Kingdom: Tiber City Blues

by Anderson O'Donnell

Kingdom: Tiber City Blues

In a secret laboratory hidden under the desert, a covert bioengineering project—codename “Exodus”—has discovered the gene responsible for the human soul.

Somewhere in the neon sprawl outside the nation’s collapsing economic core, a group of renegade monks are on the verge of uncovering a secret that has eluded mankind for centuries.

In a glittering tower high above the urban decay, an ascendant U.S. Senator is found dead—an apparent, yet inexplicable, suicide.

And in the streets below, a young couple races through an ultra-modern metropolis on the verge of a violent revolution… closing in on the terrible truth behind Exodus--and one man’s dark vision for the future of mankind.

Welcome to Tiber City.

274 pages, Paperback

Published February 24, 2019

About the author

Writer. Obsessed with Dystopian/noir fiction, the Clash, and my three kids.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

O'Donnell's bio states that he is obsessed with the Clash and dystopian fiction. Cool! He offers us a future of biologically-engineered humans, cadavers being harvested for organs, slums filling the Southwest desert, religious orders searching for the soul gene, and of course punk rock. It's a future of haves and have nots, of revolution, of celebrity, and of decadence exploding in a fury of drugs, music, and havoc. The narrative is thick, rich, dark, and worth going back over for any phrase you missed the first time through.

[Sebrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent World Building with an Interesting Plot

I should start by acknowledging that I am a light sci-fi fan. I typically am drawn to medieval fantasy or non-tech dystopian stories so this was a bit out of my comfort zone. For that reason, it took me a little bit to get into. Once I hit the 25% mark and was able to sort between the alternating POVs, then I didn't put it down until I finished.


Anderson is a master at world building and was able to create settings that were characters unto themselves. Unfortunately for me, I felt like his actual characters didn't have as much depth of development. I have to give him credit for creating such cinematic scenes though.


Overall the story offered a unique twist on genetic modification and the Biblical Messiah allusion at the end definitely has me wondering where the story will go in any sequels. I think this is a surefire win for anyone who is a real science fiction fan and know I'll be recommending it to my brother-in-law.

[Mariel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by Tiber City Blues. I think I expected something different from “biopunk” than it really is — something more hopeful -- and by the end of this novel I couldn’t help feeling that I’ve heard this story before a hundred times before, even if the details were different in Tiber City. I couldn’t help feeling, too, that I could get the story it wants to tell somewhere else and enjoy it more.

The few moments where the book presented human connection were the ones I enjoyed most. The characters were at their realest here, and I could appreciate the richness of the description and the evocative prose which permeated the book. It was in these moments that the world, the people, and the writing actually worked together to make me feel something and keep me interested.

The world Tiber City presents was well built and strong, and the story rich in concepts. I enjoyed seeing all of these work together in moments of action and interaction, and could appreciate the subtlety of the story beneath the description — some of the time. More often I was still hungry for something concrete —plot, action, and clarity. Instead the story was packed to bursting with images and ideas, all barely held together and all struggling to remain the center of attention.

This was the novel’s biggest problem. In its commitment to description and theme, character, action, and plot all got lost. I didn’t know what the central point of the story was until well over halfway through, and wasn’t engaged enough to really wonder why until then. I didn’t feel a strong connection to many of the characters, and disliked their voices and dialogue. I was left drowning under a series of images which seemed to all serve the same purpose. After a point I wasn’t learning anything from them more.

The novel was upfront with its moral — technology has left humanity soulless, connection will heal us — establishing it within the first chapter. This could have been good, but it continued to beat down on the first part without allowing enough space for the second to grow. The message grew repetitive. I knew the description was strong as I’d seen the author offer up whole platters of monstrosities, but I wanted the camera turned on any scrap of hope for even a moment longer. I found it hard to believe that these horrors were considered horrors when they were so lovingly pored over and lingered on. Graphic description of oppression, violence, chaos, and desperation made up the bulk of the book. Not my cup of tea.

Eventually I grew bored and numb and frustrated by what I was seeing. I wasn’t allowed enough space to rest and therefore be struck by the darkness anew. Perhaps that was part of the author’s intent. But it didn’t feel intentional.

Overall, I struggle to think of an audience to recommend this to. Perhaps a reader wanting a crash course in a certain kind of intense description and interesting world-building. Perhaps horror fans looking for something different. But for a reader looking for something lovingly crafted, this isn’t your book.

[Elena Alvarez Dosil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally published at: https://lomeraniel.com/book-review-ki...

Campbell decides to leave the horrors of the secret genetics laboratory where he works behind to start an anonymous new life and to try to get redemption for the horrors he helped to perpetrate. Morrison, his younger colleague, is decided to make Cambell come back, while Meghan, Morrison’s daughter goes in search of Dylan Fitzgerald, the son of a senator who inexplicably committed suicide. Meghan has stolen some important papers from his father that may tell a lot about Dylan and his defunct father.

This is a noir sci-fi tale, clearly inspired by Phillip K. Dick and William Gibson, without being fully cyberpunk, but transmitting the same feeling of a decaying society that is already beyond salvation. O’Donnell was able to create a unique atmosphere with detailed and profuse descriptions so elaborated that I was almost able to test the grim air of Tiber city. This rich language was one of the best parts of the story, but it was also its bane. It distracted me from what the story was really about. The intrigue had a slow and long buildup in which I was tantalized at the beautiful language and descriptions. I got hooked because I wanted to know what was the deal with Dylan, his father, and Morrison; but after several times that we almost get some information but don’t, I was getting desperate. At last, we get the truth, but it felt somehow anticlimactic, just too mystical for me. I like the hard facts and I also enjoy going into a character’s psyche, but mysticism and genetics are two things that shouldn’t be mixed in my opinion.

