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Tiber City #1
Kingdom
In a secret laboratory hidden under the desert, a covert bioengineering project--codename "Exodus"--has discovered the gene responsible for the human soul.
Somewhere in the neon sprawl outside the nation's collapsing economic core, a group of renegade monks are on the verge of uncovering a secret that has eluded mankind for centuries.
In a glittering tower high above the urban decay, an ascendant U.S. Senator is found dead--an apparent, yet inexplicable, suicide.
And in the streets below, a young man races through an ultra modern metropolis on the verge of a violent revolution....closing in on the terrible truth behind Exodus--and one man's dark vision for the future of mankind.
Welcome to Tiber City.
Somewhere in the neon sprawl outside the nation's collapsing economic core, a group of renegade monks are on the verge of uncovering a secret that has eluded mankind for centuries.
In a glittering tower high above the urban decay, an ascendant U.S. Senator is found dead--an apparent, yet inexplicable, suicide.
And in the streets below, a young man races through an ultra modern metropolis on the verge of a violent revolution....closing in on the terrible truth behind Exodus--and one man's dark vision for the future of mankind.
Welcome to Tiber City.
250 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2012
7 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Anderson O'Donnell
2 books56 followersWriter. Obsessed with Dystopian/noir fiction, the Clash, and my three kids.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 21, 2012
KINGDOM is the debut novel from author Anderson O'Donnell, a paranoid and dystopic vision of a near future in which humanity has everything that it wants and nothing that it needs. It's an excellent debut from a disturbed and disturbing voice; a dark, fast-paced, engaging and thought-provoking read that I promise will stay with you for a while-- it certainy has for me. The book is as much milestone as manuscript; it is the culminating achivement of a labor of love years in the making, a novel not so much written and re-written as it was sculpted and crafted by author O'Donnell. If you're into William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, Bret Easton Ellis, or Jack O'Connell, or if you enjoy near-future biopunk tech-noir, or even if you just want a smart, engaging story, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of KINGDOM. Paperback or ebook, it's dealer's choice. But remember to bring along some 5-HTP because this book WILL drain your serotonin and dopamine levels. It pulls no punches and refuses to let you brace before impact. It fucks you without lube. It twists and it roils and it seethes and breaks--and when it breaks, it breaks bad.
KINGDOM is the story of monks, monarchs and the men who would be king-- the only kind left to inherit the future urban landsprawl so rapidly approaching, the kind who gladly embrace the glitter of gold but shirk the weight of the crown. One such man, the central figure linking the story together (though far from its protagonist) is Michael Morrison, a billionaire designer genetics salesman who has all but stopped his own aging process and is busily assimilating bits and pieces of the shiny empty new world of the mid-21st century like the bright yellow video game dot-muncher from the 1980s who symbolized the mindless greed of that decade just as Morrison epitomizes the zeitgeist of his own, representing what all human history to this point has apparently been leading up to: an insatiable lust for Control. Control over not just human goods and services or even human beings, but the very process and fundaments responsible for said beings--control over life and its creation. Morrison, who has assembled the best-funded and most secretive team of scientists and researchers ever gathered on this planet, has spent much of his artificially-extended drug-enhanced life lording over an underground bunker which houses the blackest of black clinics: Project Exodus, a secret project designed to save humanity from itself in the form of a eugenically bred Next Great Leader--a spray-tanned Senator, a blow-dried Moses, a hand-built marionette man made for the media with Morrison fingering the strings.
The Senator in question was not Morrison's first foray into politics. His predecessor, Senator Robert Fitzgerald, was pumped and primed to ascend to the highest seat of American Power-- justbefore pumping a .45-caliber bullet into his own brain, distinctly aware of a lack of something inside himself... something which we soon discover was, in a soul. The missing soul in question is, we are to learn, not just a religious device or a metaphysical construct but rather in fact a quantifiable, verifiable scientific reality that like everything else in Nature can be synthesized and reproduced artificially if only one has the correct genetic sequence. It is this genetic source code that Morrison is most eager to acquire--and he will stop at nothing to acquire it. Opposing him and his black-ops army is an unlikely hero: Dylan Fitzgerald, the son of the late soulless Senator, a Quixotic Hamlet-cum-JFK Jr. who's into sex, drugs, and-- well, that's about it. Dylan only has two things in common with his late father; 1. a nagging existential doubt of his own spiritual verifiability; and 2. The identity of the man responsible for such a desperately empty condition. It is this search for self that will bring Dylan into contact and conflict with Morrison's secret world-- and will also most probably violently remove him from it.
We meet many other flawed characters along the narrative's yellow brick road, which stretches from the deserts of what was once the Mexican border all the way to the skyscrapers of the elite in the Shimmer District, which is the bejewled seat of power of the story's central locale: Tiber City (whether or not said bejeweled megalopolis was named for the river in Rome that world-conquerors Romulus and Remus were thrown into as infants is an open question, and one that I'll have to remember to ask). There's Campbell, Morrison's Chief Science Officer, the genius mind behind Project Exodus who upon accidentally discovering the Project's biological scrap quickly fled to the sweet release of opiates and Irish Whiskey only to be nursed back to health by the monks of the mysterious Order of Ramoth (Hebrew for "breath"); Al-Salaam, Morrison's bespoke assassin, who has been tasked with apprehending Campbell and eliminating him; Jack Heffernan (no relation),Morrison's good-looking yet mindless and soulless Presidential hopeful; and of course Meghan, Morrison's beautiful daughter and the lifelong love of one Dylan Fitzgerald... the girl who could be the answer to Dylan's prayers or just as easily the living embodiment of his nightmares. All of these characters have an interesting role to play as the story unfolds, but it is Tiber City itself which remains the most intriguing and enigmatic character. Its different Districts each have their own unique look and flavor, and as Dylan meanders through each of them on his search for meaning and understanding, we are all too aware that Tiber City ain't that great a place to visit, let alone make one's residence in, and yet it is clear that the suggestion is that we'll all be living there permanently soon. It is a city of style over substance, of form over function, a hollow particle-board world with a shiny veneer that you could easily put your foot through if you didn't watch your step, as it is rotten throughout and no one quite knows where to step anymore.
O'Donnell's writing is darkly descriptive, and will put you in a foul mood if you let it. It's filled with original yet disturbing images like designer vagina infomercials, and peppered throughout with random spikes of genius like the mathematical art form of the future: a stream of numbers displayed against a blank wall that one can watch hypnotically for hours, an art form known as The Zero Movement. It is obvious that this is O'Donnell's best-guess prediction of what our future will look like, but whether it's a cautionary tale or an inescapable conclusion is difficult to determine. One thing, though, is very clear: Anderson O'Donnell has a powerful gift for observation, and in his writing he lends us his high-powered lenses on reality and forces us to gaze with microscopic vision upon a scene that most of us would just as soon look away from. He's not just slowing down to look at the car wreck in this book, he's taking your face and shoving it into the wreckage and he's not going let you up until some of the bent steel and gasoline fumes make an indelible image on your brain. This is a voice that most readers will want to hear more from, but one that a few perhaps might not want to ever hear again. O'Donnell's depiction of humanity and its culture reads at times like a condemnation, a soliloquy of suffering for everyday sins we don't even know we commit. But you can't fault a guy for calling it like he sees it, and damn if he's not dead on the money most of the time. My guess is that O'Donnell is going to win a legion of new fans with this, his first offering-- and probably also piss off a couple of dissenters who will criticize his work as "too dark and angry". But as Jack Black once remarked about his band's own mixed reviews at memorable Tenacious D show: "If everyone liked us, that'd probably mean we're pretty lame." KINGDOM might grab you and shake you and leave you feeling like it beat you up and stole your lunch money... but one thing it is definitely NOT is lame.
KINGDOM is the story of monks, monarchs and the men who would be king-- the only kind left to inherit the future urban landsprawl so rapidly approaching, the kind who gladly embrace the glitter of gold but shirk the weight of the crown. One such man, the central figure linking the story together (though far from its protagonist) is Michael Morrison, a billionaire designer genetics salesman who has all but stopped his own aging process and is busily assimilating bits and pieces of the shiny empty new world of the mid-21st century like the bright yellow video game dot-muncher from the 1980s who symbolized the mindless greed of that decade just as Morrison epitomizes the zeitgeist of his own, representing what all human history to this point has apparently been leading up to: an insatiable lust for Control. Control over not just human goods and services or even human beings, but the very process and fundaments responsible for said beings--control over life and its creation. Morrison, who has assembled the best-funded and most secretive team of scientists and researchers ever gathered on this planet, has spent much of his artificially-extended drug-enhanced life lording over an underground bunker which houses the blackest of black clinics: Project Exodus, a secret project designed to save humanity from itself in the form of a eugenically bred Next Great Leader--a spray-tanned Senator, a blow-dried Moses, a hand-built marionette man made for the media with Morrison fingering the strings.
The Senator in question was not Morrison's first foray into politics. His predecessor, Senator Robert Fitzgerald, was pumped and primed to ascend to the highest seat of American Power-- justbefore pumping a .45-caliber bullet into his own brain, distinctly aware of a lack of something inside himself... something which we soon discover was, in a soul. The missing soul in question is, we are to learn, not just a religious device or a metaphysical construct but rather in fact a quantifiable, verifiable scientific reality that like everything else in Nature can be synthesized and reproduced artificially if only one has the correct genetic sequence. It is this genetic source code that Morrison is most eager to acquire--and he will stop at nothing to acquire it. Opposing him and his black-ops army is an unlikely hero: Dylan Fitzgerald, the son of the late soulless Senator, a Quixotic Hamlet-cum-JFK Jr. who's into sex, drugs, and-- well, that's about it. Dylan only has two things in common with his late father; 1. a nagging existential doubt of his own spiritual verifiability; and 2. The identity of the man responsible for such a desperately empty condition. It is this search for self that will bring Dylan into contact and conflict with Morrison's secret world-- and will also most probably violently remove him from it.
We meet many other flawed characters along the narrative's yellow brick road, which stretches from the deserts of what was once the Mexican border all the way to the skyscrapers of the elite in the Shimmer District, which is the bejewled seat of power of the story's central locale: Tiber City (whether or not said bejeweled megalopolis was named for the river in Rome that world-conquerors Romulus and Remus were thrown into as infants is an open question, and one that I'll have to remember to ask). There's Campbell, Morrison's Chief Science Officer, the genius mind behind Project Exodus who upon accidentally discovering the Project's biological scrap quickly fled to the sweet release of opiates and Irish Whiskey only to be nursed back to health by the monks of the mysterious Order of Ramoth (Hebrew for "breath"); Al-Salaam, Morrison's bespoke assassin, who has been tasked with apprehending Campbell and eliminating him; Jack Heffernan (no relation),Morrison's good-looking yet mindless and soulless Presidential hopeful; and of course Meghan, Morrison's beautiful daughter and the lifelong love of one Dylan Fitzgerald... the girl who could be the answer to Dylan's prayers or just as easily the living embodiment of his nightmares. All of these characters have an interesting role to play as the story unfolds, but it is Tiber City itself which remains the most intriguing and enigmatic character. Its different Districts each have their own unique look and flavor, and as Dylan meanders through each of them on his search for meaning and understanding, we are all too aware that Tiber City ain't that great a place to visit, let alone make one's residence in, and yet it is clear that the suggestion is that we'll all be living there permanently soon. It is a city of style over substance, of form over function, a hollow particle-board world with a shiny veneer that you could easily put your foot through if you didn't watch your step, as it is rotten throughout and no one quite knows where to step anymore.
O'Donnell's writing is darkly descriptive, and will put you in a foul mood if you let it. It's filled with original yet disturbing images like designer vagina infomercials, and peppered throughout with random spikes of genius like the mathematical art form of the future: a stream of numbers displayed against a blank wall that one can watch hypnotically for hours, an art form known as The Zero Movement. It is obvious that this is O'Donnell's best-guess prediction of what our future will look like, but whether it's a cautionary tale or an inescapable conclusion is difficult to determine. One thing, though, is very clear: Anderson O'Donnell has a powerful gift for observation, and in his writing he lends us his high-powered lenses on reality and forces us to gaze with microscopic vision upon a scene that most of us would just as soon look away from. He's not just slowing down to look at the car wreck in this book, he's taking your face and shoving it into the wreckage and he's not going let you up until some of the bent steel and gasoline fumes make an indelible image on your brain. This is a voice that most readers will want to hear more from, but one that a few perhaps might not want to ever hear again. O'Donnell's depiction of humanity and its culture reads at times like a condemnation, a soliloquy of suffering for everyday sins we don't even know we commit. But you can't fault a guy for calling it like he sees it, and damn if he's not dead on the money most of the time. My guess is that O'Donnell is going to win a legion of new fans with this, his first offering-- and probably also piss off a couple of dissenters who will criticize his work as "too dark and angry". But as Jack Black once remarked about his band's own mixed reviews at memorable Tenacious D show: "If everyone liked us, that'd probably mean we're pretty lame." KINGDOM might grab you and shake you and leave you feeling like it beat you up and stole your lunch money... but one thing it is definitely NOT is lame.
August 19, 2012
"Kingdom" is the first book in a series about fictional city Tiber City by author Anderson O'Donnell. I found this book on Amazon and was intrigued by the synopsis and decided to take a chance on it since it was being offered for free. I am glad I did.
"Kingdom" is a dystopian Sci-fi thriller that is set in the near future (2015)and focuses on a genetic experiment to create the perfect leader through genetic alterations. The story is primarily told through the view points of three characters, two of which are scientists for The Exodus Project and the other is a young man who becomes involved in the project.
The thing that makes this such an intriguing read is that it deals with a plausible scenerio that could very likely occur. Scientists are working on mapping the human genome and figuring out how everything works and this novel shows the potential bad that could come out of this work. Also, O'Donnell does an excellent job of building an identity for Tiber City and its residents. I also like the decision he made to have the story take place only a few years from the present. While some parts of Tiber City and its technology seems like it wouldn't be plausible in 2015, alot of the factors that led to this dystopian environment are not that far fetched. O'Donnell does a great job building his characters and I like the fact that none of the characters were the stereotypical flawless hero. Even the characters that are deemed the hereos of the story have their own flaws and are far from perfect, which is refreshing.
This was a book that was hard to put down and I cannot wait for the second installment that is due out sometime in 2013!
"Kingdom" is a dystopian Sci-fi thriller that is set in the near future (2015)and focuses on a genetic experiment to create the perfect leader through genetic alterations. The story is primarily told through the view points of three characters, two of which are scientists for The Exodus Project and the other is a young man who becomes involved in the project.
The thing that makes this such an intriguing read is that it deals with a plausible scenerio that could very likely occur. Scientists are working on mapping the human genome and figuring out how everything works and this novel shows the potential bad that could come out of this work. Also, O'Donnell does an excellent job of building an identity for Tiber City and its residents. I also like the decision he made to have the story take place only a few years from the present. While some parts of Tiber City and its technology seems like it wouldn't be plausible in 2015, alot of the factors that led to this dystopian environment are not that far fetched. O'Donnell does a great job building his characters and I like the fact that none of the characters were the stereotypical flawless hero. Even the characters that are deemed the hereos of the story have their own flaws and are far from perfect, which is refreshing.
This was a book that was hard to put down and I cannot wait for the second installment that is due out sometime in 2013!
August 2, 2012
Disclaimer: Although I know Anderson O'Donnel through the Indie Community I bought my own copy of this book and made no promises to him regarding a review.
Fast-paced, visceral and closer to probable than possible, O'Donnell has created the best near-future dystopian Lit Fic I have read since The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Bio-Punk isn't a new term, but it's gaining ground and KINGDOM deserves to be at the top of the list of books to read in said genre. There simply aren't enough stars to communicate the impressiveness of O'Donnell's work here. He has taken religion, science, politics, theory and philosophy and blended them all together to create what is easily one of the most important books to come out this year. And I say that with all the humility of a fellow author who has written a Lit Fic that I wrote to try and do my part to change the world.
O'Donnell's writing is impressive in craft as well as scope. His prose weaves through the stories of three men, Dylan Fitzgerald, whose father was a US Senator who committed suicide, Michael Morrison and Jonathan Campbell - co-creators of the Exodus program. Each man's experience of the narrative is unique, but beyond Anderson's ability to capture characterization is the remarkable work he's done to write in completely different styles for each voice. Dylan's sections are particularly notable because of his use of narcotics, despite being written in third person the stylistic writing creates a world the reader experiences through the lens of the character in question.
Literary Fiction is often looked on as snobby. Those of us who write it take a small amount of pride in a certain academic or intellectual value to our work. Lit Fic isn't "just for fun." That's fine and dandy as long as you can still enjoy the story. Well, I can assure you not only is O'Donnell smarter than I am, he's a whole lot Lit Ficier. KINGDOM can be enjoyed as a sci-fi tromp through near future dystopia without worrying about the deeper levels of religious lore or political and artistic trends but here are a few things worth noting when you read KINGDOM:
* Tiber City pulls it's name from the Tiber River. I don't know O'Donnel's reason for this but I immediately think of Romulas and Remus and the founding of Rome. I'd love to know if that played into the narrative at all.
* Obscure but prophetic reference to the punishment of Korah: "During their journey through the desert Korah, Dathan and Abiram revolt against Moses's leadership. God punishes the lot - the ringleaders plus 250 followers - by having the earth swallow them whole."
* Assassin named "Al-Salaam" which translated from Arabic to "of peace"
* Repeated and non-traditional use of the trinity motif, including a miraculous conception and 3 Kings wandering the desert in search of a savior.
O'Donnel's take on religion, the soul, the value of church vs. the value of community are all very complex. He touches on the corruption of the church system and magnifies it, introducing the reader to the CitiMart Church of Christ with a video greeting from a polished "Pastor Rick." While religious imagery and themes run deep in KINGDOM, I personally didn't see a criticism of faith or any particular belief system. Quite the opposite. O'Donnel has imbued his book with the necessity of a spiritual community, an internal faith that burns true without definition. Even the most hardened scientists of The Exodus Project ultimately have to reconcile their calculations with the existence of something outside of definition.
In addition of the beauty of the following passage, I hope you can see the truth. I do, I think part of my own emotional issues come from the same place as described here. Plus, who can resist a grover reference?
Inside the bleak depictions of an America gone mad, magnified and personified by Tiber City (which even has it's own little Coney Island!), there is a message of hope. The possibility of redemption remains and the existence of, if not God, a little something extra beyond our humanity that connects us and binds us to the divine, confirmed. KINGDOM is a heady book, a dense book, a book for thinking and mulling. It is also a good book.
Anderson O'Donnel has created in KINGDOM everything the Indie Revolution is supposed to stand for. A voice that otherwise wouldn't have been heard, a message which couldn't stay silent and an art that breathes new life into the stagnant waters of commercial publishing. The Hugo and Nebulous Award Winners have nothing on O'Donnel. Perhaps, he might just have something on them.
Fast-paced, visceral and closer to probable than possible, O'Donnell has created the best near-future dystopian Lit Fic I have read since The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Bio-Punk isn't a new term, but it's gaining ground and KINGDOM deserves to be at the top of the list of books to read in said genre. There simply aren't enough stars to communicate the impressiveness of O'Donnell's work here. He has taken religion, science, politics, theory and philosophy and blended them all together to create what is easily one of the most important books to come out this year. And I say that with all the humility of a fellow author who has written a Lit Fic that I wrote to try and do my part to change the world.
O'Donnell's writing is impressive in craft as well as scope. His prose weaves through the stories of three men, Dylan Fitzgerald, whose father was a US Senator who committed suicide, Michael Morrison and Jonathan Campbell - co-creators of the Exodus program. Each man's experience of the narrative is unique, but beyond Anderson's ability to capture characterization is the remarkable work he's done to write in completely different styles for each voice. Dylan's sections are particularly notable because of his use of narcotics, despite being written in third person the stylistic writing creates a world the reader experiences through the lens of the character in question.
Literary Fiction is often looked on as snobby. Those of us who write it take a small amount of pride in a certain academic or intellectual value to our work. Lit Fic isn't "just for fun." That's fine and dandy as long as you can still enjoy the story. Well, I can assure you not only is O'Donnell smarter than I am, he's a whole lot Lit Ficier. KINGDOM can be enjoyed as a sci-fi tromp through near future dystopia without worrying about the deeper levels of religious lore or political and artistic trends but here are a few things worth noting when you read KINGDOM:
* Tiber City pulls it's name from the Tiber River. I don't know O'Donnel's reason for this but I immediately think of Romulas and Remus and the founding of Rome. I'd love to know if that played into the narrative at all.
* Obscure but prophetic reference to the punishment of Korah: "During their journey through the desert Korah, Dathan and Abiram revolt against Moses's leadership. God punishes the lot - the ringleaders plus 250 followers - by having the earth swallow them whole."
* Assassin named "Al-Salaam" which translated from Arabic to "of peace"
* Repeated and non-traditional use of the trinity motif, including a miraculous conception and 3 Kings wandering the desert in search of a savior.
O'Donnel's take on religion, the soul, the value of church vs. the value of community are all very complex. He touches on the corruption of the church system and magnifies it, introducing the reader to the CitiMart Church of Christ with a video greeting from a polished "Pastor Rick." While religious imagery and themes run deep in KINGDOM, I personally didn't see a criticism of faith or any particular belief system. Quite the opposite. O'Donnel has imbued his book with the necessity of a spiritual community, an internal faith that burns true without definition. Even the most hardened scientists of The Exodus Project ultimately have to reconcile their calculations with the existence of something outside of definition.
In addition of the beauty of the following passage, I hope you can see the truth. I do, I think part of my own emotional issues come from the same place as described here. Plus, who can resist a grover reference?
In Dylan's opinion, this trend - the embrace of the euphemism - only made the inevitable breakdowns in civilized behavior all the more atrocious. It was as though when the stark realities of life finally slithered their way under, over, around , and through all the artificial constructs man threw up, the strain was too great and people just snapped.
Inside the bleak depictions of an America gone mad, magnified and personified by Tiber City (which even has it's own little Coney Island!), there is a message of hope. The possibility of redemption remains and the existence of, if not God, a little something extra beyond our humanity that connects us and binds us to the divine, confirmed. KINGDOM is a heady book, a dense book, a book for thinking and mulling. It is also a good book.
Anderson O'Donnel has created in KINGDOM everything the Indie Revolution is supposed to stand for. A voice that otherwise wouldn't have been heard, a message which couldn't stay silent and an art that breathes new life into the stagnant waters of commercial publishing. The Hugo and Nebulous Award Winners have nothing on O'Donnel. Perhaps, he might just have something on them.
October 31, 2012
A post-apocalyptic novel with no apocalypse, Anderson O'Donnell's Kingdom is set in the near future of a world not so different from ours, where America’s Cold War has spawned an evil that’s just now coming of age. The world definitely ends with a whimper rather than a bang in this tale where drink, drugs and prostitution ruin lives in a land ruined by man.
Dark evocative descriptions are filled with premonition. “[T]he moon hugged the horizon, too tired to finish its ascent…” And the whimper of the world’s long ending resounds over the city. “[H]uman flesh and blood were the gasoline” of the social machine and “Benzedrine-fueled Bedouins” roam border deserts where secret laboratories hide the madness of science.
A powerfully plausible future history postulates “the new iron curtain of Sharia law” and the decadence of Tiber City, while memory and self fall victim to a blurred and unreal reality. This place and this people are “the kingdom,” while the man who would stand behind the throne manipulates his subjects, science and hope.
The world is haunting, horrible and hurt. The writing is evocative and blunt with all the melodramatic confusion of drug-addiction blending into genuine curiosity with just a few tinges of hope as that moon skips the horizon. I want to watch the movie. I want to know if I can read the sequel. And the story, like 1984, leaves me wondering… Future, future history, possible future? This soulless world of fiction leaves me looking at the newspaper and hoping the real world still has a soul to save.
My Disclosure: I received a free ecopy of this novel from the publicist and promised an honest review.
Dark evocative descriptions are filled with premonition. “[T]he moon hugged the horizon, too tired to finish its ascent…” And the whimper of the world’s long ending resounds over the city. “[H]uman flesh and blood were the gasoline” of the social machine and “Benzedrine-fueled Bedouins” roam border deserts where secret laboratories hide the madness of science.
A powerfully plausible future history postulates “the new iron curtain of Sharia law” and the decadence of Tiber City, while memory and self fall victim to a blurred and unreal reality. This place and this people are “the kingdom,” while the man who would stand behind the throne manipulates his subjects, science and hope.
The world is haunting, horrible and hurt. The writing is evocative and blunt with all the melodramatic confusion of drug-addiction blending into genuine curiosity with just a few tinges of hope as that moon skips the horizon. I want to watch the movie. I want to know if I can read the sequel. And the story, like 1984, leaves me wondering… Future, future history, possible future? This soulless world of fiction leaves me looking at the newspaper and hoping the real world still has a soul to save.
My Disclosure: I received a free ecopy of this novel from the publicist and promised an honest review.
October 8, 2012
Reviewed for FreeBookDude-will post review here on Oct. 12
May 21, 2012
KINGDOM is the debut novel from author Anderson O'Donnell, a paranoid and dystopic vision of a near future in which humanity has everything that it wants and nothing that it needs. It's an excellent debut from a disturbed and disturbing voice; a dark, fast-paced, engaging and thought-provoking read that I promise will stay with you for a while-- it certainy has for me. The book is as much milestone as manuscript; it is the culminating achivement of a labor of love years in the making, a novel not so much written and re-written as it was sculpted and crafted by author O'Donnell. If you're into William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, Bret Easton Ellis, or Jack O'Connell, or if you enjoy near-future biopunk tech-noir, or even if you just want a smart, engaging story, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of KINGDOM. Paperback or ebook, it's dealer's choice. But remember to bring along some 5-HTP because this book WILL drain your serotonin and dopamine levels. It pulls no punches and refuses to let you brace before impact. It fucks you without lube. It twists and it roils and it seethes and breaks--and when it breaks, it breaks bad.
KINGDOM is the story of monks, monarchs and the men who would be king-- the only kind left to inherit the future urban landsprawl so rapidly approaching, the kind who gladly embrace the glitter of gold but shirk the weight of the crown. One such man, the central figure linking the story together (though far from its protagonist) is Michael Morrison, a billionaire designer genetics salesman who has all but stopped his own aging process and is busily assimilating bits and pieces of the shiny empty new world of the mid-21st century like the bright yellow video game dot-muncher from the 1980s who symbolized the mindless greed of that decade just as Morrison epitomizes the zeitgeist of his own, representing what all human history to this point has apparently been leading up to: an insatiable lust for Control. Control over not just human goods and services or even human beings, but the very process and fundaments responsible for said beings--control over life and its creation. Morrison, who has assembled the best-funded and most secretive team of scientists and researchers ever gathered on this planet, has spent much of his artificially-extended drug-enhanced life lording over an underground bunker which houses the blackest of black clinics: Project Exodus, a secret project designed to save humanity from itself in the form of a eugenically bred Next Great Leader--a spray-tanned Senator, a blow-dried Moses, a hand-built marionette man made for the media with Morrison fingering the strings.
The Senator in question was not Morrison's first foray into politics. His predecessor, Senator Robert Fitzgerald, was pumped and primed to ascend to the highest seat of American Power-- justbefore pumping a .45-caliber bullet into his own brain, distinctly aware of a lack of something inside himself... something which we soon discover was, in a soul. The missing soul in question is, we are to learn, not just a religious device or a metaphysical construct but rather in fact a quantifiable, verifiable scientific reality that like everything else in Nature can be synthesized and reproduced artificially if only one has the correct genetic sequence. It is this genetic source code that Morrison is most eager to acquire--and he will stop at nothing to acquire it. Opposing him and his black-ops army is an unlikely hero: Dylan Fitzgerald, the son of the late soulless Senator, a Quixotic Hamlet-cum-JFK Jr. who's into sex, drugs, and-- well, that's about it. Dylan only has two things in common with his late father; 1. a nagging existential doubt of his own spiritual verifiability; and 2. The identity of the man responsible for such a desperately empty condition. It is this search for self that will bring Dylan into contact and conflict with Morrison's secret world-- and will also most probably violently remove him from it.
We meet many other flawed characters along the narrative's yellow brick road, which stretches from the deserts of what was once the Mexican border all the way to the skyscrapers of the elite in the Shimmer District, which is the bejewled seat of power of the story's central locale: Tiber City (whether or not said bejeweled megalopolis was named for the river in Rome that world-conquerors Romulus and Remus were thrown into as infants is an open question, and one that I'll have to remember to ask). There's Campbell, Morrison's Chief Science Officer, the genius mind behind Project Exodus who upon accidentally discovering the Project's biological scrap quickly fled to the sweet release of opiates and Irish Whiskey only to be nursed back to health by the monks of the mysterious Order of Ramoth (Hebrew for "breath"); Al-Salaam, Morrison's bespoke assassin, who has been tasked with apprehending Campbell and eliminating him; Jack Heffernan (no relation),Morrison's good-looking yet mindless and soulless Presidential hopeful; and of course Meghan, Morrison's beautiful daughter and the lifelong love of one Dylan Fitzgerald... the girl who could be the answer to Dylan's prayers or just as easily the living embodiment of his nightmares. All of these characters have an interesting role to play as the story unfolds, but it is Tiber City itself which remains the most intriguing and enigmatic character. Its different Districts each have their own unique look and flavor, and as Dylan meanders through each of them on his search for meaning and understanding, we are all too aware that Tiber City ain't that great a place to visit, let alone make one's residence in, and yet it is clear that the suggestion is that we'll all be living there permanently soon. It is a city of style over substance, of form over function, a hollow particle-board world with a shiny veneer that you could easily put your foot through if you didn't watch your step, as it is rotten throughout and no one quite knows where to step anymore.
O'Donnell's writing is darkly descriptive, and will put you in a foul mood if you let it. It's filled with original yet disturbing images like designer vagina infomercials, and peppered throughout with random spikes of genius like the mathematical art form of the future: a stream of numbers displayed against a blank wall that one can watch hypnotically for hours, an art form known as The Zero Movement. It is obvious that this is O'Donnell's best-guess prediction of what our future will look like, but whether it's a cautionary tale or an inescapable conclusion is difficult to determine. One thing, though, is very clear: Anderson O'Donnell has a powerful gift for observation, and in his writing he lends us his high-powered lenses on reality and forces us to gaze with microscopic vision upon a scene that most of us would just as soon look away from. He's not just slowing down to look at the car wreck in this book, he's taking your face and shoving it into the wreckage and he's not going let you up until some of the bent steel and gasoline fumes make an indelible image on your brain. This is a voice that most readers will want to hear more from, but one that a few perhaps might not want to ever hear again. O'Donnell's depiction of humanity and its culture reads at times like a condemnation, a soliloquy of suffering for everyday sins we don't even know we commit. But you can't fault a guy for calling it like he sees it, and damn if he's not dead on the money most of the time. My guess is that O'Donnell is going to win a legion of new fans with this, his first offering-- and probably also piss off a couple of dissenters who will criticize his work as "too dark and angry". But as Jack Black once remarked about his band's own mixed reviews at memorable Tenacious D show: "If everyone liked us, that'd probably mean we're pretty lame." KINGDOM might grab you and shake you and leave you feeling like it beat you up and stole your lunch money... but one thing it is definitely NOT is lame.
KINGDOM is the story of monks, monarchs and the men who would be king-- the only kind left to inherit the future urban landsprawl so rapidly approaching, the kind who gladly embrace the glitter of gold but shirk the weight of the crown. One such man, the central figure linking the story together (though far from its protagonist) is Michael Morrison, a billionaire designer genetics salesman who has all but stopped his own aging process and is busily assimilating bits and pieces of the shiny empty new world of the mid-21st century like the bright yellow video game dot-muncher from the 1980s who symbolized the mindless greed of that decade just as Morrison epitomizes the zeitgeist of his own, representing what all human history to this point has apparently been leading up to: an insatiable lust for Control. Control over not just human goods and services or even human beings, but the very process and fundaments responsible for said beings--control over life and its creation. Morrison, who has assembled the best-funded and most secretive team of scientists and researchers ever gathered on this planet, has spent much of his artificially-extended drug-enhanced life lording over an underground bunker which houses the blackest of black clinics: Project Exodus, a secret project designed to save humanity from itself in the form of a eugenically bred Next Great Leader--a spray-tanned Senator, a blow-dried Moses, a hand-built marionette man made for the media with Morrison fingering the strings.
The Senator in question was not Morrison's first foray into politics. His predecessor, Senator Robert Fitzgerald, was pumped and primed to ascend to the highest seat of American Power-- justbefore pumping a .45-caliber bullet into his own brain, distinctly aware of a lack of something inside himself... something which we soon discover was, in a soul. The missing soul in question is, we are to learn, not just a religious device or a metaphysical construct but rather in fact a quantifiable, verifiable scientific reality that like everything else in Nature can be synthesized and reproduced artificially if only one has the correct genetic sequence. It is this genetic source code that Morrison is most eager to acquire--and he will stop at nothing to acquire it. Opposing him and his black-ops army is an unlikely hero: Dylan Fitzgerald, the son of the late soulless Senator, a Quixotic Hamlet-cum-JFK Jr. who's into sex, drugs, and-- well, that's about it. Dylan only has two things in common with his late father; 1. a nagging existential doubt of his own spiritual verifiability; and 2. The identity of the man responsible for such a desperately empty condition. It is this search for self that will bring Dylan into contact and conflict with Morrison's secret world-- and will also most probably violently remove him from it.
We meet many other flawed characters along the narrative's yellow brick road, which stretches from the deserts of what was once the Mexican border all the way to the skyscrapers of the elite in the Shimmer District, which is the bejewled seat of power of the story's central locale: Tiber City (whether or not said bejeweled megalopolis was named for the river in Rome that world-conquerors Romulus and Remus were thrown into as infants is an open question, and one that I'll have to remember to ask). There's Campbell, Morrison's Chief Science Officer, the genius mind behind Project Exodus who upon accidentally discovering the Project's biological scrap quickly fled to the sweet release of opiates and Irish Whiskey only to be nursed back to health by the monks of the mysterious Order of Ramoth (Hebrew for "breath"); Al-Salaam, Morrison's bespoke assassin, who has been tasked with apprehending Campbell and eliminating him; Jack Heffernan (no relation),Morrison's good-looking yet mindless and soulless Presidential hopeful; and of course Meghan, Morrison's beautiful daughter and the lifelong love of one Dylan Fitzgerald... the girl who could be the answer to Dylan's prayers or just as easily the living embodiment of his nightmares. All of these characters have an interesting role to play as the story unfolds, but it is Tiber City itself which remains the most intriguing and enigmatic character. Its different Districts each have their own unique look and flavor, and as Dylan meanders through each of them on his search for meaning and understanding, we are all too aware that Tiber City ain't that great a place to visit, let alone make one's residence in, and yet it is clear that the suggestion is that we'll all be living there permanently soon. It is a city of style over substance, of form over function, a hollow particle-board world with a shiny veneer that you could easily put your foot through if you didn't watch your step, as it is rotten throughout and no one quite knows where to step anymore.
O'Donnell's writing is darkly descriptive, and will put you in a foul mood if you let it. It's filled with original yet disturbing images like designer vagina infomercials, and peppered throughout with random spikes of genius like the mathematical art form of the future: a stream of numbers displayed against a blank wall that one can watch hypnotically for hours, an art form known as The Zero Movement. It is obvious that this is O'Donnell's best-guess prediction of what our future will look like, but whether it's a cautionary tale or an inescapable conclusion is difficult to determine. One thing, though, is very clear: Anderson O'Donnell has a powerful gift for observation, and in his writing he lends us his high-powered lenses on reality and forces us to gaze with microscopic vision upon a scene that most of us would just as soon look away from. He's not just slowing down to look at the car wreck in this book, he's taking your face and shoving it into the wreckage and he's not going let you up until some of the bent steel and gasoline fumes make an indelible image on your brain. This is a voice that most readers will want to hear more from, but one that a few perhaps might not want to ever hear again. O'Donnell's depiction of humanity and its culture reads at times like a condemnation, a soliloquy of suffering for everyday sins we don't even know we commit. But you can't fault a guy for calling it like he sees it, and damn if he's not dead on the money most of the time. My guess is that O'Donnell is going to win a legion of new fans with this, his first offering-- and probably also piss off a couple of dissenters who will criticize his work as "too dark and angry". But as Jack Black once remarked about his band's own mixed reviews at memorable Tenacious D show: "If everyone liked us, that'd probably mean we're pretty lame." KINGDOM might grab you and shake you and leave you feeling like it beat you up and stole your lunch money... but one thing it is definitely NOT is lame.
September 3, 2022
Part near-future dystopian science fiction thriller, and part cult horror novel, Kingdom is a chilling journey through the underworld of Tiber City. It's a story about greed, debauchery, idealism, and the shaky foundations of even our best intentions. Politics, science, and humanity - none of it is safe from the dirty, distorted lens that Anderson O'Donnell allows to peek into every darkened alleyway, and behind every closed door.
Told through three perspectives, the story takes us into the minds of a rich playboy, a fallen geneticist, and corporate guru, and forces us to witness the world through their eyes. Having multiple perspectives that are so very different from one another is a challenge, but Anderson handles it well. His characters aren't particularly deep, and it's hard to form any sort of emotional attachment to them, but they're distinct, powerful, and effective. They're neither likeable nor admirable, but they do demand a certain degree of sympathy, if not compassion.
Where the story really shines is in its world-building and atmosphere. Portraying such a dark and gritty dystopia only a few years into the future is another risk, but it lends the story a sense of immediate consequence that really grabs hold of the reader. The designer drugs, the genetic engineering, and the body modifications are just a part of the package. Ironically, since I'm far more interested in the science and the technology, I would have like more detail about the order of monks and what led them to their soul experiments, but maybe that will come out more in subsequent books.
The writing itself isn't just solid, it's superb in its use of language. The dialogue is stronger than I've encountered in quite some while, with several quotes and conversations that would definitely become part of pop culture had this been a movie. O'Donnell's voice is dark, and highly opinionated, but that's one of the charms of the book. If he has one flaw, it's that he tends to ramble on a bit a times. The story could have been a bit leaner in places, but I'm not sure it'd be as easy to maintain the overall tone without his commentary, so it's a hard choice to make.
Unique, original, and exciting, Kingdom proves that O'Donnell is an author to watch.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
Told through three perspectives, the story takes us into the minds of a rich playboy, a fallen geneticist, and corporate guru, and forces us to witness the world through their eyes. Having multiple perspectives that are so very different from one another is a challenge, but Anderson handles it well. His characters aren't particularly deep, and it's hard to form any sort of emotional attachment to them, but they're distinct, powerful, and effective. They're neither likeable nor admirable, but they do demand a certain degree of sympathy, if not compassion.
Where the story really shines is in its world-building and atmosphere. Portraying such a dark and gritty dystopia only a few years into the future is another risk, but it lends the story a sense of immediate consequence that really grabs hold of the reader. The designer drugs, the genetic engineering, and the body modifications are just a part of the package. Ironically, since I'm far more interested in the science and the technology, I would have like more detail about the order of monks and what led them to their soul experiments, but maybe that will come out more in subsequent books.
The writing itself isn't just solid, it's superb in its use of language. The dialogue is stronger than I've encountered in quite some while, with several quotes and conversations that would definitely become part of pop culture had this been a movie. O'Donnell's voice is dark, and highly opinionated, but that's one of the charms of the book. If he has one flaw, it's that he tends to ramble on a bit a times. The story could have been a bit leaner in places, but I'm not sure it'd be as easy to maintain the overall tone without his commentary, so it's a hard choice to make.
Unique, original, and exciting, Kingdom proves that O'Donnell is an author to watch.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
October 14, 2012
The asterisk – three lines intersecting, its limbs equidistant, enclosed in a circle – is not only a recurring symbol in Anderson O’Donnell’s novel, KINGDOM, but it is also the perfect visual metaphor for the overall theme Mr. O’Donnell is driving at in this impressive debut.
On the surface, KINGDOM is a dystopian tale that channels near-future Philip K. Dick grit while gracefully dipping its toes into the deep end of some far-out sci-fi ideas. It is a visual novel; it’s – dare I say – cinematic. It’s LOGAN’S RUN, but steeped in our world, depicting an expectant future that’s right around the corner, and it is the novel’s merger of high-concept sci-fi and prescient realism that makes this work smart and, quite frankly, relevant. O’Donnell expertly weaves his narrative between three main characters: Dylan Fitzgerald (the lost son of the late Senator Robert Fitzgerald and KINGDOM’s ostensible hero), Jonathan Campbell (the venerable scientist and brain behind the genetic experimentation in Tiber City) and Michael Morrison (the hardnosed entrepreneur, unscrupulous scientist and central protagonist/villain, who usurps Campbell’s work, and sets the narrative’s plot precariously toward the point-of-no-return). While I’m sometimes skeptical of split narratives that will eventually tie themselves neatly together at the end – these narratives have been done to death, in both books and film – O’Donnell appropriately (and at times ingeniously) uses this storytelling device as a way to underscore his theme of disconnection. And it is through this theme of disconnection that O’Donnell illustrates the book’s pursuit of finding the opposite – a connection – much in the way Dylan finally finds his connection, a connection his father was unable to find for himself.
O’Donnell’s “connection” is manifested throughout the work by enigmatic – but by no means unfamiliar – phenomena like: love, hate, belief in a God, friendship, and the like. He employs a circular motif throughout the novel, which not only takes the form of the asterisk enclosed in a circle, but is also represented by the “Zero Movement” (a real time modern art movement, replete with requisite ones and zeroes) “coconut chairs,” the “Omega Gene,” and the physical eyes of characters, specifically the eyes a father passed down to hi son (and, unwittingly, passed down to the next crop of Tiber City’s political leaders). It’s all about connection. One end of the loop connecting to the other, forming a reciprocal bond, in a manner that’s both surprising and inevitable. That is faith, or what is expected of faith. Faith in something higher, something that is beyond our human comprehension; and while that “something” may be out of our reach in our common existence, it is that belief in its existence that imbues our lives with meaning. O’Donnell treads carefully along this theme, however; his work is not a polemic on the virtues of religion – in fact, it’s quite the contrary. I might argue that KINGDOM is a completely secular work, a work in which belief – specifically peoples’ religious beliefs – is misdirected. I might argue that the novel implies that belief is often misdirected: that belief is better focused on the people around us. However, I do not presume to think it is O’Donnell’s intention to marginalize religion. I think it is his intention to suggest its cultural marginalization, and marginalization of community as a whole, in a dystopian society that values egoism over the connection to something outside of ourselves, whether that something is another human being or a divine entity belonging to any one of a variety of religions. It is the idea of disconnection that thrives in much of modern dystopian fiction and sci-fi futurism, and O’Donnell takes the idea and runs with it, elevating it to a point where he seamlessly merges ethereal mysticism with the very tangible world of biotechnology. It is our connection with something outside of the self – be it other people or simply a belief in something bigger than us – that drives our lives, that makes us human, that connects one end of the circle to the other. In KINGDOM that adhesive glue that facilitates the connection we crave is called the soul.
KINGDOM is genre fiction of the highest order. It’s a book about characters, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a page-turner. But it also makes you think, and in plainest terms, that’s the mark of good literature. While the characters in KINGDOM struggle to search for their respective souls, Anderson O’Donnell has clearly found it himself; his writing is brimming with soul. If O’Donnell’s book is the “circle” of the asterisk, his characters and readers are the lines within, connecting to each other at the center.
On the surface, KINGDOM is a dystopian tale that channels near-future Philip K. Dick grit while gracefully dipping its toes into the deep end of some far-out sci-fi ideas. It is a visual novel; it’s – dare I say – cinematic. It’s LOGAN’S RUN, but steeped in our world, depicting an expectant future that’s right around the corner, and it is the novel’s merger of high-concept sci-fi and prescient realism that makes this work smart and, quite frankly, relevant. O’Donnell expertly weaves his narrative between three main characters: Dylan Fitzgerald (the lost son of the late Senator Robert Fitzgerald and KINGDOM’s ostensible hero), Jonathan Campbell (the venerable scientist and brain behind the genetic experimentation in Tiber City) and Michael Morrison (the hardnosed entrepreneur, unscrupulous scientist and central protagonist/villain, who usurps Campbell’s work, and sets the narrative’s plot precariously toward the point-of-no-return). While I’m sometimes skeptical of split narratives that will eventually tie themselves neatly together at the end – these narratives have been done to death, in both books and film – O’Donnell appropriately (and at times ingeniously) uses this storytelling device as a way to underscore his theme of disconnection. And it is through this theme of disconnection that O’Donnell illustrates the book’s pursuit of finding the opposite – a connection – much in the way Dylan finally finds his connection, a connection his father was unable to find for himself.
