Consensus

Consensus #1-5

by Jason Tesar

In Esh, truth is determined by a public opinion network. Social rating is the currency. Fitting in … essential. Yet adopted sixteen-year-old Rena Waite can’t help challenging the flawed mindset of her family and friends. She sees things differently. Sometimes literally; the only part of her early childhood she remembers are visions of mountains and a forest —things that don't exist in her urban environment of concentrically divided economic classes, surrounded by an endless wasteland of fog and freezing rain.

When Rena saves her friends’ lives during a mugging, a report of the incident ruins the ratings of everyone associated with her. The only solution is to perform her civic duties. Go to school. Vote on issues. Contribute her opinions to society. And above all, meet regularly with her counselor to understand the source of her nonconformist behavior and violent instincts. Little does she know that her simple act of self-defense has attracted the suspicion of a covert policing agency as well as the interest of a subversive faction.

And those visions? She’ll soon learn they’re intimately linked to Esh’s forgotten history and the secret war raging beneath the surface of her polite community.

533 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 21, 2016

About the author

The third of four children and an introvert from the start, Jason Tesar grew up as an imaginative “middle child” who enjoyed the make-believe world as much as the real one, possibly more. From adolescence to adulthood, his imagination continued to feed itself on a diet of books, movies, and art, all the while growing and maturing—waiting for its opportunity. Then, during a procession of monotonous, physically laborious day-jobs, his imagination leaped into motion, bringing together characters and locations of a world that would someday come to life on the pages of a book.

In late 1998, Jason made his first attempt at writing, managing to complete a whole scene before returning once again to reality. A year and a half later, a spontaneous night-time conversation with his wife encouraged him to take his writing seriously and to keep on dreaming. Over the next seven years, Jason carved time out of the real world to live in an imaginary one of epic fantasy, science-fiction, and military/political conflict. The fruits of this labor would later become the first three books of the bestselling AWAKENED series.

Due to the incredible support from readers around the world, Jason continued his trajectory into make-believe, jumping from stable employment in the micro-electronics industry into the mysterious abyss of full-time writing.

Living in Colorado with his beautiful wife and two children, Jason now spends the majority of his time fusing the best parts of his favorite genres into stories of internal struggle and triumph, friendship, betrayal, political alliances, and military conflict.

If you’d like to follow along on Jason’s journey or get behind the scenes info on the AWAKENED or WANDERING STARS series, you can find him on Facebook (jasontesar.com), Twitter (@jasontesar), on his blog (www.jasontesar.com), or send him an email at jasontesar@yahoo.com.

Reviews

[Ken Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read.

Great read with unimaginable plot twists and in depth character development.On par with his Awakened series! I have not read the Wandering Stars series yet, but will download soon. I recommend this book to anyone that likes dystopian society plots, military concepts and procedures,and lots of action.

[Ms. Just One More Book (Kris Miller) · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the City of Esh, society votes on anything and everything. Whether it be important things, like City Ordinances both old and new, or the mundane, like the current fashion styles, votes are taken. The consensus of these votes decides what is the absolute truth.

While the rating system is by far not a new concept by any means in dystopian worlds, nor is the classification of rich and poor, I believe that Jason Tesar is on to something unique and wonderful with this story. To write about a society that is ran solely based upon consensus of opinion, therefore making it truth and law, made for a completely thought provoking read. His storyline was well thought out, nicely paced, and flowed seamlessly from one part to the next. His characters likable, realistic, and easy to empathize with. If i had one complaint, it would be that the story was too short. It flew by quickly and was over far before I was ready.

One of the things I truly enjoyed about this novel was the philosophical discussions about multiple person's opinion, and how that could make it absolute truth. In other words, how when a large enough group of people agree about something, it then becomes known as 'fact' versus a large group of opinion.

This was a series that was fantastical written all the way through from the first page to the last. The world building easily immerses you into the author's world and keeps you there. The quality of the characters are lifelike and realistic, as is the growth process throughout the subsequent books. Jason Tesar continously propels the story forward with snappy writing and an ever evolving plot.

Overall the perfect dystopian read for teenagers and above that enjoy an intelligent, thought provoking read. It should be provided in high school classrooms, so that students could have the opportunity to ponder and have meaningful dialogue about herd mentality, consensus opinions and actual facts.