THE ANNIHILATION OF FOREVERLAND When kids awake on an island, they’re told there was an accident. Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds.
FOREVERLAND IS DEAD Six teenage girls wake with no memories. One of them is in a brick mansion, her blonde hair as shiny as her shoes. The others are in a cabin, their names tagged to the inside of their pants. Their heads, shaved. Slashes mark the cabin wall like someone has been counting.
Hundreds of them.
ASHES OF FOREVERLAND Tyler Ballard was in prison when his son created a dreamworld called Foreverland, a place so boundless and spellbinding that no one ever wanted to leave. Or did. Now his son is dead, his wife is comatose and Tyler is still imprisoned.
He grew up in the Midwest where the land is flat and the corn is tall. The winters are bleak and cold. He hated winters.
He always wanted to write. But writing was hard. And he wasn’t very disciplined. The cold had nothing to do with that, but it didn’t help. That changed in grad school.
After several attempts at a proposal, his major advisor was losing money on red ink and advised him to figure it out. Somehow, he did.
After grad school, he and his wife and two very little children moved to the South in Charleston, South Carolina where the winters are spring and the summers are a sauna (cliche but dead on accurate). That’s when he started teaching and writing articles for trade magazines. He eventually published two textbooks on landscape design. He then transitioned to writing a column for the Post and Courier. They were all great gigs, but they weren’t fiction.
That was a few years later.
His daughter started reading before she could read, pretending she knew the words in books she propped on her lap. His son was a different story. In an attempt to change that, he began writing a story with him. They made up a character, gave him a name, and something to do. As with much of parenting, it did not go as planned. But the character got stuck in his head.
He wanted out.
A few years later, Socket Greeny was born. It was a science fiction trilogy that was gritty and thoughtful. That was 2005.
He has been practicing Zen since he was 23 years old. A daily meditator, he wants to instill something meaningful in his stories that appeals to a young adult crowd as well as adult. Think Hunger Games. He hadn’t planned to write fiction, didn’t even know if he had anymore stories in him after Socket Greeny.
(I received this box set in exchange for my honest review)
Wow, it's been a while since I've read a series that has captivated me, drew me in, and just wouldn’t let go.
For a few days I was just stuck in the world that Tony Bertausko created, remade and just kept twisting until I was left breathless.
The writing was superb, smooth and had a nice even flow. Everything was placed perfectly and at no point was I left confused or lost. The plot stayed on point, and focused for each book; in saying that each book carried over almost seamlessly. I hate it when you start the second or third book in a series and it picks up at a weird place or time. You're left scratching your head wondering if you had missed something in the last book. Not with Forverland.
Every bit of description was beautifully done. I felt like I was there, I felt all the emotions good and bad. This is a world I wanted to keep exploring, but all things must end.
I was impressed with all the characters; I don’t have a favourite, because I love them all. I believe that when you’re left speechless about the one thing you normally criticize, what else is there to say other then, it was good. I believe when something is that good, it’s best to leave out why, so others can read and find out what it was that left you so, wordless. So that is what I’m doing, you’re just going to have to read Foreverland to figure out what in the world I just said.
I highly recommend this series; it’s dark, fun, fast, and simply otherworldly; you will not be disappointed. I would like to thank Mr. Bertausko for giving me the opportunity to read this masterful piece of art.
"Foreverland": the very title conjures up VISIONS of Peter Pan-ish wonderland, of nighttime fantasies and meditation "perfect places" come to life, at no cost and no damage. Such a conception could not be further from the truth. Foreverland is hellish, nightmarish, dystopian, torturous. For the boys and girls innocently trapped there, it's an unending horror, the kind which is all the worse because of the knowledge of the impending torture. Foreverland is the brainchild, the psychotic dream factory, of a sociopath who will stop at nothing and will sacrifice everything--his family, innocents, the whole world--to manifest his Dream.
FOREVERLAND will grasp you from the very first page and draw you in. Don't expect to turn aside until it's finished. Don't expect to breathe or to feel your heartbeat: the absorption into the story is that potent.
If you are looking for a sci-fi series that tackles certain ethical issues such as alternate realities/consciousness, the forced use of humans to achieve certain goals, and rallying against the man/corporation, this is DEFINITELY the series for you.
