Review of Inner
Voices the Awakening by Barry Alder
Review
by
Stephen B. Pearl: www.stephenpearl.com
This is the first book in the Inner Voices
series and as such unavoidably concentrates a little heavily on world building
and character introduction. That being said, these are handled skillfully and do
not become the major detractors they are in some books.
When a village of post-apocalyptic survivors
find themselves threatened by an expanding, totalitarian empire they awaken the
hibernating solders that their village was founded to protect some three hundred
years before.
These solders were placed in
stasis by the losing side of a war with the intention that they would awake and
form insurgent groups to topple the invader’s government from behind the lines.
Unforeseen circumstances turned five years of stasis into hundreds. To make
matters worse when the solders are revived only a small number have survived the
extended stay in stasis.
Now a village of agrarian, pacifists
exemplifying new-age morals and ideas must deal with twelve battle-hardened
veterans from a turbulent dog eat dog time. The culture shock and confusion this
brings into being on both sides are the main thrust of the book.
Biased ideas on the part of both groups put
up barriers to communications. As well massive physical changes to the earth
leave the solders wondering if there is anything left of the home they once
new.
In all, the book has strong characters in a
challenging situation. The passivity of the villagers and the hide-bound, rigid
hierarchy of the solders irked this reader a little, but I got the impression it
was supposed to. A lessen in the middle ground seems to be what the author is
trying to impart and what I suspect will develop in later books in this
series.
Having known many new-agers and my share of
ex-military I found the clash of the ideas represented very believable. I did
find the new-agers a little idealized in so much as my experience is that most
talk a good show but fall down when it comes to living it. That said this is
only the first book of the series and I suspect that the shiny goodness of the
villagers will tarnish as we get to know them better. As a read I’ll rate it as
good, as a representation of philosophies in conflict, very good. Depending on
your level of exposure to the concepts addresses it could even be enlightening.
In all, I highly recommend this read.
Stephen B.
Pearl http://www.stephenpearl.com author of
Tinker's Plague a post
apocalyptic, science fiction novel,
Slaves of Love a science
fiction, romance, erotica novel,
The Hollow Curse a
paranormal romance, erotica novel.