The Lost Thorn

by Joshua P. Aguayo, Jean Racines (Editor)

The Lost Thorn is a gripping science fiction novel that fuses cyberpunk with urban fantasy. We follow the perspective of Samantha, a chaotic, spunky yet deeply troubled protagonist who has lost everything she held dear. With nothing left but a powerful, addictive drug to numb her pain, she spirals into the depths of addiction and madness.

This is a heart-pounding adventure and psychological thriller rolled into one. The novel not only deals with mega-corporate thugs and gang politics, but also Samantha's constant inner clash with her demons. It's a grim yet engaging social critique, with Samantha's chaotic voice guiding us through her story each step of the way.

Careless and terrible with puns, Samantha is an unstable anti-hero who will leave you hanging. The Lost Thorn is a story of contrasts from beginning to end, fusing cyberpunk action with psychological drama. If you're looking for a sci-fi thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, look no further!

Genres: Fantasy

143 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 4, 2015

About the author

Joshua Aguayo was born in Quito, Ecuador. He developed a love for science fiction and fantasy stories from a young age, especially those featuring elves and space travel. This lifelong passion for speculative fiction, combined with his profession as a psychoanalyst and his Latin American artistic influences, led Aguayo to become an author of cyberpunk stories set in neon-lit, dystopian futures.

His unique blend of interests allows Aguayo to explore the human psyche and social issues through the lens of futuristic, experimental settings influenced by his Ecuadorian heritage. Whether crafting a high-tech urban landscape or delving into the motivations of his troubled characters, Aguayo's work combines his professional expertise with his love of classic sci-fi and fantasy.

Reviews

[Luana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars
This book was sent to me by the author for an honest review:

The Lost Thorn is an action-packed sci-fi/fantasy book with a unique Latin American touch. The story focuses on Samantha Thorn, daughter of a mage who is on constant surveillance by CSE, the same mega-coroporation that executed her father. The author was able to provide a very in-depth and realistic portrayal of a person on addiction and all the frustrations and emotions that ensue. Despite this grim reality, one can only sympathise with Sam after you learn the reasons why she chooses to escape reality.

Sam was my favourite character in this book, mainly because of her hilarious sarcasm, boldness and an unrelenting need to keep her loved ones safe. I also enjoyed her relationship with Kiri and how their different characters complemented each other in so many ways.

One of the things that I didn’t enjoy in this book is the lack of world building and this is the reason for my low rating. There wasn’t much information about the magic and most of the time I was very confused about what was going on. I was hoping to read more about CSE, Sam’s father and how the magic worked. This could have helped me connect with the world more I guess. All in all though this was a very enjoyable read.

[Angelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

5. THE LOST THORN, BY JOSHUA P. AGUAYO

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I REALLY enjoyed reading this book. It was fast-paced, funny, thrilling, fresh, with amazing characters and very imaginative world building. I love the amalgam of sci-fi with fantasy and I felt like it was quite well done. Some things weren’t as well explained as I might have wanted them to be, but that makes sense in the context, considering the story is told in first person from Sam’s perspective, and she doesn’t strike me as someone who would bother with this kind of detail.

Sam is such a rich and well written character. Every aspect of her personality is vividly portrayed in her behavior, from her drug addiction to her eagerness to appear tougher and more aggressive than she really is. There is some mild misogyny, but it’s also part of her characterization as a teenage girl trying desperately to appear independent and invulnerable. I did feel like her mental illness should have been better foreshadowed, though. It came as too much of a surprise in the end; there should have been some hints along the way.

The plot works, and the character’s motivations are clear and well established. I particularly loved how, as full of bluster as Sam may be most of the time, during the fights and action scenes she is actually terrified and just reacting to what happens around her. It was a very fresh take, and it makes for interesting and captivating writing. The final part, though, after she storms ClearSight, felt a little bit rushed and not as well resolved as the rest of the story. There is no explanation as to why, since they erase the memories of every mage after making experiments on them, Aly still had all of her memories. Especially since she said that they had done experiments on her.

One thing that deserves particular not is that, even though this book could be considered YA, there is NO LOVE TRIANGLE. That alone had me jumping up and down in happiness. There is some romance, but it’s definitely secondary to the story. And it’s not the childish, lazy, contrite, type of romance I’ve learned to associate with YA, it feels very mature and real. I live for genuine, non-fetishized, and non-stereotyped girl-on-girl romance.

