REBELLION

Clementine must rally resistance against an evil government.

Clementine, now safe with rebels, has been badly traumatized by Commander Charlie during his attempt to kill off most inhabitants of their planet (Extraction, 2014). The resistance, though, does not believe Clementine’s horrific nightmares and trauma-related hallucinations should keep her from an undercover mission, even though she kills allies during one particularly bad freak-out. Her mission is to infiltrate the Surface colony as it is resettled underground, beneath the poisoned earth. Once in the colony, her job is to rally the people to rebel against Commander Charlie. This brilliant plan doesn’t have any mechanism for countering the serum given to the populace that makes them docile and subservient—not surprising, considering the resistance barely reacts to a confirmed saboteur in their midst. Unsurprisingly, a new haircut and dye job aren’t enough to prevent Clementine’s past acquaintances from recognizing her as a fugitive. Once she’s captured, Commander Charlie informs her of the fleet headed their way from nearby planet Marden as well as threatening her love interest to force her to submit to a new serum that will give him control of her (selectively) brilliant intellect. The prose is overwritten and repetitive and the ending a predictable cliffhanger.

Implausibly unintelligent characters populate this tired plot.