Government is worthless and limited, Corporations are evil, security firms are mixed (but mainly evil). This story is told mainly by characters who are at the lowest levels of a strict hierarchal society. I found the world building to interesting and well thought-out. Unfortunately I found this dystopian future too bleak and the character narratives too numerous to be enjoyable to read.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book once i got fully into it. It’s so easy to fully love or hate the characters immensely. The story is scary, believable, and so unique. So glad I came across this book and looking forward to more.

Set in the future where the Legacy governments are failing, Complexes are rising and AI is integrated in everyone's lives. You can live on the dole through Legacy, or sign your life away with a contract with a Complex.

This dystopian story is told from multiple viewpoints. Each telling a small part of the whole story until they eventually mesh together.

Val and Kat are orphans. At nineteen, Val struggles to raise her sister and when she is abducted in the night she will do anything to find her.

Trevor is eighteen and wiz at circumventing the system. Earning a living changing peoples social score, that limits their access to higher levels of ARC.

Ray is an assassin for PerSense Civilian Defense Complex, he believes in every mission and dedicated to his job. 'To rain fire and death. To cut Legacy off at the knees. To drive subscription, at whatever cost.'

Riku 'Chief' Ogunwe is an ArcSec CPX Chief contracted by Legacy. He enjoys the military life and protecting people. He's also in love with a widow from level one who refuses his help to move her and her son to level three.

Val is desperate to find her sister and falls into a nasty situation to get a scrap of a lead, but it also allowed her to cross paths with Trevor. Trevor and Val go down the rabbit hole to find her sister, not realizing how connected it is to a big and sinister plot to take down Legacy.

Complex is the prefect title to this story as there is so many layers. As we read the various viewpoints it isn't clear at first how they will all intersect but all is revealed in time.

It can be a bit jumpy as it switches viewpoints and scenes. There's a familiarity to some of the story arcs, reminding me of other books and the nagging question of how the world got to that point and how the AI doesn't know everything since they send communications through their comms but I still found it an interesting read.

I received an ARC copy and am voluntarily leaving a review. That said I expect any editing issues will be resolved before publishing. If you like my reviews I hope you will follow my blog. https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

I like thick books, and I cannot lie. ;) This was a dense, lengthy book!

"Complex" is very much set in a dystopian, highly futuristic world in which the government has failed, and mega-tech companies have evolved to form small nation-states called Complexes that essentially own you if you sign their contracts for protection and shelter. Some of the themes can definitely feel similar to our current world.

The story follows Val, who is trying to keep her younger sister Kat safe and heed her dad's dying wish of never joining a Complex. After her sister ends up getting abducted, the hidden truth of the Complexes starts to come to light as Val searches for her sister, and leaves Val with a horrible choice to make.

I absolutely love dystopian, cyberpunk-esque books, and the plot of this book really made me excited. However, the ending was absolutely a disappointment. I totally understand that this is the first book of a series, but the ending was completely rushed and would have rather seen some more dedication to the ending instead of some of the narratives in the beginning of the book that were a little unnecessary.

This was a promising book, and while I was disappointed in the end, I will most likely read the sequel.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Complex

Author: A.D. Enderly

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: sci-fi lovers

Publication Date: November 17, 2020

Genre: Sci-Fi

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, DNFed

Publisher: Luminary Media

Pages: 700

Synopsis: The sky rains red, the poor are forgotten, governments have failed, and corporations have grown into mini nation-states called Complexes, where people flock to receive the security, shelter, and purpose the outside world can’t provide. The only payment required, buried somewhere in the twenty-thousand-page Terms of Service, is their freedom.

Now just sign on the dotted line…

Orphaned after her father’s death, 18-year-old Val’s focus is to protect her younger sister Kat and heed her father’s final wishes: Never, ever join a Complex. Stay away from them, at all costs, he demands.

But staying away becomes impossible when Kat is abducted, sparking a hunt through a violent megacity primed for revolution, where Val eventually discovers her sister’s disappearance is just a smokescreen. Beneath it lies a motive darker than death and broader in scope than a few lives.

As Val and her allies uncover the truth, they’re confronted with a terrible choice – save Kat, or save humanity?

Review: I had to DNF this book. It seems so interesting and I absolutely want to return to it one day, but the book wasn’t interesting to me when reading it and I just felt bored with the storyline.

Verdict: Not for me but maybe for you!

This book has a decent plot, but honestly I couldn’t get into it after several times of trying. Maybe I’ll try and pick it back up and try again some time in the future.

