World-Mart

by Leigh M. Lane

Government and corporate business have merged in an attempt to keep the country from going bankrupt, the effects of global warming and antibiotic-resistant disease having caused a full collapse in infrastructure. The class divide has become profound, leaving most people trapped in an impoverished, working class world with little room for improvement. Complacency and corporate hierarchy control and confound the masses, run by the elite few, collectively referred to as "Corporate."

George Irwin remembers a time before the Big Climate Change, back when the airlines were still in business and people still drove their own cars. Sadly, his children have only known an indoor world of endless reconstruction, public shuttles, recycled water, and limited energy. The world has changed much over his lifetime, but he still believes in the American Dream. When an alleged terrorist act lands his wife in the hospital, however, George stumbles upon a Corporate secret that could mean the end of all civilization.

Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, Horror, Post Apocalyptic, Speculative Fiction

278 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2011

About the author

In addition to writing dark speculative fiction for over twenty-five years, Leigh M. Lane has sung lead and backup vocals for bands ranging from classic rock to the blues, dabbled in fine arts, and earned a black belt in karate. She has a BA in English and graduated from UNLV Magna Cum Laude. She currently lives in the dusty outskirts of Sin City with her husband, an editor and educator, and one very spoiled cat.

Her traditional Gothic horror novel, FINDING POE, was a 2013 EPIC Awards finalist in horror. Her other novels include the WORLD-MART trilogy, a tribute to Orwell, Serling, and Vonnegut, and the dark allegorical tale, MYTHS OF GODS. Her Lisa Lane books include the JANE THE HIPPIE VAMPIRE dramatic horror series and the REVELATIONS trilogy.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Would be 4 1/2 stars if I could!)

World-Mart is the story of a very possible future reality – class segregation, failing energy supplies, food shortages, global warming, anti-biotic resistant viruses and governmental control over every action and choice made in life. Your background, upbringing and ability to follow without questioning dictate whether you thrive or simply survive in the world.

This is a thought-provoking and quite frightening book. I particularly found the idea of euthanasia of the ill and voluntary euthanasia for people who have found themselves, for whatever reason, demoted through the class ranks to be very disturbing and a reflection of the importance we place on bettering or at least maintaining our own statuses in life.

World-Mart also contains some wonderful poetry written by one of the main characters, Shelley, which I found particularly moving.

My only negative with this book was that some scenes played out way too quickly and could have been fleshed-out a little further, particularly to give a little more life to some of the characters. However this does not mean that the characters were flat or one-dimensional, simply that I wished I had gotten a chance to know them better, and particularly to know how the world came to be that of World-Mart.

Full review on my blog http://theaussiezombie.blogspot.com/

[Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well-written, an all-too-real and all-too-close dystopian future that both chilled and infuriated me. Incredibly well thought out and very, very smart. I think everybody needs to read this one. Would go nicely on a shelf with 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. I highly recommend this one.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without giving anything away about the book. I will say that this is a book in the Classic Tradition that rivals Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock's old TV series. Any fan of Twilight Zone will enjoy this book. This book can stand with the Classics.

[T.W. Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

World-Mart by Leigh M. Lane is dark, depressing, and vividly realistic. This is the world the folks in Wall-E escaped. The central family portrayed in the story is normal...for the new society as Corporate has deemed. I could not get enough of this book. It made me want to go out and recycle, make a compost bin and just be more frugal. World-Mart packs an entirely different wallop and could sit beside any modern day horror tale.

The central idea is that the world has become incorporated. We have created our own monsters in the quest to become perfect, and now the monsters are sick of being shunned. This is the caste system on an entirely different level.

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about how well edited and easy to read this book turned out. One of the largest knocks on the indie scene is the shoddiness of the material. THIS book does not suffer those flaws and stands as a beacon of what indies are capable of being with good old fashioned effort.

Dystopian is defined as (per Wikipedia) "the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four...Dystopian societies feature different kinds of repressive social control systems, various forms of active and passive coercion. Ideas and works about dystopian societies often explore the concept of humans abusing technology and humans individually and collectively coping, or not being able to properly cope with technology that has progressed far more rapidly than humanity's spiritual evolution. Dystopian societies are often imagined as police states, with unlimited power over the citizens." That word is tossed about so much these days...incorrectly. Many of my zombie brethren have taken to incorrectly labeling their work as such. THIS is truly a book that IS the definition.

