Reviewer
Lavanya Karthik: Lavanya is from Mumbai, India and is a licensed
architect and consultant in environmental management. She lives in
Mumbai with her husband and six-year old daughter. She loves reading
and enjoys a diverse range of authors across genres.
Author: Kathleen S. Wilson
ISBN:
978-1-4392-3065-7
Publisher: Booksurge
Click Here To Purchase Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita
Rumer and Quix, author Kathleen
Wilson's debut novel is set in a futuristic world, suddenly
threatened by mysterious sightings of phenomena long considered
extinct. Its sixteen year old protagonist, Rumer, is an apprentice at
a news agency and finds that the news of these sightings are not
being taken as seriously as they should by her superiors. Accompanied
by Quix, her animet(a programmable artificial pet), Rumer decides to
investigate for herself.
31st century earth , called
Mirra, is a world of technological marvels. Teenagers like Rumer are
independent, and already being trained to join the professional
world. But this is also a synthetic world - everything from the sky
to natural phenomena to food (and pets of course) is made of
synthetic substitutes.
Rumer sets off on an adventure
halfway across the world on the trail of a group of scientists racing
to discover the last bits of pristine environment left on the planet.
But Mother Nature (called MoNa) has other plans - she launches an
offensive of sorts, in a desperate attempt to get the attention of
people around the world. Are the sightings a sign of impending
disaster?Will MoNa succeed in her mission, however disturbing it
seems? Will Rumer solve this mystery? And what does all this have to
do with her parents’ death?
This book offers an interesting
premise, especially in a world increasingly threatened by human
apathy to climate change. The book also steers clear of tangents like
romance and high school intrigue, focusing instead on a teenager’s
determination to unearth the mystery behind her parents’ death and
solve a looming global crisis . The author doesn't go into elaborate
explanations, but lets the reader ease into this world and understand
it at her own pace. I also enjoyed the multicultural flavour of this
world, with characters of different nationalities and names. Even the
global headquarters of the company responsible for MoNa's offensive,
is in Nanjing, and not in a Western city.
The plot sags
quite a bit in the middle, and could have done with a little more
excitement. Mother Nature is a surprisingly benign and confused lady,
and chooses a rather disturbing way to get her message across. The
end, while a rousing message of hope and the power of the people is
weak, and overly simplistic.
A book to read for its
interesting vision of the future.
Click Here To Purchase Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita