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The Starving Years
Librarian's note: This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B007H0KETI
Imagine a world without hunger. In 1960, a superfood was invented that made starvation a thing of the past. Manna, the cheaply manufactured staple food, is now as ubiquitous as salt in the world’s cupboards, pantries and larders.
Nelson Oliver knows plenty about manna. He’s a food scientist—according to his diploma, that is. Lately, he’s been running the register at the local video rental dive to scrape together the cash for his exorbitantly priced migraine medication.
In a job fair gone bad, Nelson hooks up with copywriter Javier and his computer-geek pal Tim, who whisks them away from the worst of the fiasco in his repurposed moving truck. At least, Nelson thinks those two are acquainted, but they’re acting so evasive about it, he’s not sure how they know each other, exactly. Javier is impervious to Nelson’s flirting, and Tim’s name could appear in the dictionary under the entry for “awkward.” And with a riot raging through Manhattan and yet another headache coming on, it doesn’t seem like Nelson will get an answer anytime soon. One thing’s for sure, the tension between the three of them is thick enough to cut with a knife...even one of those dull plastic dealies that come in the package with Mannariffic EZ-Mealz.
Imagine a world without hunger. In 1960, a superfood was invented that made starvation a thing of the past. Manna, the cheaply manufactured staple food, is now as ubiquitous as salt in the world’s cupboards, pantries and larders.
Nelson Oliver knows plenty about manna. He’s a food scientist—according to his diploma, that is. Lately, he’s been running the register at the local video rental dive to scrape together the cash for his exorbitantly priced migraine medication.
In a job fair gone bad, Nelson hooks up with copywriter Javier and his computer-geek pal Tim, who whisks them away from the worst of the fiasco in his repurposed moving truck. At least, Nelson thinks those two are acquainted, but they’re acting so evasive about it, he’s not sure how they know each other, exactly. Javier is impervious to Nelson’s flirting, and Tim’s name could appear in the dictionary under the entry for “awkward.” And with a riot raging through Manhattan and yet another headache coming on, it doesn’t seem like Nelson will get an answer anytime soon. One thing’s for sure, the tension between the three of them is thick enough to cut with a knife...even one of those dull plastic dealies that come in the package with Mannariffic EZ-Mealz.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 3, 2012
38 people are currently reading
931 people want to read
About the author
Jordan Castillo Price
138 books2,133 followersAuthor and artist Jordan Castillo Price writes paranormal sci-fi thrillers colored by her time in the Midwest, from inner city Chicago, to various cities across southern Wisconsin. She’s settled in a 1910 Cape Cod near Lake Michigan with tons of character and a plethora of bizarre spiders. Any disembodied noises, she’s decided, will be blamed on the ice maker.
Jordan is best known as the author of the PsyCop series, an unfolding tale of paranormal mystery and suspense starring Victor Bayne, a gay medium who's plagued by ghostly visitations.
Jordan is best known as the author of the PsyCop series, an unfolding tale of paranormal mystery and suspense starring Victor Bayne, a gay medium who's plagued by ghostly visitations.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
October 29, 2014
Okay... I realize I am starting to look like a rabid fanboy, but I really really loved this book. It's this... semi-dystopic alternate reality with dark comedic moments, suspense, and hits up themes from activism, corporate control, social justice warriors, and conspiracy theories, to navigating the dynamics of a threeway relationship that does not take front and center over an extremely engaging plot.
Not to mention characters who play off each other with the comedic timing, nuances, and culture clash of, like, a pretty gay Breakfast Club. Or something. That is possibly the worst comparison ever made, but I can't figure out a better way to explain how nice it was to see a group of characters who click so well and make sense and feel real and developed instead of just being props and foils for the main pairing. Or throupl..ing.
Seriously. But it's good. I'm not just fanboying. I'm not. The creativity in this book is pretty top notch and the fact that it was written serial-style with fans voting on the direction of the plot on a chapter-by-chapter basis is just so damn cool. The skill and flexibility needed for that blows my mind, and I'm kind of sad I didn't read it back then. It's like choose your own adventure but with a grown up book.
Not to mention characters who play off each other with the comedic timing, nuances, and culture clash of, like, a pretty gay Breakfast Club. Or something. That is possibly the worst comparison ever made, but I can't figure out a better way to explain how nice it was to see a group of characters who click so well and make sense and feel real and developed instead of just being props and foils for the main pairing. Or throupl..ing.
Seriously. But it's good. I'm not just fanboying. I'm not. The creativity in this book is pretty top notch and the fact that it was written serial-style with fans voting on the direction of the plot on a chapter-by-chapter basis is just so damn cool. The skill and flexibility needed for that blows my mind, and I'm kind of sad I didn't read it back then. It's like choose your own adventure but with a grown up book.
January 7, 2025
It's a dystopian story set in NYC where Latino accents are super sexy, all Asians look the same, and third-world smells are a thing.
And an eye patch. The eye patch practically stole the show.
I love that Santino Hassel's review is the top review for this book, it's a good match.
So, I'm not going to review the main storyline, there are 191 reviews that already do that, and I read through every single one looking for just one solitary mention of the egregious and offensive content in this book.
Guess what? Not a single mention.
And before anyone replies with oh, that didn't age well or it was written in 2012 excuse, sorry, I am not having it. This book was published in 2012 and is set in a fictional dystopian New York City. This book was read and reviewed mainly in 2012, 2016, with some reviews from 2018-2024. When is the cutoff then for offensive material? The othering and white western gaze in this is so OTT, I cannot believe that anyone could miss dozens of examples.
One of the easiest ways to understand how fucking offensive something is, is to switch the group of people out, so just imagine if English-speaking people are described by their inability to say certain letters or sounds in another language. Insert 'Americans wailing while running from the World Trade Center' as a normalized description for Americans in distress. Sounds offensive, right? I would never use a tragedy that a group of people endured as descriptive flair. Revolting.
In the book there is a Latino MC with an eye patch. This is not disability rep. Also no mention of the hyperfixation on his eye patch in a single review.
For reference, it's 1960 in the book, but clearly an anachronistic 1960 (computers, phones, wifi, etc), the Vietnam War was from 1954-1975, yes, this is relevant.
Excerpts:
The rest of his face— if you could even see beyond the patch— was graceful and beautifully proportioned, in a swarthy, exotic, Latin way.
“I don’t think that’s cilantro,” Javier said. He even made the word cilantro sound sexy.
“They say mint and lamb went well together— but, hey. They still eat termites in Ghana, so what do ‘they’ know?” Nelson held up his half of verde. “I’ve never really been much for mint.”
...while Nelson pondered what he would ever do if he accidentally told Javier to “keep an eye” on anything. The potential for awkwardness just kept building.
“Which one?” demanded the driver. “The, ah… Hispanic—”
“The guy with the eye patch,” Marianne shrieked. At least, Nelson thought, he hadn’t been the one to say it.
Tim did lock gazes with Javier, then. It was disconcerting with the eye patch— how was it that in the week they’d been chatting online, Javier had never thought to mention the eye patch?
Or maybe, despite the eye patch, he couldn’t get past the last few lines Javier had typed in chat, less than a week before....
“Maybe there’s a dentist around here. They’d probably be some creepy- assed Soviet- trained Ukrainian dentist with a cash- only operation, but they’d be able to do something to keep my tooth in by the time I could get to my regular guy. Right?”
“Is it all retro in South America,” Randy asked from under the veg- o- mix, “with cows and chickens roaming around and coconuts falling from the trees?”
“But it’s the rise of leisure time,” Randy said sarcastically. “The biggest thing since the Industrial Revolution. Aren’t all the natives dancing around and being all cultural and stuff because they’re not stuck scratching out a living from the land?”
Tim wanted to be annoyed with Javier, but kept forgetting because he was so damn interesting—and really, wasn’t that what had first drawn Tim to him to begin with? If only he’d mentioned the thing about his eye….
Obviously, Javier hadn’t gotten a very good look at Nelson. Though he wasn’t sure seeing him with two eyes would have made any difference.
Although Javier was looking directly at the two- year- old, he had a hard time making sense of the next thing he saw… and he suspected seeing it with two eyes wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference.
Despite the fact that the immigrants here lived in apartment buildings rather than corrugated metal lean- tos, the third- world smell wasn’t that different from the shantytowns of Caracas. Piss and garbage. Smoke. Fish. The fish bodies rolled in on trucks filled with ice in the wee hours of the morning, where they were traded in the back rooms of the jewelry exchanges and the bail bonds shops.
The smell of Asian cooking was strong. A glance into the adjacent kitchen revealed it was just as cluttered with items as the rest of the apartment, baskets of fresh produce, strange, foreign- looking pots and pans, a steamer, a huge ladle. (Commentary while being inside a Vietnamese-American apartment.)
If Pham Thi Mai had been an American woman— or, heck, even a white woman of almost any nationality— Nelson would have hugged her, or at least patted her on the arm. But bà ngoai didn’t do displays of affection. Even arm- pats.
One of the parting comments Tim’s ex had made was that maybe the whole “gay thing” wasn’t worth it. Maybe he wanted to settle down and have a family, before all the women who hadn’t had their tubes snipped were taken.
He could listen to his own name all day in that Latin- flavored accent.
None of them mentioned how gross it was to be drinking from something that, for all they knew, a vagrant could have urinated in.
His features were exotic: striking and dark.
“Alejandro wouldn’t be caught dead with a box of Nicaraguans.” Tim wished he had the guts to ask him to repeat himself. The way he said “Nicaraguans” was sexy, too.
Maybe because he was Cuban. A rich Cuban. If such a thing even existed. Nelson tended to learn his politics as he needed them, and he’d never kept company with a Cuban before, so he only knew the generalities: Bay of Pigs, dictatorship, boat people, embargo. That sort of thing. (Uh... seriously? Who were the first people to flee Cuba? SMH.)
Javier’s uncovered eye narrowed. Probably the one behind the eye patch, too.
Even with just the one eye, Javier gave Nelson a look that told him they weren’t.
Javier looked at him, hard. Nelson felt like he was being X- rayed. Maybe losing sight in one eye was like losing one of the full senses. It sharpened whatever remained to a preternatural point.
If he’d finished college in four years. If they even started at eighteen in Costa Rica, like they did in the States. If the degree itself wasn’t bogus.
A third-world staple and a tightwad’s delight.
Javier claimed that saying those three little words in a time of emergency “didn’t count,” in that sexy accent of his….
Javier stared at Nelson. His uncovered eye was narrowed. Probably, his covered eye was too.
The holding cell was crowded. Rioters? Looters? Probably plenty of those. The majority of the two dozen men inside were black and Hispanic, no big surprise.
The scene in front of Nelson’s building was like something out of an old war movie— a movie where a bunch of wailing Vietnamese villagers armed with garden tools had been fired upon by tanks and machine guns.
“Hey,” he said to an Asian man who refused to make eye contact.
“Then let’s get over there and look. Because I can’t think of a politically correct way to say it— but I don’t think I can pick Nelson’s kid out of a bunch of other Chinese.”
“Vietnamese,” Tim said, though the word was lost among the car alarms and the wailing and the sounds of rushing water. Although maybe that was for the best, because their neighbors were probably Chinese, so maybe Randy was actually sort of right.
Tim was looking for dark hair and almond-shaped eyes. He was looking for an Asian kid—but since so many of them had been rounded up in Chinatown, about half the children were Asian.
And while Tim had always prided himself on his civil activism and his political correctness, he realized with growing dismay that (to him, at least) all the screaming, crying Asian kids looked more or less…alike.
“I know you’re half- blind, but even so, do I seriously look like I give two shits about money?”
It was hopeless. Tim would dredge up the memory of exactly what Bao looked like in his mind’s eye— he’d fix on some detail, the length of his hair, the way his T- shirt hung from bony shoulders, the panic on his face while Nelson called the morgue— but when Tim actually searched for him, the only thing he saw was a bunch of Asian kids.
But he wasn’t entirely Asian. He was half-Caucasian. And that would differentiate him.
The door shut, then locked. The Asian woman tossed her hair, and said distinctly, though the L sounded a bit like an R, “Asshole.”
The Asian lady shook her head. “My son’s father is here. On TV. They no listen.” And while Tim hated to think that all Asians looked the same to him, he was particularly struck by the way her annoyed pout looked a hell of a lot like Bobby’s.
The woman’s face lit up at the sound of Nelson’s name. “Yes— Nelson.” That L sounded a bit like an R, too. “He here. On TV.”
The cop took an inordinate amount of time squinting at the address, until Nelson said, “They’re all with me,” and indicated Tuyet and Bao along with Tim and Javier. Including a couple of Asian faces in the group seemed to do the trick.
The crowd around the wreaths thinned as some of the mourners let their family members escort them off to the side, to weep. Most of the immigrants in the building had seen enough tragedy in their lives that they were able to avoid big public displays of grief.
Tuyet and Bobby joined Nelson by the streetlight where he stood between Tim and Javier. They found a spot beside Tim, even though that meant walking around Nelson to avoid falling in beside Javier. The eye patch freaked them out…
And an eye patch. The eye patch practically stole the show.
I love that Santino Hassel's review is the top review for this book, it's a good match.
So, I'm not going to review the main storyline, there are 191 reviews that already do that, and I read through every single one looking for just one solitary mention of the egregious and offensive content in this book.
Guess what? Not a single mention.
And before anyone replies with oh, that didn't age well or it was written in 2012 excuse, sorry, I am not having it. This book was published in 2012 and is set in a fictional dystopian New York City. This book was read and reviewed mainly in 2012, 2016, with some reviews from 2018-2024. When is the cutoff then for offensive material? The othering and white western gaze in this is so OTT, I cannot believe that anyone could miss dozens of examples.
One of the easiest ways to understand how fucking offensive something is, is to switch the group of people out, so just imagine if English-speaking people are described by their inability to say certain letters or sounds in another language. Insert 'Americans wailing while running from the World Trade Center' as a normalized description for Americans in distress. Sounds offensive, right? I would never use a tragedy that a group of people endured as descriptive flair. Revolting.
In the book there is a Latino MC with an eye patch. This is not disability rep. Also no mention of the hyperfixation on his eye patch in a single review.
For reference, it's 1960 in the book, but clearly an anachronistic 1960 (computers, phones, wifi, etc), the Vietnam War was from 1954-1975, yes, this is relevant.
Excerpts:
The rest of his face— if you could even see beyond the patch— was graceful and beautifully proportioned, in a swarthy, exotic, Latin way.
“I don’t think that’s cilantro,” Javier said. He even made the word cilantro sound sexy.
“They say mint and lamb went well together— but, hey. They still eat termites in Ghana, so what do ‘they’ know?” Nelson held up his half of verde. “I’ve never really been much for mint.”
...while Nelson pondered what he would ever do if he accidentally told Javier to “keep an eye” on anything. The potential for awkwardness just kept building.
“Which one?” demanded the driver. “The, ah… Hispanic—”
“The guy with the eye patch,” Marianne shrieked. At least, Nelson thought, he hadn’t been the one to say it.
Tim did lock gazes with Javier, then. It was disconcerting with the eye patch— how was it that in the week they’d been chatting online, Javier had never thought to mention the eye patch?
Or maybe, despite the eye patch, he couldn’t get past the last few lines Javier had typed in chat, less than a week before....
“Maybe there’s a dentist around here. They’d probably be some creepy- assed Soviet- trained Ukrainian dentist with a cash- only operation, but they’d be able to do something to keep my tooth in by the time I could get to my regular guy. Right?”
“Is it all retro in South America,” Randy asked from under the veg- o- mix, “with cows and chickens roaming around and coconuts falling from the trees?”
“But it’s the rise of leisure time,” Randy said sarcastically. “The biggest thing since the Industrial Revolution. Aren’t all the natives dancing around and being all cultural and stuff because they’re not stuck scratching out a living from the land?”
Tim wanted to be annoyed with Javier, but kept forgetting because he was so damn interesting—and really, wasn’t that what had first drawn Tim to him to begin with? If only he’d mentioned the thing about his eye….
Obviously, Javier hadn’t gotten a very good look at Nelson. Though he wasn’t sure seeing him with two eyes would have made any difference.
Although Javier was looking directly at the two- year- old, he had a hard time making sense of the next thing he saw… and he suspected seeing it with two eyes wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference.
Despite the fact that the immigrants here lived in apartment buildings rather than corrugated metal lean- tos, the third- world smell wasn’t that different from the shantytowns of Caracas. Piss and garbage. Smoke. Fish. The fish bodies rolled in on trucks filled with ice in the wee hours of the morning, where they were traded in the back rooms of the jewelry exchanges and the bail bonds shops.
The smell of Asian cooking was strong. A glance into the adjacent kitchen revealed it was just as cluttered with items as the rest of the apartment, baskets of fresh produce, strange, foreign- looking pots and pans, a steamer, a huge ladle. (Commentary while being inside a Vietnamese-American apartment.)
If Pham Thi Mai had been an American woman— or, heck, even a white woman of almost any nationality— Nelson would have hugged her, or at least patted her on the arm. But bà ngoai didn’t do displays of affection. Even arm- pats.
One of the parting comments Tim’s ex had made was that maybe the whole “gay thing” wasn’t worth it. Maybe he wanted to settle down and have a family, before all the women who hadn’t had their tubes snipped were taken.
He could listen to his own name all day in that Latin- flavored accent.
None of them mentioned how gross it was to be drinking from something that, for all they knew, a vagrant could have urinated in.
His features were exotic: striking and dark.
“Alejandro wouldn’t be caught dead with a box of Nicaraguans.” Tim wished he had the guts to ask him to repeat himself. The way he said “Nicaraguans” was sexy, too.
Maybe because he was Cuban. A rich Cuban. If such a thing even existed. Nelson tended to learn his politics as he needed them, and he’d never kept company with a Cuban before, so he only knew the generalities: Bay of Pigs, dictatorship, boat people, embargo. That sort of thing. (Uh... seriously? Who were the first people to flee Cuba? SMH.)
Javier’s uncovered eye narrowed. Probably the one behind the eye patch, too.
Even with just the one eye, Javier gave Nelson a look that told him they weren’t.
Javier looked at him, hard. Nelson felt like he was being X- rayed. Maybe losing sight in one eye was like losing one of the full senses. It sharpened whatever remained to a preternatural point.
If he’d finished college in four years. If they even started at eighteen in Costa Rica, like they did in the States. If the degree itself wasn’t bogus.
A third-world staple and a tightwad’s delight.
Javier claimed that saying those three little words in a time of emergency “didn’t count,” in that sexy accent of his….
Javier stared at Nelson. His uncovered eye was narrowed. Probably, his covered eye was too.
The holding cell was crowded. Rioters? Looters? Probably plenty of those. The majority of the two dozen men inside were black and Hispanic, no big surprise.
The scene in front of Nelson’s building was like something out of an old war movie— a movie where a bunch of wailing Vietnamese villagers armed with garden tools had been fired upon by tanks and machine guns.
“Hey,” he said to an Asian man who refused to make eye contact.
“Then let’s get over there and look. Because I can’t think of a politically correct way to say it— but I don’t think I can pick Nelson’s kid out of a bunch of other Chinese.”
“Vietnamese,” Tim said, though the word was lost among the car alarms and the wailing and the sounds of rushing water. Although maybe that was for the best, because their neighbors were probably Chinese, so maybe Randy was actually sort of right.
Tim was looking for dark hair and almond-shaped eyes. He was looking for an Asian kid—but since so many of them had been rounded up in Chinatown, about half the children were Asian.
And while Tim had always prided himself on his civil activism and his political correctness, he realized with growing dismay that (to him, at least) all the screaming, crying Asian kids looked more or less…alike.
“I know you’re half- blind, but even so, do I seriously look like I give two shits about money?”
It was hopeless. Tim would dredge up the memory of exactly what Bao looked like in his mind’s eye— he’d fix on some detail, the length of his hair, the way his T- shirt hung from bony shoulders, the panic on his face while Nelson called the morgue— but when Tim actually searched for him, the only thing he saw was a bunch of Asian kids.
But he wasn’t entirely Asian. He was half-Caucasian. And that would differentiate him.
The door shut, then locked. The Asian woman tossed her hair, and said distinctly, though the L sounded a bit like an R, “Asshole.”
The Asian lady shook her head. “My son’s father is here. On TV. They no listen.” And while Tim hated to think that all Asians looked the same to him, he was particularly struck by the way her annoyed pout looked a hell of a lot like Bobby’s.
The woman’s face lit up at the sound of Nelson’s name. “Yes— Nelson.” That L sounded a bit like an R, too. “He here. On TV.”
The cop took an inordinate amount of time squinting at the address, until Nelson said, “They’re all with me,” and indicated Tuyet and Bao along with Tim and Javier. Including a couple of Asian faces in the group seemed to do the trick.
The crowd around the wreaths thinned as some of the mourners let their family members escort them off to the side, to weep. Most of the immigrants in the building had seen enough tragedy in their lives that they were able to avoid big public displays of grief.
Tuyet and Bobby joined Nelson by the streetlight where he stood between Tim and Javier. They found a spot beside Tim, even though that meant walking around Nelson to avoid falling in beside Javier. The eye patch freaked them out…
Want to read
April 5, 2016Woah, FREE at Amazon US today! 4/5/16!
August 25, 2016
Another day, another opportunity to get that coveted job.
Nelson's half-heartedly attending a potential interviewees' spiel for Canaan, playing the reindeer games, and not giving too many f#@ks when suddenly, things head south fast. In the scramble to escape the conference room he's teamed up with others. There's the chick (Marianne), the sleazy sales guy (Randy), and the present object of Nelson's infatuation, Javier. In the dash to safety, they pool resources and end up with Tim, the likable if awkward getaway driver. An isolated incident turns into a citywide disaster zone as they travel across NYC.
There's cover ups and exposés:
And some old fashion use of unstructured time without distractions, except maybe the ones they make for themselves, a smoking hot menage with a sprinkle of kink. But sharing bodies doesn't mean sharing everything else. Tim, Javier, and Nelson are pushed closer while being put through the taffy pull.
Entertaining, and the sex was scorching hot. The rest of it was a bit of a swirl and the whole mark issue wasn't explained completely, but if you're looking for a fast-paced read with some intrigue, sex, and a touch of gore then this might just suit. 3.5 stars.
Overall, conspiracist suspense.
Nelson's half-heartedly attending a potential interviewees' spiel for Canaan, playing the reindeer games, and not giving too many f#@ks when suddenly, things head south fast. In the scramble to escape the conference room he's teamed up with others. There's the chick (Marianne), the sleazy sales guy (Randy), and the present object of Nelson's infatuation, Javier. In the dash to safety, they pool resources and end up with Tim, the likable if awkward getaway driver. An isolated incident turns into a citywide disaster zone as they travel across NYC.
There's cover ups and exposés:
And some old fashion use of unstructured time without distractions, except maybe the ones they make for themselves, a smoking hot menage with a sprinkle of kink. But sharing bodies doesn't mean sharing everything else. Tim, Javier, and Nelson are pushed closer while being put through the taffy pull.
Entertaining, and the sex was scorching hot. The rest of it was a bit of a swirl and the whole mark issue wasn't explained completely, but if you're looking for a fast-paced read with some intrigue, sex, and a touch of gore then this might just suit. 3.5 stars.
Overall, conspiracist suspense.
August 27, 2016
Imagine a world where global starvation is an issue of the past.
Scientists found a way to create a nourishing substance called 'Manna' from alfalfa. This superfood is produced at incredibly low costs, making it possible to feed third world countries with the substance. As a downside of this allegedly perfect deal, Manna increases the prices of normal food, making them a luxury that most people aren't willing to spend money for - since Manna is sold in all kinds of flavors anyway. Most children have never seen real rice, only rice flavored Manna.
(Sorry Tofu for using your photo here, LOL. I love ya!)
The multinational company Canaan Products is the main producer and vendor of Manna (readers with some religious background might cringe at the use of some names here, LOL) and is one of the most important players, controlling the media and the governments alike.
Nelson Oliver is a food scientist who is hoping to get a job at Canaan so he can finally leave his ridiculous waiter job behind and do what he spent years studying for. Being a participant at a Canaan job fair doesn't prove to be too exciting for him, though. Boring corporate identity stuff gets mixed together with laughable team working games, but at least he runs into a very handsome Latin-American guy wearing an eye patch doing one of these games. Nelson isn't shy about flirting with guys he likes, but Javier isn't really interested.
Things take a wild turn when a riot breaks loose at the job fair and Nelson hooks up with Javier in a completely different way: Running for their lives together, while all hell breaks loose in Manhattan.
Javier steers Nelson and two other colleagues from the job fair to a moving van in a side street: Tim was waiting there for Javier, ready to pick the guy up from exactly that spot.
Nelson is wondering: Who is Tim, the computer geek who knows more about Canaan Products than even Nelson?
Who is Javier, the disfigured hot guy with the eye patch who seems to know Tim and yet didn't know what he looks like?
And most importantly: Why is there a riot in New York City with no internet, no cell phone service and literally no news coverage, except for a mysterious leftist blog called 'The Voice of Reason'?
And in between all the action and dystopian adventure, when some sexual tension arises between the three guys, Nelson keeps surprising everyone by using his flirting skills on not just one but two guys ;-)
This story was totally out of this world. Literally. Well, that's a good thing for a dystopian romance, I guess. But please let's not dwell on 'romance' too much, because there hardly was any. Not that the guys didn't want it, but there was literally no time and opportunity. The story started out with a mass panick and lead us to cannibalistic children, which tells you everything you need to know.
It *is* a MMM dystopian romance, just don't expect lots of group cuddling or logistically challenging threesome sex, LOL.
The plot totally freaked me out and made me think twice about all the highly processed food we consume every day. And it shows us the dark sides of globalization and the powers of multinational companies.
5 stars to an awesome dystopian story.
3 stars to a rushed romance and characters who I might have liked to see together in a less threatening environment.
(LOL)
4 stars for an exciting novel!
Thanks to Philip for recommending it to me ;-)
Scientists found a way to create a nourishing substance called 'Manna' from alfalfa. This superfood is produced at incredibly low costs, making it possible to feed third world countries with the substance. As a downside of this allegedly perfect deal, Manna increases the prices of normal food, making them a luxury that most people aren't willing to spend money for - since Manna is sold in all kinds of flavors anyway. Most children have never seen real rice, only rice flavored Manna.
(Sorry Tofu for using your photo here, LOL. I love ya!)
The multinational company Canaan Products is the main producer and vendor of Manna (readers with some religious background might cringe at the use of some names here, LOL) and is one of the most important players, controlling the media and the governments alike.
Nelson Oliver is a food scientist who is hoping to get a job at Canaan so he can finally leave his ridiculous waiter job behind and do what he spent years studying for. Being a participant at a Canaan job fair doesn't prove to be too exciting for him, though. Boring corporate identity stuff gets mixed together with laughable team working games, but at least he runs into a very handsome Latin-American guy wearing an eye patch doing one of these games. Nelson isn't shy about flirting with guys he likes, but Javier isn't really interested.
Things take a wild turn when a riot breaks loose at the job fair and Nelson hooks up with Javier in a completely different way: Running for their lives together, while all hell breaks loose in Manhattan.
Javier steers Nelson and two other colleagues from the job fair to a moving van in a side street: Tim was waiting there for Javier, ready to pick the guy up from exactly that spot.
Nelson is wondering: Who is Tim, the computer geek who knows more about Canaan Products than even Nelson?
Who is Javier, the disfigured hot guy with the eye patch who seems to know Tim and yet didn't know what he looks like?
And most importantly: Why is there a riot in New York City with no internet, no cell phone service and literally no news coverage, except for a mysterious leftist blog called 'The Voice of Reason'?
And in between all the action and dystopian adventure, when some sexual tension arises between the three guys, Nelson keeps surprising everyone by using his flirting skills on not just one but two guys ;-)
This story was totally out of this world. Literally. Well, that's a good thing for a dystopian romance, I guess. But please let's not dwell on 'romance' too much, because there hardly was any. Not that the guys didn't want it, but there was literally no time and opportunity. The story started out with a mass panick and lead us to cannibalistic children, which tells you everything you need to know.
It *is* a MMM dystopian romance, just don't expect lots of group cuddling or logistically challenging threesome sex, LOL.
The plot totally freaked me out and made me think twice about all the highly processed food we consume every day. And it shows us the dark sides of globalization and the powers of multinational companies.
5 stars to an awesome dystopian story.
3 stars to a rushed romance and characters who I might have liked to see together in a less threatening environment.
(LOL)
4 stars for an exciting novel!
Thanks to Philip for recommending it to me ;-)
March 7, 2012
This is so amazing!
Manna is the cheapest food available, it is manufactured by big companies, which engineer its taste. And effects. Everybody wants to work for them and its during a recruiting event that Nelson, a food engineer with a gazillion of degrees working as a video rental employee, meets Javier, Marianne and Randy. During the event, a riot force them to band together to escape the ordeal and once they are on the street they are picked up by Tim, who had arranged this meeting with the mysterious Javier. Tim is a computer geek and the secret blogger for The Voice of Reason, a site which denounces the shady affairs of manna manufacturers. The riot and the roadblocks make impossible for these people to go back to their homes, Nelson is fighting one of his migraines, so they go to Tim's place to wait for the situation to clear and Nelson to recover. In the mean time Tim and Javier try to follow their original plan to infiltrate Canaan Food's database, to uncover what's happening with batches of manna which are being hastily recalled.
The plot has many twists and turns and even when the protagonists are stuck into a confined space, there's still a lot happening. Their trips to the outside are timed perfectly to give a breathing space, but in my opinion it's when the protagonists are crammed in small confines that the book reaches the peak of intensity. The three point of views also help to see the story from many different angles and the different personalities contributes to different kinds of tension, worry, humor, desire, longing.
The characters are wonderful. Each one of them has a trait that stands out, but they also have much in common, because even if Javier has trust issues, Tim is insecure, Nelson seems to be unable to focus, they find in their collaboration a common ground, which stems from sexual attraction and turns to admiration and then friendship and then more. At the beginning each one of them is more attracted to the guy who is pining for someone else, but slowly it's as if the other guy creeps under their skins, until they become a single entity. Tim explains at a certain point that even if Javier and Nelson are two persons, in his brain they sort of coalesce into one. At the end of the book, if you try to think of them by couples, you realize that they'll always miss something without the third. The menage becomes not only believable, but the only way their relationships can work.
I must admit I am partial to Nelson. He seems to breeze through life and he has this easy attitude that makes people come together (even in that sense, ha ha!). He's incredibly sensual, he is shameless, but with a touch of innocence. He insinuates between Tim and Javier, touching them both, taking possession of their bodies, giving up his own. He's a sexual magnet, but he's also a good, generous man, even with his trust.
I also liked Tim, his sense of justice, but also his insecurity. It's as if he wants to belong somewhere and he wants to be liked and appreciated, but he is at the same time self-conscious and he wears his heart on his sleeve, and it takes Javier's bossy attitude and Nelson's seduction to make him open and blossom.
Javier was fascinating, but he was also the one with the most impervious personality. At the end what he learn about him are snippets of his previous life, partial and cloudy as his impaired vision, we see a man that wears his intimate hurt also on the outside.
The secondary characters, Randy and Marianne, were both funny and helped in bringing the story forward and providing humor and solutions.
I adore this author, I love her vision, her imperfect and layered characters, the subtle humor she weaves into the story, making her characters vivid without being caricatures of themselves. I know that when I'm reading one of her stories, I will always be engrossed and surprised, and I'll want more.
Manna is the cheapest food available, it is manufactured by big companies, which engineer its taste. And effects. Everybody wants to work for them and its during a recruiting event that Nelson, a food engineer with a gazillion of degrees working as a video rental employee, meets Javier, Marianne and Randy. During the event, a riot force them to band together to escape the ordeal and once they are on the street they are picked up by Tim, who had arranged this meeting with the mysterious Javier. Tim is a computer geek and the secret blogger for The Voice of Reason, a site which denounces the shady affairs of manna manufacturers. The riot and the roadblocks make impossible for these people to go back to their homes, Nelson is fighting one of his migraines, so they go to Tim's place to wait for the situation to clear and Nelson to recover. In the mean time Tim and Javier try to follow their original plan to infiltrate Canaan Food's database, to uncover what's happening with batches of manna which are being hastily recalled.
The plot has many twists and turns and even when the protagonists are stuck into a confined space, there's still a lot happening. Their trips to the outside are timed perfectly to give a breathing space, but in my opinion it's when the protagonists are crammed in small confines that the book reaches the peak of intensity. The three point of views also help to see the story from many different angles and the different personalities contributes to different kinds of tension, worry, humor, desire, longing.
The characters are wonderful. Each one of them has a trait that stands out, but they also have much in common, because even if Javier has trust issues, Tim is insecure, Nelson seems to be unable to focus, they find in their collaboration a common ground, which stems from sexual attraction and turns to admiration and then friendship and then more. At the beginning each one of them is more attracted to the guy who is pining for someone else, but slowly it's as if the other guy creeps under their skins, until they become a single entity. Tim explains at a certain point that even if Javier and Nelson are two persons, in his brain they sort of coalesce into one. At the end of the book, if you try to think of them by couples, you realize that they'll always miss something without the third. The menage becomes not only believable, but the only way their relationships can work.
I must admit I am partial to Nelson. He seems to breeze through life and he has this easy attitude that makes people come together (even in that sense, ha ha!). He's incredibly sensual, he is shameless, but with a touch of innocence. He insinuates between Tim and Javier, touching them both, taking possession of their bodies, giving up his own. He's a sexual magnet, but he's also a good, generous man, even with his trust.
I also liked Tim, his sense of justice, but also his insecurity. It's as if he wants to belong somewhere and he wants to be liked and appreciated, but he is at the same time self-conscious and he wears his heart on his sleeve, and it takes Javier's bossy attitude and Nelson's seduction to make him open and blossom.
Javier was fascinating, but he was also the one with the most impervious personality. At the end what he learn about him are snippets of his previous life, partial and cloudy as his impaired vision, we see a man that wears his intimate hurt also on the outside.
The secondary characters, Randy and Marianne, were both funny and helped in bringing the story forward and providing humor and solutions.
I adore this author, I love her vision, her imperfect and layered characters, the subtle humor she weaves into the story, making her characters vivid without being caricatures of themselves. I know that when I'm reading one of her stories, I will always be engrossed and surprised, and I'll want more.
May 24, 2016
I do love a book that shows an author understands science. The near-future scenario, the hidden disaster, the bioscience, all make sense. (The hacker guy is a little fumbling, but he's stunned by, not one, but two hot guys coming into his isolated life, so one can forgive that.) This mildly dystopian (but HFN) plot is so plausible that it completely rings true.
These are not my favorite MCs of Jordan Castillo Price's. Perhaps because there are three of them, and a lot of plot for the story length, I didn't feel that I really knew them as well as I'd like. Javier in particular remains a bit of an enigma, in both his thoughts and his emotions. But there is promise of a workable three-way relationship, amid the engrossing plot. There were good secondary characters, and some twists I didn't see coming. A fast, enjoyable read if near-future speculation is your thing.
These are not my favorite MCs of Jordan Castillo Price's. Perhaps because there are three of them, and a lot of plot for the story length, I didn't feel that I really knew them as well as I'd like. Javier in particular remains a bit of an enigma, in both his thoughts and his emotions. But there is promise of a workable three-way relationship, amid the engrossing plot. There were good secondary characters, and some twists I didn't see coming. A fast, enjoyable read if near-future speculation is your thing.
December 27, 2014
Do y'all want to hear how much I love JCP again? For real?
Okay, I'll skip the fangirl evangelism and tell you why this book is another example of how brilliant JCP is. Oops, fangirling again.
For one, it was serialized, and, much like Magic Mansion, it was serialized with plot points chosen by the readers in multiple choice format, with an opportunity to leave additional feedback.
Okay, as a writer, let me just say that is hard as fuck to pull off, and not only does she manage it with goddamn fucking aplomb--but it doesn't read like a serial. That thing, with serials, when you put them all together and the pacing doesn't quite seem to work anymore? Yeah, that doesn't happen here. Not at all. The pacing is fucking perfect. I had no idea until I turned the final page that it began life as a serial. And then I lost my fucking mind over it when I found out.
And now I'm cussing with glee again. BecauseJCP this book brings out my gleeful pottymouth.
For another, it's a riveting, brilliant, perfectly executed dystopian thriller--and if it were anyone other than JCP, the words "dystopian thriller" would probably be enough to turn me right off, but since it's JCP, I ate it up like candy.
Recommended.
Okay, I'll skip the fangirl evangelism and tell you why this book is another example of how brilliant JCP is. Oops, fangirling again.
For one, it was serialized, and, much like Magic Mansion, it was serialized with plot points chosen by the readers in multiple choice format, with an opportunity to leave additional feedback.
Okay, as a writer, let me just say that is hard as fuck to pull off, and not only does she manage it with goddamn fucking aplomb--but it doesn't read like a serial. That thing, with serials, when you put them all together and the pacing doesn't quite seem to work anymore? Yeah, that doesn't happen here. Not at all. The pacing is fucking perfect. I had no idea until I turned the final page that it began life as a serial. And then I lost my fucking mind over it when I found out.
And now I'm cussing with glee again. Because
For another, it's a riveting, brilliant, perfectly executed dystopian thriller--and if it were anyone other than JCP, the words "dystopian thriller" would probably be enough to turn me right off, but since it's JCP, I ate it up like candy.
Recommended.
March 21, 2015
But the sex is 6/5 stars. Shiiiiiiiiiiiit.
#BestReviewEver
#BestReviewEver
November 2, 2023
A really good found family dystopian story
March 14, 2017
In terms of plausibility/probability, this is frigging horrifyingly believable.
For the first little bit, I wasn't sure what the point was supposed to be but by the time everything comes out, I was just gobsmacked. The plot and the way everything is revealed is rather brilliant.
This is the least sex *though very hot* that I've ever read in a book with a ménage for the MCs but it absolutely would have killed the story's credibility if there had been more, given what was happening. Pretty amazing stuff here. My first book by this author, and I'm thoroughly impressed.
I have to give a shout out to the reader, Gomez Pugh. He did an outstanding job with his performance and his gorgeous voice, loved it!
For the first little bit, I wasn't sure what the point was supposed to be but by the time everything comes out, I was just gobsmacked. The plot and the way everything is revealed is rather brilliant.
This is the least sex *though very hot* that I've ever read in a book with a ménage for the MCs but it absolutely would have killed the story's credibility if there had been more, given what was happening. Pretty amazing stuff here. My first book by this author, and I'm thoroughly impressed.
I have to give a shout out to the reader, Gomez Pugh. He did an outstanding job with his performance and his gorgeous voice, loved it!
July 19, 2015
Brilliant, fast - paced and thrilling. This is an excellent story with an imaginative build up. The different characters each have their own back story and lives which coalesce into an amazing finale.
Somehow the author takes an ordinary day at a recruitment fair and turns it into a thrilling mystery. At the centre is a race by a group of strangers to uncover a corporate conspiracy in a weirdly dystopian but familiar world.
The story has a familiar and ordinary build up but as the pace develops the readers gets to see that all is not what it seems and in this world the food source has become some processed meal replacement known as Manna. But what happens when the producers of Manna take their corporate greed too far and who are the ordinary people caught up in uncovering the conspiracy?
This was great. A really good story, unique, with a frisson of darkness but with discovery, love and lightheartedness at the centre. Fantastic characters, all very different who find themselves thrown together to support one another and reveal the conspiracy. I would definitely like to read this again. Perhaps as an audiobook.
Somehow the author takes an ordinary day at a recruitment fair and turns it into a thrilling mystery. At the centre is a race by a group of strangers to uncover a corporate conspiracy in a weirdly dystopian but familiar world.
The story has a familiar and ordinary build up but as the pace develops the readers gets to see that all is not what it seems and in this world the food source has become some processed meal replacement known as Manna. But what happens when the producers of Manna take their corporate greed too far and who are the ordinary people caught up in uncovering the conspiracy?
This was great. A really good story, unique, with a frisson of darkness but with discovery, love and lightheartedness at the centre. Fantastic characters, all very different who find themselves thrown together to support one another and reveal the conspiracy. I would definitely like to read this again. Perhaps as an audiobook.
October 5, 2017
Really great! Loved the premise and Price executed it flawlessly (of course). The characters worked so well together and I'm glad it ended like it did.
Gomez Pugh's narration was perfect.
Gomez Pugh's narration was perfect.
December 3, 2014
This was a surprisingly good read. I don't mean I'm surprised JC Pric wrote another great m/m romance. It's a great book even outside the m/m genre. I loved the topic - the horrible corporations producing food that is cheap and presumably accessible but is I loved the very realistic view on the media as pawns of the rich and powerful.
I loved the unusual take on the romance (yes, there were three guys here). There wasn't too much of it but the relationships between the characters were very convincing and engaging.
As usual, the world building and the characters were amazingly real and likable.
Highly recommended. Actual rating: 4.5 stars but I'm rounding up.
I loved the unusual take on the romance (yes, there were three guys here). There wasn't too much of it but the relationships between the characters were very convincing and engaging.
As usual, the world building and the characters were amazingly real and likable.
Highly recommended. Actual rating: 4.5 stars but I'm rounding up.
July 21, 2013
3.5 Stars. For The Blog Of Sid Love.
New York City in the not too distant future is a pit of disparity. A dark and dangerous city suffering from unemployment, stringent population control extortionately priced medication and overpriced food. Society is suffocating under the control of corporations like Canaan products; manufacturers of the world’s new food, Manna. Manna is an alfalfa based tofu type food, flavoured and fucked with in laboratories to manipulate cravings, metabolisms and hormones. These corporations have monopolised industry, finance, government and the general population for years. Screwing everyone sideways and glossing it over with their boundless ‘generosities.’
When a riot fuelled by yet another knock on effect of corporate monopolisation turns to anarchy in the streets, a rag tag group of five escapes the madness together. Unwittingly (for some) they set out to discover the root of the latest incitement and stumble across the means to finally expose ‘the soulless corporate fucks’.
Tim and Javier had a plan to meet (for more than just the cause) until Javier arrives at the rendezvous point with three strangers in tow. Nelson, interloper number one, is a cool confident wise guy who latched onto Javier with lusty intent the moment he saw him. Interlopers two and three are Randy and Marianne: Randy likes to play devil’s advocate and Marianne, she brings a kindly and welcome feminine perspective.