I have another small complaint about the language used in the book. It was rich, descriptive, but the constant personification of objects bothered me to no end. Examples of this are “broken lights observing the caravan’s progress like angels on high” or “drone silent yet omniscient”. This was a constant throughout the book. I may pass a couple of them, but they were one after the other, and that, coupled to the many times that we almost got information but didn’t, made me a bit impatient and I was losing interest towards the end of the book.

Tucker McDougall delivered a narration that matched the writing style well. It sounded a bit like a declamation and felt a bit forced, but it went well with the intricate writing style. I usually prefer more natural narrations, but it was decent, the character interpretations were quite good. There was a bit more reverberation than usual, but not to the point that it was disturbing.

I would recommend this book if you are into cyberpunk and do not mind a bit of mysticism. If you are into elaborate writing style and detailed descriptions and abundant use of personification, this book might be for you. It was not my cup of tea, though. It made big promises but it did not deliver.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Kriti | Armed with A Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kingdom: Tiber City Blues is a one-of-a-kind book. Exploring the consequences of experiments to create humans, this was an interesting read. Tiber City is home to Morrison Medical, a biotech corporation that is well known for its groundbreaking vaccines and treatments. However, there is something else going on at its facilities - a project that has been kept a secret for a long time, until now. Following the story of Campbell, the scientist who fathered this Project Exodus, and left it couple decades ago, Dylan Fitzgerald, whose father is recently decreased, and Megan, the daughter of Morrison Medical's CEO, this novel focuses on how these characters are connected and pivotal to Project Exodus.

I found the first half of the book a little dense to go through but once the foundations were laid out, the second half was fast-paced. A big part of the story is the disintegration of society and the need to create perfect humans, the motivation for which is spiritual and scientific at the same time. This was a little hard to grasp at points along the story, about why certain things were happening and were important, but overall, all loose ends seem to be tied towards the end.

I have been enjoying dystopian novels the last couple months and I will say Kingdom: Tiber City Blues offers a raw, focused perspective on the humanistic aspect of biotech advancements. - Different from the other books I have recently read in the genre.

I am thankful to Lola Blog Tours and the author, for providing me a complimentary copy of the book as part of the blog tour, in exchange for an honest review. I will be revisiting some of the main themes I noticed in the novel during my spot on the 30th, followed by a Q&A with the author on the 1st. Be sure to check out the links to learn a little more about the book. :)

[Mrs Rj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kingdom: Tyber City Blues is not to be read by the faint hearted! It gives a chilling account of a future society when the possibilities of bio-engineering go far beyond any moral right or wrong’s we may consider today. However, the beauty of science fiction is in how we can hear the echoes of our current society weaved through the concepts and O’Donnell does such a good job of this.

I occasionally got a little lost in the plot because of the pace which meant that, at times, I didn’t feel I had all the information I needed to fully understand what was happening. I would have loved perhaps for the author to have spent a little more time with backstories and detail, although I appreciate, for some, this speeding through would be perfect.

There are plenty of twists and surprises which just added to my enjoyment, especially towards the end and the author leaves the way open perfectly for a next instalment.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Modern day 1985

Like most dark dystopian novels, O'Donnell warns readers of the dangers of our current path in foreboding and eerily relevant predictions that aren't decades down the road but right at our doorstep, making the thrilling nature of this story all the more haunting. While the imagery and description of events, places and details is nearly unparalleled in O'Donnell's remarkable use of language and larger than life visuals that undoubtedly suck readers in from page one, the character development and some plot points seem hastened and ill formed, leaving an overly positive but still disjointed feeling. In all though, this is worth the read for fans of fantasy and the like and readers will likely be eagerly awaiting a sequel hopefully to come.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a manuscript that oozes a mixture of noir and science fiction, O’Donnell has created an incredibly dense, so-real-you-can-smell-it world. He shows his mastery of tension very early by throwing readers into Tiber City and its disease-ridden slums. O’Donnell’s descriptions are incredibly thorough as he even manages to highlight the hopelessness of random civilians without distracting from the main plot. In some places he is over-descriptive as those scene minutiae are still highly detailed until the epilogue. When readers finish Kingdom: Tiber City Blues, they’ll have a mind full of an overcrowded city and less of the actual plot. Still, the novel is an enjoyable read and a great example of world building.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting concept, and in all reality does not seem that far-fetched, given the current condition of insidious world affairs. It's not that difficult to envision this bioengineering project happening in real time.
With story ideas such as this a rapid pace is necessary for the narrative. However, this story rushes along in such a way that it is a but difficult to connect with some of the integral characters.

[Mark Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anderson O’Donnell breaks the mold with his part adventure, part fantasy, part adventure, and part Sci Fi novel. It’s rather difficult for an author to combine so many sub-genres without losing their reader. But O’Donnell does this with ease. Kingdom: Tier City Blues shows us a city and economy in disrepair. The plot follows a darker path to the conflict and resolution. Readers should be warned; this book may depress or even cause them to question the status of the nation.

[Naomi Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very unique read, I really liked the darker dystopian aspects the author used.

The world building and descriptions were incredible, it was a real world that could unfortunately come true. I will say I didn't really feel anything about the characters.

Overall this is a good book but it seemed rushed.