Grond: The Raven High by Yuri Hamaganov
In the year 2086, Earth is exhausted. The seas have been emptied, the bedrock and soil stripped of their resources, and the superheated atmosphere churns with terrible storms. Those who can afford to do so live in the limbo of virtual reality, and the billions who suffer in poverty have no work, no clean water, and no security from the chaos.
The only hope for those trapped on a dying Earth are the Changed—the seven bioengineered post-humans who work in their separate manufacturing facilities orbiting high above the planet. Raised from birth for their work and fully matured at ten years old, their genius provides the nanomaterials that have begun to cleanse Earth of the pollutants that have wiped out almost the entire ecosphere.
But for Olga Voronov, youngest of the Changed, the isolation and endless toil are not the greatest of her challenges. Down on Earth there are those who resent and fear her talents—and would prefer that humanity not be given the second chance that only she could make possible …
Author’s Bio
Yuri Hamaganov lives in Moscow. He created the GROND series as a present for himself when he was twelve years old. This was the story he had always dreamed of exploring, and when he realized that nobody had written it for him, he set out to do it himself.
My Review
4 stars
The Earth is coming to an end. No water, no fertile lands, and those with money can escape to virtual worlds and those left behind are left to suffer. But there is hope. Seven Changed kids are orbiting the world. They are enhanced humans that have been raised by androids and their whole purpose is to save the world. This is Olga’s story, otherwise known as Raven. We will follow along as she grows into her position to run a water plant. But she knows nothing about what is really happening on the surface of the Earth and how many humans want her to fail just so their lives will end.
Olga lives in orbit over the Earth and we learn how she is one of seven that are the last hope for humanity. We follow along as her android nanny raised her and prepares her to help fulfills her role. The problem with this is the story revolves around her life. There is a lot of dialect as we learn of Olga, her world, and how she is expected to be running things when she is 10 years old. This caused a gap with me and I had a hard time really caring about her.
But over all I liked the idea of this story. It is a fresh look at a dying Earth and a possible resolution. Yuri Hamaganov is Russian and translated this from the original Russian version himself. I think he did a great job although you might find one or two places that don’t really flow.
I really liked this story and feel it was a great start to a new series. I am very curious about where Hamaganov if going to take the series next.
I received Grond: The Raven High from Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.
jbronderbookreviews 