O’Donnell’s “connection” is manifested throughout the work by enigmatic – but by no means unfamiliar – phenomena like: love, hate, belief in a God, friendship, and the like. He employs a circular motif throughout the novel, which not only takes the form of the asterisk enclosed in a circle, but is also represented by the “Zero Movement” (a real time modern art movement, replete with requisite ones and zeroes) “coconut chairs,” the “Omega Gene,” and the physical eyes of characters, specifically the eyes a father passed down to hi son (and, unwittingly, passed down to the next crop of Tiber City’s political leaders). It’s all about connection. One end of the loop connecting to the other, forming a reciprocal bond, in a manner that’s both surprising and inevitable. That is faith, or what is expected of faith. Faith in something higher, something that is beyond our human comprehension; and while that “something” may be out of our reach in our common existence, it is that belief in its existence that imbues our lives with meaning. O’Donnell treads carefully along this theme, however; his work is not a polemic on the virtues of religion – in fact, it’s quite the contrary. I might argue that KINGDOM is a completely secular work, a work in which belief – specifically peoples’ religious beliefs – is misdirected. I might argue that the novel implies that belief is often misdirected: that belief is better focused on the people around us. However, I do not presume to think it is O’Donnell’s intention to marginalize religion. I think it is his intention to suggest its cultural marginalization, and marginalization of community as a whole, in a dystopian society that values egoism over the connection to something outside of ourselves, whether that something is another human being or a divine entity belonging to any one of a variety of religions. It is the idea of disconnection that thrives in much of modern dystopian fiction and sci-fi futurism, and O’Donnell takes the idea and runs with it, elevating it to a point where he seamlessly merges ethereal mysticism with the very tangible world of biotechnology. It is our connection with something outside of the self – be it other people or simply a belief in something bigger than us – that drives our lives, that makes us human, that connects one end of the circle to the other. In KINGDOM that adhesive glue that facilitates the connection we crave is called the soul.
KINGDOM is genre fiction of the highest order. It’s a book about characters, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a page-turner. But it also makes you think, and in plainest terms, that’s the mark of good literature. While the characters in KINGDOM struggle to search for their respective souls, Anderson O’Donnell has clearly found it himself; his writing is brimming with soul. If O’Donnell’s book is the “circle” of the asterisk, his characters and readers are the lines within, connecting to each other at the center.
July 18, 2012
Full Review Originally at Fantasy Book Critic
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Kingdom is a bit of an oddity to describe; its blurb proclaims it as being a bio-punk thriller however that still doesn't give us any clue into its specifics. I was attracted to it because of the difference of its genre setting and the bio-punk label. Kingdom opens up with in a couple of different time periods; one is in the year 1986 whereas the other one is in 2015. The first thread is about the scientist Jonathan Campbell who is overcome with remorse and guilt because of his dealings with Morrison Biotech, the second thread opens us with Dylan Fitzgerald who is the son of the famous presidential candidate who blew out his brains.
These two are the book’s dual point of view characters, Campbell and Fitzgerald, two men separated by the chasm of time, personal priorities and social stations. Campbell since his meltdown that lead to him escaping from his job at Morrison Biotech has been keeping busy with an order of monks called the Order of Neshamah. It is an order of holy men dealing with science in a quest to know more of about the human soul and its connection with God. Jonathan Campbell is not sure what to make of them however owes them big for dragging him back from his personal abyss and thereby does odd things for them based on his skills. Dylan on the other hand is going through life like a pebble being rattled from nook to crevice by the river flow. He doesn't know what he is looking for amidst the endless stream of coke, parties and girls. Things soon take a turn differently why he starts looking into why his father committed suicide.
The story isn't set in some dystopian future, its set just three years from now, the scary part being no apocalypse occurred, there was no great shift per say. The future that is shown in the book is just simply a fact. It occurs due to reasons that we humans have decided it so and this is one of the parts of the story that the author drives home. That most events in history occur due to human apathy or due to specific human interests, the decline of civilization in America is played out quite nicely through out the story and the author does paint a bleak picture.
The best part about Kingdom is its characterization especially that of Dylan as at first when we meet him, it’s really hard to relate to him. More often than not I felt contempt for him, however to the author’s credit, his character turnaround was brilliantly managed and that really set the tone for the book. Jonathan on the other hand seemed to have gotten the short straw, even though he gets a similar amount of page time, we never quite get into his head or learn what makes him tick exactly. Another plus point is the plot, which is a hodge-podge of SF, thriller and ethical dilemmas. The story takes some weird turns and with all the metaphysical stuff juxtaposed within the context of genetic science, it ventures into territory that is hitherto new. However it is still a thriller book which camouflages itself nicely with the bio-punk label.
The biggest discrepancy however about the book’s plot is in its origins, its never quite thoroughly explained as to why and how the exodus project got off the ground. Yes there are reasons given about creating better, perfect leaders and humans but what was the original spark for it? Who gave it its first push? Such questions and similar ilk are never quite clearly explained. The book however does end on a strong note and lays the foundation for book II in the Tiber City trilogy. I’m hoping that the background and role of the Order of Neshamah is further explored in the sequel as for me their role and intentions were the most interesting part of the story bedsides the plot tracts of both the POV characters. Also the epilogue plays out to a very strong mythological note and in particular gives a crucial pointer towards book II.
CONCLUSION: Kingdom is a different sort of book and Anderson O’Donnell has to be given his due for giving us a story that is different than most SF thrillers, given a few flaws, this debut is still something to be taken notice of. I’m curious to learn more about the author's future plans for the books and what the next chapter will hold for the denizens of Tiber city. Kingdom is a solid three star debut effort and worth your time if you want to read something different in the SF-Thriller genre.
Read
July 6, 2012Kingdom (Tiber City #1) is a very dark thriller. It is a dystopian near future science fiction filled with desperate characters who, for the most part, face a grim existence.
The novel Kingdom pulls together from two separate storylines. One of those storylines follows Campbell, a self destructive and formerly brilliant scientist who feels betrayed by his former partner for the cruel and inhumane science that was truly behind their scientific work (project Exodus). At the start of his story, Campbell has left his old life behind. He is waiting to die in the urban decay at the edge of the desert when he is rescued by a mysterious organization of monks. Campbell is confused. The organization is involved in its own scientific research: finding a biological link to the soul. Their research is almost the exact opposite - yet strangely linked - to Campbell's past research, which was more or less finding a gene for eternal youth (it turns out to be more later in the book). As Campbell realizes the monks (or the 'gurney men' as he thinks of them) are rescuing and treating victims of Campbell and his former partner's own research, Campbell begins to work with the monks in an attempt at redemption. However, redemption might not be possible for him. Campbell was involved with a very powerful biotech industry and he may still be hunted by his former partner Morrison.(He is).
The other storyline follows Dylan, a wealthy young man also bent on self destruction. He's the son of a famous Senator who in spite of a promising destiny, committed suicide. Seeking solace for his loss in a dissolute life, Dylan is surrounded by shallow people - all who on some level are using him. While the young man is constantly indulging in oblivion he is also seeking something more. Dylan is haunted by nightmares and memories of his father. There is a mystery surrounding his father's death. There was more to the man's life and death than Dylan can put together. With the reappearance of the Dylan's girlfriend Megan (Morrison) in his life, the young man begins to pull out of his fog.
Somehow, the Senator was tied to Morrison, Campbell and their project Exodus. Dylan and his father become the links that pull the two storylines together.
The author was very descriptive throughout the novel and spared no detail when it came to setting the urban landscapes and the background to the scientific/spiritual research concepts he wrote about. I think that may be the author's strongest point in this installment of the Tiber City series. Some of the descriptive passages were very well done.
But again, it was a very dark novel. It included graphic sex, numerous forms of substance abuse and profanity. I think it could appeal to readers who are looking for that kind of urban noir thriller. However, it really wasn't the kind of book I enjoy, so I'm not comfortable giving it a rating. It just really wasn't my thing.
The novel Kingdom pulls together from two separate storylines. One of those storylines follows Campbell, a self destructive and formerly brilliant scientist who feels betrayed by his former partner for the cruel and inhumane science that was truly behind their scientific work (project Exodus). At the start of his story, Campbell has left his old life behind. He is waiting to die in the urban decay at the edge of the desert when he is rescued by a mysterious organization of monks. Campbell is confused. The organization is involved in its own scientific research: finding a biological link to the soul. Their research is almost the exact opposite - yet strangely linked - to Campbell's past research, which was more or less finding a gene for eternal youth (it turns out to be more later in the book). As Campbell realizes the monks (or the 'gurney men' as he thinks of them) are rescuing and treating victims of Campbell and his former partner's own research, Campbell begins to work with the monks in an attempt at redemption. However, redemption might not be possible for him. Campbell was involved with a very powerful biotech industry and he may still be hunted by his former partner Morrison.(He is).
The other storyline follows Dylan, a wealthy young man also bent on self destruction. He's the son of a famous Senator who in spite of a promising destiny, committed suicide. Seeking solace for his loss in a dissolute life, Dylan is surrounded by shallow people - all who on some level are using him. While the young man is constantly indulging in oblivion he is also seeking something more. Dylan is haunted by nightmares and memories of his father. There is a mystery surrounding his father's death. There was more to the man's life and death than Dylan can put together. With the reappearance of the Dylan's girlfriend Megan (Morrison) in his life, the young man begins to pull out of his fog.
Somehow, the Senator was tied to Morrison, Campbell and their project Exodus. Dylan and his father become the links that pull the two storylines together.
The author was very descriptive throughout the novel and spared no detail when it came to setting the urban landscapes and the background to the scientific/spiritual research concepts he wrote about. I think that may be the author's strongest point in this installment of the Tiber City series. Some of the descriptive passages were very well done.
But again, it was a very dark novel. It included graphic sex, numerous forms of substance abuse and profanity. I think it could appeal to readers who are looking for that kind of urban noir thriller. However, it really wasn't the kind of book I enjoy, so I'm not comfortable giving it a rating. It just really wasn't my thing.
June 12, 2012
Brief synopsis - Kingdom follows three key characters: Dylan, the fairly debauched and despondent son of a former politician; Campbell, the disgraced and redemption-seeking one-time genetecist; and Morrison, the head of a corporate genetics corporation. Set in the near future, Kingdom follows the three leads in the separate quests for answers, redemption and domination, and finding that their paths and fates are inextricably linked.
It took me a surprising amount of time to read this, and I think I finally figured out why. The journey through a book is much like a physical journey - whether it be a brief stroll through something light and airy, or an arduous trek through a barren desert.
Kingdom is like a walk through a rainforest. The scenery is breathtaking (by which I mean the quality of the writing), but there's so much that it bogs you down and slows your journey.
O'Donnell is a fantastically talented writer, with some beautiful turns of phrase, great dialogue, and wonderfully evocative descriptions. He crafts his characters well, turning reprehensible ones into people who can be identifed and empathised with.
O'Donnell has his own voice, dark and angry, used to condemn a bitter and bleak future with aspects of our own which have attracted his wrath. However, he's also intelligent and creative, bringing in genetic manipulation, political wrangling, addiction, and studies of the soul, to create a fascinating piece. Remeniscent, at times, of Philip K Dick.
Interestingly, although I started off curiously detached from the lead characters, they do grow rapidly and subtly into investable people. Very well handled.
However, O'Donnell's biggest strength is also his biggest weakness. The writing is gorgeous, no doubt. However, there's just so damn much of it. In brutal honesty, the text could have done with a harsher edit, and losing 25-33%. I can understand why not, as what's written is so well delivered, but it does affect the pacing, and impact on what's being told at times. Tough choice to make.
The other problem is the old "information dump" issue. Whilst O'Donnell has crafted this wonderful world, has a real knack for dialogue and whatnot, on the occasions where information needs to be dumped it is literally dumped. In a huge chunk of text.
