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Absolute Ambition #1
Memoria
To the people of the planet of Pearl, vim is everything. Vim is an energy resource that exists deep beneath the surface. A life force, it approximates the idea of a human soul. When the people of Pearl die, their vim is returned to the soil. And each new baby takes a little back out.
The company of Megacorp wants to change this natural process forever. They’ve found a way to mine the vim and use it to power numerous gadgets and machines on the surface. While this industry has given the planet’s inhabitants a better quality of life, it threatens to shift the balance of their entire existence.
Cirrus Stark is determined to stop them. When he is inducted into WAVE, a shadowy secret rebellion, he is determined to break Megacorp’s monopoly and destroy the company. As he grows closer to the other members of WAVE and nears the achievement of his main objective, Cirrus realizes some startling things about the planet—and his own place in the universe. He is just one piece of a larger cosmic puzzle.
Will he ever comprehend the entire picture, or is he destined to simply perpetuate systems put in place millennia before?
The company of Megacorp wants to change this natural process forever. They’ve found a way to mine the vim and use it to power numerous gadgets and machines on the surface. While this industry has given the planet’s inhabitants a better quality of life, it threatens to shift the balance of their entire existence.
Cirrus Stark is determined to stop them. When he is inducted into WAVE, a shadowy secret rebellion, he is determined to break Megacorp’s monopoly and destroy the company. As he grows closer to the other members of WAVE and nears the achievement of his main objective, Cirrus realizes some startling things about the planet—and his own place in the universe. He is just one piece of a larger cosmic puzzle.
Will he ever comprehend the entire picture, or is he destined to simply perpetuate systems put in place millennia before?
228 pages, Paperback
First published December 10, 2017
14 people are currently reading
3602 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
March 8, 2019
I'm a big fantasy fan. My book club read this book last week. I loved it. It was very unique and challenging. It's nice to read a fantasy that's not drenched in cliches and overused crap. I hope there's more soon.
March 11, 2019
This is a very unique book. Most of it is a conventional urban fantasy wherein the main characters are seeking to save their planet from an evil corporation. However, throughout the book, the story occasionally deviates to different points in the past. These chapters involve the parents of one character and a tragic past of another. It adds to the depth of the characters that are followed for the bulk of the book. It also adds a lot of questions. I hope there is a sequel because it ended too soon.
April 28, 2019
Pretty sure I’m in the minority here but this story was just not for me. I had trouble with the time lines and never connected with the characters. It will have a new home tomorrow in our local Little Free Library.
Thanks to the publishers for the Goodreads giveaway of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks to the publishers for the Goodreads giveaway of this book in exchange for my honest review.
August 25, 2018
Oh wow I love this story it is one of the reasons I love sci-fi I am so happy to have got this now I just got to wait for 2nd book
March 7, 2019
I got this book because my friend told me it was a lot like my favorite game. I really liked the idea of it being made into a book because myfavorite genre is litrpg. This book is not what I was expecting. It does have some stuff that is like ff7 and the franchise in general but its not a novelization of the game. I don’t want to get into specifics but I mean like Tifa wasn’t a mom, Barret wasn’t white, Cloud had spikey hair because of the limitations of tech when the game was made, there was no time travelling gods, but in 8 time was kind of a plot point. That’s the thing, even the subtitle reminds me of ff, but that’s something from 9. And the way the author constantly pokes at people like me was obvious to me. Like the scene where the little girl and Cirrus get each other’s names wrong. I thought that was pretty clever actually. The book itself is really good. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would after I discovered it wasn’t a beat for beat novelization. I want to see where the story goes.
March 6, 2019
Great book, interesting story. It was confusing at times, but it was purposeful I think. I don’t get why some of the other reviews are so harsh regarding the Final Fantasy stuff. VH obviously didn’t do anything wrong. He made this story his own. And what are they even upset about? Would they rather have a giant corporation hold a monopoly on concepts and ideas? I doubt it! And yet…
March 6, 2019
my cousin gave me this for my birthday. there was a personalized note from the author on an included bookmark asking for a review. i liked it. it was hard to follow at times but it was cool. i wish it was longer and i hope there are more books soon.
