From visionary author C. T. Rwizi comes the epic journey of four people on a distant planet who face the ultimate test of loyalty, friendship, and duty in the rising tide of war.
A corporate aristocracy descended from Africa rules a colony on a distant planet.
Life here is easy—for the rarified and privileged few. The aristocrats enjoy a powerful cybernetic technology that extends their life spans and ensures their prosperity. Those who serve them suffer under a heavy hand.
But within this ruthless society are agents of hope and change. In a secret underwater laboratory, a separatist cult has created a threat to the aristocracy. The Primes are highly intelligent, manipulative products of genetic engineering, designed to lead a rebellion. Enabling their mission are the Proxies, the Primes’ bodyguards and lifelong companions bound to their service.
When the cult’s hideout is attacked, Proxies Nandipa and Hondo rush to the rescue. As they emerge with their Primes onto the surface, however, everything they’d been led to believe about their world is shattered.
Nandipa and Hondo will risk it all to honor their oath of absolute loyalty. But when the very people they’re tasked to protect turn on each other, the Proxies must decide between those they were built to serve and the freedom to carve out their own destinies. And the fate of their planet may rest in their choice.
C. T. Rwizi was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in Swaziland, finished high school in Costa Rica, and got a BA in government at Dartmouth College in the United States. He currently lives in South Africa with his family, and enjoys playing video games, taking long runs, and spending way too much time lurking on Reddit. He is a self-professed lover of synthwave.
3.5 Stars I enjoyed this science novel which felt fresh and engrossing. This is classified as adult fiction, but the narrative and maturity of the characters made this feel more of a YA crossover. I really liked the premise and setup surrounding genetic engineering and the subsequent clones. However I found the worldbuilding and scientific ideas were only explored on a surface level, whereas I wanted the book to go so much deeper.
As a debut, I was quite impressed and would certainly read more by this author. It's such a great experience to find a new immersive read.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Underwater lab, genetically-engineered leaders, and a lot of commentary on consumerism, hustle culture, and the disproportionate distribution of wealth to the working class. Even in this future where Earth has been left behind, and a new attempt at civilization brings about technology that can allow to you live forever, the elite has managed to fabricate "promises" of a better life while exploiting underpaid labour. There are also great discussions on power imbalances and the complications of removing them when one has existed only to serve.
'House Of Gold' was very entertaining. The story was exciting, clever, original and full of surprises. I fell into the underwater world of competing pairs of Primes and Proxies immediately and effortlessly and was kept moving by the alternating points of view between the main male and female proxies in each chapter. The storytelling was accomplished, unveiling the mystery and achieving the worldbuilding mainly by bouncing the perceptions of the two Proxies off one another as their Primes compete for dominance. The ideas were original for the most part or provided original twists on familiar tropes. The situation faced by the two young proxies was pleasingly complex and full of intriguing possibilities.
I was nodding along to the story, as I might to a familiar song, when Part 1 ended with a bang and everything changed. I'd been settling down to enjoy an underwater version of 'Ender's Game' with a slightly more self-aware set of players and suddenly everything shifted, a whole new set of possibilities opened up and I found myself hungry for part two.
Part 2 took place on a much wider stage than Part 1 and the conflicts became more strategic than tactical but the changing relationship between the two Proxies and their reassessment of the intent of their own Primes and the loyalty that those Primes deserved, kept the story focused and the action moving forward. I liked that the focus was mainly on the Proxies rather than the Primes that they partnered. The Primes seemed less and less human and more and more dangerous as time went by. They'd be bred and raised to be sociopathic megalomaniacs with a gift for strategy and social manipulation. In some stories, they'd have been the main players, with the drama of their struggle camouflaging how hard they were to like. In this story, the main focus is on the Proxies who are each trying to find a path to being more and other than who they were bred and raised to be, which I found much more interesting.
If you're looking for a Science Fiction page-turner with some fresh ideas and perspectives. I recommend 'House Of Gold' to you.
This was interesting and fast-paced. I quite enjoyed this West African-futurism. Very cool world building and an interesting idea that was fully fleshed. Loved it.
4.75/5 stars! This book was a stunning cyberpunk fantasy. The spin on privilege and societal elitism was handled beautifully and I felt fully immersed in this unique world. There is a constant duality between loyalty and conflict that kept the story interesting. I want to dive back into this world and am hoping the author follows up with more stories.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review
I listened to this just as much as I read it which I believe helped give this novel a 5 star rating. Listening really helped me with all of the Afrocentric names which allowed me to enjoy the book to the fullest, rather than be frustrated and worried I wasn’t pronouncing things correctly. So I recommend this book fully whether you read or listen to it, but if you can try giving it a listen.
Regarding the content, I had a fabulous time reading this. It was an amazing ride, full of sci-fi wonder, grit, as well as tenderness. It’s an action story but also a novel of love, both romantic and familial. The story was exciting - so page-turning! Which is one reason why I also procured the Audible version, so I could listen when I couldn’t read - like when driving to work. I will say the plot twist or reveal at the end wasn’t surprising. It was, however, still interesting and I don’t believe it took anything away from the rest of the novel. Highly recommend this read.