Complex is set in a future dystopian society that is not beyond the scope of imagination. Since you can find a plot summary elsewhere, I will not include one here. I liked A.D. Enderly’s world building and major characters seemed realistic and it was easy to understand their motivations. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I do have a couple of issues with it. The first, is relatively minor, I kind of get tired of the corporations are evil trope. For much of the book this was an underlying premise, and I was okay with that. The second issue is also minor, the formatting of the kindle edition was off, with random lines skipped in the middle of sentences and paragraphs pushed together. I did read an early edition so it’s quite possible it will be corrected in the published version. My last issue started to become apparent when I was about 85% of the way done with the book and began to wonder how the author was going to wrap everything up in the remaining pages. I assumed it would be either a rushed ending or there would be a sequel. I was not particularly happy about either prospect. The answer was number two, a sequel. Amazon lists the book as the first book in the Silent Beautiful Universe series and if I had purchased the book I would have known it was the first of a series, so I would not have had an issue with that. That being said a sequel is better than a rushed ending, but I would rather have had a complete ending rather than the half ending I got. Regardless, I read this almost 600 page book in 5 days, so it definitely has something going for it.

This book was provided to me as an ARC by NetGalley, Luminary Media, and the author, A.D. Enderly, in exchange for an honest review, and I thank them for the opportunity.

Well, I quite liked the idea of the story...be free or be supported by the government. I am sure it speaks to many of the fears readers are experiencing these days. But, it took what seemed like forever to get acclimated to this world creation. A little more background on characters might have been helpful but unsure of how I would have organized the information. I was more than 25% through the book before I felt like I had a comfort level cf connection to the story (almost gave up). It moved a little quicker after that and gave me a little more meat to become interested in the outcome of the main characters. A fine read if you have patience.

I received the book before its official publication and I do not regret it. Very good reading that makes you think. The story is interesting and although there are others similar in this genre, Complex has its own shine and strength. I will expect new books from the author!

Overall, this was decent... it was VERY long and maybe I am just not used to reading books this long? Also, I got confused trying to keep up with all the different characters’ points of view. The concept, however, was super interesting for sure!

Complex Vby A.D. Enderly | 01 Dec 2020|Luminary Media

You can live free and get by, maybe. Or you can sign on with a complex and be taken care of. The only cost is your freedom.

Complex is a dystopian post-cyberpunk debut from A.D. Enderly, set in a future where governments provide “Legacy” support for the population but only at barely survivable levels. The complexes are the logical extension of today’s large mega-tech companies, where signing your rights away puts you under their care, but ironically, essentially makes you their slave…and therefore not cared about.

Val and her sister, Kat, are scraping by as they follow their father’s dying request; never join a complex. Only one complex has other ideas. Mining big data for DNA, it sees potential in Kat’s genetic makeup and snatches her for a life extension study, one in which they’ve never had a subject survive. Val, desperate to get her sister back at any cost, doesn’t realize that it’s going to take a revolution.

The good news about Complex is that the world-building is first-rate, full of societal tiers and nuanced characters. The bad news is that it’s a much bigger book than it needed to be. At over 500 pages it tends to wander a bit before getting the job done. Still, it’s an impressive debut and it looks like there’s more of the story to tell. The complex that Kat has been taken by is run by Cairo, the most powerful AI around, and it has plans for humanity that will only be revealed as the series goes on.

Brutally honest review: Could not finish. It didn’t seem to GO anywhere. None of the main characters were particularly relatable and I couldn’t find myself giving a cr*p about any of them enough to finish the book.

Won’t be submitting a book review to GoodReads out of respect for the author, as the plot was pretty interesting.

This quite lengthy book was provided to me as an ARC by NetGalley, Luminary Media and the author, A.D. Enderly, in exchange for an honest review, and I am thankful for their courtesy.

Off the bat, after only a couple of pages at the beginning, it becomes quite clear that “Complex” is a highly ambitious piece of contemporary science fiction literature. Not to mention that this is authors’ first book.

As such, the book tells a story of sisterly love as its’ main plot line, combined with the stories of many side characters, that often led to some confusion, and felt somewhat hard to keep up with each individual story. These characters and their stories, however, were meaningful. One character was falsely promised a better life and a cure for his loved one. Another character served (or worked in) a Complex, but knew how corrupt it actually was. A recruiter for a Complex, a security officer, a Legacy official etc. each had their own chapters.

As all science fiction that is set in dystopia, this book also has some classic tropes that can be found in the genre: super high-tech mega cities, an urban, clean but repressive, dark metropolis filled with all kinds of people. A lot of those people are suppressed, impoverished, fighting for a better future in a society ruled by the powerful few, who just don’t care for simple people, sitting and ruling high in their skyscrapers.

However, this is NOT a bad thing, as the author used these tropes in a good fashion, and his writing is on par with other modern, more popular science fiction authors.

Is this book perfect? No, it isn’t, but in my opinion there are more good parts than bad ones.