February 5, 2019
I won this book through Goodreads and this is my review.
In some places this story was a bit confusing. In particular when the main protagonist, Cirrus, is ...”occupied” by another spirit. At first it seems Cirrus is unaware of the occupation, but then later it seems he is. I’m not really certain.
There are parts I enjoyed reading, like riding giant cats.
While this book is not the usual genre of book I read, it was an enjoyable read provided one does not try to analyze too much into the story.
In some places this story was a bit confusing. In particular when the main protagonist, Cirrus, is ...”occupied” by another spirit. At first it seems Cirrus is unaware of the occupation, but then later it seems he is. I’m not really certain.
There are parts I enjoyed reading, like riding giant cats.
While this book is not the usual genre of book I read, it was an enjoyable read provided one does not try to analyze too much into the story.
July 25, 2018
First I would like to state that I have received this book through the Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the author for giving me this opportunity and honor in being able to read this book. When I received this book I began reading it at once. I really enjoy the authors writing style. This book was a very interesting read. The authors writing style kept you interested from the first chapter to the very last.
April 1, 2018
Not my normal reading genre but the book kept me interested. It is well written.
March 19, 2019
The only problem I had with this book is that it's too short. The story and the characters should have more room to grow.
March 13, 2019
I really liked the magic system. The story was hard to follow but I think it was on purpose. If it were poorly written, I'd assume incompetence but it's very well written I think the author is building something and this is only part of it.
July 31, 2018
I actually enjoyed the book and had genuine admiration for the ideas and skilll the author displayed. However, I came to know from my Goodreads friends that, important ideas of the book are plagiarized, which really disappointed me. Anyway, I hope you can and will continue to write good books and make sure it’s your own content.
May 10, 2018
Exciting read!
May 20, 2018
I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
Not sure how I feel about this book. where it was good, it was really good. It is intelligently written. The story is compelling. The characters aren't cardboard cutouts. The world is unique, though better world building would have been appreciated...a lot was left presumed. However, about midway through the short book the author started to muddy the plot by introducing flashbacks. They were interesting in and of themselves and also well written, but they were not well executed within the story and not introduced in a way that made sense to the scene they were emplaced. Now, I could envision these flashback scenes, as written, working well in a movie or TV show, but they only served as a point of confusion for me as a reader because there was no transition either into or out of. Some flashback scenes started in the middle of one chapter and continued through the next only to return to the present unexpectedly in the middle of that chapter. Perhaps a different font, or segmenting the chapter, or adding a chapter would have reduced the confusion. Then halfway through chapter 14, things got really weird. Not sure what the point of introducing those omnipotent beings was. I get what the intent likely was, but that plot line was left unresolved and so their introduction was superfluous. Maybe the follow-up book will better explain these confusing points, but we'll see.
I would read the follow up novel to this one. I think Van Horne has got great potential as a writer and I look forward to seeing more.
Not sure how I feel about this book. where it was good, it was really good. It is intelligently written. The story is compelling. The characters aren't cardboard cutouts. The world is unique, though better world building would have been appreciated...a lot was left presumed. However, about midway through the short book the author started to muddy the plot by introducing flashbacks. They were interesting in and of themselves and also well written, but they were not well executed within the story and not introduced in a way that made sense to the scene they were emplaced. Now, I could envision these flashback scenes, as written, working well in a movie or TV show, but they only served as a point of confusion for me as a reader because there was no transition either into or out of. Some flashback scenes started in the middle of one chapter and continued through the next only to return to the present unexpectedly in the middle of that chapter. Perhaps a different font, or segmenting the chapter, or adding a chapter would have reduced the confusion. Then halfway through chapter 14, things got really weird. Not sure what the point of introducing those omnipotent beings was. I get what the intent likely was, but that plot line was left unresolved and so their introduction was superfluous. Maybe the follow-up book will better explain these confusing points, but we'll see.
