COMPLEX

In this debut dystopian novel, a teenager fights to rescue her abducted younger sister from the ever increasing perils of a futuristic megacity.

Val Merina has been raising Kat, now 12, since their dad’s death two years ago. They’re on the dole and live in an apartment that Legacy, the “ailing government,” provides. Impoverished citizens’ only other option is to subscribe to (aka live and work in) company-owned Complex properties in the tiered megacity Arc. But subscribers are merely thankless servants save for the richest citizens residing at the top on level 7. After someone suddenly kidnaps Kat, Val gets no help from the police force ArcSec, as she’s out of its jurisdiction. Luckily, she finds an ally in 18-year-old Trevor, who skirts Legacy’s rarely enforced laws. While finding Kat is the objective, Val and Trevor soon question why exactly the girl was a target. Meanwhile, chaos in Arc looms, as the new PASS directive promises to keep people with low social scores out of the wealthier districts. Around the same time, Legacy Administrators pass the DS75 bill, which cuts subsidies for housing by 75%. Angry citizens ultimately gather in Arc—a potential riot that a virus and a possible epidemic exacerbate. Considering its epic length (nearly 700 pages), Enderly’s SF series opener moves at an impressive pace, in part due to regularly shifting narrative perspectives. These include such memorable characters as Val, Trevor, ArcSec Chief Riku Ogunwe, and the mysterious Ray, whose menacing job, among other things, is scaring people into becoming Complex subscribers. Despite a frenzied and twisty final act, the author skillfully manages numerous characters while violence, though potent, is not a frequent occurrence. Quite a few individual fates are left unknown by the end, which, along with the delightfully head-spinning denouement, will surely have readers hankering for another installment.

A thoroughly absorbing SF tale with a motley cast.