#BookReview: Our Only Chance by Ray Else

by MK French

Manaka Yagami is the first female tech millionaire, and she had started as a grad student interested in imprinting memories onto brains. One of her supervisors drafted her into his project, and soon the world's first AI was born. Einna is like Manaka's daughter, and she wants to make sure that the Yakuza can't use her tech for untoward purposes. Einna, however, has plans to better mankind and be more human.

Amazon affiliate links are used in this post. A free book was provided for an honest review.

March 2017; ELSE; 978-0996507134
ebook, print (300 pages); science fiction

The themes in the novel are very poetic, but I found it hard to get past the language style. Sentences are broken up and choppy, often fragmented thoughts, and it was difficult to get a feel for any of the main characters.

Perhaps Manaka is supposed to be more standoffish, but it was difficult to care about her struggles. The background characters and Einna were more engaging, and their sections of the novel did seem to flow a lot better.

There isn't a neat ending to the novel, so it almost feels like a let down at the end. All of the characters had their own agendas, even Einna, though her naivete means that she has good intentions behind them. She doesn't explain herself, and the very dry tone of the book is a stark contrast to the sudden chaos at the end. On top of that, it all came to an abrupt stop. I'm not sure if this is meant to have a sequel, but I don't find the story engaging enough to read a follow-up.

 Buy Our Only Chance at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and golden retriever.

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