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AWAKENING
173 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 24, 2026
About the author
Tony Sunderland
11 books61 followersTony Sunderland is an award winning Author and educational researcher who is acknowledged as an innovator in the writing and presentation of nationally accredited courses ranging from social science to the history of learning . He is particularly interested in the practice and history of what has become known as the ‘Western way of life’.
He believes that there are many alternative explanations of how ‘things came to be’ in the Western world and that these have either been ignored or suppressed by dominant and overpowering narratives of what can be termed as consensus history. His latest book ,'The Obelisk and the Cross' attempts to blend the orthodox view of Western history with alternative interpretations and propositions of historical events.
Tony has visited many of the main archaeological sites in Egypt, Israel, Jordon, Italy, Turkey and Greece. His current research interests centre on the investigation and understanding of ancient cultures that existed in the vicinity of the greater Mediterranean region. Tony has been married for 26 years and has two children.
He believes that there are many alternative explanations of how ‘things came to be’ in the Western world and that these have either been ignored or suppressed by dominant and overpowering narratives of what can be termed as consensus history. His latest book ,'The Obelisk and the Cross' attempts to blend the orthodox view of Western history with alternative interpretations and propositions of historical events.
Tony has visited many of the main archaeological sites in Egypt, Israel, Jordon, Italy, Turkey and Greece. His current research interests centre on the investigation and understanding of ancient cultures that existed in the vicinity of the greater Mediterranean region. Tony has been married for 26 years and has two children.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 27, 2026
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers’ Favorite
Tony Sunderland’s Awakening is set in 2097, where the Old City survives on rationed life while the New City sells escape through technology, medicated faith, and the Permanent Virtual. Paul Valentine is a Senior Guardian paid to collect bodies after Virtual crashes, but the death of a young man on his patrol route begins to break the routine he has accepted. At home, Paul’s dying father is being courted by a Facility salesman promising a digital afterlife, while his sister Maggie has moved into dangerous company inside the Faithful. When wealthy Permanent Virtuals are murdered inside supposedly secure dormitories, Paul’s investigation leads from Zealot suspects to New World’s hidden systems. As each answer points back to the city’s machinery of surrender, Paul has to decide whether duty still means obedience.
Tony Sunderland’s Awakening is brilliantly written dystopian science fiction, and makes a broken future feel frighteningly plausible through everyday obedience. The world-building is completely fleshed out. The Cathedral of the Faithful is a fantastic example, since its white communion pills turn religious hunger into chemical management. Sophia, the woman who leads Gnosis beyond New World’s reach, is great because Sunderland uses her to show rebellion as daily life before it becomes a battle. Mason, Paul’s Guardian superior, is the best of the best in character arcs when the New World official controlling orders offers him New City comfort, yet all Mason can think about is a boy searching through the rubbish outside Headquarters. Stark and memorable, readers who enjoy dystopian science fiction about engineered submission will adore this book.
Tony Sunderland’s Awakening is set in 2097, where the Old City survives on rationed life while the New City sells escape through technology, medicated faith, and the Permanent Virtual. Paul Valentine is a Senior Guardian paid to collect bodies after Virtual crashes, but the death of a young man on his patrol route begins to break the routine he has accepted. At home, Paul’s dying father is being courted by a Facility salesman promising a digital afterlife, while his sister Maggie has moved into dangerous company inside the Faithful. When wealthy Permanent Virtuals are murdered inside supposedly secure dormitories, Paul’s investigation leads from Zealot suspects to New World’s hidden systems. As each answer points back to the city’s machinery of surrender, Paul has to decide whether duty still means obedience.
Tony Sunderland’s Awakening is brilliantly written dystopian science fiction, and makes a broken future feel frighteningly plausible through everyday obedience. The world-building is completely fleshed out. The Cathedral of the Faithful is a fantastic example, since its white communion pills turn religious hunger into chemical management. Sophia, the woman who leads Gnosis beyond New World’s reach, is great because Sunderland uses her to show rebellion as daily life before it becomes a battle. Mason, Paul’s Guardian superior, is the best of the best in character arcs when the New World official controlling orders offers him New City comfort, yet all Mason can think about is a boy searching through the rubbish outside Headquarters. Stark and memorable, readers who enjoy dystopian science fiction about engineered submission will adore this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review