Stats
- 4 out of 5 stars
- Paperback
- 240 pages
- Expected publication: February 5th, 2019 by Diversion Books
- ISBN 1635760569 (ISBN13: 9781635760569)
- Genre: Science Fiction
About
From the publisher, “On the planet Brink, calcium is cash. The element’s scarcity led the world’s government to declare it the official currency. In the decades since, the governments of other colonized worlds have suppressed shipments of calcium in order to maintain favorable exchange rates, while Brink’s Commerce Board has struggled to negotiate importation quotas to keep the population alive and growing.
Taryn Dare is a Collections Agent, a specialized detective tasked with finding black market calcium and recovering it so that the Commerce Board can recycle it and distribute it as currency. Taryn is fueled by one goal: to save up enough currency units for a one-way ticket to a better world. But when a job recovering a human corpse uncovers a deadly conspiracy in the system, Taryn is drawn into an investigation that may threaten her life, and the very fabric of her society.”
My Thoughts
Stop Taryn, breathe.
You’re a professional.
If you let this world and what it
has done to you get a grip on you,
it will swallow you whole.
10,000 Bones by Joe Ollinger
The Author, Joe Ollinger’s timing is just right. The science fiction genre is saturated with dystopian novels that ask questions of the reader, “What if there were no water? Or Food? Or Sunlight?” None I have seen until now have asked the question, “What if there is no calcium?” It is a perfect question to ask. In the reader’s mind, calcium is the most benign of things, and it surrounds us. Ollinger creates a vibrant world built around the procurement of calcium tinged with mystery, adventure, and a kick-ass female protagonist.
The world Ollinger creates resembles a world that, to me, is a cross of a wild west town and a city from the TV show Firefly. Named Brink, it is all hot and bright with a thin patina of red dust the encapsulates everything. It is full of inhospitable people scrabbling out a living in the dirty, dusty land, and always in need of calcium and water. Ollinger describes it as “…a last chance gas station on one of Earth’s old, long highways – a staging area, a waypoint to more promising, more hospitable worlds…” Also present is the very visible Oligarchy of the rich described as having more elegant clothes, healthier bodies and a distinct lack of hypocalcemia bruising often found in the poor. The dichotomy of the poor versus the wealthy is fascinating here. Something as simple as drinking a glass of milk is considered the highest of high falutin living.
This book is in the classic “who done it” style. We have our heroine, Taryn. A rough and tumble collections agent described as muscular and robust that wears body armor. Her job is to seek out leaks of unauthorized calcium currency and return it to the government. In this world, calcium is cleverly written as a tradeable currency. Doing her job, she is always surrounded by the unlawful, the dying and the dregs of society. This brings up shattering moments from her past that often play a part in her decision making in the present. She also has a wealth of empathy, tho to function in her position as a collections agent, and by extension survive in this society, she has to suppress it. She reminds me very much of Marvel’s Jessica Jones. She has a similar attitude and position minus the superpowers.
The story progresses with Taryn becoming enemy #1 of the state as she hunts for who is stealing the calcium supply. It is exciting and turbulent all within the context of an investigator type mystery. Along the way, we meet various side characters including a sidekick/romance interest of a sort in the form of a wealthy calcium auditor, Brady. He is described as “looks more like a business executive than a bureaucrat.” The absolute only complaint I have in this story is I found Brady to be a tad unbelievable. His motivations as a character and dialog were muddy. This threw me out of the story at points. I just could not suspend belief when it came to Brady’s and Taryn’s interactions. However, this book could easily have a sequel. If so, as a reader I would love to know more about Brady’s backstory and have him fleshed out as a more substantial character.
There are beautifully created images throughout the story that keep the pages turning as the reader seeks out the “who did it.” All of this climaxes into a rather explosive denouement. This, in turn, finalizes into an open ending that is rife with a possibility for sequels.
The author asks us, “What if there is no calcium?” As a reader, I can say “I know that one. It looks like this…”
About The Author
Joe Ollinger grew up in a small swamp town in Florida. After graduating from the University of Southern California, he worked for several years as a reader and story analyst for an Academy Award Winning Filmmaker. Currently residing in Los Angeles, he works as an attorney when he’s not writing
That is a very interesting premise. And you have reviewed this book really well. I liked reading it.
Thank you! It was a really interesting read.
The premise for this book sounds incredible! The way you have described it definitely seems like a book that I would want to read.
I really liked it!
I have got to read this!!! Fantastic review and what a great premise-out of the box.
Very interesting. Thanks for reviewing this one. It is refreshing to hear of new ideas for dystopian societies. Really, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if in the future, it were the absence of a seemingly inconspicuous thing like calcium that causes such distress…
Yes! It was refreshing because he crafted such interesting ideas out of the mundane. A very worthy read.
Fascinating premise. And you mentioned Firefly!
Of course I did. I am a Firefly nerd.
One of the reasons we’re friends!
One of the many 🙂
I like the premise (one among so many) though the world building sounds all too familiar. Maybe one I might get out from the library.
It was very original I liked the idea of using a fairly innocuous mineral as a plot point.