1 out of 4 stars
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The story of Outland Exile: Book 1 of Old Men and Infidels by W. Clark Boutwell is set in two very distinct dystopian worlds i.e. The Unity and the Outlands. The two are complete opposites: the Outlands depict chaos, the Unity Order; dark and light; barbaric and learned. Or so the Unity indoctrinate their civilians to believe. The two domains are separated by the rampart – an Iron Curtainesque division ensuring protection from one another. The Unity is believed by its citizens to be the ultimate utopia whereby everything is free, there is no internal conflict, and rules are abided by unquestioningly. All reproduction belongs to the state. As a career move, being a parent is something to be placed on a resumé, even though children are not raised by parents, but taught from a young age in crèches.
Second Lieutenant Malila E. Chiu is an officer of the Unity and her career is looking very promising, until an act of vandalism at a Unity station situated in the Outlands forces her on a restoration mission. Upon being sent to the outpost, Malila and her team are ambushed, and she is taken prisoner. Her abductor, Jesse, is an elderly man whom Malila instantly dislikes partly due to her brainwashed view of people older than 40. As is in the Unity, people past this milestone are rendered useless, and are subsequently discarded. Malila and Jesse travel a long and perilous way back to his home, and an unusual bond develops between the two.
The Unity, as described in the book, is very difficult to get a handle on. The portions of the book based here were challenging to follow and understand. The author had a clear view of what was happening in the story but didn’t do a very solid job of conveying this in a comprehensive way. I felt totally lost for the first quarter of the book and struggled to grasp what was going on. As well as the puzzling narrative, the military jargon left me looking up words and disrupting the flow of the story. I found myself rereading pages to try to figure things out. There is a glossary at the end of the book which I thought would have served better if inserted into the storyline. These terms are alien and I had no perspective as to what they meant.
The Outlands, in comparison, were relatable and clear. This could be, in large, due to the fact that the Outlands portray a world that is derived from present day living. The people are warm and considerate. There are homes with families and love. People work and go to school or university. However, this didn’t take away from the uncomfortable mood created by Malila and the ideals that the Unity instilled in her. There are cringe-worthy parts of the book that left me feeling unnerved and awkward. Being called “savages” by the Unity, the Outlanders are anything but. However, when Malila is inserted into this world, she fits that description more aptly with the crude way she behaves.
I didn’t particularly warm to any of the characters. As the lead character, I found Malila to be too aggressive, but at the same time, utterly juvenile. I found that she didn’t evolve as a character enough for me to want to stay invested in her. Jesse is represented as a soft-hearted Christian, but behaves to the contrary. It is not easy to find an individual likeable when they are stripping a girl naked and giving her beatings on occasion. These contradictions correspond to the perplexity of this story.
I found the story very simple in its entirety. There were complexities which I couldn’t quite grasp, but in the end, it is a typical abduction tale with a predictable conclusion. The ending was very abrupt and could have done with either one less, or one more chapter to finalise things. I was a bit stumped when I turned the last page to discover the end. It is understandable knowing that this is the first in a series of books, but I feel a bit cheated.
I can’t see myself recommending this book to anyone. The total lack of understanding I had for large portions of the book leads me to a rating of 1 out of 4. It was a simple story made unlikeable by the complication of the story telling. I felt there could have been much more character development for the main characters. There is also not a lot of information about what led to the meltdown and this would have built a decent foundation as to the behaviours we experience in the book.
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Outland Exile: Book 1 of Old Men and Infidels
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