Lastly, just because I can’t let it go: this book BADLY needed a proofreader. There were way too many typos and small grammar mistakes; I don’t feel like any of them actually take any merit away from the writing itself, but the sheer amount of them is suggestive of carelessness. It got to a point where it was disrupting the flow of the narrative, not because it didn’t have pace (it has, and to spare), but because I kept stopping and mentally correcting them. Even when someone is writing on their mother language, it’s still good practice to hire somebody to go over their finished manuscript and polish the language; that’s even more vital when it’s a foreign language, no matter how fluent you may be in it.

Up next: Empire of Bones, by Liz Williams
JL 822

[Richard Bunning · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, I wasn't happy with the flow of words because of unfamiliar use of English. I put that down to my age and culture and the fact that Aguayo is bilingual and probably leaning to a more formal Spanish than English Language schooling. There is also a steady flow of simple grammatical errors. Despite my concerns the book is very readable; I would never finish a book that wasn't. I hope this doesn't put you off reading but perhaps rather encourages Aguayo to employ additional editors.
The plot is very entertaining; with a good deal of what are to me very original ideas. The dystopian world that Aguayo creates is quite fascinating, and definitely fantastical rather than science factual. There are speculative fiction, cyberpunk, science fiction and fantasy elements in this story.
Reading a male author writing first person as a gay female drug addict is certainly unusual. My view that Aguayo was playing psychoanalyst on himself as though he was a still juvenile female, was certainly food for thought. Was I reading in too much to Sam's character, putting it closer to personal than it really is? Interesting authors are always complex people. Usually books written by men about such females break down into porno before the first chapter is completed. I warn both sides of the expectation line that the book never even comes close to anything pornographic, despite the choice of characters and some very earthy dialogue.
Some of the settings needed rather more big picture and in places even small detail description. What does Quito actually look like? Where are the colour pictures of the spells?
As a reader, I felt I was too often playing catch-up, rather than reading with a clear view. It is difficult to fully engage empathy when one's comprehension is always a few chapters behind the action. It is like trying to build the background to the person when they can only talk about their future. I guess that putting in enough connective storyline when the first person star was so rarely in a stable mind was extremely hard. However, at times the pictures needed to be a bit clearer before the reader was launched into the next phase of the story.
In this world, powered by thermal activity, where the gangs are so established that they've turned into local governments and the corporations have become so strong that they own governments, life is often brutal. Add to this, wizards with skills that Voldemort and Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books would have been proud of, and psychics, cyber robotics, advanced bionic surgery, and Mad Max type fight scenes; then one is starting to get some idea of the scope of this book. I latter read that he author makes a lot of the Latino setting, which I'm afraid went right over my head. If anywhere, apart from a few Spanish looking names, the setting could just as easily been Iceland.
Overall, this book certainly deserves five stars, especially for great insight into the psychosis of drug addiction, and the politics of marginalisation. The author certainly has a strong ability to write character, so it is a pity that his descriptive skills are less focused when it comes to building the scenery. I see this book as a first edit that needs some strong line-editing and some structural reworking. In short, a very entertaining book, that has the potential to be great.

[Sam - Spines in a Line · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from a Library Thing giveaway in exchange for an honest review. You can find more of my reviews on my blog at https://spinesinaline.wordpress.com

I thought this story was really promising but unfortunately it wasn't well executed. Beyond the grammar errors which were pretty distracting, the structure of this story was just all over the place. Near the beginning we're given a bunch of flashbacks but there's no clear separation between these and the present setting so I really didn't understand what was actually happening.

I think some of the problem with the structure was that the author was jumping a little ahead of themselves and leaving the reader behind. Not having all the information that the author has made it really difficult to understand the story. I really needed more dots to be connected to have a better idea of what was going on, especially in regards to the magic aspect of the book. This seemed to be a really big part of the book but it's barely hinted at in the beginning and we're given such brief glimpses into this, before a much later reveal, that it's really hard to follow along.

While I liked that the main character was so different and boisterous, I had some issues with how she was depicted. There were several unneeded comments about her appearance and her period that were way off-the-mark. Again, having so many main female characters was promising but the reality didn't live up to the potential.

