Customer Review

dennis_batchelder

A Vonnegut-style tale of the next century

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Posted December 6, 2008, 5:46 PM EST: Eric Gabrielsen's "Gideon's Fall" paints a picture of the world 80 or so years from now: a world full of augmented bodies, consolidated countries, a single Catholic church (except for a few lingering Mormon terrorists), a space catapult, and a couple mind-machine mergers.

The book is a collection of story lines told from the perspectives of quite a few characters, including Gideon (gladiator who wants out), Leslie (gladiator who got out for a while and became a drug lord), and Shadrach (a super-strong super-fundamentalist out to destroy any enhanced people). Some of the story lines are the rise and fall of Leslie, the retirement of Gideon, the end of the Church, the revenge of a drug crime victim, and the ascension of James from a homeless person to Pope.

Gabrielsen's book has more than a few spelling and grammatical errors. However, several of the myriad of story lines and characters were compelling: I enjoyed reading about Michelle and then Tobe's restaurant, Anna's life of the super-rich, and Eddie's quest for revenge.