Honestly, I would love to see more from O'Donnell, but in a leaner, tigher-paced book, with less description. For what is, essentially, a slim novel there is too much descriptive padding. More story (and please note, I am in no way suggesting there isn't enough story here, because there is, and it's well written), and an expansion of his world would be great.
For a debut novel, this is outstanding, and I'm positive O'Donnell will be one to watch in the future. Recommended.
It took me a surprising amount of time to read this, and I think I finally figured out why. The journey through a book is much like a physical journey - whether it be a brief stroll through something light and airy, or an arduous trek through a barren desert.
Kingdom is like a walk through a rainforest. The scenery is breathtaking (by which I mean the quality of the writing), but there's so much that it bogs you down and slows your journey.
O'Donnell is a fantastically talented writer, with some beautiful turns of phrase, great dialogue, and wonderfully evocative descriptions. He crafts his characters well, turning reprehensible ones into people who can be identifed and empathised with.
O'Donnell has his own voice, dark and angry, used to condemn a bitter and bleak future with aspects of our own which have attracted his wrath. However, he's also intelligent and creative, bringing in genetic manipulation, political wrangling, addiction, and studies of the soul, to create a fascinating piece. Remeniscent, at times, of Philip K Dick.
Interestingly, although I started off curiously detached from the lead characters, they do grow rapidly and subtly into investable people. Very well handled.
However, O'Donnell's biggest strength is also his biggest weakness. The writing is gorgeous, no doubt. However, there's just so damn much of it. In brutal honesty, the text could have done with a harsher edit, and losing 25-33%. I can understand why not, as what's written is so well delivered, but it does affect the pacing, and impact on what's being told at times. Tough choice to make.
The other problem is the old "information dump" issue. Whilst O'Donnell has crafted this wonderful world, has a real knack for dialogue and whatnot, on the occasions where information needs to be dumped it is literally dumped. In a huge chunk of text.
Honestly, I would love to see more from O'Donnell, but in a leaner, tigher-paced book, with less description. For what is, essentially, a slim novel there is too much descriptive padding. More story (and please note, I am in no way suggesting there isn't enough story here, because there is, and it's well written), and an expansion of his world would be great.
For a debut novel, this is outstanding, and I'm positive O'Donnell will be one to watch in the future. Recommended.
June 6, 2012
Kingdom is the debut novel from author Anderson O'Donnell. A fantastic dystopian science fiction thriller with some concepts that reminds me of the film Gattaca as well as the 2012 Arthur C. Clarke shortlisted novel The End Specialist/The Postmortal by Drew Magary.
In Kingdom, Morrison Biotech has spent the last few decades perfecting the recipe to create the ultimate human being, one with the charisma and leadership skills to run a country and yet someone the corporation can control. The one thing they can't decipher is the "Omega gene", a gene that appears to have no functions but when omitted, the subjects all breakdown within a couple of years.
One man seems to know the answers though. Jonathan Campbell, once co-founder and mentor of Morrison, thinks that the "Omega gene" is the key to human soul, the antenna that receives instructions from above. Without it the drones will always remain soulless. Campbell has had enough but Morrison needs him to finish what they started.
Meanwhile a young man is discovering a secret that would rock the foundations of his world...
O'Donnell vision of the future, especially where our science would take us isn't rosy at all. What if we progressed from using our knowledge to treat genetic defects to using it to fulfil our narcissistic needs? What would happen to our world then? Can the world really be sustainable with all these perfect and healthy beings running around? This leads to the interesting Tiber City itself, a sort of heaven and hell rolled into one place. The rich has their glamorous and glitzy district while the poor lived in the city's slums.
Another interesting part of the book is the flawed characters. Jonathan Campbell is drowning himself in an alcohol induced stupor over the events he has set in motion and Dylan Fitzgerald is going through a self destructive phase trying to come to terms with his own identity. O'Donnell does a good job in exploring the turmoil and emotions going through these characters.
This novel is a good and fast read with an ending that alludes to the birth of a new age and I can't wait to see how things will turn out in the other stories. Recommended to anyone who is looking for a bit of grimness in their science fiction.
(Originally posted at http://www.paperlessreading.com/2012/...)
In Kingdom, Morrison Biotech has spent the last few decades perfecting the recipe to create the ultimate human being, one with the charisma and leadership skills to run a country and yet someone the corporation can control. The one thing they can't decipher is the "Omega gene", a gene that appears to have no functions but when omitted, the subjects all breakdown within a couple of years.
One man seems to know the answers though. Jonathan Campbell, once co-founder and mentor of Morrison, thinks that the "Omega gene" is the key to human soul, the antenna that receives instructions from above. Without it the drones will always remain soulless. Campbell has had enough but Morrison needs him to finish what they started.
Meanwhile a young man is discovering a secret that would rock the foundations of his world...
O'Donnell vision of the future, especially where our science would take us isn't rosy at all. What if we progressed from using our knowledge to treat genetic defects to using it to fulfil our narcissistic needs? What would happen to our world then? Can the world really be sustainable with all these perfect and healthy beings running around? This leads to the interesting Tiber City itself, a sort of heaven and hell rolled into one place. The rich has their glamorous and glitzy district while the poor lived in the city's slums.
Another interesting part of the book is the flawed characters. Jonathan Campbell is drowning himself in an alcohol induced stupor over the events he has set in motion and Dylan Fitzgerald is going through a self destructive phase trying to come to terms with his own identity. O'Donnell does a good job in exploring the turmoil and emotions going through these characters.
This novel is a good and fast read with an ending that alludes to the birth of a new age and I can't wait to see how things will turn out in the other stories. Recommended to anyone who is looking for a bit of grimness in their science fiction.
(Originally posted at http://www.paperlessreading.com/2012/...)
March 12, 2014
Review from: PS Naughty Reviewer- Suzy (Rating 3.5)
This book is one that requires a reader to force themselves to soak it in and really think about the words displayed before them. If you’ve read the book, this contrasts to the dystopian world that the characters live in. (ie. Images that are moving so fast that only your brain processes them; your eyes barely receive the messages.)
It is honestly not an easy read. This is due to many things, the graphic words initially are concise to the point where you can almost feel, see, and hear the bones cracking, contorting beneath the skin. Yes, this is at the opening and throughout the book. (I was eating—I do not recommend this. lol) Then you move into a young mans life filled with depression and drugs. Then the third POV is this young man’s father being told through a journal that you later find out about.
I was confused mostly. The story line is outshined by the vivid imagery. I have never in my life read such beautiful descriptions of landscapes. They describe this broken world in extreme depth, where I feel it should be more interspersed, but they continue throughout the book.
The other thing that was terribly distracting was that the writer never gave me a break, a breath or a pause. There writing style is, how do I put it? Wow! There are lots of: EM dashes, colons (at the end of a sentence instead of a period), multiple uses of “ands” in a sentence and lastly, sentences that are between 30 to probably close to 60 words long. This made for some hard reading for someone like me who normally breezes through books.
Overall, the story is a harrowing read. I began to get engrossed around 20% into the book. If you enjoy dystopian worlds, this is a fantastically horrific and yet a beautifully described one.
The end seemed like it was only the beginning. ;) So get reading if you love: descriptions you can see/feel, a very dark storyline and a religious undertone. Trust me religion isn’t the forefront. The main theme is biology vs spirituality or something greater.
This book is one that requires a reader to force themselves to soak it in and really think about the words displayed before them. If you’ve read the book, this contrasts to the dystopian world that the characters live in. (ie. Images that are moving so fast that only your brain processes them; your eyes barely receive the messages.)
It is honestly not an easy read. This is due to many things, the graphic words initially are concise to the point where you can almost feel, see, and hear the bones cracking, contorting beneath the skin. Yes, this is at the opening and throughout the book. (I was eating—I do not recommend this. lol) Then you move into a young mans life filled with depression and drugs. Then the third POV is this young man’s father being told through a journal that you later find out about.
I was confused mostly. The story line is outshined by the vivid imagery. I have never in my life read such beautiful descriptions of landscapes. They describe this broken world in extreme depth, where I feel it should be more interspersed, but they continue throughout the book.
The other thing that was terribly distracting was that the writer never gave me a break, a breath or a pause. There writing style is, how do I put it? Wow! There are lots of: EM dashes, colons (at the end of a sentence instead of a period), multiple uses of “ands” in a sentence and lastly, sentences that are between 30 to probably close to 60 words long. This made for some hard reading for someone like me who normally breezes through books.
Overall, the story is a harrowing read. I began to get engrossed around 20% into the book. If you enjoy dystopian worlds, this is a fantastically horrific and yet a beautifully described one.
The end seemed like it was only the beginning. ;) So get reading if you love: descriptions you can see/feel, a very dark storyline and a religious undertone. Trust me religion isn’t the forefront. The main theme is biology vs spirituality or something greater.
June 27, 2012
Kingdom takes you into a very, very dark world. As a dystopian biopunk thriller, it's: graphic, dark, suspenseful, gritty, and philosophical. This is, at its core, the story of three men. Two men, Michael Morrison and Jonathan Campbell, set about changing the world with their top secret genetic research on Project Exodus. The third, Dylan Fitzgerald, could hold the key to everything. There is no shortage of fascinating, lush landscapes throughout this novel. The story easily hops between the barren desert, glitzy glamorous world of the rich and famous, and the dilapidated slums of Tiber City.
What initially drew me to this book is the biopunk. I'm a huge fan of the genre and stories that feature genetic manipulation as a backdrop to tell a fascinating story. And this story did not disappoint. Not only is the science fascinating, it doesn't shy away from the hard, philosophical questions. What is a human soul? Does humanity have a right to manipulate it's genetic code to make man in its own image? What kind of consequences might there be? It's fascinating stuff and there's no shortage of it in this novel.
On top of that, there are two things that really excite me about this story: the world building and the characters. Kingdom is set in the near-future. Some of the tech you will recognize, and many of the historical events are the same. But it's pretty incredible to think that a few key twists in the timeline -- a few technological advances here, a new genetic advancement there -- could change our world into the one we find in Kingdom. My favorite character of them all is Jonathan Campbell. He carries an enormous amount of guilt; he's lost and searching for redemption.
I would recommend this book to fans of dystopias, science fiction, and biopunk and/or cyberpunk. But be warned, Kingdom is not for the faint of heart. It contains graphic sex, drug use, and violence.
What initially drew me to this book is the biopunk. I'm a huge fan of the genre and stories that feature genetic manipulation as a backdrop to tell a fascinating story. And this story did not disappoint. Not only is the science fascinating, it doesn't shy away from the hard, philosophical questions. What is a human soul? Does humanity have a right to manipulate it's genetic code to make man in its own image? What kind of consequences might there be? It's fascinating stuff and there's no shortage of it in this novel.
On top of that, there are two things that really excite me about this story: the world building and the characters. Kingdom is set in the near-future. Some of the tech you will recognize, and many of the historical events are the same. But it's pretty incredible to think that a few key twists in the timeline -- a few technological advances here, a new genetic advancement there -- could change our world into the one we find in Kingdom. My favorite character of them all is Jonathan Campbell. He carries an enormous amount of guilt; he's lost and searching for redemption.
I would recommend this book to fans of dystopias, science fiction, and biopunk and/or cyberpunk. But be warned, Kingdom is not for the faint of heart. It contains graphic sex, drug use, and violence.
