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Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Searching... Cabell County Public Library | MCK | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In the powerful conclusion to the sci-fi noir Water City trilogy, faith, power, and tech clash when our nameless protagonist passes the responsibility of saving the world to his teenage daughter. For fans of Phillip K. Dick and The Last of Us.
Year 2160- It's been ten years since the cataclysmic events of Eventide, Water City, where 99.97 percent of the human population was possessed or obliterated by Akira Kimura, Water City's renowned scientist and Earth's former savior.
Our nameless antihero, a synesthete and former detective, and his daughter, Ascalon, navigate through a post-apocalyptic landscape populated by barbaric Zeroes-the permanent residents of the continent's biggest landfill, The Great Leachate-who cling to the ways of the old world. They live in opposition to Akira's godlike domination of the planet-she has taken control of the population that viewed her as a god and converted them into her Gardeners, zombie-like humans who plod along to build her vision of a new world.
What that world exactly entails, Ascalon is not entirely sure, but intends to find out. Now nineteen, she, a synesthete herself, takes over this story while her father succumbs to grief and decades of Akira's manipulation. Tasked with the impossible, Ascalon must find a way to free what's left of the human race.
Author Notes
Chris McKinney was born and raised in Hawai'i, on the island of Oahu. He has written nine novels, including The Tattoo and The Queen of Tears, a coauthored memoir, and the screenplays for two feature films and two short films. He is the winner of the Elliott Cades Award and seven Kapalapala Po'okela Awards and has been appointed Visiting Distinguished Writer at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
McKinney nails the landing in the wrenching conclusion to his 22nd-century sci-fi noir trilogy (following Eventide, Water City). Environmental disasters, including recently discovered space hurricanes ("giant swirling masses of plasma that rain electrons"), have radically altered life on Earth, with many people moving to supposedly safer underwater cities. The action picks up 10 years after scientist Akira Kimura, once considered a savior for averting Earth's collision with an asteroid, utilized advanced technology to wipe out most of the planet's population and control the minds of the survivors, hoping her zombified devotees would help her build a better world. Her dominance of the planet is opposed, despite daunting odds, by the unnamed series lead, an ex-cop and former PI, now joined by his 19-year-old daughter, Ascalon (named after Akira's own daughter, Ascalon Lee). The pair plan to recruit Lee for their cause but remain unsure whether the woman, who previously attempted to kill her mother, can be trusted in the struggle. After a major second-act twist, the novel's perspective shifts, and McKinney folds in a good old-fashioned murder mystery that appears tied to Akira's machinations. As in prior entries, McKinney's worldbuilding is top-notch, and he successfully launches more rattling--and gratifying--surprises than most would expect from a series finale. This brings a superior series to a sharp, startling conclusion. (Dec.)
Booklist Review
McKinney wraps up the Water City trilogy with this exciting sf thriller. The book begins in desperate bleakness: it's been a decade since the events of Eventide, Water City (2023), when nearly the entire human population of Earth was wiped out or turned into zombie-like creatures and the megalomaniac scientist Akira Kimura assumed control of what was left. Now, the series' central character, who remains nameless, passes the torch to his daughter, Ascalon, who must free what remains of humanity and, somehow, return the world to something resembling what it once was. As her grief-stricken father withdraws, Ascalon must use the powers of synesthesia she inherited from him to combat Akira's Gardeners, zombies constructing the villain's imagined world of the future. Few sf trilogies are as ambitious as this one: it began--in 2021's Midnight, Water City--with the world struggling to recover after a near miss with an asteroid. For McKinney, that catastrophe was merely the jumping-off point, and this satisfying conclusion to a magnificent trilogy offers a real treat for sf fans.
