A good run at constructing an out-of-the-ordinary romance that never quite succeeds.
The sequel to Waters' dystopian Archetype (2014) is set in a world where women are in scarce supply and cloning has a creepy, but increasingly important, role in society.
Emma Wade Burke has managed to escape from Declan Burke, the richest man in America, who claims to be her husband; she's fled to Mexico, where she hunts for her resistance-connected parents. But Declan’s obsession with Emma threatens the resistance, which fights against the components of society that allow women and female children to be treated as possessions. Within moments of making contact with a man she hopes might help her, Emma discovers Declan has offered a huge reward for her return and that plenty of takers exist. Emma returns to the resistance fighters’ headquarters and her true husband, Noah, the father of her child. But this Emma is a clone of the woman Noah married. His wife died, and many in the resistance movement don’t accept that Emma, the clone, is as much a human being as they are. After settling into everyday life around the facility, Emma decides she must resume the search for her parents, no matter where that might take her, even if it means walking back into Declan’s life. While Waters works hard to convince readers that Emma’s clone is every bit as human as Emma, the character herself emphasizes her differences by speaking in an oddly formal and stilted manner. Although billed as a futuristic story involving a dystopian society, the plot really centers on Emma’s tiresome swooning over both Declan and Noah. When she’s not daydreaming about Noah’s amber eyes or Declan’s lush lips, Emma proves to be an interesting-enough heroine, but those who are not up for a romance novel will find her dilemma tiresome.
A good run at constructing an out-of-the-ordinary romance that never quite succeeds.Pub Date: July 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-525-95424-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Then comes the fire storm and "It is so short and jumbled and jangled" . . . because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre but it is precise jumble and jangle, disconcerting and ultimately devastating.
Pub Date: March 21, 1969
ISBN: 0385312083
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969
IN THE NEWS
Visionary speculative stories that will change the way readers see themselves and the world around them: This book delivers...
Exploring humankind's place in the universe and the nature of humanity, many of the stories in this stellar collection focus on how technological advances can impact humanity’s evolutionary journey.
Chiang's (Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002) second collection begins with an instant classic, “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” which won Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novelette in 2008. A time-travel fantasy set largely in ancient Baghdad, the story follows fabric merchant Fuwaad ibn Abbas after he meets an alchemist who has crafted what is essentially a time portal. After hearing life-changing stories about others who have used the portal, he decides to go back in time to try to right a terrible wrong—and realizes, too late, that nothing can erase the past. Other standout selections include “The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” a story about a software tester who, over the course of a decade, struggles to keep a sentient digital entity alive; “The Great Silence,” which brilliantly questions the theory that humankind is the only intelligent race in the universe; and “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny,” which chronicles the consequences of machines raising human children. But arguably the most profound story is "Exhalation" (which won the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Short Story), a heart-rending message and warning from a scientist of a highly advanced, but now extinct, race of mechanical beings from another universe. Although the being theorizes that all life will die when the universes reach “equilibrium,” its parting advice will resonate with everyone: “Contemplate the marvel that is existence, and rejoice that you are able to do so.”
Visionary speculative stories that will change the way readers see themselves and the world around them: This book delivers in a big way.Pub Date: May 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-101-94788-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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