Official Review: True Age by Liv Byron

sahmoun2778 · Post by **sahmoun2778** » 21 Apr 2015, 20:16

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "True Age" by Liv Byron.]

4 out of 4 stars

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An absolutely fascinating and thought provoking read! Liv Byron has created a future world where people can live to be 300 years old. She explores the consequences and ramifications of such a long life with great care. It will make you wonder if our society is already heading in this direction, and if it would really be as great as it at first sounds.

True Age explores the lives of several different characters, each at a different point on the 300 year timeline. A company called LIV produces the tablets that make it possible to extend your life span. In the process they have managed to take over the government and created their own special group of law enforcers called GRODs. If an individual chooses to extend their life, and most do, they are called Extenders. If they want to live out their life naturally, they are called Choosers. Choosers are the lowest class in this new society. In order to live to 300, at the age of 50 you start taking the tablets and the aging process stops until in your 300th year when the Last Whisker appears. When this whisker appears you are to call the Fellowship Dome and schedule an appointment for your death and cremation. You are given 3 months to set things in order and say goodbye to loved ones.

There are some problems that have cropped up though. A big one is something called The Great Horror of Boredom. Some people find themselves so bored with their long life that they become suicidal. Extenders live in fear of this happening to them. LIV has solutions for alleviating boredom. Marriage has been reduced to a contract which lasts a limited amount of time: 10 years, 25 years, a lifetime, or any number in between. When your contract ends you have the option of ending the marriage or renewing it for another set length of time. If your marriage becomes boring before the contract is up, you can install The Virtue machine. This machine is basically a virtual reality chamber where you can fulfill your fantasies. But watch out, the GRODs are monitoring how much time you spend in The Virtue, and you can be arrested if you spend too much time there. You can also change your sex, once in your 2nd century and once in your 3rd century. Still bored? You can take a Gleap and move to a different part of the world. With a few exceptions, all the countries now work together. Beware though, once you Gleap you cannot return to your home country. So what’s the downside of this new world?

The landscape has been devastated. All cities are now large or small rectangles with trash dumps separating them. There is almost no wildlife left, though some people do have pets. No vehicles are allowed because of the pollution problem. It almost never rains, and temperatures are near 100 even at night. All food is now artificially manufactured, except for a few Choosers who manage to have gardens on the trash heaps, and sell their wares on the streets.

There is a lot going on in this story but not to the point of confusing the reader. I think the author did a great job of getting into the heads of her characters and giving the reader an insight into how the world might change if life can be extended. Some of the characters are Extenders who become disillusioned with the party line and find a way to escape. Some choose to keep trying to extend life further and further out, even perhaps to 1,000 years. As today’s scientists work hard to find cures for diseases and products to make us look younger this future world seems like it could be a possibility. My experience reading this book, and the questions it raised, reminded me of the first time I read 1984. Could these things really happen?

The only drawback was that there were quite a few typo errors in the copy I read. It did get annoying at times but didn’t lessen the intensity of the story itself. I’m giving this book 4 out of 4 stars because of its thought provoking quality and well written characters.

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True Age
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Ealasaid · Post by **Ealasaid** » 24 Apr 2015, 10:29

Thank you for the review! Very interesting (and not altogether impossible) concept. Oh goodness! A world without any wildlife? Not sure I could handle that!

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 25 Apr 2015, 00:38

Wow, that's an interesting review. I don't even know, but I think I'd be a Chooser. Anyone else?

I love the Great Horror of Boredom! It sounds like something from the Princess Bride: The Cliffs of Despair, the Rodents of Unusual Size, etc. Sounds like a great book!

CloudedRune · Post by **CloudedRune** » 25 Apr 2015, 12:56

Great review! I like the sound of this, definitely going to read it sometime!

Jesska6029 · Post by **Jesska6029** » 27 Apr 2015, 19:45

Really great review! This seems like a really interesting plot for a book!

ashley_claire · Post by **ashley_claire** » 29 Apr 2015, 07:46

This sounds like a really interesting book! Nice review.

JaimeAlfonzo · Post by **JaimeAlfonzo** » 29 Mar 2020, 12:12

You describe an really interesting book, i like apocalyptic novels. About you reference on 1984, when Hugo Chavez created de Ministry of Happiness in Venezuela, i was that can be real!