FREEDOM'S PRISONERS by Katrina Mountfort

5 out of 5 stars

Part 3: SciFi trilogy

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

Rather than explain what this book is about, I suggest you read my review of part one, Future Perfect, which is HERE, and explains all about the world Katrina Mountfort has created.  In short, though, it's a SciFi trilogy set in the UK (now known as State Eleven), starting in the year 2181, after the planet as we knew it was devastated by a virus. I realised after I'd read the first part that it's YA, but it's one of those YA series that doesn't seem to be particularly of that genre, and some of the main characters are much older, too, so don't let that put you off if you're over 18! 

One of the things I really appreciated about this book is the author's clever assessment of what technology would be like nearly 200 years from now, having read other books set in the future in which the world building has been less convincing.  In this third part of the trilogy we find out what life is like in France, where the new post-apocalyptic society is working out, unlike in State Eleven where it is cruelly divided into Outsiders and the citizens of the Citidomes, where life is regulated and many limitations are in place.  It was really fun to read, especially as 18 year old Joy discovers so much of which she knew nothing; the old and new worlds have merged so well.

Freedom's Prisoners is an adventure, an exciting and frightening one much of the time, and quite a page-turner.  The characterisation is great; it's told from the points of view of mother Cathy, who escaped from the Citidome when she was pregnant with Joy; of her daughter Suna who has lived in the Citidome all her life, and of Joy, who has only known the rough and ready, precarious but very real life on the 'outside'.

This is a terrific trilogy, not just as a story, but also because it tells alot about human nature, and about the possible (and worrying) development of some of our race's less likeable traits.  Very clever and well thought out, I'd recommend it to anyone who likes these sort of books, and to those who think they don't, too! 

There is a link to my review the second part, Forbidden Alliance, on the same page as my review of Future Perfect, above.

 

FORBIDDEN ALLIANCE by Katrina Mountfort

4.5 out of 5 stars

Futuristic YA drama, 2nd part of trilogy

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

I started reading this as soon as it came out, because I loved the first part, Future Perfect, so much.

Cathy's family live in one of the village communities on outside State 11, formerly the UK, in the year 2189 when the 'chosen' people live a sterile and human emotion/attachment free life inside Chinese controlled Citidomes.  Cathy and her husband, Michael, escaped from one of these in the first volume of the Blueprint trilogy; now, we are sixteen/seventeen years down the line, and Cathy is a mother of three, including sixteen year old Joy.

Forbidden Alliance is told in alternating chapters from the points of view of Cathy and Joy.  Their personalities are satsifyingly different; Joy is much more self-confident, outspoken and adventurous than Cathy ever was at her age.  Occasionally I got confused and would think, "Eh?  Oh, yes, this is Cathy's chapter" but I think that's only because the chapters are quite short and the same large cast of characters features all through the book.  The main theme running through the book for Joy is her sometimes heartbreaking love for Harry, a boy she has known since childhood who lives on the canals ~ theirs is (one of) the forbidden alliance(s) of the title, as her father is obsessed with the repopulation of the communities; this obsession causes pain and worry to Cathy, who is frustrated with her life.

The way in which the old ways of life emerge in the communities outside the Citidomes is absorbing, as is the difference between the 'normal' people and the Citidome residents after Michael's organisation executes an escape plan to free some of them.  

The story is as well thought out, entertaining and thought provoking as the first in the series, and I very much look forward to reading the next one; that's me with my fingers drumming on the table!  Recommended for all lovers of books about future worlds, whether you're a 'young adult' (YA!) or not!  You do need to read the first book, though; this is not a stand alone.

FUTURE PERFECT by Katrina Mountfort reviewed HERE

FUTURE PERFECT (Blueprint Trilogy book 1) by Katrina Mountfort

5 GOLD STARS

Sci-Fi post-apocalyptic drama

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team

I LOVED this book!  Read it over a period of 24 hours, hated having to put it down.

The story takes place in year 2181.  120 years after various events that devastated the world as we know it, the chosen people of 'State 11', formerly the UK, reside in 'Citidomes', in which their lives are easy, comfortable - and controlled.  Residents live not in families or couples but with their selected 'resmates', and aspire to join the BodyPerfect clan: women who look like anorexic supermodels, men so metrosexual they are no longer masculine.  Televisual entertainment has returned to the age of baying crowds and gladiators with non-stop reality shows in which those not conforming to Citidome standards are cruelly mocked.  Bodily 'imperfections' are considered a sign of inferiority, emotion is discouraged; residents have 'connections' rather than friends.  There is no religion, no creativity, no literature, and sex is outlawed, seen as dirty.  Children are created by artificial means only.  Details of the country's history is available from the 'Knowledge Fountain', but there is little information available about life before the Citidomes.  However, underneath all this shallow perfection and unquestioning conformity there is a rumbling of discontent; the 'subversive thinkers' want to discover the truth, and find out if life on the outside is really as savage as they are told...

I suppose this is the modern '1984'!  Aside from being entertaining, it all seemed frighteningly possible, especially when I found out, later, what really happened to the UK back in 2065.  I'm very interested in the way the population can be controlled by those in power, in ways more underhand and seemingly innocuous than many imagine (who needs Big Brother when you have the internet?), and how quickly what once seemed to be a ludicrous idea can very quickly become accepted as the norm.  This book is a brilliant portrayal of subtle mind control.

Of course, a great story is only as good as the way it's told, and this is SO well written, the superficial atmosphere and hidden horror of life in State 11 Citidomes told so artfully.  Once the book moves outside (to what was Derbyshire), I loved reading Ms Mountfort's vision of a country left to its own devices for over a hundred years, and how her Citidome residents discovered the old, forgotten ways of their ancestors.

Although the main character, Caia, is only seventeen, I didn't realise the book came under the heading 'YA' until I came to write the review; there's certainly plenty to think about in it that I perhaps wouldn't have seen if I'd read it when I was sixteen!  

A terrific novel, I'm so glad it came my way and, Katrina Mountfort, this is me hassling you for the next one in the series NOW!

FORBIDDEN ALLIANCE by Katrina Mountfort reviewed HERE