Kudos to Ms. Lane on bringing such exquisite darkness to her world and refusing to let in a little light. The ending is suitably dark and dreary. Folks who have complained about the ending have had too much Hollywood in their diet. This book will hurt your soul.

My only complaint was that one part of the story was too predictable and Lane has proven she does not lack creativity. I don't do spoilers, but suffice it to say, I was actually wanting the resolution of one story arc to hurry up and be done with so I could just enjoy the misery. That is a small complaint and probably one I make more as a writer who really appreciated what Lane created versus a reader.

Pick up World-Mart, just don't expect to feel a warm and fuzzy after you finish.

[The TBR Pile *Book review site* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enter contest here: http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/1/post/2...

It is difficult to talk about this book without giving too much away, but this was a compelling read that gripped me very early on. The characters are well conceived, the plot compulsively addictive and all in all the story flowed fairly well. That is not to say this book is not without a few flaws (a plot thread concerning one character's experiences of voices in her head is never adequately explained, the Deviants who seek to threaten the big Corporations' control only seem distinctive by the fact that their eyes are a lighter shade than other peoples') but these were never enough to spoil my enjoyment. The end result is a novel that unsettles the reader simply by being very close to the truth of what could just be waiting around the horizon.

I really enjoyed this and would certainly read other material by this author. Lane apparently writes under lots of other names in several different genres but certainly from this example it seems they have a real talent for scarily believable Science-Fiction and will definitely be someone I will be looking out for in the future!

[Quincy Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The climate changed. In addition, antibiotic-resistant viruses ravaged the earth. The corporation saves humanity, or does it? What happens if the corporation totally runs all facets of human existence? What happens to human relations? What happens to the way we love, worship, and live? The answers suggested by Lane in World Mart look a lot like where we will be in the not too distance future. In some areas, like the connection of education to class, it is simply a mirror of our present society.

But not only that, Lane provides a picture of the human need to dehumanize "others." Lane even provides a not too flattering glance at what happens to faith in an environment that is supportive of the corporation.

In general the story made sense to me. It grabbed me from the beginning and kept me interested especially in George's final quest. I did have a minor issue with the "coincidences" towards the end that seemed a bit contrived. However the very end left me as I think a story like this should leave us.

I strongly suggest that you read this novel that really hits close to home. ~ Quincy Simpson, from the Kindle Book Review.

[Renee Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the blurb, I expected a story with a much larger scope. As I think another review pointed out, by the time we get about halfway through the book, it becomes far more of a personal story focusing on the individual characters' lives, with the social implications becoming mostly backdrop. The writing was decent but could have used more polish; there was a lot of telling instead of showing, as well as some clunky passages and lines of dialogue that took me out of the story, and the point of view was wobbly, often with shifts even within single chapters. My main disappointment, though, and the main reason for my 2-star rating, was the ending. Besides not liking the characters' fates, it felt like the plot was building to a big event that never came. Instead, I felt like the story just stopped, making for an unsatisfying conclusion.

[Kitty Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Title: "World-Mart”
Author: Leigh M. Lane
Published By: Cerebral Books
Age Recommended: 18+
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 4

Review: It has finally happened. The world has succumbed to a climate change and in an effort to keep it from going bankrupt, government and business have been completely combined. Humans are now treated as drones working in one large hive where thinking for ones-self and stepping out of line, are not tolerated.

In this imaginative and interesting novel, Leigh M. Lane weaves a story that is unique and makes you really think about what it may be like if our country came to this abrupt change and life as we know it ended. I definitely enjoyed this novel and would recommend it highly!

[Shh I am Reading Leticia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

I love Ms. Lane's writing and her stories. They hit close to home with a society run by corporations that govern everything from what you eat to how much electricity you can use to what happens if your family members fall ill. That part was terrifying, especially as we're in a pandemic currently.

The characters were written well. The world building was awesome and the story was totally awesome, through and through. Perfect story.

For more reviews, stop by my blog Shh, I am Reading

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consider a world where the population is decimated by climate change and anti-biotic resistant germs. With food and power restrictions and where a corporate organisation controls everything from religion to the amount of water a household may use.
"World Mart" by Leigh M. Lane presents a view of what our own world might become in the not too distant future.

