4 out of 4 stars
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I am reviewing 30th Century: Escape by Mark Kingston Levin, PhD. I give this book 4 out of 4 stars. This book is professionally edited and well written. It is the first in a trilogy and will leave one looking forward to the next installment. Dr. Levin’s book will appeal to many audiences, from young adults to the older generation. However, younger readers should not read due to explicit content. This is a book that is classified as science fiction, but could also be classified as romance, adventure, or drama.
The book starts in the 30th century with a unusual rescue mission, one in which the main character is the sole holder of a secret. She plans on going back to the 21st century while she sends the people under her command on the original mission. The main character, Jennifer Heros, finds herself on a deserted island for quite some time before she is rescued by a research team. She claims amnesia to cover for her lack of knowledge in the 21st century. It is a good way to explain many lapses in her education of the time. When the research team returns to mainland, there is a missing person case that almost perfectly fits into the description of Jennifer. Conveniently, the missing Jennifer has no immediate family and the man in charge of the estate and her care seems to believe that she is the missing girl from years before. There is some distant relations thousands of miles away that Jennifer does go to meet at their request. The cousins do their own “sleuthing” to make sure she is who they think she is, which seems quite reasonable. Jennifer is able to obtain the proper identification and papers due to this missing person identity and also inheriting quite a lot of wealth. Jennifer goes to the college that her rescue research team attends and also begins relationships with many of the people that from that team, both romantic and platonic. Jennifer struggles with keeping the truth from those that she loves about her true identity, especially when some of the tests that the distant relatives obtained come back that blows her away. Eventually, Jennifer realizes how this missing person was perfectly matched to her and the fate of her 30th century team. The book ends with intrigue as to what the next book will bring.
The overall story of this book was entertaining and intriguing. There is so many experiences than Jennifer goes through in the 21st century. She has some trouble adjusting to mannerisms and slang but overall is able to slip into our century without too many problems. Jennifer’s physical abilities are enhanced but even with those, she faces difficulties at times. The author has included pictures and sketches, in the beginning of chapters mostly, of places or items that are discussed in the previous or upcoming sections of the book. Those are very helpful and also interesting at times as well.
There were a few downfalls of this book. There were parts that should have been expanded on but seemed to be rushed through. For instance, the earthquake and lava tube collapse, where Jennifer uses her logical thinking and calm demeanor to overcome a terrifying situation, had the feeling of being rushed through. Some of the dialogue between characters were also very formal and stilted. Part of this could’ve been intentional to further realize the struggle of Jennifer blending in nine centuries before her time. Occasionally, Jennifer and her boyfriend’s conversations are very formal, as if they are talking to strangers instead of 2 people that are in love and very intimate with each other. It just doesn’t seem appropriate. One of the biggest off-putting parts of this book were the sex scenes. There are quite a lot of them. Perhaps some of the parts of the book that needed more detail could have been elaborated on instead of filling the pages with sex. When Jennifer was trying to explain her PhD thesis, the author got a little too technical and was quite hard to follow. Those with degrees in physics and astronomy and such likely wouldn’t have a hard time following but most audiences would.
This is a good book to read, it keeps ones attention well and was interesting and entertaining. There are a few places that the author could’ve made improvements but I am very much looking forward to the sequel to this book.
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Escape
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