The Gift From Aelius by Michael Colon

The Gift From Aelius by Michael Colon
Publisher: TWB Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In the not-too distant future, A191, a Codex with artificial intelligence, feels like a misfit in Paradise, a walled city in the middle of an endless desert where humans imprisoned his race long ago. He’s not like the others of his kind; he longs to meet humans and make peace with them so man and Codexes can be reunited in the world. These thoughts and feelings are not allowed in Paradise; he risks banishment to the desert by the Overseer A. I. who rules by fear and force. Complicating matters, A191 has a glitch in his programming that conjures up a human boy named Aelius who tells him to go to Old Haven where he will find freedom. However, he’s drafted into a rebellion against the Overseer, and as Paradise enforcers close in with orders to terminate him, he escapes the city to wander the desert in search of humans. The journey reveals the truth about his existence, the Overseer’s lies, and the consequences of mankind’s untethered technology.

Freedom is a gift.

There were some great plot twists in this tale that kept my interest level high. I liked the way Mr. Colon foreshadowed them gently while also trusting his audience to take note of what was going on. Hints don’t need to be strong in order to be effective, and this was a good example of how to assume the best about one’s readers and what we’re capable of picking up by ourselves.

I found myself wishing for stronger character development. Characters made decisions that I didn’t always understand, and I would struggle to describe most of their personalities in detail. While I wouldn’t expect everyone to be as well developed as A191, it would have been nice to know more about the habits, beliefs, and quirks of the supporting cast. This was even more true in the final third of the book when decisions that were made earlier began to have serious consequences for the storyline.

The world building was strong and intriguing. I was especially interested in how Paradise monitored, repaired, and occasionally replaced the robots in its society. They had strict protocols for just about anything that could go wrong with one of their artificial intelligence units, and I was impressed by how quickly the system responded to anything that didn’t fit their parameters.

The Gift From Aelius made me wish for a sequel. This was my first experience reading this author, but I hope there will be plenty more to come in the future!