Each book follows the struggle of someone trying to discover who they are in a world that they can't trust. Fast growing technologies have opened the door for people to abuse them, if they are willing to pay the price, and shows the fallout of those who actually do pay the price.
Paradise isn't always as fantastic, beautiful, and carefree as it may seem, and neither is Foreverland.
Fantastic, highly recommended series. Now it only we could get a worthwhile movie series.
This boxed set contains the complete Foreverland trilogy (there is a short story prequel, ‘The Seeds of Foreverland’ available separately).
The three books in this set tell the complete story of Foreverland, a virtual reality created from networked human minds instead of computers. Whilst the individual stories are linked thematically and via plot/characters, the tone of each novel is completely different.
Annihilation was my favourite, and also the most disturbing of the three. The juxtaposition of the sunny idyllic setting and purported caring rehabilitation with the hidden darkness of the Haystack torture and the selfish theft is absolutely chilling and perfectly balanced.
There is a strong theme of free will and how much choice and control we can actually have over our lives and the direction they take (which runs through the entire trilogy). In Annihilation it is the character of Reed which exposes the fallacy in the ‘free will’ argument used by the Investors, because is it really a free choice in life if your only other option is hopeless torment? Repeatedly through this series we hear Investors claiming the children ‘chose to waste’ their lives and also ‘chose’ to enter Foreverland. But we see with Reed that the choice is an illusion, and this is highlighted when we move on to Dead and see that the life Cyn ‘wasted’ originally was one of poverty, pain, rape and violence. Meanwhile the Investors who feel they deserve a second chance at theirs are making their ‘choice’ from a position of wealth, power and privilege.
The tone of Dead is somewhat bleaker than the first book. From the beginning, the reader is wrong-footed because we realise that we never really questioned what happened to the girls we glimpsed briefly in Foreverland… they were simply another incentive for the boys to take that needle, not ‘real’ characters.
Suddenly we are faced with the effects of the boys’ actions on the lives of those girls, who instead of a luxurious paradise with games rooms and beaches, live in hardship and rags in a bunkhouse in the snow, chopping wood and reheating limited tinned supplies. While the boys are bribed with a mixture of carrot and stick to make their ‘free choice’, the girls apparently only get the stick.
Still, again, the author brings these characters to life for the reader, in all their imperfections, selfishness, anger and violence, then shows us that even the darkest past can allow for different choices and the most unlikely people can make heroic sacrifices when the bonds of humanity and understanding are invoked.
Again, in addition to a chilling sci-fi scenario, there are mysteries, questions and twists throughout the plot, that keep the reader guessing to the very end.
Whilst the first two books can each be read as stand-alone stories, Ashes is dependent on the previous installments, as it forms a bridge between the boys’ and girls’ stories and brings them both together to answer the hanging questions and put a lid on the story of Foreverland, with a bow on top.
The tone of Ashes is very different: less bleak and mysterious and more dreamlike. I was reminded of both Inception and The Truman Show in the way Alessandra’s role played out. It turned out that whilst Cyn and Danny Boy were our protagonists throughout, Alessandra and Reed are our dei ex machina, or more accurately, gods IN the machine!
I enjoyed book 3, but felt that the plot was somewhat weaker and more chaotic than the first two installments, and that whilst the ending was immensely satisfying emotionally, looked at dispassionately it appears a bit too smooth and convenient to ring with truth as the previous books did. Also I wanted to see more of Zin again – he had great potential in the first book that I felt was underutilised.
Overall I absolutely loved this series and could not stop until I knew every detail of what was going on. Days after finishing and moving on to my next read, I am still coming back to these stories and pondering the questions they raised, and shivering at the (very plausible) idea of Foreverland. After all, how do we know it’s not all a dream? Did the top stop? Is that lilac I can smell?
