Existence Augmented by Channing Whitaker

Existence Augmented by Channing Whitaker
Publisher: Off Speed Press (Self-Published)
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (50 pages)
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Existence Augmented is a dystopian, sci-fi novelette and psychological thriller. The world outside is cold, hostile, and virtually lifeless. Human existence depends on sophisticated, technological living compounds. The people who don’t have them, once driven to theft and murder, are believed to be long since dead. Alden, a genius of physical and computer engineering, spends his time tending his hydroponics garden, maintaining and improving the complex systems critical to survival, and, in turn, continually refining the pleasant life he’s created with his wife, Laurel. On a day like any other, everything is following Alden’s plans until the power begins to fail…

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Alden’s character development was phenomenal. His flaws were so realistic that I actually found myself feeling a little irritated with some of his shortcomings at first. He was so well-rounded that I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn’t an autobiography. On the positive side, his strengths were written just as vividly. When he spoke kindly to his plants or worried about his loved ones, I smiled and hoped that nothing but good things would happen to him and his kin.

There was only one small thing I would have liked to see differently done in this tale, and that had to do with the pacing of it. So much time was spent setting up the beginning that there wasn’t quite as much space left to explore the incredibly clever plot twists later on as I would have preferred to see. With that being said, this was a minor criticism of something I otherwise loved quite a bit.

The world building was just as excellent as the character development. Alden lived in a cramped home where he had find space to filter his water, grow his own food, and provide for nearly all of his other needs as well. When he felt overwhelmed by the breakdown of equipment he needed to survive or once again noted the lack of space in his house for anything that wasn’t essential, I shuddered in sympathy.

Existence Augmented is a must-read for anyone who enjoys plots that are full of surprises.