This book for me was enjoyable to read even if it didn't have a happy ending.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at the close future of a world destroyed by climate change with corporate elites controlling the masses through regulation, ignorance, and efficiency. A probable scenario which may happen if society is not converted from expansion toward sustainability.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creepy and sad

[Jesse Kimmel-Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frighteningly wonderful. It freaked me the hell out and I hope that our society never becomes like it. Good job!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it a bit rushed and abrupt. Neat story, though.

[Clayton Bye · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.thedeepening.com/2012/10/2...

[Jeffery Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you know of Jane Elliot's famous blue eye/brown eye exercise, or if you are familiar with the Dr. Seuss book, The Sneetches, you won't be able to help manifesting them in your mind when you read Leigh M. Lane's new dystopian work World Mart. Yet, to leave the comparison at that would be to summarily undervalue and oversimplify the work that Lane has given us. World Mart is a solid dystopian novel that fully exercises the classic elements of dystopia, while weaving some nice themes of family structure and social bigotry that drive a plot I viewed as an undeterred freight train, heading toward its dark end.

Meet the Irwin family; George and Virginia - their children, Shelley and Kurt. They exist in a time and place, not quite known. The setting, however will feel warmly familiar to dystopian readers - a corporate run world, where a tough, meager existence is the best one can hope for, and, everything is literally falling to pieces. Eugenics is king and a curious return to lineage and aristocracy makes the society itself stagnant. One is born into a certain class and everything afterward is, more or less, determined by the managerial or worker class that one finds themselves in. Still, everyone in the World Mart society suffers to similar restraints from the dwindling resources that power their quadruplex cities and supply the food and heat. All except for the upper management corporates, who, of course, enjoy the fat and the lean, while their fellow citizens eat cake. At the very bottom of this bottom heavy social pyramid are the deviants, genetically engineered beings from a failed, bygone experiment that were cast down, like Satan, and are treated as such by the rest of the populace. (Hint: They have ice blue eyes.)

George Irwin, an employee of Law-corp, is the consummate corporate man, always concerned with performance and appearance. He lives by the book. His family could be considered to be the Cleavers, or the Huxtables of their time. But all of that changes when a mysterious business card covered in blue powder is slipped into his pocket while he stands in a food line. Lane draws a very imaginative and clever world. Her sense of scene is well honed. I always enjoy finishing a book and carrying away clever portraits in my memory. Lane accomplished this well and I'm still thinking of the garbage fields two days later. I also loved the news associates and the way that they operate in crowded venues. The pace is exciting and quick, at times, I might say, a little rushed. At certain points I wanted Lane to slow down a little and explore the more emotional moments that members of the Irwin family were going through. None-the-less, this is a colorful read, with thought provoking moments. I definitely felt my time was well spent.

[Hal Bodner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leigh M. Lane creates a fascinating anti-utopia reality in "World-Mart" which is reminiscent of Orwell's "1984" and Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451". Her novel traces the disintegration and destruction of an "average" family in a nihilistic world where society has collapsed and the planet is now run by a futuristic kind of corporation.

The personal stories of the individual main characters -- husband, wife, teen-aged daughter, young son -- are certainly engaging and capture the reader's attention. Similarly, the fantasy world of Lane's creation is an intriguing one and, unlike those concocted by lesser authors, has a remarkable consistency.

In fact, the novel as a whole is four star all the way... right up until the end.

Whether Lane felt she'd written herself into a corner, whether she'd reached her publisher's word limit or whether she just ran out of creative steam, the book simply...ends, abruptly and leaving a lingering dissatisfaction. If, on the other hand, it was Lane's conscious choice to end her novel in this manner, leaving far too much open-ended, it was a bad mistake. Not to reveal any spoilers but the book ends on the brink of a societal upheaval and though the mechanism of following the roots of discontent through the one family is a good one, it's inchoate. It's rather like Victor Hugo wrote "Les Miserables" but left out the revolution!

