A review by shadybanana
A Better World by Marcus Sakey

4.0

Way better than the last one. I liked the pacing of the action and the implied philosophy at times. The plot was predictable but that’s pardonable. We got more dimensions in old characters, which is exactly what I wanted. Natalie. John and to some extent Shannon. Things seem less ambiguous now. One thing that bugged me slightly was the fact that Nick was remorseful over his decision to “reveal the truth”. The alternate idea he’d had in the previous book was umpteen times worse than this. I mean blackmailing President Walker, someone who had ruthlessly killed all those people was never going to work out well. Secondly, he wouldn’t have played according to John’s plans and that would’ve pissed him definitely. By sharing the video, Nick not only revealed the truth but he also nevertheless got the position as the special advisor to the President. Were he doing something else in the DAR or simply retired, he would never have been in on the action. But I digress.
A particular detail somehow bothers me more than it should. There’s just this one line about Ethan being a kind of protege who won Noble Prizes and stuff. Looks flawless. Except I mean the existence of Brilliants brought down the entire financial system, I don’t understand how the Noble Prize Institution would’ve fared through the Brilliants constantly guzzling innovative stuff and the Normies just standing by the bylines.
I sound so petty