June 9, 2012
“The soul is like an uninhabited world that comes to life only when God lays His head against us.” So said the philosopher and Dominican Monk Thomas Aquinas some centuries ago. But reading Anderson O’Donnell’s searing first novel, Kingdom, the notion of there being a God – someone or something taking control – including the author himself – seems spurious at best.
Combining hard-hitting noir, genomic science, theological musings and a city as gritty, rusted and blasted as Samuel R. Delany’s Bellona in Dhalgren or Jack O’Connell’s Quinsigamond in The Skin Palace, O’Donnell has come up with a bio-punk saga from hell. Indeed, it would seem that the gene for the human soul has been discovered and, as it transpires, that is not necessarily a good thing. The discovery is made during the process of creating human replicants via use of human genome mapping, but one gene seems to go missing, leading to both physical and psychological horrors that would make Cronenberg jealous.
The resulting saga reads like a futuristic Raymond Chandler novel colliding with Philip K. Dick-like philosophical musings and all delivered, as Jack O’Connell puts it, with a hearty dose of “Transylvanian meth.” All the noir clichés are here but delivered with an electro-magnetic jolt. The book is set in a near-future metropolis – Tibor City – a city that is as ill as many of its characters. Like William Gibson in his Bridge series, O’Donnell is at pains to drag his readers kicking and screaming through its streets and into the cigarette-saturated environs of the nearest bar for innumerable glasses of Jamesons – neat, thank you. As a first novel, it’s a rough-hewn book that takes time to build up steam and congeal its multifarious characters and twisting story-lines but once it does the adrenalin blast of events and ideas are breathtaking. Everything is up for grabs here – most especially your soul.
Combining hard-hitting noir, genomic science, theological musings and a city as gritty, rusted and blasted as Samuel R. Delany’s Bellona in Dhalgren or Jack O’Connell’s Quinsigamond in The Skin Palace, O’Donnell has come up with a bio-punk saga from hell. Indeed, it would seem that the gene for the human soul has been discovered and, as it transpires, that is not necessarily a good thing. The discovery is made during the process of creating human replicants via use of human genome mapping, but one gene seems to go missing, leading to both physical and psychological horrors that would make Cronenberg jealous.
The resulting saga reads like a futuristic Raymond Chandler novel colliding with Philip K. Dick-like philosophical musings and all delivered, as Jack O’Connell puts it, with a hearty dose of “Transylvanian meth.” All the noir clichés are here but delivered with an electro-magnetic jolt. The book is set in a near-future metropolis – Tibor City – a city that is as ill as many of its characters. Like William Gibson in his Bridge series, O’Donnell is at pains to drag his readers kicking and screaming through its streets and into the cigarette-saturated environs of the nearest bar for innumerable glasses of Jamesons – neat, thank you. As a first novel, it’s a rough-hewn book that takes time to build up steam and congeal its multifarious characters and twisting story-lines but once it does the adrenalin blast of events and ideas are breathtaking. Everything is up for grabs here – most especially your soul.
June 22, 2012
Review originally posted on The Oaken Bookcase on 22 June, 2012.
Late in the twentieth century, a biotechonology company in the Chihuahuan Desert has been secretly carrying out genetic experimentation on local illegal immigrants and other vulnerable members of society. When Campbell, one of the geneticists working on the Exodus project, discovers just horrors his partner has been working on in the dungeons of the desert complex, he flees into the night. He is rescued and finds absolution with a sect of monks studying the human soul. Curiously, the two research projects are linked and opposed.
Fast forward to a near dystopian future, and Dylan is haunted by horrifying nightmares of his father’s suicide. There’s something very wrong with the candidate Biotech company are backing for the Senate – why does he have Dylan’s father’s eyes?
Kingdom is certainly not for the faint-hearted. This dark and gritty story is full of the angst of human existence.
O’Donnell brings Tiber City to life in glorious, and sometimes horrible, detail. I really loved the richness of the world and the lyrical writing style, but sometimes it was quite overwhelming in its bleakness and despair. But underneath all the suffering is a search for the Omega gene – a natural part of the human genome which allows a link to the divine. I found this aspect of the story fascinating – that there’s a genetic part of us that determines our ability to feel extreme emotion, whether religious or otherwise.
Kingdom is the first in a planned trilogy. If you like reading gritty dystopian stories, this book is for you. I found it amazing, but boy, did I need something a bit lighter to read afterwards!
Late in the twentieth century, a biotechonology company in the Chihuahuan Desert has been secretly carrying out genetic experimentation on local illegal immigrants and other vulnerable members of society. When Campbell, one of the geneticists working on the Exodus project, discovers just horrors his partner has been working on in the dungeons of the desert complex, he flees into the night. He is rescued and finds absolution with a sect of monks studying the human soul. Curiously, the two research projects are linked and opposed.
Fast forward to a near dystopian future, and Dylan is haunted by horrifying nightmares of his father’s suicide. There’s something very wrong with the candidate Biotech company are backing for the Senate – why does he have Dylan’s father’s eyes?
Kingdom is certainly not for the faint-hearted. This dark and gritty story is full of the angst of human existence.
O’Donnell brings Tiber City to life in glorious, and sometimes horrible, detail. I really loved the richness of the world and the lyrical writing style, but sometimes it was quite overwhelming in its bleakness and despair. But underneath all the suffering is a search for the Omega gene – a natural part of the human genome which allows a link to the divine. I found this aspect of the story fascinating – that there’s a genetic part of us that determines our ability to feel extreme emotion, whether religious or otherwise.
Kingdom is the first in a planned trilogy. If you like reading gritty dystopian stories, this book is for you. I found it amazing, but boy, did I need something a bit lighter to read afterwards!
September 10, 2012
My review is being held back But I want to add a few things.
THIS is NOT YA. This is a dense novel that requires the reader to be engaged and wanting to take time to read it.
This novel will disturb you at times, that is a good reaction, it is supposed too. It is suppose to make you think, make you question as well as entertaining you. This book will make you smile at it's intelligent wit, and make you cry at the loss of humanity at some. It will piss you off... don't worry it is suppose too.
This is literary fiction. It is DARK, GRITTY and will disturb some peoples idiologies, but isn't that what books are suppose to do? Challenge us?
When I started reading this I was thrown into a world that was reminiscent of William Gibson with a touch of the conspiracy found at least 23 times in The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid/The Golden Apple/Leviathan woven into a dark and deceptive tale. Just let it happen and do not get lost.
One reviewer call it "Dystopian Gutter Punk Neo Noir Thriller" Love it, exactly so take that word, DYSTOPIA, look it up. If you do not like to have a bright and shiny bubble broken up and do not want to think, go grab a cozy .. this one is not a cozy. BTW this is not my final review but I just wanted to state this. This is what the Indie Revolution is ALL about... BRING IT!
THIS is NOT YA. This is a dense novel that requires the reader to be engaged and wanting to take time to read it.
This novel will disturb you at times, that is a good reaction, it is supposed too. It is suppose to make you think, make you question as well as entertaining you. This book will make you smile at it's intelligent wit, and make you cry at the loss of humanity at some. It will piss you off... don't worry it is suppose too.
This is literary fiction. It is DARK, GRITTY and will disturb some peoples idiologies, but isn't that what books are suppose to do? Challenge us?
When I started reading this I was thrown into a world that was reminiscent of William Gibson with a touch of the conspiracy found at least 23 times in The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid/The Golden Apple/Leviathan woven into a dark and deceptive tale. Just let it happen and do not get lost.
One reviewer call it "Dystopian Gutter Punk Neo Noir Thriller" Love it, exactly so take that word, DYSTOPIA, look it up. If you do not like to have a bright and shiny bubble broken up and do not want to think, go grab a cozy .. this one is not a cozy. BTW this is not my final review but I just wanted to state this. This is what the Indie Revolution is ALL about... BRING IT!
October 24, 2012
After reading the blurb I expected a different story than what I really got.
This review is also available on Amazon.com
My Expectations
To behonest after reading the synopsis and the text from the back cover I expected a lot of the first part of the Tiber City trilogy.
The Delivery
The 267 pages of the story are divided into 28 consecutively numbered chapters which are framed by a kind of prologue and an epilogue.
Let me start with the things I liked. The idea of the story is a compeling one. Genetics are a hot topic. The description of Tiber City is felicitous.
But I felt separated from the main characters.There was no emotional connection. And when Dylan, who is one of the main characters, got lost in his thoughts I felt bored. I'm also have not been interested in drug experience of people.
Beside that there is violence with a lot of gore. But that left me cold because it was like a surgery report.
Most of the books I read have a kind of soul.I could not find the soul of Kingdom.
Another disappointment has been the lack of information about two things I have been most interested in: The Order of Neshamah and Project Exodus. I felt like reading with blinkers on.
Finally I must say the book did not convince me to read the rest of the trilogy. For me there is an obvious mismatch between the synopsis and the delivery.
It seems either I'm the wrong reader of the right book or the right reader of the wrong book.
Anyway I recommend to read more reviews (for example on GOODREADS) before you decide to go for Kingdom or to skip it.
This review is also available on Amazon.com
My Expectations
To behonest after reading the synopsis and the text from the back cover I expected a lot of the first part of the Tiber City trilogy.
The Delivery
The 267 pages of the story are divided into 28 consecutively numbered chapters which are framed by a kind of prologue and an epilogue.
Let me start with the things I liked. The idea of the story is a compeling one. Genetics are a hot topic. The description of Tiber City is felicitous.
But I felt separated from the main characters.There was no emotional connection. And when Dylan, who is one of the main characters, got lost in his thoughts I felt bored. I'm also have not been interested in drug experience of people.
Beside that there is violence with a lot of gore. But that left me cold because it was like a surgery report.
Most of the books I read have a kind of soul.I could not find the soul of Kingdom.
Another disappointment has been the lack of information about two things I have been most interested in: The Order of Neshamah and Project Exodus. I felt like reading with blinkers on.
Finally I must say the book did not convince me to read the rest of the trilogy. For me there is an obvious mismatch between the synopsis and the delivery.
It seems either I'm the wrong reader of the right book or the right reader of the wrong book.
Anyway I recommend to read more reviews (for example on GOODREADS) before you decide to go for Kingdom or to skip it.
October 11, 2012
This was an interesting read for me. The plot was thought-provoking and the sad thing was I could easily imagine the future painted in Kingdom’s dystopian setting. Kingdom is a hard book to categorize, but I would recommend the novel to fans of thrillers and science fiction.
What I liked the most about the book was the writing style. The author’s descriptions were dark and gritty. I actually felt myself inwardly cringing at some of the visuals painted over the course of the story. Sometimes I felt the story got bogged down with the amount of descriptions. It had the effect of slowing down the plot and the book could’ve benefit from some selective trimming at parts.
The alternating points of view made it hard to connect with the characters at first. However, by mid-point I felt myself get invested in the story. I was impressed with how each character had a distinct voice, something authors can find it difficult to do successfully.
The concepts explored in the novel were unique and something I’ve never read about before. The idea of discovering the origin of a person’s soul was of particular interest to me and I was more pulled into fallen geneticist Campbell’s plotline than the story of troubled heir Dylan’s.
Thanks to First Rule Publicity for providing me with a copy of this novel for review!
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Stop by my blog Heather's Book Chatter on 10/15 for Kindgom's blog tour stop.
What I liked the most about the book was the writing style. The author’s descriptions were dark and gritty. I actually felt myself inwardly cringing at some of the visuals painted over the course of the story. Sometimes I felt the story got bogged down with the amount of descriptions. It had the effect of slowing down the plot and the book could’ve benefit from some selective trimming at parts.