Book 1: The Annihilation of Foreverland: The eponymous Foreverland is an alternative reality where kidnapped street kids, including Danny Boy, Reed and other boys [who have no family and will not be missed], are 'chosen' by mega-rich old Investors on an island prison, where their money gets them the chance of immortality, as the boys' 'wiped' minds leave their healthy young bodies as empty vessels for the minds of rich investors, in a dystopian, spine-chilling thriller with Matrix-like similarities. Book 2: Foreverland is Dead segues seamlessly, yet independently, on from The Annihilation of Foreverland, that began the dystopian saga, Tony Bertauski compares, contrasts and concludes the boys' story from Book 1 (up to a point) and entwines a particularly nasty character - and an 'innocent' one - into a mix of The Handmaid's Tale, Lord of the Flies, (with reversed-sex MCs), hints of The Matrix, and much more with what happens to a group of similarly brainwashed teenage girls when they wake up and are trapped in a wasteland that only one of them can leave in a limited way. Definitely not to be missed! Book 3: Ashes of Foreverland: This is the third and final book in the Foreverland series, that just cries out to be a film or tv series As the Foreverland reality created by Harold Ballard (aka The Director),begins to crumble after his death, so his evil father,Tyler Ballard uses 'Professor Xavier'-like mental powers to escape from jail and persuade investigator Alessandra Diosa to take over the role of his comatose wife Patricia, (the former focus for Foreverland's 'body-snatching' operations), swiftly moving it on to bigger and better things - and more profit! How will the story end?
With a nod to Total Recall, what is real life and what's just fantasy, becomes blurred, leaving a slightly unsatisfactory taste (of ashes!), in one's mouth. Why not get the whole set and after reading the three books by Tony Bertauski in succession, decide for yourself? It's so worth it!
Amazing author. Entraps reader into new worlds that are all too realistic.
This is third series I have read, starting with the one about a psychic moonshiner who was more real and honest than most could bear that mixed politics, social conflict and justice in an addictive blend, on to the Halfskin set, now this boxed set. Science fiction, fantasy, social commentary? All of the above and more. An exploration of internal worlds, external worlds, and human relationships using an extensive vocabulary and well written (and proofed!) prose makes for a very time consuming, but strangely welcoming, distraction from this pandemic impacted time we are in.
I'm at a loss for words here. Perhaps reading the three books of the boxed set sequentially was a bit much. At times I just wanted to finish the set and kept reading bit wasn't really into the story.
Still, I gave it 4 stars because it was a good saga! What a twisted tale. There were worlds within worlds and it was difficult trying to tell which one was the real one - which of course was the point of it all... If the reader isn't sure about the reality of each world, imagine how the characters in the story felt...
Vols 1 and 2 read quickly, however volume 3 lags. Volume 3 only picked up in the last quarter. And guess what, another 3volume series to follow. I think, I will pass. Would probably make a decent teen movie. (Faint praise indeed)
Loved everything ABOUT THIS BOOK. THE character development was pristine, the plot fascinating and the exploration of what constitutes reality intelligent thoughtful and insightful. I loved every minute.
Wow what a series. Can’t get better than this. Just kept reading until I finished and appreciated everything together. Definitely need more by this author.
Wow, I loved this series of books. I started reading it a few weeks into lockdown and just finished it tonight. I have downloaded the next series of books.
Still not sure how I feel about this series. I liked book, book 1, book 2 was ok, but then 3 was kind of complicated and very confusing. Overall, not sure I would recommend reading.
This was soo amazing that I was yelling at everyone to leave me alone to finish. From book one I was hooked!
What I loved was that it was very much like going on a journey with these characters. Each one was fleshed out and three dimensional. Each one will tug at you long after finishing. The plot of all the books grabbed me and refused to let go. I loved that this author didn't talk down to the reader and in fact left a lot of clues to discover what's going on as you're reading. So every revelation, every connection was such a joy!
I had to pause in multiple places in order to think about what I figured out and then quickly read through it to see if I was right. It was a wild and awesome roller coaster that I hate that finished. This is science fiction in its purest form and I will definitely read this over and over and over again.
I have read all of Tony Bertauskis books. His plots make you stop and think and his characters are full dimensional and real. Good scifi to me is in the realm of the possible. With ideas and concepts I have never conceived of but after reading you find totally plausible. While his ideas/worlds are beyond my imagination he can easily take me there. This series is so worth your time. I think you will end up joining the Tony Club when you are finished.
Actually the writing isn't bad, it's just not what I was expecting and the story line gets convoluted somewhat. I had to read the ending of the last book twice to understand it. Others may like this genre. I finished the trilogy out of curiosity.
Interesting concept told from varying points of view through three books. Rich people wishing for a longer life lie to themselves about their desire to help young people often living with minimum family and resources.
Made it through the first one. Not a horrible story but something was missing. Not enough drew me in to make me want to read the next two books in the series.