I found it captivating how the four main characters, who were once somewhat adversaries in their underwater society’s war games, were compelled to join forces when their underwater society came under attack, leading them to forge a bond and seek refuge on the surface world, a world where they encounter an aristocratic ruling class. This book provides an intriguing perspective on social disparities, exploring intriguing concepts such as “scree,” a social currency that enables individuals to elevate their social standing. One of my favorite lines was, “They turned obedience and conformity into a currency more valuable than money.” Moreover, the concept of genetically engineered beings has always fascinated me. The main characters are genetically engineered and posses the ability to perceive people’s “static,” an aura revealing their emotional state.
I did wish the two main characters who were Proxies, the two Primes' body guards and fighters, hadn't taken so long to criticize their Primes or voice their opposition to their plans. But in the end, they did.
The unique ideas within this book made it a good read for me.
This is a really good science-fiction novel. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, with my only complaint being that I would have killed to see it as a series above a stand alone. If it had been split into a trilogy and let each act take up more space for world building and a wider array of characters I think it would easily stand alongside series like Red Rising as some of the best in the genre.
But I won't waste time on what ifs, so let's focus on what we have. This is an incredibly imaginative book set on a deep space planet in the far future that has been inhabited by African nations. After an AI uprising destroyed multiple planets in the system, the planet we're set on closed itself off. We start by following a group of genetically engineered clones in a deep ocean facility who are training in war games to fight the electronic overlords on the surface. A bit basic of a premise to start out, but that all gets flipped on its head when our main group of characters first leave the underwater habitat. I won't elaborate on the plot beyond that, because the unraveling of the who and what and why is where a good deal of the fun comes in.
A big part of this book is the main group of characters. In the habitat the clones are paired off as Primes, natural born (or in this case genetically altered) leaders and statagists, and Proxies, the brawn to their brains. We follow Hondo and Jamal, experimental clones who's purpose in the war game is to cause chaos and be a wild card. Hondo is reserved and deadly, Jamal is an asshole regade and I absolutely love him. As well as Nandipa and Adolisa, who lay low in the games but have been manipulating the results from the shadows. Nandipa is probably my favorite character, a bright light who is conflicted between her unending loyalty and the desire for a better life. Adolisa I feel I should like more in theory, beautiful and cut-throat and quietly dangerous, but I feel like of the main cast we understand her the least and aren't given as much room to empathize with her, especially when her actions start becoming more and more a threat to other characters.
The ending feels a bit rushed, which is a shame with how intense the climax is. It does set itself up as being a bit open ended, leaving room for a followup, but I don't necessarily think it needs one. As much as I'd love to see more of the characters and see the world building expanded on, it really feels like this story has done what it needed to. Which might sound contradictory to me saying it'd make a great series. I mean that in that what exists within the book already needs expanding on, but doesn’t necessarily need a follow-up. If this world is expanded on, I think I'd like to see it through the eyes of new characters, or set on one of the other planets.
The only other thing I've read by this author was the short story These Alien Skies from the Black Stars collection on Kindle. It was my favorite from that collection, and left me eager to see what else this author can do, and I was not disappointed, but I do expect he will continue to write even more impressive works as he goes and I can't wait to read more.
3.75. I picked up this novel having previously enjoyed one of the author's short stories, and I wasn't disappointed. The novel focuses tightly on four characters: two Primes, genetically engineered humans designed and trained to create political change, and two Proxies, designed as their bodyguards. The story deals with a lot of fairly heavy themes - destiny vs. agency, nature and nurture, corruptibility, social inequality, human/technology interaction, and more - but at its heart is about four people thrown into an unfamiliar world with the burning need to change it. I think this one will have definite YA crossover appeal - sometimes the book felt a bit YA to me; I wish some of the themes were explored in more complex ways. I really liked the character development, the diverse representation, and the worldbuilding in this one. I will definitely look forward to more from C.T. Rwizi.
Content warnings: death, violence, murder, blood, gun violence, confinement, forced institutionalization, medical content, bullying, torture, suicide (on the page)
Thank you to NetGalley & to the author for providing an ARC.
I was quite into this at the beginning, but felt it failed to really take off. There are some interesting ideas in it: is change best achieved by violent revolution or slow action from within? And the tension between the Prime and Proxy, made to be co-dependent but also striving for individuality. These weren’t developed well enough though, and the difference between change from within and violent upheaval wasn’t explored - individual ruthless actions being at the heart of them both. The best bits are in the Habitat at the start, and immediately after they escape. The world and characters both felt a bit sketched in, and the ending a bit unsatisfactory.
