The Dark Court by Vyvyan Evans



The Dark Court by Vyvyan Evans
Publisher: Nephilim Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rated: 5 stars
Reviewed by Rose

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

A genre-blending dystopian, sci-fi mystery-thriller that will make you think about communication in a whole new way.

Five years after the Great Language Outage, lang-laws have been repealed, but world affairs have only gotten worse. The new automation agenda has resulted in a social caste system based on IQ. Manual employment is a thing of the past, and the lowest soc-ed class, the Unskills, are forced into permanent unemployment.

In a world on the brink of civil war, a deadly insomnia pandemic threatens to kill billions. Lilith King, Interpol’s most celebrated detective, is assigned to the case.

Together with a sleep specialist, Dr. Kace Westwood, Lilith must figure out who or what is behind this new threat. Could the pandemic be the result of the upskilling vagus chips being offered to the lowest soc-ed class? Or are language chips being hacked? And what of the viral conspiracy theories by the mysterious Dark Court, sweeping the globe? Lilith must work every possible angle, and quickly: she is running out of time!

While attempting to stop a vast conspiracy on an intergalactic scale, Lilith also faces shocking revelations about her origin, coming to terms with her own destiny.

This book is the second in the series that explores and warns of what could possibly happen in our near future society. You can read our five-star review of the first book in the series here. Rather than a language outage, this book focuses on a deadly pandemic that seems to be targeting the lowest socioeconomic group…those who have been deemed from testing at birth to be Unskills, permanently unemployed.

Even though it’s the second book in the series, THE DARK COURT can very much stand on its own as it takes place several years after the events of the first book; however, I strongly recommend reading them in order because, while the majority of the book can be understood, the ending will make a lot more sense if you are familiar with the first book.

THE DARK COURT, as does the first book, offer a cautionary tour, but also reaches out beyond our current technology and into more of a sci-fi bend. I really liked this as well as the deeper view of what is going on behind the scenes and the part that Lilith plays in them.

I loved Kace and Lilith and their interactions together. Without giving away an spoilers, I really hope I’ll be able to see them in future books.

This is truly a book that is almost impossible to put down, and I was lucky as I got to read it during a storm when I was without power and internt..no distractions, which I absolutely loved!

There is only one problem with reading a book like this… now I have to wait patiently for the next book in the series!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Babel Apocalypse by Vyvyan Evans

The Babel Apocalypse by Vyvyan Evans
Publisher: Nephilim Publishing
Genre: Science Fiction
Rated: 5 stars
Review by Rose

Language is no longer learned, but streamed to neural implants regulated by lang-laws. Those who can’t afford language streaming services are feral, living on the fringes of society. Big tech corporations control language, the world’s most valuable commodity.

But when a massive cyberattack causes a global language outage, catastrophe looms.

Europol detective Emyr Morgan is assigned to the case. His prime suspect is Professor Ebba Black, the last native speaker of language in the automated world, and leader of the Babel cyberterrorist organization. But Emyr soon learns that in a world of corporate power, where those who control language control everything, all is not as it seems.

As he and Ebba collide, Emyr faces an existential dilemma between loyalty and betrayal, when everything he once believed in is called into question. To prevent the imminent collapse of civilization and a global war between the great federations, he must figure out friend from foe—his life depends on it. And with the odds stacked against him, he must find a way to stop the Babel Apocalypse.

This is an intriguing book with an all-too-real feel to the premise of technology gone wrong. I’ve often daydreamed about the ability to learn a new language without having to study…kind of a built-in universal translator, if you will. The thing about advancements is that sometimes they lead to a slippery slope.

In this case, that slippery slope leads to a world in which it is mandated that babies be implanted with a chip at birth that forms language for them. And, for a price, you can add on all kinds of services to your streaming language.

With only one person left in the world who has never been chipped, the stage is set for this story. And, what a character she is. Ebba Black is the leader of a group that is trying to reclaim, in a sense, what has been lost. And Emyr Morgan, a Europol detective, has been assigned to discover who is behind a massive cyberattack that makes many unable to talk or understand language.

I really liked both of these characters. I enjoyed the way they interacted and the relationship between them. This book had me turning pages as fast as I could read and had so many twists and turns, I was never sure what was going to happen next.

It’s the first book in the Songs of the Saga series, and I’m looking forward to reading the upcoming books. Be aware, The Babel Apocalypse ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but don’t let that stand in your way. This book is very much worth it! 5 stars

a Rafflecopter giveaway