Evolving Elizah: Initiatum

The main characters are interesting, as this appears to be a set up for a series. The backstories and world building were done well.

the re-intro of the brother was a little jarring and ending abrupt, but sets up the reader for the next story.

Good premise, I like the scifi twist with older younger in their mid late 20s early 30s characters. Would love for more world building but im looking forward to what's next.
#CJHall #NetGalley

3.5 stars - solid, for fans of thoughful post-apocalyptic novels

Earth has become an increasingly hostile environment after several natural desasters that culminated in a supervolcano eruption. Now plants do not grow on the surface any longer and agriculture has been moved to large spaceships whose crew brings their grown food down to depots on earth. Were it not for the "New Generation", a movement of those left behind on Earth and whose goals we do not really know yet but who (in the beginning) seem to be quite the stereotypical bad guys who terrorize the remaining humans earthside with raiding parties.

This is the story of Elizah, or "Z", an orphan who has earned a reputation as a pilot on one of the space ships and who is grappling with the trauma of losing her mother and brother, being faced with a possible extinction of humans and the role that the New Generation might play in all of this. As is to be expected, as the story progresses we understand that things are more complicated than we (and Elizah) have been assuming.

This book is written in the present tense which is not my favourite and makes for a read that can be clunky and awkward at times. For me, it does not really work here.
But where this story shines are the reflections on how fragile a society becomes when recources become so scarce and the world so hostile. How people try to deal with their fears and trauma, some of them turning to violence, some trying to keep their humanity. And how important truly connecting with other human beings becomes in such circumstances, how comforting a friendly soul or a story told can be.

In this regard this book reminded me a little of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, but it does lack the beauty and effortlessness that makes Station Eleven so touching.

Also, there are some pretty significant holes in the logic here. Like, resources have become so very scarce but still people built huge spaceships to grow their food on instead of going underground for example. Also, each ship can only feed some thousands of people - that does not sound like a very good payoff to the investment. And a researcher is on the cusp of discovering time travel, which speaks for a very advanced society but on the other hand the people living on the space ships seem to have rather limited technology at their hands ...

Nevertheless, this has been an enjoyable read and I can recommend this one to anyone enjoying post-apocalyptic reflections on humans and societies. I understand that this is the first part of a series and I would definitely return to this world to find out how the story continues!

Evolving Elizah: Initiatum
by C J Hall

After a volcanic eruption that caused the end of the ability to grow things on earth, Elizah moves to a new space farm station called Green Grow 3. She is a trained shuttle pilot, making regular visits to earth stations and returning to the space farm. One time, she picks up 52 survivors that are in danger of being murdered by the fanatical terrorist group New Generation.

Elizah is put into quarantine with the 52 survivors, dubbed Liz's 52, while the Council on board the space farm decides what to do with the survivors and with Elizah (Liz), herself.

They find out there are spies aboard Green Grow 3, who will stop at nothing to kill everyone there.

The book was pretty good, I lost interest near the beginning, several times. There is room for developing characters along the way. This is a stand-alone book but seems like the way is left open to continue on with a series.

I received a complimentary copy from #netgalley and #ingramspark and was under no obligation to post a review. Reviewed on Kobo, BN, Powells, ThriftBooks, LibraryThing, Amazon, Goodreads, Alibris, Chapters, Ebay, and many others.