Nelson’s a sexy tattooed bad boy, and Tim is the sweet, shy and bumbling guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. Tim is instantly infatuated with Nelson but Nelson’s too focussed on laying his hands on Javier to notice; and Javier … he fancies Tim (a lot) but can’t say no to Nelson either. So we have a trio of lust between The Good (Tim) The Bad (Nelson) and The Ugly (Javier … No, that’s not fair. Javier is the sexiest of all with his piratical eye patch) I just liked the reference.
Jordan Castillo Price excels at world building and characterisation (fact), and The Starving Years is no exception. There is no push and pull with her characters, and I love that. She gets on with it and needs no apologies or analysis for her characters motivations. JCP makes any situation real enough for me not to have to suspend my belief.
She effortlessly pulls you into this world of stale, ionized air and keeps you fully focussed on the here and now, to the point of echoing the claustrophobic emotions of the desperate and unwashed. It’s a fast pace to have to keep, but the gruesome horror scenes inject enough adrenaline to keep you going. JCP is a genius when it comes to describing the tech and biological stuff. I haven’t a clue if it’s all true or not, but hell! The lady can tell it like it is, and that’s good enough for me.
This is a long book (well, it felt long) but somehow it’s not long enough. I don’t mean that from a greedy reader perspective; I mean that it feels … inconclusive, unresolved, and unexplained, whatever you want to call it. The end came too soon and was wrapped up with scruffy brown paper. JCP has created such an in depth intriguing world but fails to clear up too many important questions to satisfy my curiosity. Maybe I missed it? Perhaps it was a case of - finish painting your own picture because I drew the dots and did most of it already? I don’t know …
You know what I do know? I know that I like the subliminal messages I find in these pages and her dystopian world always provide some food for thought - pun totally intended (I’ll add a pound to the bad pun jar okay). I know that this author is exceptionally gifted and if you decide not to read this one because you don’t fancy a little bit of ménage, please try her PsyCop series or Zero Hour, but whatever you do, don’t overlook this author … you’ll only kick yourself later.
New York City in the not too distant future is a pit of disparity. A dark and dangerous city suffering from unemployment, stringent population control extortionately priced medication and overpriced food. Society is suffocating under the control of corporations like Canaan products; manufacturers of the world’s new food, Manna. Manna is an alfalfa based tofu type food, flavoured and fucked with in laboratories to manipulate cravings, metabolisms and hormones. These corporations have monopolised industry, finance, government and the general population for years. Screwing everyone sideways and glossing it over with their boundless ‘generosities.’
When a riot fuelled by yet another knock on effect of corporate monopolisation turns to anarchy in the streets, a rag tag group of five escapes the madness together. Unwittingly (for some) they set out to discover the root of the latest incitement and stumble across the means to finally expose ‘the soulless corporate fucks’.
Tim and Javier had a plan to meet (for more than just the cause) until Javier arrives at the rendezvous point with three strangers in tow. Nelson, interloper number one, is a cool confident wise guy who latched onto Javier with lusty intent the moment he saw him. Interlopers two and three are Randy and Marianne: Randy likes to play devil’s advocate and Marianne, she brings a kindly and welcome feminine perspective.
Nelson’s a sexy tattooed bad boy, and Tim is the sweet, shy and bumbling guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. Tim is instantly infatuated with Nelson but Nelson’s too focussed on laying his hands on Javier to notice; and Javier … he fancies Tim (a lot) but can’t say no to Nelson either. So we have a trio of lust between The Good (Tim) The Bad (Nelson) and The Ugly (Javier … No, that’s not fair. Javier is the sexiest of all with his piratical eye patch) I just liked the reference.
Jordan Castillo Price excels at world building and characterisation (fact), and The Starving Years is no exception. There is no push and pull with her characters, and I love that. She gets on with it and needs no apologies or analysis for her characters motivations. JCP makes any situation real enough for me not to have to suspend my belief.
She effortlessly pulls you into this world of stale, ionized air and keeps you fully focussed on the here and now, to the point of echoing the claustrophobic emotions of the desperate and unwashed. It’s a fast pace to have to keep, but the gruesome horror scenes inject enough adrenaline to keep you going. JCP is a genius when it comes to describing the tech and biological stuff. I haven’t a clue if it’s all true or not, but hell! The lady can tell it like it is, and that’s good enough for me.
This is a long book (well, it felt long) but somehow it’s not long enough. I don’t mean that from a greedy reader perspective; I mean that it feels … inconclusive, unresolved, and unexplained, whatever you want to call it. The end came too soon and was wrapped up with scruffy brown paper. JCP has created such an in depth intriguing world but fails to clear up too many important questions to satisfy my curiosity. Maybe I missed it? Perhaps it was a case of - finish painting your own picture because I drew the dots and did most of it already? I don’t know …
You know what I do know? I know that I like the subliminal messages I find in these pages and her dystopian world always provide some food for thought - pun totally intended (I’ll add a pound to the bad pun jar okay). I know that this author is exceptionally gifted and if you decide not to read this one because you don’t fancy a little bit of ménage, please try her PsyCop series or Zero Hour, but whatever you do, don’t overlook this author … you’ll only kick yourself later.
April 16, 2012
The Starving Years is an enthralling sci-fi story, one that is very hard to put down once you get into the thick of things.
Set in an AU New York City, TSY's setting is very similar to today, but with some specific changes. For one, the creation of "manna," a food supplement has basically eliminated starvation, and manna is everywhere, and seems to be a big staple for most people. (Think Soylent Green, but it's made from alfalfa, not people.)
Starting at a job fair for one of the more prolific manna makers, and then shifting to a sudden riot outside, the reader follows TSY's core group of five characters as they stumble along together, first searching for safety from a violent environment and then searching for answers when cell phones stop working and the news reports nothing of the madness they just witnessed. (A confusing and scary outcome that seems unfortunately believable after the chaos of events like 9/11 or that huge summertime power-outage that hit NYC years ago.)
One of the keys to TSY's characters, including the core three POVs of Nelson (lusty and forward, totally up for using a riot as a chance to hold your hand), Javier (eye-patched, tight-lipped and contained), and Tim (awkward and shy), is that no one is what they initially seem, and as you progress through the story, layer upon layer of character motivation and understanding, emerge, and you quickly sink in with their thoughts, feelings, and fears.
It's that evolution that adds a lot of tension and depth to the story. As the reader, you're finding things out as they pop up, often at the same time as the characters do. There's a "real time" sense to the story (like a white-knuckled episode of 24.)
TSY also reminded me of films like Dawn of the Dead or 28 Days Later—it doesn't have a zombie angle like those do, but there's a similar anxious, survivalist feeling that something bigger is happening, at the edges, not yet explained, but you see the effects of that Something early on, and more and more fearful breadcrumbs are dropped along the way as the characters try to figure out what's going on.
There is a menage or m/m/m angle in the story that I was a little wary about, not having read m/m/m before, but JCP is a great writer who excels at creating characters that you care about, and I had faith that it would be an interesting and satisfying reading experience, so dived in anyway.
And it's actually kind of amazing to read through the book, and see how growingly connected the characters become, even beyond the core three. Part of it is the response to stressful and scary situations—wouldn't you hope that your instinct would be to not let go of that person's hand amongst the mob? That suddenly your survival might weigh entirely on that stranger not letting go of you? You feel that intensity along with the characters, and it's neat to see how they evolve and respond to each other in those hours and days after the job fair.
And that was probably the most surprising thing of all--how when you started the book at the job fair and watched as characters half-heartedly participated in terrible team building exercises, you might not think that you would grow to so viscerally care about what they wanted, or who they loved, or who they wanted to protect, but by the last page, that's exactly what I felt.
Another interesting feature is that this novel originated as serial, and readers were allowed to vote for some of the plot progression. This is a method that could easily backfire, but the author shaped an engaging story that always made sense while at the same time was surprising and often moving in unsuspecting directions. At the end of the book, there are some neat notes about the voting and what users asked for.
So, if you're up for a well-written modern-day sci-fi survivalist mystery saga, with some romance included, this may hit all your buttons and more. It's a challenging read, but not because it's hard to read. It's just something you don't see every day. Different in a good way. Recommended.
Set in an AU New York City, TSY's setting is very similar to today, but with some specific changes. For one, the creation of "manna," a food supplement has basically eliminated starvation, and manna is everywhere, and seems to be a big staple for most people. (Think Soylent Green, but it's made from alfalfa, not people.)
