Adult / Dystopian
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars
Giving you the time you'll never have. . .
**shiver** In Jason Werbeloff’s The
Solace Pill Omnibus Edition, which collectsThe Solace Pill trilogy into one single volume, readers
are taken into a dystopian world where 3D printing has advanced to having the
capability of scanning and reprinting humans with whatever modifications they desire.
Want to understand quantum physics or have memories of a Caribbean vacation? Reprint
yourself. Want to be young and perfectly sculpted? Reprint yourself. Want to be
fueled and fully rested without wasting time to eat or sleep? Yep, reprint
yourself. With so much time freed-up and
no limits on life expectancy, the world is overpopulated and overworked, and
the solutions provided by 3D imprints are beginning to show their
imperfections. Fortunately, there’s a
pill for that. The Solace Pill allows users to escape reality for fifteen
minutes, but their perception is five hours of relaxation and rejuvenation
without the stress of the real world. But,
as is often the case with seemingly perfect worlds, there is a dark side where some
people and issues are erased with a push of a button, and other people aren’t who
they seem and have hidden motives.
Civilization collapses when tainted pills have disastrous effects of
death, destruction, and mayhem. The few who survive without Solace in their
system must find a cure for those stuck in the Solace induced worlds, but time
and options are running out.
The premise of The
Solace Pill is both fantastic and frighteningly possible. While many of us can barely wrap our minds
about the reality of 3D printing in our world today, certainly there are
scientists who are already considering how to take 3D printing to organic
levels. Much like today, in the future, people are fascinated by that which they have lost – authentic, real, unadulterated
items which they call “tiques.” I found it very interesting to read and see
how the future society, as is typical today, took something good and perverted it: the loopholes
were found, the immoral was done to turn a buck, and the humanity was taken out
of the human. And of course, there was
economic bias created so that not everyone had equal access to imprinting or
the Solace Pills. In this respect, the character of Anders was particularly
intriguing as one of the few who worked his way up from nothing, to seemingly having
it all, yet craving the old ways. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to know
him better, to better understand him and the turning-point of the book.
Jason Werbeloff didn’t hold back any punches
in showing the self-serving, ugliness of people when they are encouraged to be egocentric
and the sense of community is lost. The loathsome Jordan was probably the best written character because he
represented the evil of so-called progress, and he was consistently wicked in
all three sections. The character of
Sahasra was promising but then got weird and confusing in book two with the
introduction without explanation of the elders – I really had no idea what was
going on there. For me, there was also confusion with chapters jumping forward
and backwards in time and some full scenes being identically repeated – this could
be due to the Omnibus edition consolidating three stories, but it was confusing
nonetheless.
Overall, The Solace Pill is a disturbing snapshot
of a feasible future, and it was worth the time to read it. Readers be warned,
though: it will leave more than a few questions unanswered and situations
unexplained, leaving readers feeling foggy. The book includes sexual situations, violence, and profanity.
This book was reviewed for Readers' Favorite, who
provided me a free eBook in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I
give.
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