[Roo MacLeod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam the narrator, a drug addict and seriously unreliable, rocks this story. At times I got lost but I kept reading because i fell in love with Sam. Cyber punk, Sci Fi, this story will take you way out into the left field, but somehow it brings you back. It's a good read.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam is a teenager, caught in a spiraling society and to try to deal with her feelings of dealing with this society has recently started experimenting with Obsidian, an illicit drug. There are lots of twists and turns navigating this fantastical environment. Overall, I was never able to get into the story. The beginning is rather slow and I had difficulty following the plot for the majority of the book. In a science fictional novel, I expect there to be terminology and things outside of the norm, but to make it believable and easy for the reader to follow there has to be some type of explanation, but I didn’t feel that there was one for much of the story. There were some very well written, descriptive scenes, especially concerning magic that make up for some of the stories complications. Additionally, the book could benefit from some editing. I give this story 3 stars.
***Reviewer for Romance Authors that Rock. I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quick novel that could be read in one sitting during a nice weekend. There is always action around the corner whether it be Sam dealing with her addiction to a drug called Obsidian, her trying to win over her best friend’s heart, or her trying her hardest to save her last family member.

[Hologram Dystopia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read more at Fragments-of-a-hologram-dystopia.tumblr.com

Vote: 7,5
Notes: the book was sent to me by the author for reviewing purposes, but it will not influence my opinion.
We are in Quito, capital city of Equador. The story is a first person narration in the mind of Samantha, a young girl who is controlled by the authorities after her father’s executions years ago. Every movement and action is monitored by a guardian. When in school, she is assigned a second guardian, Kiriana, a schoolgirl of a completely different social status, rich and destined to work in the city’s main megacorporation, Clearsight. They are very different, and yet Sam and Kiri become friends. Actually, Sam has a crush on Kiri… Cut to a few years later, and things haven’t changed much: despite Kiri’s disapproval Sam is still doing Obsidian, a powerful drug that makes her forget periods of time and has a devastating effect on her body. And Kiri is aware she will have to work for ClearSight soon, thus ceasing to be Sam’s guardian. After having used Obsidian Sam finds a new note in her PDA which she can’t understand, and the two girls find out someone hacked her PDA. As they go into the Bowels - the city’s most dangerous and miserable part, situated inside a volcano’s hollow - to find out who and why did it, the action unfolds.

Sam’s mind is a veritable rollercoaster, she is insane, and yet she is a believable character, tremendously human. The insights we have on her mind are not cringe-worthy, rather, she is a girl who makes shitty jokes, is scared of many things, has many problems, a crush on her best friend and poor eating and living habits. She makes bad decisions and tries to do her best, while still being an addict. The descriptions we have of Obsidian and the effect it has on Sam are very vivid and realistic, and even if she has a reason for doing it, we still want her to stop, to feel better. It’s impossible to dislike Sam.

The use of magic - we learn, in fact, what happened to mages and magic in a cyberpunk world - was surprisingly well handled. Magic is hard to write, because it makes anything possible, so limits need to be set. And here, they are in fact set in a simple yet perfectly working manner. I also appreciated a lot that the story is not set in your average USA or Japan, the main countries for cyberpunk. I loved getting glimpses of a city (and a country) in which I have never been, the volcano and the city centre felt very real.

Of course, it is not a perfect book. The first turning point, the one i told you about (arguably, there could be a second one, even more important) is not as relevant as it should be, the story could probably work without it too, which is a pity. Other elements have been dealth with better, and I liked the ending, but there are a few things that could use a better spotlight, like the containment suit/casket episode. I remember reading Sam’s distress and having a hard time understanding it. Even if we take into account the non-typical setting, it’s also not a super original story or setting. It fits well into the classic cyberpunk themes (megacorporations, drugs, cyberware, miserable people..) with no groundbreaking innovations.

Overall I have been pleasantly surprised by this book. The structure of the story works, it would need a few tweaks here and there to become stronger but it works, and I suspect a good degree of preplanning behind the scenes, which I always appreciate. I definitely think you should give this book a chance, it’s also short (about 127 pages).


Read more at Fragments-of-a-hologram-dystopia.tumblr.com

[Bookmuseuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lost Thorn is a sci-fi tale seeped in cyberpunk strangeness delivering a fast-moving shockingly tense narrative that grips to to the very last page.