I would read the follow up novel to this one. I think Van Horne has got great potential as a writer and I look forward to seeing more.
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May 24, 2020
May 22, 2018
I received this book as part of a giveaway.
David L. van Horne’s Memoria, the first of his Absolute Ambition series, is an interesting read. It follows the lives of multiple characters affected in some way by MEGACORP’s vim-powered generators and the corruption they caused within the city of Urba and beyond. It particularly focuses on an ex-MERCENARY soldier named Cirrus, and his childhood friend Sagacious, a single mother and bar owner turned terrorist, as they work to destroy one of the generators, and hopefully begin a revolution to rid the city of MEGACORP’s influence for good. However, it also ties in the stories of other individuals as their stories converge over the course of the novel.
This book was decent at best, I would have to admit. I liked it more by the end than I had thought I would at the beginning, but the beginning was still a very rough start. Maybe it is just the bad luck of being the first in a sci-fi series, but the first third or so of the book was much more politics-heavy than I was expecting, and there were also other flashback sequences and info-heavy dumps throughout the book, though this will hopefully be improved upon in subsequent parts simply because the reader will be more familiar with the characters and world. I was also a bit hesitant on how the book’s politics would play out, given that the introduction states “As the intelligent and motivated people ascended, the city beneath the plate devolved into the slums of the capitol. Within the constant twilight remained shadowed citizens who lacked the desire and ability to improve themselves and their standard of living.” I feared this book would be very anti-poor, as I am of the opinion that one’s social status is all up to luck of being born to wealthy families, or unlucky enough to be born without, and that any “laziness” within the poor is due to discouragement born of a society constantly working against you. However, as the story continued, there were many brave and motivated poor, including the main characters, and multiple examples of the corruption of the wealthy.
One of the biggest problems, however, was that the book was downright confusing at times, and this was something that did not and likely cannot right itself without the writer putting in effort to correct it. Although I was able to piece the story together, chapters and sections of chapters tend to blend from present to past, from reality to dream or hallucination or – I don’t even know what to call the battle between Malaada and Balaada – with little to no warning. There were chapters that I took to be part of the present, only to discover half a book later were part of the past. There were relatively realistic scenes suddenly becoming supernatural at the drop of a hat without any warning. I spent much of the novel having to re-read passages to orient myself or look back to past chapters to make sure that my perception of characters’ ages matched up, and that I could tell one secondary character from another. It was extremely disorienting at times, to the point I wish I had made a chart or kept notes while reading.
That is not to say the book is all bad. Despite the confusion I experienced, I enjoyed the plot itself, after I started to get my facts straight. The world that van Horne created is an interesting one, one which I do want to revisit in the future. However, I hope that all the problems of the first book are sorted out in the second, or it may end up being the last of the Absolute Ambition novels which I read. I cannot take more than one book’s worth of twisted timelines and fractured reality before I end up just giving up and moving on to a better jointed story.
David L. van Horne’s Memoria, the first of his Absolute Ambition series, is an interesting read. It follows the lives of multiple characters affected in some way by MEGACORP’s vim-powered generators and the corruption they caused within the city of Urba and beyond. It particularly focuses on an ex-MERCENARY soldier named Cirrus, and his childhood friend Sagacious, a single mother and bar owner turned terrorist, as they work to destroy one of the generators, and hopefully begin a revolution to rid the city of MEGACORP’s influence for good. However, it also ties in the stories of other individuals as their stories converge over the course of the novel.
This book was decent at best, I would have to admit. I liked it more by the end than I had thought I would at the beginning, but the beginning was still a very rough start. Maybe it is just the bad luck of being the first in a sci-fi series, but the first third or so of the book was much more politics-heavy than I was expecting, and there were also other flashback sequences and info-heavy dumps throughout the book, though this will hopefully be improved upon in subsequent parts simply because the reader will be more familiar with the characters and world. I was also a bit hesitant on how the book’s politics would play out, given that the introduction states “As the intelligent and motivated people ascended, the city beneath the plate devolved into the slums of the capitol. Within the constant twilight remained shadowed citizens who lacked the desire and ability to improve themselves and their standard of living.” I feared this book would be very anti-poor, as I am of the opinion that one’s social status is all up to luck of being born to wealthy families, or unlucky enough to be born without, and that any “laziness” within the poor is due to discouragement born of a society constantly working against you. However, as the story continued, there were many brave and motivated poor, including the main characters, and multiple examples of the corruption of the wealthy.
