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A review by alongreader
The Block by Ben Oliver
4.0
I'm glad I read these close together; there's some recapping, but as the books are meant to follow on very closely from each, there's not much, and with my memory I'd have forgotten everything by now. If only I could also read the third book right away...
In this volume Happy's plans are revealed a bit more and Luka and his (surviving) friends have to figure out how to bring the crazy AI down, using what resources they can find in a mostly demolished world. It's a tall order, and with possible betrayals on all sides they'll have to stick together if they're to have any hope of winning.
How creepy was Purgatory, huh!
Right, now that's out of the way...
This volume keeps the tension of the last one - apart from in one scene I'll get to in a minute - while ratcheting up the threat level and introducing us to some new facets of the world. Ben Oliver has thought very carefully about his world and how everything works and fits together, and it really shows.
The only problem I had was a scene where Our Hero is surrounded many times over, but Our Villain allows him to wander around, talk to people , plot against him and generally take his sweet time, when he should have just grabbed him and taken off. I understand that it lets Our Hero angst and sacrifice himself in a very, very sweet scene, but it still surprised me a bit. Our Villain is not stupid, after all. I also couldn't quite follow the geography of the scene; the characters in the room are wading through knee high water, but the guy just outside the door - isn't? However, visualisation isn't my strongest point, so I may have just not understood it fully.
I really enjoyed this read. Old enemies and allies alike reappear, things change and alter our understanding of the world, and the final volume is going to be a real humdinger. I cn't wait to read it and I'll be urging people to try this one as soon as possible.
In this volume Happy's plans are revealed a bit more and Luka and his (surviving) friends have to figure out how to bring the crazy AI down, using what resources they can find in a mostly demolished world. It's a tall order, and with possible betrayals on all sides they'll have to stick together if they're to have any hope of winning.
How creepy was Purgatory, huh!
Right, now that's out of the way...
This volume keeps the tension of the last one - apart from in one scene I'll get to in a minute - while ratcheting up the threat level and introducing us to some new facets of the world. Ben Oliver has thought very carefully about his world and how everything works and fits together, and it really shows.
The only problem I had was a scene where Our Hero is surrounded many times over, but Our Villain allows him to wander around, talk to people , plot against him and generally take his sweet time, when he should have just grabbed him and taken off. I understand that it lets Our Hero angst and sacrifice himself in a very, very sweet scene, but it still surprised me a bit. Our Villain is not stupid, after all. I also couldn't quite follow the geography of the scene; the characters in the room are wading through knee high water, but the guy just outside the door - isn't? However, visualisation isn't my strongest point, so I may have just not understood it fully.
I really enjoyed this read. Old enemies and allies alike reappear, things change and alter our understanding of the world, and the final volume is going to be a real humdinger. I cn't wait to read it and I'll be urging people to try this one as soon as possible.