#bookreview: The Blind Pig | Elizabeth Dougherty

The Blind Pig by Elizabeth Dougherty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Living in a world of foodies, it’s hard to imagine the world you’re thrust into in The Blind Pig. Angela Anselm, an investigative journalist, is a firm advocate of the NArc (Nutritional Architecture System). The system, which dispenses artificial food according to your body’s daily needs, has succeeded in eliminating disease and increasing lifespans. The crisis that had resulted in large lines of Americans lining up at clinics waiting to be treated has finally been resolved - even if it was at the cost of taste, texture, variety, and free will. Diabetes, cancer and obesity are all things of the past. When a follower of her struggling nutrition column is found dead of “Cheating”, Angela takes up Lieutenant Potente’s challenge to break into the illegal Cheating/Foodie - world and bring them to justice. Except, what she finds is the opposite of what she expected.

The Blind Pig is a science-fiction novel that invites you to slow down and savour the world that you live in. Whilst the myth of long life and no illnesses is one that sounds inviting at first, the more you learn about it, the more questions arise. Is genetically engineered food good? Are there any other side effects? Would you give up the real thing for a substitute grown in labs that doesn’t taste as good just for the health benefits?

The novel isn’t a quick read. It’s evenly - if a bit slowly - paced. There’s no risky shoot-outs or a lot of running and hiding from the cops. Instead, it’s a steady build-up of risk and trust from Angela’s first exposure to the Foodies, her first Real Meal, her column that’s agitating the system and the overwhelming pressure to choose a side.

Angela tries to be balanced. NArc, for all its faults, has benefited mankind tremendously. But at what cost? On the other hand, real natural (but now illegal) food, if prepared right, has all the nutrition that mankind needs. But is it safe? Living in a food paradise that’s all about taste, I know which way I’d vote.

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#bookreview: Legacy by Ellery Kane

Legacy by Ellery A. Kane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I should probably start this review with the disclaimer that I generally don't like stories written in first person that much and this bias has probably coloured my view of this book. (Well, I liked it enough to give it a 3-star review, though that was somewhat borderline.)

The premise of the book seemed interesting enough. So Lex's mother, Dr. Victoria Knightley, helped create Emovere, an emotion-suppressing drug. There was unrest in SF, with Resistance factions opposing the use of the drugs. But the drugs are actually outlawed - but oh I see, it's being used in the military, especially the Guardian Force. To help the Resistance, Lex has to bring them a flash drive with important information. It all seems very scattered partially due to the filtered information that Lex, the protagonist, has. I usually don't have an issue rewriting the story synopsis based on what I read, but for this one, I really had to go back again to the book blurb and parts of the story to figure out what on earth the premise really was. That's really not good.

Another bugbear I have (besides spotty first-person narratives) is insta-love and insta-trust, probably because I am a suspicious auditor-type person who doesn't trust what anyone says. But other than a bad feeling that Lex has for Augustus Porter, the leader of the Resistance, Lex seems to like and trust everyone. And fall in love immediately with Quin McAllister - loner, bad boy, ex-Guardian Force with a haunting past. Needless to say, there was too much teen romance in this book for me.

*I received a free copy of this book for review purposes from Novel Publicity.

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