Scan barcode
A review by madcassier
Written in Fire by Marcus Sakey
4.0
**Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for providing me a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley for the purpose of review**
Here it is: the finale to a truly fantastic science-fiction/dystopian/political thriller. For those of you who have not yet read any of the “Brilliance” trilogy, the quick version of the premise is that 30-years ago, some people contracted a virus that imbued them with extra powers, all of which were different from each other; the world named them “Brilliants.” But even better than that is the fact that “Brilliants” can pass down their powers, because susceptibility to the virus is genetic.
As a result, you have a world on the edge, not always to blatantly; this is the kind of tension that slithers beneath the surface of everyday life; it makes itself commonplace, blinding so many to the stark truth that they live in a world where they can trust no one - not their governments, not their friends or family, and not even themselves.
Mr. Sakey’s ability to create and sustain this tension across three books has been fantastic, and in “Written in Fire” he just keeps ramping it all up higher to the point that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep breathing. The stakes are so very high, especially when we’ve been following these characters — good, bad, shades of grey — for three books and they’re brought to moral, ethical, and emotional brinks. And the pace is non-stop with a finale that I can call nothing except explosive.
A brilliant conclusion to the story of the “Brilliants.”
Here it is: the finale to a truly fantastic science-fiction/dystopian/political thriller. For those of you who have not yet read any of the “Brilliance” trilogy, the quick version of the premise is that 30-years ago, some people contracted a virus that imbued them with extra powers, all of which were different from each other; the world named them “Brilliants.” But even better than that is the fact that “Brilliants” can pass down their powers, because susceptibility to the virus is genetic.
As a result, you have a world on the edge, not always to blatantly; this is the kind of tension that slithers beneath the surface of everyday life; it makes itself commonplace, blinding so many to the stark truth that they live in a world where they can trust no one - not their governments, not their friends or family, and not even themselves.
Mr. Sakey’s ability to create and sustain this tension across three books has been fantastic, and in “Written in Fire” he just keeps ramping it all up higher to the point that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep breathing. The stakes are so very high, especially when we’ve been following these characters — good, bad, shades of grey — for three books and they’re brought to moral, ethical, and emotional brinks. And the pace is non-stop with a finale that I can call nothing except explosive.
A brilliant conclusion to the story of the “Brilliants.”