One of the biggest problems, however, was that the book was downright confusing at times, and this was something that did not and likely cannot right itself without the writer putting in effort to correct it. Although I was able to piece the story together, chapters and sections of chapters tend to blend from present to past, from reality to dream or hallucination or – I don’t even know what to call the battle between Malaada and Balaada – with little to no warning. There were chapters that I took to be part of the present, only to discover half a book later were part of the past. There were relatively realistic scenes suddenly becoming supernatural at the drop of a hat without any warning. I spent much of the novel having to re-read passages to orient myself or look back to past chapters to make sure that my perception of characters’ ages matched up, and that I could tell one secondary character from another. It was extremely disorienting at times, to the point I wish I had made a chart or kept notes while reading.
That is not to say the book is all bad. Despite the confusion I experienced, I enjoyed the plot itself, after I started to get my facts straight. The world that van Horne created is an interesting one, one which I do want to revisit in the future. However, I hope that all the problems of the first book are sorted out in the second, or it may end up being the last of the Absolute Ambition novels which I read. I cannot take more than one book’s worth of twisted timelines and fractured reality before I end up just giving up and moving on to a better jointed story.
June 8, 2018
Interesting book - but very hard to follow. It jumps from one time line to another with no warning and has no clear story line.
July 4, 2019
This book is amazing. The writing style is leagues beyond anything I've read. It's not an easy read, and I can see why the standard reader might find it difficult to absorb. I'm vaguely reminded of classical works, but it's a modern urban fantasy with characters who the reader can relate to.
Van Horne works with multiple characters at different points in time. It's like a standard story was shattered, and each chapter is the reader picking up a random piece and examining it. I had to reread it to fully get what happened and make the connections myself. It was a lot of fun, and the story/characters were interesting enough to justify the (re)reads.
This book isn't for everyone. It asks the reader to participate rather than receive.
Van Horne works with multiple characters at different points in time. It's like a standard story was shattered, and each chapter is the reader picking up a random piece and examining it. I had to reread it to fully get what happened and make the connections myself. It was a lot of fun, and the story/characters were interesting enough to justify the (re)reads.
This book isn't for everyone. It asks the reader to participate rather than receive.
March 22, 2019
Great book
March 31, 2019
Do you enjoy reading Science Fiction?
If so, then read the book entitled, Absolute Ambition: Memoria" by David L. Van Horne.
Welcome to the planet of Pearl! Urba, the main city, is shadowed by a titanium plate and is home to a company named Megacorp which offers stable, well paying jobs to its citizens with its eight vim reactors.
People compete against each other for jobs and rise above the titanium plate living on high-priced properties and shopping at upscale retail shops while others live beneath the plate in the slums of the capital. Toxins from Megacorp's reactors' pipes leak and poison the field, farms and villages beneath the plate. Megacorp ignores complaints from those living there. The people live with the hope and faith that there is "always a light to vanquish the dark, a warmth to thaw the cold, a good to counter the evil."
Cirrus Stark grew up in Highwind and dropped out of school to join Megacorp's military. He is devastated when he loses his job as a Mercenary and becomes homeless. He frequents the Division Six train station and spends his nights begging for shill (money) and sleeping in the lobby.