Starting at a job fair for one of the more prolific manna makers, and then shifting to a sudden riot outside, the reader follows TSY's core group of five characters as they stumble along together, first searching for safety from a violent environment and then searching for answers when cell phones stop working and the news reports nothing of the madness they just witnessed. (A confusing and scary outcome that seems unfortunately believable after the chaos of events like 9/11 or that huge summertime power-outage that hit NYC years ago.)
One of the keys to TSY's characters, including the core three POVs of Nelson (lusty and forward, totally up for using a riot as a chance to hold your hand), Javier (eye-patched, tight-lipped and contained), and Tim (awkward and shy), is that no one is what they initially seem, and as you progress through the story, layer upon layer of character motivation and understanding, emerge, and you quickly sink in with their thoughts, feelings, and fears.
It's that evolution that adds a lot of tension and depth to the story. As the reader, you're finding things out as they pop up, often at the same time as the characters do. There's a "real time" sense to the story (like a white-knuckled episode of 24.)
TSY also reminded me of films like Dawn of the Dead or 28 Days Later—it doesn't have a zombie angle like those do, but there's a similar anxious, survivalist feeling that something bigger is happening, at the edges, not yet explained, but you see the effects of that Something early on, and more and more fearful breadcrumbs are dropped along the way as the characters try to figure out what's going on.
There is a menage or m/m/m angle in the story that I was a little wary about, not having read m/m/m before, but JCP is a great writer who excels at creating characters that you care about, and I had faith that it would be an interesting and satisfying reading experience, so dived in anyway.
And it's actually kind of amazing to read through the book, and see how growingly connected the characters become, even beyond the core three. Part of it is the response to stressful and scary situations—wouldn't you hope that your instinct would be to not let go of that person's hand amongst the mob? That suddenly your survival might weigh entirely on that stranger not letting go of you? You feel that intensity along with the characters, and it's neat to see how they evolve and respond to each other in those hours and days after the job fair.
And that was probably the most surprising thing of all--how when you started the book at the job fair and watched as characters half-heartedly participated in terrible team building exercises, you might not think that you would grow to so viscerally care about what they wanted, or who they loved, or who they wanted to protect, but by the last page, that's exactly what I felt.
Another interesting feature is that this novel originated as serial, and readers were allowed to vote for some of the plot progression. This is a method that could easily backfire, but the author shaped an engaging story that always made sense while at the same time was surprising and often moving in unsuspecting directions. At the end of the book, there are some neat notes about the voting and what users asked for.
So, if you're up for a well-written modern-day sci-fi survivalist mystery saga, with some romance included, this may hit all your buttons and more. It's a challenging read, but not because it's hard to read. It's just something you don't see every day. Different in a good way. Recommended.
September 26, 2016
2016-Third times the charm! I knew I was missing something the first two times I read this book. So this time, I tried it on Audible. Much better, so much better. I was able to follow the story in this form and I could enjoy the pacing. I could now appreciate Jordan Castillo Price's strong, entertaining writing style . I still disliked every time Maryanne opened her mouth. But overall listening to this book was a huge success.
October 18, 2014 - This rarely happens to me, I've read the same book twice. The first time I read
The Starving Years I was ill, highly medicated and it didn't totally jibe with
me at the time. I assumed it was the drugs. I really like The PsyCop series and loved HEMOVORE but alas I didn't like the Starving Years. That kind of bums me out because I really wanted to like it. I think for me the problem for me is it read like a well done action, politically intriguing, medical/ corporate the terrorism story and I wanted more of a love story. I mean, I guess, I like great plot wrapped around a good love story. Don't get me wrong, this is a really well-done, fast-paced, enjoyable story just not what I wanted to read. It could be translated into a film and do extremely well. Jordan Castillo Price
is a very talented writer. She can create that 'Twilight Zone' quality thrill feeling in her stories. That's a real gift, lots of writers try it and fall flat. This just wasn't what I wanted. I really found each one of the characters interesting in their own right. I just did not want to read this story. On second thought, on audio - books on tape, this would really rock.
October 18, 2014 - This rarely happens to me, I've read the same book twice. The first time I read
The Starving Years I was ill, highly medicated and it didn't totally jibe with
me at the time. I assumed it was the drugs. I really like The PsyCop series and loved HEMOVORE but alas I didn't like the Starving Years. That kind of bums me out because I really wanted to like it. I think for me the problem for me is it read like a well done action, politically intriguing, medical/ corporate the terrorism story and I wanted more of a love story. I mean, I guess, I like great plot wrapped around a good love story. Don't get me wrong, this is a really well-done, fast-paced, enjoyable story just not what I wanted to read. It could be translated into a film and do extremely well. Jordan Castillo Price
is a very talented writer. She can create that 'Twilight Zone' quality thrill feeling in her stories. That's a real gift, lots of writers try it and fall flat. This just wasn't what I wanted. I really found each one of the characters interesting in their own right. I just did not want to read this story. On second thought, on audio - books on tape, this would really rock.
August 2, 2012
Other reviewers have given pretty good summaries of the main plot points, and more or less voiced my opinions on the story, probably much better than I could.
Still, I have to say, this lady is incredibly talented. The story was originally serialized, and based on reader survey answers, to make it interactive. Not only did she write a gripping, realistic, fascinating dystopian world, grabbing the reader by the neck with horror and hope in equal measures, she did it from reader prompts. She wrote unique characters, and developed them individually and together with original interactions, including the romantic relationship(s) and the plot itself, all from reader feedback. It takes a special kind of genius to do that, I think. And the thing is, every book of hers I've read has the same characteristics. She's an auto-buy for me, regardless of price.
If you haven't tried her work yet, may I recommend the "Psycops" series? I guarantee you'll fall in love with Victor within the first 3 chapters of book 1, Among the Living. Jordan Castillo Price does not know how to write anything but a WINNER. Highly recommended!
Still, I have to say, this lady is incredibly talented. The story was originally serialized, and based on reader survey answers, to make it interactive. Not only did she write a gripping, realistic, fascinating dystopian world, grabbing the reader by the neck with horror and hope in equal measures, she did it from reader prompts. She wrote unique characters, and developed them individually and together with original interactions, including the romantic relationship(s) and the plot itself, all from reader feedback. It takes a special kind of genius to do that, I think. And the thing is, every book of hers I've read has the same characteristics. She's an auto-buy for me, regardless of price.
If you haven't tried her work yet, may I recommend the "Psycops" series? I guarantee you'll fall in love with Victor within the first 3 chapters of book 1, Among the Living. Jordan Castillo Price does not know how to write anything but a WINNER. Highly recommended!
October 6, 2015
I have a major issue with this book. Now that I've read it, I can't find anything else to read. It was just so good that it needs a few days of digesting before I occupy my mind with other characters. Not that I could ever forget these characters. And the plot and twists? Loved them. I never saw anything coming.
This is my third JCP book, and I'm officially a fan after this one. And when I saw how it was written, explained in the very back? Wow! It blew my mind. I don't often re-read M/M(/M) books, because I have so many unread on my Kindle, but I will read this one again. I have to. It was so well written. JCP is in a class of her own.
This is my third JCP book, and I'm officially a fan after this one. And when I saw how it was written, explained in the very back? Wow! It blew my mind. I don't often re-read M/M(/M) books, because I have so many unread on my Kindle, but I will read this one again. I have to. It was so well written. JCP is in a class of her own.
October 29, 2012
You just expect more from some authors. You know they won't regurgitate formulaic crap. Chances are pretty good they'll have at least one new original concept in their book that's important and thought provoking. And they'll keep you riveted to the page in wonder and horror.
JCP never disappoints. Another fantastic book. Amazing world building (!!!), excellent writing, fascinating characters, horrifying plot. A recommended read.
JCP never disappoints. Another fantastic book. Amazing world building (!!!), excellent writing, fascinating characters, horrifying plot. A recommended read.
November 11, 2012
Well written and unique, but the character development I wanted never happened. This is heavy on plot and light on romance, which is fine--I don't need hearts and flowers. But for a story about three men forming an alliance and finding out they're all attracted to each other, just a little more time spent on their relationship would have made a huge difference.
March 31, 2016
★★★☆☆½ ~ 3.5 Stars
For a menage story, there was a remarkable lack of sex. But maybe that's best, since we are in riot mode and showers aren't all that easy to come by.
Good suspenseful story about future food going bad; I didn't really feel the love in the triad.
Still like Wild Bill the best.
For a menage story, there was a remarkable lack of sex. But maybe that's best, since we are in riot mode and showers aren't all that easy to come by.
Good suspenseful story about future food going bad; I didn't really feel the love in the triad.
Still like Wild Bill the best.
