Tuesday, June 12, 2012

MERGE - YVONNE REID


 About MERGE 
Set in a world still reeling from the discovery of transhumans, MERGE charts the loves, the betrayals, and the struggle for survival as transhumans are rounded up and sent to live in ghettos. Tensions are high, riots are brewing. The human race is about to come undone. 

Written collaboratively by AM Harte, Kit Iwasaki, MCM, and Yvonne Reid, the thirteen-story series will follow four distinct, stand-alone storylines, and will be published in quick succession between May 28–June 18. Only by reading the final installment will you understand how the stories merge.
 


You can follow the blog tour by checking the dates at 1889 Labs.

 

Review
I had already enjoyed reading the work of AM Harte, MCM, and Kit Iwasaki when I heard about the MERGE project, so I was delighted to draw Yvonne Reid as a subject for review. I had no experience of anything she’d done, and I began reading with high hopes. By chance, the order I had loaded her three stories meant I began reading ‘The Beggar’s Run’, the third part of Yvonne’s trio of stories, first.
It opens on a scene my imagination took straight out of Blade Runner’, with bounty hunter Harrison [see the link?] drinking, depressed, and staring at a ‘sky turning to rust with smoke in the air’. It was hot but he felt cold, he was injured, and he had no heart for the work he had to do.
Each story in the Merge package stands alone and it was easy enough to read and enjoy ‘The Beggar’s Run’ from a cold start, but when I went back and read each story in order, I found Harrison was not as much like Deckard as I’d thought. Luckily, there were enough similarities in the characters and action to allow me to keep my comfortable image of his face and his city as I returned to the first story, “Long Way Down” and began to read again.
Long Way Down begins with a more motivated Harrison introducing himself as a homicide detective and following instructions that come through an earpiece. Only after he meets and speaks with his target do we begin to understand that he is not a policeman, and that his actions - counting the floors of a building, jamming the lift doors open, bluffing his way past questions - are the hunting skills that go with his job: finding and ‘relocating’ transhumans to the ghettoes ‘for their own good’.
In a short space of time we understand some of what it is like to be transhuman, why some transhumans might choose not to be relocated, and that Harrison is not as cold and efficient as he first seems. There is also the hint that there are dangers far greater than privateers like Harrison.






The second installment, Evil, True Evil takes us deeper into the moral quagmire Harrison has to negotiate. The policy of isolating transhumans tears families apart, and transhuman children are both dangerously unpredictable and pitifully innocent. Ramos Vasquez is only a little boy, afraid for his mother if he’s taken away, and shattered by guilt, believing God has cursed him for being naughty. In this story, however, Harrison comes face to face with someone more evil than little Ramos could ever imagine.



 Then back to "The Beggar’s Run". It is easier this time to understand Harrison’s depression and the bitter taste his job leaves in his mouth. He is injured. He feels a failure. He isn’t in any shape to manage even the simplest job. This is, of course, when fate forces him to take on the hardest task he could imagine. He cannot rest to let his body heal and he cannot afford to fail.
With the backstory securely in place and the characters all familiar, this story more than the others is pure action and adrenaline. Adrenaline is, after all, the only thing Harrison has to keep him moving. From the moment he realizes what he has to do, time is against him and the decaying city has to be crossed, somehow. He has always relied on security cameras, endlessly uploading to the net, to do his job. Now those same cameras leave him nowhere to hide, and there is evil stalking him every step of the way to the gates of the sanctuary.


Since I read these three stories by Yvonne Reid, I have taken the opportunity to download the other stories from MERGE: Week one. None of them were disappointing. I, for one, cannot wait for the rest of the collection to be released. 






About 1889 Labs
1889 Labs is an independent publisher dedicated to producing the best strange fiction conceivable by the human brain. Catering to a specific demographic of men and women between the ages of 3 and 97, we print everything from kids books to serious stories for adults. Our goal is to bring you on an amazing adventure onscreen and off. We hope you’ll take us up on the offer. For more information and our full list of titles, visit http://1889.ca.
Disclosure
It is important to note that I write a monthly book review for 1889 Labs which is provided free, and I have not received any payment or incentive for agreeing to review titles from the MERGE series.

Giveaways
  • Brand new iPad plus ecopies of the entire MERGE series
  • Ecopies of the entire MERGE series plus a $10 Amazon/iTunes voucher
  • Ecopies of 4 MERGE stories plus a $10 Amazon/iTunes voucher
For information on how to enter, go to MERGE.

8 comments:

  1. Harrison does sound like a complex character and that is what makes him interesting. I like how all the stories will show different angles of him, from a depressed one to a motivated one. Plus as a bounty hunter he's sure to face some exciting moments. Thanks for the review.

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    1. Plus, I always think having an image of a young, fit Harrison Ford in mind is a bonus.

      Regards,
      Ellie.

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  2. I have been taking the Blog Tour when I can, since I am too busy right now. I ahave also bought the compilations to read as soon as I can (a couple of weeks from now, I hope). And I must say reviews such as yours make me itch with impatience!

    I have found the guest articles by authors very interesting, but I love me one good review every day of the week. So, thanks!

    Also, I find it very amusing that you constantly picture an actor in one of the roles. I have always thought that would be a nice trick for writers to use, have one actor or actress in mind and play woth that character accordingly. Until, of course, as a writer you decide otherwise!

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    1. Hi Vincente,

      I often picture an actor when I read - maybe because I watch so many movies.

      An author I have read, Joe Gotham, used your idea in his novel 'Come With Your Shades On'. Each time he introduced a new character, he described them and what they were wearing, and he likened each one to an actor. I have never seen it done before and I quite liked it. The book is lighthearted, so he could get away with being a bit cheeky in his writing.

      I hope you enjoy the rest of the MERGE series. I know I did.

      Regards,
      Ellie.

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  3. really great reviews.. the first time i've heard about the series, i've been itching to read the second installment Evil, True Evil. but your post made me wanna read the whole series from the very beginning. Harrison seems very complicated but he is as human as i think anyone who's been assigned a task like his can be. I can almost feel the adrenaline from the main character. this series excites me! LOL

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    1. The first week [all I've read so far] is great. It takes four different storylines from the same environment and after three weeks, 12 stories, the final one on Monday brings all the different storylines together.

      It's a really good idea. I think there are bonus stories included in some of the story bundles, too.
      I'll read through from beginning to end once they are all available.

      Glad you enjoyed the reviews.:)
      Regards,
      Ellie.

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  4. Great stories and Harrison is very interesting character. I think these stories could be great screenplays for movies with David Cronenberg as director.

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    1. OH yes! Good idea.

      And now that Harrison Ford is a bit too old for Leo Harrison, Cronenberg could use his favourite, Viggo Mortensen. Now, I'd watch that!

      Regards,
      Ellie.

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