council gone, and to discover what is happening in Belem. Without food, he makes an arrangement with a slumlord named Grillo to farm the area and control the population. Grillo's power is through a religious cult called the Jacobites, whose fervour masks an authoritarian law.
Five shell ships were also released from the Builder ship, each cloaked with unique protective powers. Inside the ships are alien objects which need to be collected to answer the mystery of the Builders. Skyler forms a new team and the action moves out to the Azores and even Ireland to explore the crashed ships.
Despite the fantastical experience of entering the protective fields of energy surrounding the crashed spaceships, this entry did not thrill me like The Darwin Elevator did.
I enjoyed learning more about the Builders schedule and the mysterious objects they left, but personally the twin plot lines of the crazed leaders and the battles to overthrow them didn't interest me. Dystopian societies in SciFi are a common theme and I just don't care for them. Then there is the constant attacking with high caliber firepower and neck snapping combat that goes along with it. This book had the most fighting of the series, and I am more into mysterious science fiction like Solaris. I must say the story kicked along, and when they weren't eliminating each other all the characters had scenes they could shine in.
Two wise choices Jason made: beginning chapter 7 on April 28, 2283 (which will be my 316th birthday), and naming one of the new surveillance crews Eden, as they patrol the eastern quadrant in Brazil called Eden Estates. Even though it's a slum. (PS, my name is Eden).
The Exodus Towers is very well written, ingeniously plotted and entertaining, the action rips right along. I was amazed throughout at the construction of the novel, so in depth with plot twists you didn't see coming, background characters returning to the spotlight, and the expanding mystery. I was impressed by his creation of this entire world and it's richly imagined characters. My least favourite of the three, but within a terrific science fiction series I recommend highly!
2013 / Paperback / 516 pages
Comments