Darklandia

This is an amazing novel, a utopian-dystopian world and a teenager slowly becoming aware that the world around here is not as she's been led to believe. I found it reminiscent of young adult sci fi I loved as a kid, such as Devil on My Back by Monica Hughes, or more recent takes on the genre such as Maria V. Snyder's Inside Out. Perhaps Brave New World would be a closer match to the Felicity-medicated world in Darklandia, but regardless, Darklandia walks the careful line of feeling familiar without feeling unoriginal.

What blew me away the most is that even though I was noticing clues that should have led me to the shocking ending, I didn't make the connection until the very end. Masterfully done, and while I could see how others might show more feel unsatisfied, I thought it was brilliant.

It's quite the page turner: I caught myself finishing it hours past my bedtime. I highly recommend this one, especially to fans of this type of speculative/science fiction, just make sure not to start it too late in the evening!

I was fortunate enough to win this in a LibraryThing member giveaway, but regardless of how I obtained the book, I can honestly say that this is among the top books I've read this year... and it's nearly November! The rest of my reading list will have a lot to live up to. show less

This was a really quick read (more like a novella or short story than a novel) and I loved it! The story can be compared to Orwell's 1984 and also shares similarities with movies such as Matrix, Open Your Eyes and Equilibrium. It has a nice twist at the end that I didn't see coming at all (love it when that happens!). Actually, I wouldn't mind reading this again to clear up a couple of things I might understand better now that I realise what was happening.
I really liked the characters. Considering the shortness of this book the characters were developed really well and I had no trouble getting to know them as the story progressed.
I also loved the darkness of this story, as I do with any story that gives a bit of insight into how our show more society might work in future if certain protocols were implemented to control and subdue the populace. The future world explored in Darklandia got me thinking and it was scary to see just how possible this scenario is.
Hope to see more work from this talented author. show less

I was lucky enough to win a copy of Darklandia in a Library Thing Giveaway.

I have to say it is one of the most superb novels I have ever been lucky enough to win in this way. It is hard to say what genre it falls into, it is a kind of dystopian thriller/post apocalyptic/sci-fi hybrid, that draws upon a few parallels with the novel 1984. I, unlike most people, HATED 1984, but Darklandia seems to pull from it's better elements and gives it a new, original and exciting twist.

The faux-happiness (or 'felicity') instilled in everyone is very eerie; from the beginning I think the reader realises that there is something wrong with the situation; buzzwords that make you think of cults, brainwashing etc. such as 'Rapture' as a noun not as a verb show more also contribute to this. I had a little cry within the first few pages if I'm honest, the brutality of the 'raptures' and how the citizens had been brainwashed to accept death and murder as a happy thing as opposed to the brutal and devastating things they are was something I found very uncomfortable.

The characters within Darklandia are expertly written; I found that the protagonist, Sera, affected me most of all. Her abject horror at the thought of being a 'darkling' (or 'normal', as we would consider it) is quite distressing and the level to which she has been brainwashed by the Atraxia (new Manhattan) government is alarming, yet not unfeasible. The 'pain' of her realisation that something isn't right, when citizens are not allowed to feel pain, is quite poignant, as she learns how to be human as we know it. Her relationships with others, particularly her distrust of her own mother and her trusting people she has only just met seems warped but again, is understandable in the circumstances she finds herself in. Sera is possibly one of the most interesting characters I have read in a long time, and I wish I could read more of her.

The twist at the end of the novel is quite brutal, and one I definitely didn't see coming. Darklandia is an exceptional novel that I would honestly recommend to almost everyone - don't write it off as 'just another 1984', it is so much more and so much better. I will look forward to reading more by this author for sure! show less

I finished Darklandia, by T.S. Welti, quickly, but it's taken me a month and a half to review it.
What I love about dystopian novels is that there are always people who rebel against the system and take a stand against their treatment. And in that, Darklandia does not disappoint -- but it ends up going somewhere not quite expected.
The story revolves around Sera Fisk and her life in the dystopian society of Atraxia. Water is severely rationed, breeding is government controlled, and in a twist on the usual dystopian fare, people are required to spend an hour a day in a virtual reality pod, where you may excise yourself of your darker desires.
As I read books, I take notes on things that I liked or have problems with so that I can make show more note of them in reviews. Darklandia was no exception in this case. But then I got to the end. If you've read any of the other reviews for this book, you know that there is a huge twist in the last chapter. And while I personally LOVED it...it did throw a wrench in my review.
How much of what I wrote down still matters? For example, a lot of the things I thought were flaws in the story now seemed to be hints toward the true nature of what's happening in the book. How do I talk about those things now?
This book is a dark, intense story, and I think it really needs to be read twice to be fully appreciated.
There is a sequel in the works, and I'm really excited to see how things play out in the next book, especially in terms of characters like Nyx. Will he show up again? I loved the relationship there, but I'm not sure what the ending of the book means for Nyx and Sera.
But mostly I want to know what will happen to Sera. I loved her as a character, and I am definitely rooting for her.
Note: I received a free copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. This has no bearing on the content of my review. show less

I received a copy of this book as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer. The story of a dystopian future where 'suffering is optional' and where war and drought have left the population dependent on daily 'rations' was interesting. The concept of 'Darklandia' itself was also interesting. The book is well-written and I liked the characters. BUT, there are some logical inconsistencies in the story which would be easy to overlook if it weren't for the ending - WTF??? Really, that's where the author chose to go? I will not provide any spoilers so suffice to say the ending is ridiculous and as a reader who was quite enjoying the story until the last two pages I felt very cheated - I don't think I would bother with this author again.

I do not recall another novel, for which the cover meant so much to me; more so because I was originally put off by it. But I started to think about the smiling face differently after reading a third of the book.

How interesting to consider how flat a smile can become in a society where "suffering is optional." The protagonist, Sera Fisk, is told that she is tainted through heredity and relationship to her father and great-grandmother, who were each infamous because of their connection to life before "suffering is optional." Sera's eventual interaction with the arch-antagonist, Jane Locke, is both unlikely and perfect for this story.

Darklandia is an interesting take on the "brain in a vat" premise with a healthy dose of Orwell's 1984. Even though it is a YA novel I think it could have explored more of the complexity that it hinted at, but then again, I'm not exactly the target market. I feel like this novel is more of a mashup of other works without going deeper into the one thing that sort of made this novel unique: the concept of putting together behavior modification with the guise of a virtual reality "theme park" with which to get out socially unacceptable impulses (i.e. murder). Overall this is a quick read with a good twist and reveal (even if it was a little predictable) that will make you think harder about the what you were really digesting in all of the show more chapters up till the last and look for the cracks in what you thought was reality. show less