Dystopian August comes to an end...

Yes, now being September it appears that Dystopian August has come to an end... The wrap up post can be found here, and I am very pleased to announce that I have won the prize pack!

Pictured Above: w00t

Not Pictured Above: An ARC of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, also won

Whether or not Dystopian February 2012 is on depends on her writing, but I would certainly like it to happen again! I'm assuming everyone who participated would as well, not to mention that they'll have plenty to review with all of the new releases of late 2011/ early 2012 fast approaching!

Zombie chicken salute, and here's to next year! But until then, please appreciate this flowchart from Erin Bowman, which pretty much sums up what is/ isn't a Dystopian society:

A larger version can be seen here, and happy September, everybody! Now to get back to all of those books you had to put off to make room for your dystopian picks :)

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

What if you knew exactly when your would die? Thanks to modern science, every newborn has become a ticking genetic time bomb- males only live to age twenty-five, and females only to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one perupose: to escape- to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiemtns. Withthe help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.
(Description from inside cover)

...

I know that this isn't a science book, but the lack of such really upset me. I mean, somehow the entire world got bombed, polar ice caps melted, and the United States is still around? New York City, Florida, and cities in California are mentioned, but wouldn't even be there if what is described in the book is true. And also, how is it that people die at age 20-25, but young teenagers are not only expected to have healthy pregnancies and babies, but actually do (well, except for the die at 20-25 thing)? A little more clarification on those things would've been nice.

A lot of Rhine's beliefs in this book are presented as truths, but she has a horrible time convincing me of things. I didn't believe her when she said her husband was the one who kidnapped her and killed girls, even when she did for most of the book. I don't believe her when she says she fell in love with this one boy who she barely seems to know. I don't believe her when she says being free is ideal, because all of her flashbacks of her past life and brother seem pretty negative. All of these make her come off as very naive, despite her mature voice.

The ending was also a bit... confusing. If Whither was a stand-alone book, and not in a series, I would have totally bought it and it would've been great. It wrapped up so nicely. But knowing that there's a sequel just confuses me, and I hope the next book doesn't feel stretched or forced.

I really like the cover, as to many of those who read Whither, but I feel alone in the fact that I don't "get" it. Yeah, I see the birdcage and the wedding ring, that much is clear. It's more with the fact that the chill girl on the cover looks more like a model for an Alexander McQueen photoshoot than a child desperate to escape. Nope, she's just taking a snooze. No urgency here.

I really enjoyed Destefano's writing style though, and she has a lot of beautiful, vivid imagery in here. Her words painted a clear picture to me, for the most part, of Rhine's world. The language is very poetic and lovely.

All in all, it is very much like The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, though Wither has a bit more angst to it's shock factor.

3/5
(Amazon - Goodreads)

Review: Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

(I love this cover. All of the dots
are tiny human heads.)

Title: Brain Jack
Author: Brian Falkner
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: September 28th, 2010
Page #: 349
ISBN: 0375843663
Acquired: Library

Amazon, Goodreads, Author's Website

Read for Dystopian August 2011 over at Presenting Lenore








From Goodreads:

Another terrifying sci-fi page-turner from the author of The Tomorrow Code!
Las Vegas is gone—destroyed in a terrorist attack. Black Hawk helicopters patrol the skies over New York City. And immersive online gaming is the most dangerous street drug around. In this dystopic near-future, technology has leapt forward once again, and neuro-headsets have replaced computer keyboards. Just slip on a headset, and it’s the Internet at the speed of thought.
For teen hacker Sam Wilson, a headset is a must. But as he becomes familiar with the new technology, he has a terrifying realization. If anything on his computer is vulnerable to a hack, what happens when his mind is linked to the system? Could consciousness itself be hijacked? Before he realizes what’s happened, Sam’s incursion against the world’s largest telecommunications company leads him to the heart of the nation’s cyberdefense network and brings him face to face with a terrifying and unforeseen threat.
Brian Falkner, author of The Tomorrow Code, has created an action-packed and thought-provoking science fiction adventure in which a brilliant young computer hacker fights to prevent the human race from being deleted.
Fans of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and M. T. Anderson’s Feed will love this high-octane techno thriller.

"'Wireless security' is a contradiction in terms. Like 'military intelligence  or 'jumbo shrimp.'" With that quote we are introduced to the risky and intellectually stimulating world of computer hacking through the eyes of one of the best in the business, Sam Wilson.

Brain Jack is one of the few dystopian novels that I’ve read that I can actually see happening in America, or anywhere in the world really. Despite the military influence sprinkled throughout the book it does not appear to be intrusive in people’s lives, nor is there some overarching dictator wringing his hands at the thought of which orphan he can starve next. Society functions just as it does in modern America, but with technological advancements that have yet to happen.

This book is chock full of computer, technology, and programming lingo. For a person who is lucky if she remembers how to put a picture into a comment on a forum, it can get a bit overwhelming at times. That doesn't make it a bad thing though, and I think enhances the reading experience: because I’m not sure where real life ends and technological fantasy begins when it comes to these programs that Sam is writing and using to hack computers, it adds to the creepiness element once the headsets go from useful piece of technology to computer menace. Just how far ahead in time does Sam live? What technology, aside from the neuro-headsets, does he have in his America, or anywhere in the world, really, that we do not in our times?

