by Brie McGill
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BOOK DESCRIPTION
Counting days is irrelevant in the life of a well-to-do man,
unless he counts the days passed in total service to the Empire. Salute. Submit.
Shut up and scan the wrist. Therapists armed with batons and brass knuckles
guide the derelict along a well-beaten path to Glory.
When human experiment Lukian Valentin escapes the Empire to save his crumbling sanity--through a grimescape of fissured highways, collapsing factories, putrescent sewers--he realizes the fight isn’t only for his life, it’s for his mind. Torturous flashbacks from a murky past spur him on a quest for freedom, while the Empire’s elite retrievers remain at his heels, determined to bring him home for repair.
Lukian needs one doctor to remove the implanted chips from his body, and another to serve him a tall glass of answers. Lukian attempts a psychedelic salvage of his partitioned mind, gleaning fragments of the painful truth about his identity.
A scorching, clothes-ripping rendezvous with a mysterious woman offers Lukian a glimpse of his humanity, and respite from his nightmarish past. It also provides the Empire the perfect weakness to exploit for his recapture.
When human experiment Lukian Valentin escapes the Empire to save his crumbling sanity--through a grimescape of fissured highways, collapsing factories, putrescent sewers--he realizes the fight isn’t only for his life, it’s for his mind. Torturous flashbacks from a murky past spur him on a quest for freedom, while the Empire’s elite retrievers remain at his heels, determined to bring him home for repair.
Lukian needs one doctor to remove the implanted chips from his body, and another to serve him a tall glass of answers. Lukian attempts a psychedelic salvage of his partitioned mind, gleaning fragments of the painful truth about his identity.
A scorching, clothes-ripping rendezvous with a mysterious woman offers Lukian a glimpse of his humanity, and respite from his nightmarish past. It also provides the Empire the perfect weakness to exploit for his recapture.
To rise to the challenge of protecting his new life,
his freedom of thought, and his one shot at love, Lukian must reach deep into
his mind to find his true identity. To defeat the Empire, he requires the deadly
power of his former self--a power that threatens to consume him.
AUTHOR BIO
Brie currently lives in British Columbia with her boyfriend and naughty black cat, somewhere not too far from the sea. She enjoys trips to the local farm, chatting with her long-distance friends on a rotary phone, and roflstomping video games from the nineties.
Brie's favorite storytellers include Anne Rice, George Orwell, and Hunter S. Thompson
REVIEWS
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
book that deals unflinchingly with some deep issues June 16,
2013
By Sam
Hankins
Format:Kindle
Edition
"Kain" is not only a credit to the dystopia genre; it is among
the most moving books that I have ever read. The book opens in a repressive
totalitarian state which, for this reader, is painfully reminiscent of Oceania
in "1984." But the powers that be in this book are not as interested in the
manipulation of truth as in the direct quashing and alteration of human nature
and what it means to be human. The protagonist, Lukian, lives a joyless life of
submission. He keeps a firm pulse check on his fragile psyche, dodges his
sadistic "therapist," and contemplates suicide with alarming frequency. Even
after his escape, he is haunted by the demons of his past life and struggles to
convince himself that he is more than just a programmed machine.
This book is fiercely visceral at every turn; every aspect of Lukian's world is described in vivid detail, and every detail means something. Even his act of eating chips in bed, lying on his side and spilling crumbs everywhere because he lacks the motivation to effectively put food in his mouth, drives home the sheer extent to which he is cowed by the Empire.
This book can very well be construed as a social comment; Lukian feels as though the demands of his quotidian life have turned him into a mindless automaton, an issue which has been part of modern life for some time.
The book's thoughts on humanity and Lukian's situation in particular are also communicated through the medium of colorful psychedelic experiences brought on by drugs and other circumstances. Add to that a healthy dose of action and romance and an appropriate amount of comic relief, and this book is one heck of a ride. Be warned, however: You will not feel safe.
Strong, strong recommend.
5.0 out of 5 stars Futuristic
1984 Meets Bladerunner June 14, 2013
By Rose
Lynn
Format:Kindle
Edition
"Bladerunner" meets "1984" is the best short description I
have for this book.
You can tell very much that the author, Brie, takes influences from one of her favourite authors George Orwell in the storyline of this book.
The start of the book can be a tad confusing because the main character really isn't introduced till mid-story. That's not to say you don't know everything about him long before you actually meet him.
It is a sci-fi thriller of "Big Brother" and Orwellian nature, with a very difficult plot line executed quite well for the age of the author or any author for that matter.
Kain, the main character around whom the story evolves is a very well developed complex character that in some ways is on the path of self realization, whilst living in a society where your every movement and thought is tracked for complacency.
If you enjoyed 1984, and are wary of the whole government watching over your shoulder movement, this book will have your mind reeling with possibilities and things you had yet thought of. It is a step into the future and a look at one I would rather not exist in.
Overall, this book is very well written, and an easy read. One to add to the bookshelf for sure.
You can tell very much that the author, Brie, takes influences from one of her favourite authors George Orwell in the storyline of this book.
The start of the book can be a tad confusing because the main character really isn't introduced till mid-story. That's not to say you don't know everything about him long before you actually meet him.
It is a sci-fi thriller of "Big Brother" and Orwellian nature, with a very difficult plot line executed quite well for the age of the author or any author for that matter.
Kain, the main character around whom the story evolves is a very well developed complex character that in some ways is on the path of self realization, whilst living in a society where your every movement and thought is tracked for complacency.
If you enjoyed 1984, and are wary of the whole government watching over your shoulder movement, this book will have your mind reeling with possibilities and things you had yet thought of. It is a step into the future and a look at one I would rather not exist in.
Overall, this book is very well written, and an easy read. One to add to the bookshelf for sure.
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