This was so disappointing!!! 😭 The first book I'd ever won in a GR giveaway, and I really just didn't like it. The world building was impressive but that's the only reason I gave this 2 stars. The characters were Atrocious and I never could like them no matter how hard I tried!!! They were petty and dramatic and overall just obnoxious!!! Characters can make or break a book for me and unfortunately these ones broke it.
When I started reading, I got a sense of deja vu to Ender's Game (young people played off against each other in war games, with lofty goals for the winners). But that was only a passing similarity. Quickly things change for the worse (for the characters) and the better (for the reader), when lives get upended.
The plot is pretty linear, but kept me guessing up until the last couple of pages. At no point in the story did I know what was going to happen next. And even though the main characters* are borderline omnipotent, this "not knowing what is going to happen next" goes for both reader and characters.
*: the characters are an interesting build. In essence there are two "characters", and each of them is split up into two people (sounds confusing, but it works): a Prime and a Proxy. The Prime is the brains, and the Proxy is their PA/bodyguard, but so much more than that. They are connected like two sides of the same coin. And a major part (aside from the actual lineair plot) is the growing closer and growing apart of these Proxies from their Primes. Is this in itself a Proxy for colonialism, patronism, patentism or whatever -ism? Or is this me, a Northern Hemisphere born person projecting things on a writer, simply because he comes from Zimbabwe? English lit majors will have a field day. All I can say is I loved it.
And now I'll have to discuss this puppy with a to be formed book club, because a dear friend only gave it three stars 😁
Any time a book starts with teenage main characters, and they're in a repressive dystopia, it raises all kinds of red flags for me. This book does a pretty good job of starting with the formula and then varying from it -- or at least giving an impression of varying that is enough to get through the turns. It also lead to a reasonably satisfying ending that, while it left room for a sequel, didn't feel like it was more focused on the sequel than on itself.
However, the inevitable will-they-won't-they subplot was unusually tedious, perhaps because the viewpoint was always first-person-present-tense and alternated between the two characters who were will-they-won't-theying. Later on there were some actual reasons why maybe they wouldn't, but earlier there seemed to be no real obstacles for a fairly long stretch of the book, so them droning on and on about it and then doing nothing was making me want to skip ahead.
Thank you Prime first reads Wow! This is a great gym book and just a great read. In my humble opinion it would also be a very good film. Non-stop action, conflict on conflict on conflict, and a condemnation of power and corruption told in an engrossing way. I never read sci fi. Oh, back in my wayward youth I read an Isaac Asimov and some Ray Bradbury, but science fiction has never been a genre I considered worthy of my time. (So many books, so little time.) C.T. Rwizi may have just changed my mind about this...
What a fantastic, thoughtful, and engrossing story that easily became one of my new sci-fi favorites.
This book has a similar flavor to Ender's Game and Red Rising, but is set in an Afro-futuristic dystopia. One of my favorite things about sci-fi/fantasy is the creativity with which allegories can be used to explore moral and philosophical questions, and this book did not disappoint. One of the central conflicts in the book centers on methods of change - namely, is it more effective to change a system from the inside or the outside? And are those the only two options? Speaking as an idealist who wants to see the world change for the better, I wrestle these questions regularly and this book spoke to my soul.
You know how there are books that you can't put down, and then there are books you dread picking up? This book leans toward the latter. There's a lot of promise with this plot, and it's an interesting premise, but it felt very disjointed, and that made it difficult for me to read. I kept feeling like I had missed an explanatory chapter, but I hadn't.
This was such a fun read - the characters were well developed and interesting, the science and tech were fun and the dynamics between characters and plot mechanics made this a really enjoyable read. I highly recommend!
I really enjoyed C.T. Rwizi's debut a couple of years ago and wanted to read something that wasn't connected to that universe. I had high hopes for this one, but it never really grabbed me. Not my cup of tea, I guess.
I was intrigued by this unique idea and felt the future world was detailed and well thought out. It dragged a tad in the middle, but not to the point where I was bored.
While the start might feel like a common YA story set up, the adventure soon goes off the rails in unexpected and interesting directions. I enjoyed the alternating viewpoints giving us different perspectives on the story.
But what I enjoyed most is the world building. The African influences on the sci fi society and its culture give it a distinct indentity from the worlds we have read about before. Add to those interesting characters and an interesting conflict to resolve; I was happy to be in for the ride. Recommended.
Really solid 4.5 stars. Some parts of this were an amazing 5 star read, but then sometimes it dipped a little, so I needed to average it out to 4.5 stars
I loved the premise, I loved the characters, and I thought this one was super fun and enjoyable
I agree with other reviewers who found this leaning more YA than adult. The world the author created is fantastic - as always - but I fail to see how when so much of the "Old World" is viewed only with nostalgia or actively discredited, somehow the term "shylock" persists. We don't have to beat each other down to rise. The Prime and Proxy relationship has a lot of layers and I'm not sure how to summarize what I think about it - but I think that's part of the point. Kind of a Stockholm syndrome/slave/bodyguard/family mismash.