           
Sam makes for an interesting character, driven more by his passion for computers than romantic love for another human. Actually, I would have preferred that the one hiccup of romance that was in there be left out, seeing as it just left me more confused as to why it happened in the first place. In fact, assuming that Sam is straight, there are hardly any female characters (read: one) for him to fall in love with. More ladies in computer science, please!

         
The climax was great and the build-up lasted over one hundred pages, all of exciting action and suspense sequences that reflect just how desperate Sam and his friends are to fix a disastrous situation that they had a part in influencing. It’s quick-paced, and makes you not want to put the book down.

           
As for the ending, I certainly don’t want to spoil too much for those who haven’t read it, but I will say this: there isn't a civil war being raged in Libya right now because Gaddafi missed an episode of Barney. World problems, and more importantly world leaders, are a bit more complex than the ending makes them out to be. I was also left wondering what happened to some of the characters. They weren't a massive part of the book’s plot, but it would have been nice to know just what happened to them.
           
Oh yeah, Sam's British friend and co-worker, Dodge. There's not much to say about him, other than how much I loved him and his use of the word "guv'nor." More than once.

           
Overall, Brain Jack is a fresh take on dystopian books and societies, and is worth picking up for anybody who has taken note of just how fast Apple releases new products. Technology is moving fast, so don’t fall behind. Unless you’re Sam and his friends, that is, and in that case be happy that you did.

Four Stars!

And for the theme song of this piece/ dystopian playlist, I leave you with a nerd favorite that I have recently discovered, “Still Alive” by Jonathan Coulton. A little background, this is the ending song to the Portal game, after one believes that the intelligent computer system that they just destroyed is gone for good… Creepy, huh?

Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Sorry if things have been a little slow-going in terns of Dystopian August, vacation set me back a bit further than I thought it would (if that makes any sense.) I'll have some novel reviews as soon as I can, I promise! In the meantime, here's an extra-special Great Graphics just for Dystopian August! Huzzah!

...

As the Holy Empire of Britannia expands, the freedoms and rights of the citizens of the countries that it has conquered begin to shrink. Japan, once a strong and noble land, has since been renamed "Area 11," and the people live in fear of the soldiers that roam the streets as all that they once knew crumbles around them.

Enter Lelouch ("leh-louche"). An exiled child of the Emperor of Britannia, he seems like the least likely candiate to rally a desperate nation to action. With no political connections in his exiled state and few friends, his hope for topplling the kingdom that betrayed him seems unlikely until he meets C.C., a young woman whom he rescues from a military vehicle. In return she grants him a very powerful and dangerous gift, a "geass." With this ability, Lelouch can influence any human to do anything he commands. Weak no more, Lelouch begins to get the ball of revolution rolling with the help of a rebel group, of which one of the members is Kallen, a "sickly" girl whom is tougher than her school persona makes her out to be.

Armed with a new power, Lelouch dons a mask and reinvents himself as Zero, a crusader who fights for the weak with only one goal in mind: to fell the kingdom that shamed him years ago.

...

Code Geass has been around for a while now and has yet to show signs of falling out of style. The plot is fairly linear, with Lelouch's goal being the main focus of the story. There is a light side to this though, as Bandai has also been publishing spin-off series that take place in alternate universes, not only allowing for the story to take a different path, but also giving some other characters their chance to shine as more than pawns in Lelouch's game.

The plot is also quick-paced, with each action leading into the next smoothly and swiftly. There are no "filler" panels added in to make it feel as though the story is longer, and everything serves either to introduce new characters or to set the scene for Lelouch's next daring move.

I actually find Lelouch to be a bit dry at points, as many people do with characters that only have one goal in their lives. Lucky for the reader though, he is flanked by interesting friends and family from his childhood friend Suzaku, a Japanese citizen fighting in the Britannian army, to his blind sister Nunnally, to the mysterious C.C.

The main series spans eight, manageable books. You can find these at your local bookstore (not Borders anymore...*sniff*), or if you're lucky, your local library. They are also sold online, and as far as I know Bandai is still printing copies. Also, the great thing about this graphic novel is that there is also an anime available. The DVD's can be purchased at F.Y.E. or at an online anime retailer. Nothing like curling up with a good dystopian TV series, right?

(Amazon) Rated 13 and up (for some blood and violence) by publisher Bandai Entertainment and spans eight, 200 page volumes

Dystopian August 2011!

Huzzah! This month marks the beginning of Dystopian August from the blog Presenting Lenore. I've had a couple of books sitting on my shelf for the longest time that I'll be reading and posting reviews for this month. They include:

                                                           Wither by Lauren Destefano    
                                                             (Plagues and polygamy)
                     

The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

("Welcome to a future where water is more precious than oil or gold..."- inside cover)

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

(Advanced technology, teen hackers, and mind control)

Excuse the green paint stains on my desk from Mother's Day a few years back, but these are the three that I'm definitely going to get through this month. I also have The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness out from the library but that one may be postponed for a bit and is kind of up in the air right now.

Finally, here's my contribution to any ongoing dystopian playlists out there and will be the musical theme for the next couple of reviews: Something's Not Right Here by One Republic

The scream, I burn
What’s that, you say
Your cloud it’s telling you lies now
You hear my voice,
You make some noise
You stole my choice
It’s over now
Pray for him now
I speak to you

I’m breaking out, something ain’t right here
You’re falling out, something ain’t right here
I’m breaking out, something ain’t right here
You’re falling out, falling out from, falling out, you’re falling out
Why can’t you see it?