March 8, 2012
I wasn't there when this book was written and published little by little in Jordan Castillo Price's monthly newsletter. Shame on me, because I didn't get to influence by voting how the story developed. But in a way it really is a relief to read the whole story at once and not to be tortured by reading it one month at a time. I've never been very good with TV series either - I rather watch the whole season afterwards from DVD. Anyway, this book would make a wonderful action movie! Only some of the action in the movie would be extremely hot and it would involve three stunning guys...
The story starts in a delicious way by Nelson attending a horrific seminar with absolutely frustrating team building exercises. Haven't we all attended one of those awful events sometime? And haven't we counted the long, agonizing seconds until we managed to make our escape? I love the way Jordan Castillo Price creates situations with such a strong emotional charge - whether the feeling in question is boredom, excitement, panic... anything, really! So, we start the journey with Nelson stuck in the stagnant atmosphere of the Canaan Products job fair, but soon enough we are dragged through all these drastic situations hand in hand with Nelson and his buddies. I was really impressed how the tension was building throughout the story very thriller-like. The plot kept me on my toes (oops, gotta put an euro in my cliché jar) all the way. :)
I was charmed by Nelson's easy going, uninhibited, childlike personality from the first pages of the book. And I'm also charmed by Jordan Castillo Price's skill to gently reveal aspects about her characters as the story proceeds. This book has fantastic characters with flaws and strength and development. Their interactions with each other are varied and complicated, but very satisfying for a reader to monitor. It all begins with Nelson being attracted to Javier, Javier fancying Tim and Tim falling for Nelson. And as the author so nicely puts it: "Three was a much more complicated combination than Tim would have imagined. It wasn't a hundred and fifty precent of two. It was like magic. Times three."
The book has very beautiful moments when each of the guys are described through their actions and through each other's eyes: The way Javier with his damaged eye often sees the situations more clearly than others and the way independent Nelson is forced to rely on other people. I enjoyed hugely following Tim's train of though, when the time stops for him almost every time while he is hypnotized by Nelson's presence. I also thought that the chapter with Nelson's incoherent medicine affected dream was brilliant. And let's not forget about the electricity and mind blowing sex between these three guys.
In a way all the characters (including the great secondary characters Randy and Marianne) learn a lot about themselves during their journey. And in the end it all comes down to this: These three guys simply belong together, because together they bring out the best in each other (cliché jar, again?). And they become something else altogether - it's chemistry, right? A new molecule, maybe? A beautiful one, too. With three lovely atoms.
Thank you for this intriguing story, JCP! You made me laugh and took my breath away and made my toes curl. And hey, I would love to read more about Nelson, Tim and Javier in the future!
The story starts in a delicious way by Nelson attending a horrific seminar with absolutely frustrating team building exercises. Haven't we all attended one of those awful events sometime? And haven't we counted the long, agonizing seconds until we managed to make our escape? I love the way Jordan Castillo Price creates situations with such a strong emotional charge - whether the feeling in question is boredom, excitement, panic... anything, really! So, we start the journey with Nelson stuck in the stagnant atmosphere of the Canaan Products job fair, but soon enough we are dragged through all these drastic situations hand in hand with Nelson and his buddies. I was really impressed how the tension was building throughout the story very thriller-like. The plot kept me on my toes (oops, gotta put an euro in my cliché jar) all the way. :)
I was charmed by Nelson's easy going, uninhibited, childlike personality from the first pages of the book. And I'm also charmed by Jordan Castillo Price's skill to gently reveal aspects about her characters as the story proceeds. This book has fantastic characters with flaws and strength and development. Their interactions with each other are varied and complicated, but very satisfying for a reader to monitor. It all begins with Nelson being attracted to Javier, Javier fancying Tim and Tim falling for Nelson. And as the author so nicely puts it: "Three was a much more complicated combination than Tim would have imagined. It wasn't a hundred and fifty precent of two. It was like magic. Times three."
The book has very beautiful moments when each of the guys are described through their actions and through each other's eyes: The way Javier with his damaged eye often sees the situations more clearly than others and the way independent Nelson is forced to rely on other people. I enjoyed hugely following Tim's train of though, when the time stops for him almost every time while he is hypnotized by Nelson's presence. I also thought that the chapter with Nelson's incoherent medicine affected dream was brilliant. And let's not forget about the electricity and mind blowing sex between these three guys.
In a way all the characters (including the great secondary characters Randy and Marianne) learn a lot about themselves during their journey. And in the end it all comes down to this: These three guys simply belong together, because together they bring out the best in each other (cliché jar, again?). And they become something else altogether - it's chemistry, right? A new molecule, maybe? A beautiful one, too. With three lovely atoms.
Thank you for this intriguing story, JCP! You made me laugh and took my breath away and made my toes curl. And hey, I would love to read more about Nelson, Tim and Javier in the future!
April 12, 2016
Man I wish you could rate pieces of a book…I guess this is why so many shorts started being published. For probably about 70% of this book I was pretty sure I was going to 4 star it. Sure there were things nagging me about the actual events going on & it took forever to get to the “what” exactly portion of the story but since I’m more m/m than dystopian or S.F. I was completely fine with that. The relationship dynamic between the three guys…intriguing, not exactly satisfying in quantity but ok…fine. I’ve read JCP before and I get her style she isn’t really a romantic m/m writer. Yes there are elements of attraction and you might get some brief inner dialogue but there will be no professing of feelings here. I actually prefer that…I was going to say in m/m but that’d be lying, I ALWAYS prefer that.
But there is something that always happens with JCP and I think it’s that she gives in to the romance reader’s desire to have a HEA. And in this book the jump forward and wrap up…it cheated me of seeing how the three sorted things out. It’s like reading a book that starts “guy sees the girl (or guy) of his dreams a crossed a crowded bar” you turn the page and it’s like “and then three years later they were married with 2.5 kids, a dog and a SUV crossover”. Seeing the HEA after having been just been in the “we just met stage” pissed me off to be honest.
Overall one of the most enjoyable JCP’s I’ve read to date….BUT.
But there is something that always happens with JCP and I think it’s that she gives in to the romance reader’s desire to have a HEA. And in this book the jump forward and wrap up…it cheated me of seeing how the three sorted things out. It’s like reading a book that starts “guy sees the girl (or guy) of his dreams a crossed a crowded bar” you turn the page and it’s like “and then three years later they were married with 2.5 kids, a dog and a SUV crossover”. Seeing the HEA after having been just been in the “we just met stage” pissed me off to be honest.
Overall one of the most enjoyable JCP’s I’ve read to date….BUT.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2023
Jordan Castillo Price has the amazing ability to build worlds that are just a tick different from the real world and are completely believable. This world has solved world starvation with the production of “manna”, a product made with easy to grow alpha and can be made into an infinite amount of flavors. Nelson is a scientist spending his day at a soul sucking job fair in the hopes that he can find a job using his skills as opposed to his current job at a video store. When things go south and a riot starts Nelson finds himself on the run with a ragtag group of fellow job seekers and Tim, who swoops in with his truck and rescues them all.
Something horrible is happening and Nelson, Tim, and Javier are trying desperately to figure it out and let the world know. But can three men outside the system really change anything?
Something horrible is happening and Nelson, Tim, and Javier are trying desperately to figure it out and let the world know. But can three men outside the system really change anything?
December 20, 2012
I'm so blown away that I can't find the words to do this story justice but there are some brilliant reviews that do a far better job than I could anyway.
Gosh, this is such brilliant, effortless writing....I realise I haven't read nearly enough Jordan Castillo Price.
If you're feeling the teeniest bit bored and jaded with the same ol' same ol' MM tropes this should shake things up nicely. Now I sort of feel like Oliver holding up my empty bowl- more please?
Gosh, this is such brilliant, effortless writing....I realise I haven't read nearly enough Jordan Castillo Price.
If you're feeling the teeniest bit bored and jaded with the same ol' same ol' MM tropes this should shake things up nicely. Now I sort of feel like Oliver holding up my empty bowl- more please?
August 22, 2016
**re-read audiobook 8/8/16**
Audio is even better with Gomez! Smothered in Awesomeness!!!
Another dollar to the cliche jar
Jordan Castillo is a genius. The storytelling and character building was amazing with a perfect pace. A pirate, nerd and scientist...perfection.
Audio is even better with Gomez! Smothered in Awesomeness!!!
Another dollar to the cliche jar
Jordan Castillo is a genius. The storytelling and character building was amazing with a perfect pace. A pirate, nerd and scientist...perfection.
June 4, 2016
I enjoyed this book, interesting characters. Found out at the end that this was originally a serialisation with readers voting on which direction the story took, explains a lot.
August 1, 2016
Excellent book! Only reason I didn't go five stars is I wanted more romance but that's just my preference nothing against the book.
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