Readalong: Thoughts on Anderson O’Donnell’s ‘Kingdom’
The Indie Exchange is running a readalong of Anderson O’Donnell’s Kingdom this month. Here I share my thoughts as I reach the halfway mark…
I do love a good dystopian novel such as 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 and Anderson O’Donnell’s Kingdom, the first in the Tiber City trilogy, is looking to brush shoulders with the giants of this field.
So far the story has been very detailed with the degradation of Tiber City well conveyed in O’Donnell’s intricate descriptions. There are two main characters which the narrative switches between.
Campbell, formerly involved in secret gene experiments known as Project Exodus, has now hooked up with the Order of Neshamah, holy men that have embraced science as a means of further spiritual enlightenment. I’m not sure about Campbell at this stage. He clearly shows remorse for his dealings with Morrison Biotech that spearheaded Project Exodus but I’m still wary of him.
The other character of interest is Dylan, the son of a Senator that has committed suicide and a mother who has been destroyed by the experience. Dylan began the novel as a character that wasn’t the most appealing, enjoying the luxuries of drugs, sex and alcohol, living
the fast life. The emergence of a presidential candidate that looks similar to his father has led to him investigating an intriguing
mystery. Letters from Dylan’s late father to his son only serve to enhance the puzzle.
I’m speculating about links between Campbell and Dylan at this stage and am hoping for many answers before the end. While I am warming to the characters with each page it is Tiber City that remains the most vivid in my mind. Set only a few years from now,
Kingdom’s main city is one that has descended into chaos and madness through human traits alone rather than apocalyptic wars.
I’m intrigued to find out how the rest of story unfolds.
About Kingdom (2012)
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In a secret laboratory hidden under the desert, a covert bioengineering project—codename “Exodus”—has discovered the gene responsible for the human soul. Somewhere in the neon sprawl outside the nation’s collapsing economic core, a group of renegade monks are on the verge of uncovering a secret that has eluded mankind for centuries.
In a glittering tower high above the urban decay, an ascendant U.S. Senator is found dead—an apparent, yet inexplicable, suicide.
And in the streets below, a young man races through an ultra modern metropolis on the verge of a violent revolution….closing in on the terrible truth behind Exodus—and one man’s dark vision for the future of mankind.
Readalong: Thoughts on Anderson O’Donnell’s ‘Kingdom’ | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