The alternating points of view made it hard to connect with the characters at first. However, by mid-point I felt myself get invested in the story. I was impressed with how each character had a distinct voice, something authors can find it difficult to do successfully.
The concepts explored in the novel were unique and something I’ve never read about before. The idea of discovering the origin of a person’s soul was of particular interest to me and I was more pulled into fallen geneticist Campbell’s plotline than the story of troubled heir Dylan’s.
Thanks to First Rule Publicity for providing me with a copy of this novel for review!
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Stop by my blog Heather's Book Chatter on 10/15 for Kindgom's blog tour stop.
October 27, 2012
The person who recommended this to me described it as "dense," which is a term I use for books from writers such as Umberto Eco or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, books that you cannot just pass a breezy afternoon taking in along with the afternoon sun. Books that require you to invest some time in to reap the rewards of an outstanding read. And please understand, Kingdom is not an easy read. O'Donnell rebuilds America along with his new city, Tiber City as a place that could exist, a world that could be ours given a nudge or two to the side. Once I found the world and unlocked some of the essential story elements, it was difficult for me not to think about what he was doing with his story, with his philosophy.
The writing itself is evocative and captivating without being overwrought. Another reviewer complained that it could be cut down and I disagree. For whatever reason, there is a desire on the part of some readers that books be simple, easy reads, especially in genre fiction. I love it when genre authors take risks and challenge us. I would place Mr. O'Donnell along side authors such as Dan Simmons and while Kingdom is not as quite as ambitious as Mr. Simmons' works, I can see him going down a similar path and I highly recommend this book.
The writing itself is evocative and captivating without being overwrought. Another reviewer complained that it could be cut down and I disagree. For whatever reason, there is a desire on the part of some readers that books be simple, easy reads, especially in genre fiction. I love it when genre authors take risks and challenge us. I would place Mr. O'Donnell along side authors such as Dan Simmons and while Kingdom is not as quite as ambitious as Mr. Simmons' works, I can see him going down a similar path and I highly recommend this book.
October 24, 2012
Kingdom is a debut by Anderson O’Donnell en with Tiber City he has created a gritty disturbing world set in the near future.
The story is told from different point of views and this makes sure you get to see the whole thing from all the different angles this world has to offer.
The two characters that stick out the most are Jonathan Campbell a geneticist and cofounder of Morrison Biotech and Dyland Fitzgerald, the son of the late US senator. Both characters have a self destructive lifestyle and dealing with their own issues. You I’m not a big fan of troublesome characters but O’Donnell knows how to make sure these two fit into the story with giving the problems the upper hand.
But what I found to be the best part of this book was this gritty and disturbing world O’Donnell created with Tiber City, genetic experiments to decipher the ‘Omega gene’ the one thing they think will help create the perfect human being.
This was not a fast read and I really needed to pay attention while reading it. But that was no problem at all. O’Donnell’s writing and worldbuilding makes sure you keep interested en flipping the pages to see what will happen next.
This is the first installment in his Tiber City series and I must say I’m looking forward to his next installment.
The story is told from different point of views and this makes sure you get to see the whole thing from all the different angles this world has to offer.
The two characters that stick out the most are Jonathan Campbell a geneticist and cofounder of Morrison Biotech and Dyland Fitzgerald, the son of the late US senator. Both characters have a self destructive lifestyle and dealing with their own issues. You I’m not a big fan of troublesome characters but O’Donnell knows how to make sure these two fit into the story with giving the problems the upper hand.
But what I found to be the best part of this book was this gritty and disturbing world O’Donnell created with Tiber City, genetic experiments to decipher the ‘Omega gene’ the one thing they think will help create the perfect human being.
This was not a fast read and I really needed to pay attention while reading it. But that was no problem at all. O’Donnell’s writing and worldbuilding makes sure you keep interested en flipping the pages to see what will happen next.
This is the first installment in his Tiber City series and I must say I’m looking forward to his next installment.
September 21, 2014
First off I want to say that I really enjoyed reading this book, it was very different from the dystopian books I have been reading lately. Also I read this for a blog tour and I'm very excited to share my thoughts on this book with all of you.
With that being said, I want to talk about the writing style of this book and this amazing author. I enjoyed the reading every single word of this book. The descriptions in this story were so perfect that I could so see it all really happening. I could picture the characters playing out the story before me and I couldn't get enough of it. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this story and getting to know their point of view really brought the story out more for me.
The world this author created is fabulous and very interesting. I couldn't get enough of the differences in this world.
The only thing I really had a problem with is that I really had to sit down and read this one, its not a very fast read, its one that you really have to pay attention too that way you catch all the details. That is the only thing I had wrong with it and that's not really a bad thing to be truthful.
I can't wait to see what happens next with this story. Defiantly a book I will be watching for.
With that being said, I want to talk about the writing style of this book and this amazing author. I enjoyed the reading every single word of this book. The descriptions in this story were so perfect that I could so see it all really happening. I could picture the characters playing out the story before me and I couldn't get enough of it. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this story and getting to know their point of view really brought the story out more for me.
The world this author created is fabulous and very interesting. I couldn't get enough of the differences in this world.
The only thing I really had a problem with is that I really had to sit down and read this one, its not a very fast read, its one that you really have to pay attention too that way you catch all the details. That is the only thing I had wrong with it and that's not really a bad thing to be truthful.
I can't wait to see what happens next with this story. Defiantly a book I will be watching for.
June 28, 2014
Everything about Kingdom by Anderson O’Donnell made me want to read the book. The cover hints at dystopia, but the story goes even deeper – can bioengineers discover and use the soul gene for their own nefarious means? This is a horror story about man’s inhumanity towards mankind. I had a hard time with the book. I could not get invested with the rich druggie, Dylan, nor the scientist looking for redemption, Campbell. The mix of science and religion is one that will probably go on forever as we push the boundaries of morality and ethics. Is the good of many worth more than the life of one when it is your life on the line? Kingdom is a Kirkus Reviews Top 25 Indie Book of 2012, but I could not get into the book and would not recommend it, however, I did like the ending. Maybe it was just me and the moment, so if this sounds interesting to you, be sure and check it out further. Just because it didn’t grab me, doesn’t mean it won’t grab you.
I won this signed paperback in a giveaway by Fighting Monkey Press. Thank you to the publishers and the author, Anderson O’Donnell. It holds a place on my bookshelf.
I won this signed paperback in a giveaway by Fighting Monkey Press. Thank you to the publishers and the author, Anderson O’Donnell. It holds a place on my bookshelf.
December 16, 2012
Fast-paced, full of both action and tension, Kingdom tumbles the reader through a dystopian world both recognisable and yet immensely different.
At times the descriptions in this book were almost too intense, the scenes too graphic to bear. And yet this horror was never out of place with the world in which it was set, always there for a clear purpose. Its this imagery that really gives life to the book and propels the reader on in the hope that things might become better.
There was never a dull moment in this story. Events just kept coming, mirroring the fast-paced world in which the plot is set. At no point did I want to put the book down and pick it up another time. On the contrary, given the chance I was able to read half this book in one sitting.
Its not an easy read, but this is a boo which I thoroughly recommend to fans of dystopian worlds. I comes with only one warning though- this is not one for the young or the feint of heart!
July 19, 2012
This book was compelling but completely failed to engage me emotionally.
I felt for Dylan's isolation but I didn't really care what happened to him. Ditto Campbell. Meghan was just a cardboard cut-out. I couldn't really identify with anyone.
On the plus side, I like how he set it in the very near future (2015) but presented it as a dystopian fiction. The themes of the meaninglessness of modern life were interesting: the sinister corporation in bed with the politicians, the vacuous hedonism, the self-medication with drugs and booze, the relentless consumption and development for its own sake.
The idea of the search for the soul is a strong one, but it needed a whole lot more character development to reel me in. Plus it had a lot of typos, which suggests a lack of editing.
I probably wouldn't go back for book two, although it was quite entertaining.
I felt for Dylan's isolation but I didn't really care what happened to him. Ditto Campbell. Meghan was just a cardboard cut-out. I couldn't really identify with anyone.
On the plus side, I like how he set it in the very near future (2015) but presented it as a dystopian fiction. The themes of the meaninglessness of modern life were interesting: the sinister corporation in bed with the politicians, the vacuous hedonism, the self-medication with drugs and booze, the relentless consumption and development for its own sake.
The idea of the search for the soul is a strong one, but it needed a whole lot more character development to reel me in. Plus it had a lot of typos, which suggests a lack of editing.
I probably wouldn't go back for book two, although it was quite entertaining.
August 25, 2012
I was drawn to this book by its labels and excellent reviews. I was only slightly disappointed. The pluses are a plot that keeps you reading with tidy little revelations as you progress and a decently developed cast of characters. The negatives are a few unsatisfactory coincidences to move the plot, and an evil character I just can't get a grip on. I want to know what I'm supposed to be hating rather than just be told I should. The mythological allusion ending the novel was also a little to pat and left a bitter feeling for me.
Overall, though, it was an intriguing read with some interesting twists. I'm not chomping at the bit for the next book, but I'd like to read it at some point.
October 28, 2012
This was one of those books where you are smarter by the time you finish it. I was excited about this book from the synopsis. I love this genre. This book stuck with me long after the last page. It is dystopian but it was so subtle in the way the world fell apart. This book is part horror, part sci fi, part medical thriller told from the point of view of three people. The author does a wonderful job telling the story in these three parts. He is a great storyteller. I really love how he took even the technical parts and made it interesting. This book is not for the faint of hard it can be dark but it is well worth the read. I give this a 4 out of 5 stars.
December 21, 2012
If you love roller coaster paced futuristic thrillers, you're gonna love this book! I finished it in 2 sittings (only because there is just SO much to take in)! O'Donnell gives you a very vivid, descriptive prose with a tightly woven plot, and characters that jump off the page! This is meant to be the first book in a Tiber CIty triology (aprt two, Ecile, will be out next Summer) and I can definitely see that happening, with a movie or two to follow. I think it could easily be this generations Blade Runner! This would be a great Christmas present for those on your list who love futuristic thrillers!
May 16, 2012
Fantastic read. Less than Zero meets Blade Runner in an epic dystopian yarn. White knuckle, gutter punk, neo noir thrill fest.
O'Donnell's Tiber City is a coughing, wheezing, wonderful mess of a character populated by saints, sinners and everything in between. Mutants, trannies, punks, monks, mystics and US Senators all rub elbows in the seedy urban sprawl of the not too distant American future.
Highly reccomended if you like sci-fi, noir, thrillers or just a good story with fascinating characters.
O'Donnell's Tiber City is a coughing, wheezing, wonderful mess of a character populated by saints, sinners and everything in between. Mutants, trannies, punks, monks, mystics and US Senators all rub elbows in the seedy urban sprawl of the not too distant American future.
Highly reccomended if you like sci-fi, noir, thrillers or just a good story with fascinating characters.
March 26, 2013
The plot of this novel is quite clever, and the writing is sound.
Though I'm not one for dystopian novels, I liked Kingdom. It had some interesting characters; it moved at a decent pace; and didn't require much effort to suspend my disbelief.
The one problem I had with it was the ending. Not as clever as it could have been, given the amount of effort that the author put into shaping the storyline.
Though I'm not one for dystopian novels, I liked Kingdom. It had some interesting characters; it moved at a decent pace; and didn't require much effort to suspend my disbelief.
The one problem I had with it was the ending. Not as clever as it could have been, given the amount of effort that the author put into shaping the storyline.
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