The author gives the reader a fabulously realistic and horrifically descriptive portrait of an addict hooked on the toxic drug Obsidian Dust; a poison she needs to ‘stay alive’, escape reality and be taken to another place. Despite knowing the consequences: the after burn agony, the holes drilled into her memory, and the bleeding and disorientation that follows a dust-blitz, she submits willingly to the burn. She has no choice, as the reader will discover.

Sam – Samantha Merling Thorn de la Rosa – orphaned by the mega corporation ClearSightEnterprises and shadowed by a corporation watchdog, is daughter to a mage, murdered because of his amazing talent. After his death she allies herself to the criminal drug producers, enemies of CSE. The story-thread, the hows and whys of what Sam is and what she does, winds through a rich and exciting narrative like a poisonous scary-coloured serpent, leading readers through secret upon secret until they arrive at the dramatic and complex conclusion of this terrific and so very satisfying futuristic novel.

The strong, even compulsive storyline easily overcomes the occasional translation glitch. Three quarter way through with the tension ratcheting tighter and tighter, I found my heartbeat racing as I devoured Aguayo’s words like a starving raptor its prey.

A terrific read. Highly recommended.

[Olivia (Stories For Coffee) · Rating 3 out of 5]

ACTUAL RATING: 3.5 STARS

I enjoyed this quick novel that could be read in one sitting during a nice weekend. It’s written at a pace that isn’t slow moving at all. There is always action around the corner whether it be Sam dealing with her addiction to a drug called Obsidian, her trying to win over her best friend’s heart, or her trying her hardest to save her last family member. There hardly is a dull moment to be found in this book. One thing that really hooked me was the setting, which is something that hardly ever affects my judgement of a book. But I have never read a book set in South America, so getting to read about a Latina girl in a cyberpunk society was one of the coolest things ever.

Sam was spunky, hilarious, sarcastic, and brave throughout the entire novel. She learns a lot from her best friend who was the complete opposite which really helped show how they worked together in situations and how they clashed as well. This story is full of unexpected twists and turns, especially once the magic element is introduced later in the novel. The only thing I wished was touched upon more was the magic and how it worked in the society. I personally felt as though it could have been fleshed out more and could have helped grip readers more into the story, but overall, this was a good read.

[WTEK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book as part of the Goodreads group Apocalypse Whenever's monthly giveaway program.

Aside from some spelling and grammar mistakes, this ended up being a fun read. It was refreshing to have the narrator be such a broken person. A punk-ass, dysfunctional, drug addict doesn't sound like someone you want to root for, but I liked her POV. The matter of fact way she talked about being involved in the gang, the descriptions of her afterwards of the drug episodes, the constant need for another hit of Obsidian, these felt real, not forced.

Mixing magic in with the cyberpunk style of this book was also an interesting choice. I wasn't particularly fond of the way the reveal happened at the end, but not so much that it ruined my enjoyment of the story. Definitely a fun read that just needed a little bit more editing, but worth it for the different world view and magic system.

[Gabriel Haiden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrative voice is certainly this book´s strong suit. It was refreshing and compelling (the Latin American touch really vibrates through the pages, something extremely rare in the genre). Regarding the content, it would be fair to say that I really enjoy when authors manage to offer a good iteration sci-fi/fantasy embroiled together, and while this book does that, the way the magical affairs were handled was not entirely to my liking. I´ll stay away from spoilers, but let's say I usually enjoy more robust and complex magical systems.

Still, this book is definitely worth a read.

4/5, recommended.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was given to me by the author for an honest review.

This book tries to be a lot of things, including sci fi, steampunk, and anime. There was just so much going on, and I could never get a sense of the world it was in. I just couldn't get into it because of the unrelatable characters, contrived humor, and distracting grammatical errors. There were some good ideas.. it just seemed more like a rough draft than a final product.

[Henrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a professional reviewer, but for whoever is looking for a new cyberpunk writer and/or wants something different from all cyberpunk book lists out there, this is a really good option. I really enjoyed to read it and I'm looking forward to know what's going to happen next with Sam and Kiri.

[Jenny_acc · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although it looked interesting in the beginning, i was very disappointed. All the main characters are unlikeable, the tech stuff didn't make much sense,they were not well explained and i just couldn't imagine this world at all.The whole thing felt very rushed as well.

[Teresa]

* e-Arc provided by author via Librarything *