The 100 - A Review
To all who are reading this,
Today, I introduce you to The 100 by Kass Morgan, the first book in a trilogy of the same name. Published in 2013, this is a science fiction novel, aimed at young adults. Before the novel's release, it had already been tipped for television glory, and in 2014, the show premiered on The CW Network in the US and Canada, respectively, and on E4 in the UK to great success. Colour me intrigued...
There may be spoilers.
Blurb
No one has set foot on Earth in centuries - until now.
Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents - considered expendable by society - are being sent on a dangerous mission: to re-colonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life... or it could be a suicide mission.
CLARKE was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. WELLS, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves - but will she ever forgive him? Reckless BELLAMY fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only siblings in the universe. And GLASS managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.
Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind's last hope.
I picked this up from my local library and knew very little about it, besides that it was a television show. I had Googled this though, and knew that the books had come first. I decided to give it a chance as the blurb sounded intriguing, but by the end, I was disappointed.
The cover seems to depict the characters from the television show. Further evidence is the sticker stating, 'NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES ON E4'. I would have preferred an original cover, as even though this is simple and stands out, I personally am not a fan of television or film, or game covers on books. Personal taste, I guess. The font used is also the same used for the show.
The novel follows the lives of Clarke, Wells, Bellamy and Glass as their lives start to change around them - for better or for worse. News is made to them that one hundred juvenile convicts will be sent to Earth to see if it is safe to finally return. Each character has their own past and we see in their perspective, in the third person - Clarke was tried for treason after her parents were executed. Wells has a secret hidden away until the end of the novel, but he has an undying love for Clarke. Bellamy had kept his sister a secret and protected her from all on board the ship. Glass loved and lost, and continues to conceal from everyone her true secret.
The characters start interesting, but after a while, it gets a little dull reading about them, and I would have liked to have them interact more with the others who have been sent to Earth with them. I would have also liked to see them more fleshed out - maybe if the book wasn't a trilogy and quite small, we could have had more development of characters so that I could have liked them. And we could also have more description of how they came to be on spaceships and their history. For science-fiction, there isn't a lot of description of what the spaceships are like, and I found it hard to visualise how it would look like, and how things really work out there in space.
Down on Earth, there doesn't seem to be a concept of time, and I suppose we know what day they are on with book two's title. There isn't enough world building to know whereabouts we are. Bellamy turns into a hunter to help the others and his sister, but no one else seems to help. Everyone is quick to argue, there isn't teamwork, there isn't even a thought of, "Everyone work together until we know what the hell is really going on here." By the end, it is too late for that.
Maybe I need to watch the show.
Understandably, there is a romance edge to this, but I found one of these pairings to be annoying and unbelievable - who will Clarke choose? Wells or Bellamy? One of the men, I have a real issue with. Wells. He follows the brain in his pants just so he can see Clarke again, but that's all his actions seem to do - revolve around Clarke. It is not until the author reveals his secret at the end that we are surprised. And even then, he did it selfishly, because of what had happened to Clarke.
I was really disappointed. Not only didn't I get what the blurb promised, but I didn't like the characters, and the world building wasn't strong enough. We are told this is science-fiction, but goes into the realm of YA dystopia, with a little bit of survival in there. It wasn't enough for me, and I don't think I'll be returning to the series.
It just wasn't the book for me.
The series continues with Day 21 (2014) and ends with Homecoming (2015).
You can find Kass Morgan on the Internet in the following place:
Twitter
Learn more about The 100 here. Also search the hashtag at #The100book
Yours, with eternal ink,
Zoe
---
Currently reading: Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Today, I introduce you to The 100 by Kass Morgan, the first book in a trilogy of the same name. Published in 2013, this is a science fiction novel, aimed at young adults. Before the novel's release, it had already been tipped for television glory, and in 2014, the show premiered on The CW Network in the US and Canada, respectively, and on E4 in the UK to great success. Colour me intrigued...
There may be spoilers.
Blurb No one has set foot on Earth in centuries - until now.
Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents - considered expendable by society - are being sent on a dangerous mission: to re-colonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life... or it could be a suicide mission.
CLARKE was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. WELLS, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves - but will she ever forgive him? Reckless BELLAMY fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only siblings in the universe. And GLASS managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.
Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind's last hope.
I picked this up from my local library and knew very little about it, besides that it was a television show. I had Googled this though, and knew that the books had come first. I decided to give it a chance as the blurb sounded intriguing, but by the end, I was disappointed.
The cover seems to depict the characters from the television show. Further evidence is the sticker stating, 'NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES ON E4'. I would have preferred an original cover, as even though this is simple and stands out, I personally am not a fan of television or film, or game covers on books. Personal taste, I guess. The font used is also the same used for the show.
The novel follows the lives of Clarke, Wells, Bellamy and Glass as their lives start to change around them - for better or for worse. News is made to them that one hundred juvenile convicts will be sent to Earth to see if it is safe to finally return. Each character has their own past and we see in their perspective, in the third person - Clarke was tried for treason after her parents were executed. Wells has a secret hidden away until the end of the novel, but he has an undying love for Clarke. Bellamy had kept his sister a secret and protected her from all on board the ship. Glass loved and lost, and continues to conceal from everyone her true secret.
The characters start interesting, but after a while, it gets a little dull reading about them, and I would have liked to have them interact more with the others who have been sent to Earth with them. I would have also liked to see them more fleshed out - maybe if the book wasn't a trilogy and quite small, we could have had more development of characters so that I could have liked them. And we could also have more description of how they came to be on spaceships and their history. For science-fiction, there isn't a lot of description of what the spaceships are like, and I found it hard to visualise how it would look like, and how things really work out there in space.
Down on Earth, there doesn't seem to be a concept of time, and I suppose we know what day they are on with book two's title. There isn't enough world building to know whereabouts we are. Bellamy turns into a hunter to help the others and his sister, but no one else seems to help. Everyone is quick to argue, there isn't teamwork, there isn't even a thought of, "Everyone work together until we know what the hell is really going on here." By the end, it is too late for that.
Maybe I need to watch the show.
Understandably, there is a romance edge to this, but I found one of these pairings to be annoying and unbelievable - who will Clarke choose? Wells or Bellamy? One of the men, I have a real issue with. Wells. He follows the brain in his pants just so he can see Clarke again, but that's all his actions seem to do - revolve around Clarke. It is not until the author reveals his secret at the end that we are surprised. And even then, he did it selfishly, because of what had happened to Clarke.
I was really disappointed. Not only didn't I get what the blurb promised, but I didn't like the characters, and the world building wasn't strong enough. We are told this is science-fiction, but goes into the realm of YA dystopia, with a little bit of survival in there. It wasn't enough for me, and I don't think I'll be returning to the series. It just wasn't the book for me.
The series continues with Day 21 (2014) and ends with Homecoming (2015).
You can find Kass Morgan on the Internet in the following place:
Learn more about The 100 here. Also search the hashtag at #The100book
Yours, with eternal ink,
Zoe
---
Currently reading: Wither by Lauren DeStefano
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