Some issues include: questionable pacing, sudden scene and location transitions, and the world could have been better if there was more description to it, and in that regard, a Complex was in better detail described than a mega city.

All in all, this is a good book, the author is promising, and I believe his next book will be even better, for sure.

At times the story almost raised itself to 3.5 or 4 stars but never quite lifted itself up. An interesting concept of how future societies will be lived with the stark differences between the lower and even medium class of society and what some future technology will allow. A few too many first person POV characters weighed the story down.

I was fascinated with this view of the future. Is this possible? Yes. It's a well written book. I enjoyed the main characters and the trials and tribulations of their life.

A novel of scope and ambition on the inherent evils of machine intelligence. If humanity doesn’t destroy itself, it will allow itself to be destroyed by its own creation. The idea isn’t new, but the world created here is raw and new. The extensive universe built is impressive. The web of characters was broad and, at times, daunting, and working through the socio-political morass was almost overwhelming.

The length of the work wasn’t an issue and I think I might have enjoyed it more if it had concentrated on one story line with a bit more depth instead of dividing itself so evenly across the plot lines. I definitely would have appreciated more back story on the evolution of the churches and their amalgamation.

I definitely was NOT prepared for the twist at the very end, but it probably will have me coming back for round two.

Complex is a dystopian novel and has an interesting concept. We are dropped into a world without context and that needed a bit more background.

The world is split into Legacy states and Complexes. Legacy states are remanent of old societies and support lower tier citizens. Complexes are societies that run like companies.

There is POV changes that follow different types of people and levels of society. It is somewhat slow paced and picked up when Kat gets kidnapped. Seeing Val struggle is also an interesting aspect.

Overall Complex is an interesting book and I am curious to see what A D Enderly writes next.

Complex, written by A.D. Enderly, is a dystopian science fiction novel like I've never seen before. It's dark and brooding, and takes all the time needed to explore the concepts portrayed within.

The government has failed. All governments have failed. They are gone, leaving behind unrest and a constant feeling of danger. People are doing the best they can to survive despite all of that. Hence why Complexes have become so popular.

Complexes are small city nations which claim to protect it's people, while truly treating them more like serfs than actual human beings. That is why Val's father made her promise never to join one, or to allow her sister to either.

However, some promises are made to be broken, and Val won't have much of a choice once her sister has gone missing. Who else will have the power to search for one missing girl. Unfortunately, the problem gets even more complicated as time goes on.

“The insidious, prematurely aged face, filled with ugly rage and a dark hunger, animated the empty space in Val's mind.”

Complex is a rich and detailed novel, one that really does add a double meaning to the name. It may be referring to the Complexes within the tale, but it actually is an accurate description for the novel itself as well. I kind of love that.

It took me a while to get into this book, if I'm being completely honest. It took me even longer to get through it, as there is so much content and details to dig through. In the end, it did prove to be a worthwhile read.

One with bucket loads of commentary and more. Val's adventure was dark and harrowing at times, and fascinating at many others. The implications surrounding Complexes can't be avoided, and yet I adored the little pockets of hope spotted throughout.

Overall, Complex was a well-written novel. I know that some people may struggle to get into it, like I myself did. I would say to persevere, as it really does become worth it in the end. I promise.

This is an excellent read. The story was fast moving. The characters were well defined and very relatable.
I was reading along and suddenly I knew where the stories location was. When Strawberry Hill to the Paseo was mentioned, it allowed me to visualize the setting. I really enjoyed the story.

Note: a layover map would have been nice.

Thanks to the author for writing this fine piece.

Go Jayhawks!!

I received a free advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

Complex, by AD Enderly, is a dystopian novel that posits a world in which most people live in Legacy states, which are the remains of old societies, but Complexes, societies run like corporations, are on the rise and enticing Legacy citizens to transfer over. Legacies support lower tier citizens with free incentives to stay whereas Complexes require all members to work.

Against this social backdrop we follow a number of people from different types and stratum of society who seem to have nothing in common. Complex starts off slow, letting us get to know the characters and the world they live in, but speeds up when the younger of two sisters gets kidnapped for no apparent reason. This is a long novel, nearly 600 pages, with a lot of bad actors creating a truly dark and threatening atmosphere. The middle section contains a lot of vivid detail as Val tries to locate her younger sister Kat and recruits help along the way.

While this book is stand alone, there's obviously going to be a series and this book is a fantastic setup for the series. I enjoyed most of this book and loved the last 200 pages. It's very gritty and told mostly from the point of view of the lower rungs of the socioeconomic scale which gives it a desperate, intense quality that really grips the reader. The sheer menace near the end really ramps up the need for a sequel. I hope Enderly is working on one.