Rhett C. Bruno

I am an aficionado of the Generation Ship subgenre of SF. This short work is in that bailiwick; I was given it by its author some five years ago.

I've now read this concise fiction twice, at different inflection points in my life...first when trying to figure out how to rebuild my sense of self in the wake of the worst mental-health crisis of my life, now looking at the plainly visible (if still comfortingly distant) "The End" sign.

Both times it has spoken to me with a palliative affect in show more its voice, an "I understand" tone that genuinely eases my unsettledness. Quite an achievement, young Author Bruno. I salute you. show less

Update 12/13/16:

ON SALE NOW! ;)


Old review:

Thanks goes to Netgalley and the author for this ARC!

This is the conclusion to Mr. Bruno's Circuit trilogy, and I hope he'll forgive me for saying so, but I honestly believe they should all be read together in a single swoop. After all, this is where all the main characters finally band together and where the growing action and the final epic conclusion cumulates. I understand the need to split them up, and each book is worthwhile, but I can't help show more but wish that they were all bound together as one enormous volume. It would be pretty darn epic. :)

War.

It's brutal, here, and Vale practically stops at nothing to become a wrecking machine, having let ADIM, his abomination of an android, loose upon the solar system to gain ever more freedom of agency and independence, becoming the single most powerful piece in the war. It is beautiful.

The whole novel turns into a very satisfying conclusion for the entire series based upon religious and resource conflicts hovering above the shadow of the ruined earth. All the tragedies and the bonds of the main characters have become something rather special, but it's the personal tragedy of Vale, arguably the greatest villain of the books, that affects me the most. He's consistently the one character that seems bigger than life and also the one to nearly transcend it in his regrets even as he becomes a nearly single-handed wrecking ball. He's not a simple character, but he is easily my favorite among all the main characters.

I totally recommend this series to fans of Space-Opera and world-building (or destroying). This is a future taking place a few hundred years from now with many settlements across the Solar System and a vastly changed social structure. It should appeal to many SF fans, but I can't recommend reading this out of order of the rest of the trilogy! Together, they make up a pretty awesome tale. :) show less

Want a book that's Ready Player One and The Truman Show and The 100, all rolled in one? Get set for Vicarious!

Asher Reinhart is a resident of High Earth, a futuristic earth set a few hundred years into the future. Global warning has destroyed most of the planet and the leftover denizens reside in this hi-tech piece of land left above water. In their AI and VR filled easy-going lives, the main entertainment comes from virtual reality shows. And Asher is the chief director of the best shows show more out there, Ignis Live.

Mission is born in hiding because as per the strict rules of her land, she is an "illegal" child. With her intelligence and beauty, she soon rises up the ranks until she finds herself struggling between her heart and her duty. All she knows is that she must do her part to ensure the future of humans. Earth has been decimated and the citizens around her are the last survivors of humankind, all aboard the spaceship named Ignis, and travelling to a safer unknown destination. What she and the others don't know is that what's routine life and a daily struggle for survival for them on Ignis is nothing but VR entertainment for citizens of High Earth, who are getting their adrenaline rush vicariously through the "show".

The concept of the book is amazing. Though the world is set in a distant future with technology we can't even imagine, you find yourself mesmerized by the story. The utter callousness and selfishness of the High Earth citizens is akin to that of the ultra-rich people who live in their wealthy abodes without a shred of sympathy for the less-privileged. You can't help feeling for Mission and her fellow survivors on Ignis, and how their lives are being commercialised for entertainment while they themselves do whatever they can for survival. It's horrendous to think of humans behaving this way; then again, it's completely believable too.

As the book is written from two perspectives: those of Asher and Mission, the story keeps you mostly engaged. It is a quick-paced plot until about the 55% mark. Then it seems to lose its way a bit with a lot of unnecessary secondary offshoots. The final 20% gets the narrative back on track and takes it to an unexpected finale that will leave you yearning for more. There are some things left unexplained, so it might be that the author is planning for a sequel. But even if it's a standalone, the story ties up the more important threads of the tale and our imagination is enough to fill in the rest of the blanks the way we want.

The book would have done even better if the latter half had cut out on the fluff and kept the narrative as taut as in the first half. It was at least 50 pages longer than needed. Still, if for nothing else, it's worth a read for the sheer imagination of the author and the vast scope of the story. As a dystopian sci-fi book, it's scarily amazing. I’ll go with a 4.25 for this one. The haphazard middle is the main reason for the deduction in the rating, though a couple of minor plot points were slight irritants. This is my first Rhett C. Bruno work, and I have a feeling it won't be the last.

The audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton and Katherine McNamara. Need I say anything else about the quality of the narration? They are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! It's not just a narration, it's an outstanding performance. They make the 13 hours long audiobook go by in a whizz.

Thank you, NetGalley and Podium Audio, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever!, for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
Follow me on Instagram: RoshReviews show less

Want a book that's Ready Player One and The Truman Show and The 100, all rolled in one? Get set for Vicarious!

Asher Reinhart is a resident of High Earth, a futuristic earth set a few hundred years into the future. Global warning has destroyed most of the planet and the leftover denizens reside in this hi-tech piece of land left above water. In their AI and VR filled easy-going lives, the main entertainment comes from virtual reality shows. And Asher is the chief director of the best shows show more out there, Ignis Live.

Mission is born in hiding because as per the strict rules of her land, she is an "illegal" child. With her intelligence and beauty, she soon rises up the ranks until she finds herself struggling between her heart and her duty. All she knows is that she must do her part to ensure the future of humans. Earth has been decimated and the citizens around her are the last survivors of humankind, all aboard the spaceship named Ignis, and travelling to a safer unknown destination. What she and the others don't know is that what's routine life and a daily struggle for survival for them on Ignis is nothing but VR entertainment for citizens of High Earth, who are getting their adrenaline rush vicariously through the "show".

The concept of the book is amazing. Though the world is set in a distant future with technology we can't even imagine, you find yourself mesmerized by the story. The utter callousness and selfishness of the High Earth citizens is akin to that of the ultra-rich people who live in their wealthy abodes without a shred of sympathy for the less-privileged. You can't help feeling for Mission and her fellow survivors on Ignis, and how their lives are being commercialised for entertainment while they themselves do whatever they can for survival. It's horrendous to think of humans behaving this way; then again, it's completely believable too.

As the book is written from two perspectives: those of Asher and Mission, the story keeps you mostly engaged. It is a quick-paced plot until about the 55% mark. Then it seems to lose its way a bit with a lot of unnecessary secondary offshoots. The final 20% gets the narrative back on track and takes it to an unexpected finale that will leave you yearning for more. There are some things left unexplained, so it might be that the author is planning for a sequel. But even if it's a standalone, the story ties up the more important threads of the tale and our imagination is enough to fill in the rest of the blanks the way we want.

The book would have done even better if the latter half had cut out on the fluff and kept the narrative as taut as in the first half. It was at least 50 pages longer than needed. Still, if for nothing else, it's worth a read for the sheer imagination of the author and the vast scope of the story. As a dystopian sci-fi book, it's scarily amazing. I’ll go with a 4.25 for this one. The haphazard middle is the main reason for the deduction in the rating, though a couple of minor plot points were slight irritants. This is my first Rhett C. Bruno work, and I have a feeling it won't be the last.

The audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton and Katherine McNamara. Need I say anything else about the quality of the narration? They are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! It's not just a narration, it's an outstanding performance. They make the 13 hours long audiobook go by in a whizz.

Thank you, NetGalley and Podium Audio, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever!, for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
Follow me on Instagram: RoshReviews show less