A Perfect Machine, Brett Savory

Netgalley copy in exchange for an honest review. 

The Blurb

Henry Kyllo is a member of a secret society called the Inferne Cutis. A Runner whose goal is to achieve full-body lead content. He is chased through the city every day by Hunters whose goal is to shoot the Runners — with the threat to both sides that if they do not participate, through a mysterious force no one understands, one of their loved ones will simply vanish from the face of the earth.

Rumours abound about what happens when a Runner achieves “ascension”, but it has supposedly never happened before, so no one knows for sure.

Except that it has happened before. And it is happening again. This time, to Henry Kyllo.

My Thoughts

A fair warning: be prepared to get sucked into this story from the moment you start reading, because you won’t be able to put your book down. This is what happened to me.

This book is incredibly good, on every level, in my opinion.

Plot

The plot is very original, and I found the main idea behind the story to be very different and innovative, which is always a good thing for me. If you love science-fiction, this book will be right up your ally. The wolrdbuilding is extremely well written, and the action is mastered very well.

Another thing I found interesting was the pace. Often in SF, you tend to rush things to get to the point, but this novel is extremely well balanced, so that it is paced to the right rhythm, and it makes it even more enjoyable to read as it is neither too fast nor too slow.

Characters

All the characters now have a special place in my heart. Henry definitely needs a hug or two, in my opinion, and I felt bad for him the whole time I’ve been reading. I also loved the way Brett Savory handled the “status”/”state” of Milo and Adelina, and how important they are to the story despite said state. Faye is another of my favourite characters - I found her brave, strong and loyal, which are always good qualities to find in heroes.

The relationship between the four of them is, to me, so great. They are dedicated and loving friends, and it sounds realistic when you read about them as they go on in the story.

Style

The style is one of the strong points, for me, as it’s what really lured me into the story and didn’t let me put the book down - the descriptions are beautiful, and overall it is very raw and poetic at the same time.

It’s straight to the point and efficient, with snappy and sharp dialogues. To me, it’s a tale of revenge and violence, and humanity.

I feel like this novel broke some boundaries in my readings of SF, and it made me think a lot about our own life as it is in 2016, and the fact that I could see some parallels is scary, yet unsurprising. I love novels that make me think. The whole story is a puzzle the reader needs to put together, to paint one terrifying yet fascinating picture. 

★★★★★

Links 

Goodreads 
Author's website