It's a shame, really, because Lane's craft brings the reader "inside" and she's definitely able to involve us with her characters emotionally. But the plot just sort of fizzles out and, to be honest, although it's been an interesting ride up until that point, this reader found himself more fascinated with the creation of the artificial world and what makes it tick, than with the journey of the characters. Yes, you read that right though it may seem contradictory; I found there to be a disconnect between our involvement in emotional life of the characters and our concern (and interest) in what happens to them.

So, as much as I enjoyed this book, given the let down at the end, I cannot recommend it as highly as I would have liked.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one suspenseful and powerful book, once I started it was too scary how believable this story could turn out to be. Illness is all over and there seems to be a new strain of the flu every couple of years. It has even gotten to the point that some doctors are afraid to prescribe antibiotics at times. This is one of those books where you sit back and wonder how far into the future we can go before something like this can really happen. The government in this book and all of their control was very implied but never went over board and did play a big role in the story but it was never too overbearing.
Now I will talk about the story within the story and they are known as the Irwin family.
The author did an amazing job of bringing the characters too life for you imagination to be able to grasp each one and see though their eyes and feel the emotions as there life goes from as normal and any other Corporate Segregate family. Even though over the last few months there has been more problems with the outsiders "deviants" George never knew how fast his life could change for the worse.
After his wife, Virginia, was infected by an unknown disease and put in the hospital life as the Irwin family just ceased to exist in any normal fashion.
This is a highly emotional and compelling book and I recommend it to any one who loves a good suspense, family tragedy or government take over.

[Kate M · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only reason this story got one star was for the premise--it is a fantastic idea, frankly, one I wish I had come up with first. And one I wish the author had taken to an editor, and not chosen to self-publish.

I love the idea that in a a future world we are run by corporations or the government, from what we can become to how we are defined (though the idea was already done in Huxley's Brave New World), and that climate change has forced us to live underground. Theses ideas are original, and I would have loved reading descriptions to make this seem real, but there were not enough, nor were they detailed. I liked the social commentary of who the "haves" are versus the "have nots", but they were stereotypical. And the writing was lackluster and there was nothing that made me feel for these characters, though the story should have felt tragic. Then, it abruptly ended; I do not mind ambiguous endings, in fact I like them, but this was not ambiguous, it just ended.

The issues I have with this story are those I have with many (most) self-published works, and why I am particularly un-fond of the process. The characters were not developed, the story not complete, the sentences not structured well. These are all things that editing would (hopefully) catch, and what makes self-publishing a bad idea. (Just because you can write, or have a good idea, doesn't mean you should write and publish.)

[Donald Peebles · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first received my copy of WORLD-MART personally from Leigh M. Lane, a new friend and fellow author, last year, I assumed the novel was a satire of Wal-Mart's exploitation of their low-wage employees. I expected and anticipated that. However, I did not expect it to be a Dystopian tale involving a family consisting of George, Virginia, Shelley, and Kurt Irwin who are systematically broken up after Virginia is presumed dead after an alleged terrorist act lands her in the hospital. The class struggles between the Corporate, the elite few, and the Deviants, the despised masses, ring true in today's world. I identified with this novel with its vivid descriptions of global warming, chemical warfare, forced vaccinations, antibiotic-resistant diseases, government and global business mergers, outsourcing of jobs, and rigid class and racial stratification. It is as if Leigh M. Lane is an author who is ahead of her time, giving her readers a glimpse of a world of despair and policing if governments do not do enough to make them an equal-playing field for all of their citizens and non-citizens. I wanted the family to reunite but we do not always get what we want as readers and fans and that is understandable.

[Angela Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the story itself was five stars, there were some imperfections. There was quite a lot of telling, rather than showing, which at times put me off from reading. There were a few misspells and grammatical errors.

Before agreeing to read the book for a review, I read a review that stated this novel was just a commentary of the author’s rants on the success of businesses, loathing of America, etcetera. After reading, I disagree with that review. World-Mart brings me to mind of The Hunger Games, but better put together, and more realistic. And I enjoyed World-Mart a hundred percent more. I believe that it would make a good Lifetime series or even a mini-series. At the very least, I wouldn’t be too surprised should high school teachers one day decide to have their class read and study its contents for Literature. I enjoyed the ending, which saddened me, but at the same time left me wanting for more.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

A slightly interesting book that leans heavily on dystopian themes without developing a sensible story. Many pieces were at least moderately enjoyable, but they never developed into a cohesive whole. The last few chapters or so read as though the author suddenly realized they had no real end in mind and began to rush to get things over with as quickly as possible. The ending is like a bad, lazy knockoff of a Twilight Zone episode, and will induce eye rolls.

Looking back at the title and cover as I write this, I'm struck by how incredibly far removed they are from the actual content and tone of the book, especially the last half. They sell the book as a light hearted send up of corporation-entered consumerism, when it's actually big-brother and 1984-channeling dystopia through and through.

[Jeremy Potter · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I started reading this book I thought it held promise. A dystopian world run by a faceless corporation, and a deviant sub-culture fighting to overthrow the prejudice that oppresses them. Good, right? The problem is that the characters and the story were so poorly developed that it's nearly impossible to care about any of them. This book may have been salvaged by a good copy editor, not to mention a proofreader, but ultimately I don't think the author was diligent enough in developing the world she was trying to create to make it believable. Unfortunately I was intrigued enough at the start to plow through so much of the book that I felt compelled to finish. I shouldn't have wasted my time.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world-building was very, very good--and the first half of the book was teeming with images of an earth that was no place any of us would want to live. It began as a perfect cautionary tale for humanity. But, I think what didn't work for me was that the rest of the book got caught up in too narrow of a plot focus. The dystopian world was so incredible that, perhaps, it added to my disappointment in the lack of character depth. And the plot in the second half was riding on the characters. In the end, the characters weren't well developed enough to carry the tragedy in the story. I gave it four stars, and even leaned toward three. If I could have, three and a half stars (which still isn't bad--and it was that incredible world-building that earned them).

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment. It had a good premise and a promising plot, but the writing was flat and unengaging. Worse than that, the characters did not behave in believable ways. Characters were too inclined to instant, unprecipitated violence. I don't think this is how it happens in real life; even in random violent encounters (which are, in real life, thankfully rare), there is some engagement, some thought, a moment of decision and interaction between the perpetrator and victim. Not so in this book, where characters just spring into rape or stabbing or bludgeoning willy-nilly on sight. SPOILER: Everyone dies.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderfully horrible fascinating depressing book -- along the lines of 1984 or Brave New World

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

great story! horrible but completely believable future world...very interesting plotline with some real surprises!

[AJ Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Lane has given us a look at our future... It looks much like the tale told in the book "1984", and yet quite different.

An outstanding tale... 5 stars

[Kerem Onan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good dystopian sci fi

[Jaffa Kintigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting take on a possible dystopian future akin to that of Fahrenheit 451 or 1984 sees a world with climate change run amok, natural resources spent, and a near history of pandemic. An oligarchy, awkwardly dubbed The Corporate, maintains a severe caste system with its own easily discernible untouchables known as "deviants." Between these 2 social layers lie 2 others: the Corps [of lower and middle managers in a world of bureaucracy] and the Mart [of lower tiers of white collar workers].

The tale is filtered through the lens of one nuclear family struggling to maintain their position at the bottom of the Corps tier. Mother Virginia maintains the homestead while also holding a job. Father George reviews case files without critically questioning anything. Teenaged daughter Shelley rides the line between dutiful daughter and curious, rebellious teen. And little Kurt has all the naivety of a typical privileged 7-y.o. Their world is rattled when Deviants execute a limited biological attack on the Humans [non-Deviants] in which a released virus turns the afflicted Deviant.

The premise is interesting. The execution is clunky at best. The world and its history fails to reveal itself organically, but rather relies on info-dumps worthy of droning history books. The characters and their motivations remain flat, and yet rushed. The entire book reads as the idea for a story, rather than as a story itself.

Also working against the story is the inconsistent narration. Most scenes offer the 3rd person POV of one member of the core family followed by a scene from another. Small scenes that couldn't be witnessed by one of the 4 family members are then given to quick throw-away characters without establishing these one-time voices. Also awkward are scenes from Shelley's POV. In conversation, she calls her parents Mom and Dad, but in narration from her POV, her parents are called their given names. There are also scenes that re-introduce characters seemingly for the first time who've already been introduced and vetted chapters earlier.

This title is meant to open a trilogy.

I received my copy of this novel directly from the author through bookreviewdirectory.wordpress.com.