Segacious Gard grew up in Highwind with Cirrus. They were friends and eventually Cirrus felt as though he was her guardian. When Aggeroth Wyvern, Cirrus' role model as a child, kills Segacious' father, Segacious goes after him. Without hesitation, Cirrus saves her from her wound with his mystics healing glow. Segacious sets out to find Cirrus. They meet at the train station. Cirrus can still see her natural beauty as well as her physical strength. Segatious and her daughter, Darlene's Uncle Dash, help Cirrus. He overhears them planning to blow up one of Megacorp's eight reactors and impact the power grid because they believe Megacorp is becoming too powerful of a corporation. Segatious tells Cirrus that she is in a group called WAVE whose mission is to "protect the planet and their heritage." She believes that, "Megacorp, her daughter, herself and Cirrus are all connected by the vimstream". She wants it protected and "no one else is doing anything to protect it."
Cirrus joins WAVE to help bring down Megacorp. Cirrus' experience as a Mercenary and his ability to perform mystics with mystic green essentia orbs and mystic crystals powered by vim will help them. Read on to find out if WAVE will be successful in bringing down Megacorp's reactor seven and power grid.
Who will survive this battle?
If so, then read the book entitled, Absolute Ambition: Memoria" by David L. Van Horne.
Welcome to the planet of Pearl! Urba, the main city, is shadowed by a titanium plate and is home to a company named Megacorp which offers stable, well paying jobs to its citizens with its eight vim reactors.
People compete against each other for jobs and rise above the titanium plate living on high-priced properties and shopping at upscale retail shops while others live beneath the plate in the slums of the capital. Toxins from Megacorp's reactors' pipes leak and poison the field, farms and villages beneath the plate. Megacorp ignores complaints from those living there. The people live with the hope and faith that there is "always a light to vanquish the dark, a warmth to thaw the cold, a good to counter the evil."
Cirrus Stark grew up in Highwind and dropped out of school to join Megacorp's military. He is devastated when he loses his job as a Mercenary and becomes homeless. He frequents the Division Six train station and spends his nights begging for shill (money) and sleeping in the lobby.
Segacious Gard grew up in Highwind with Cirrus. They were friends and eventually Cirrus felt as though he was her guardian. When Aggeroth Wyvern, Cirrus' role model as a child, kills Segacious' father, Segacious goes after him. Without hesitation, Cirrus saves her from her wound with his mystics healing glow. Segacious sets out to find Cirrus. They meet at the train station. Cirrus can still see her natural beauty as well as her physical strength. Segatious and her daughter, Darlene's Uncle Dash, help Cirrus. He overhears them planning to blow up one of Megacorp's eight reactors and impact the power grid because they believe Megacorp is becoming too powerful of a corporation. Segatious tells Cirrus that she is in a group called WAVE whose mission is to "protect the planet and their heritage." She believes that, "Megacorp, her daughter, herself and Cirrus are all connected by the vimstream". She wants it protected and "no one else is doing anything to protect it."
Cirrus joins WAVE to help bring down Megacorp. Cirrus' experience as a Mercenary and his ability to perform mystics with mystic green essentia orbs and mystic crystals powered by vim will help them. Read on to find out if WAVE will be successful in bringing down Megacorp's reactor seven and power grid.
Who will survive this battle?
November 9, 2018
I'm not exactly sure what went on in this story. I felt like there were plenty of characters with backstories and drives, but the plot was convoluted and the timeline kept jumping around. There could be the start of an epic good vs. evil saga here, but it needs to be flushed out more.
October 27, 2018
I received this book as a giveaway from Goodreads, but that does not influence my opinion.
I really didn't like this book very much. The writing was very good - I could easily imagine different locations and the way that objects looked and behaved. However, the plot was rambling and showed no signs of resolving. And nothing was, in my mind, resolved. Although, as I understand it, there are to be more books in the series, there should be some resolution or some feeling that the plot was actually going somewhere. It seemed t me more like notes made before writing a book than an actual finished book. I gave it three stars for the writing.
I really didn't like this book very much. The writing was very good - I could easily imagine different locations and the way that objects looked and behaved. However, the plot was rambling and showed no signs of resolving. And nothing was, in my mind, resolved. Although, as I understand it, there are to be more books in the series, there should be some resolution or some feeling that the plot was actually going somewhere. It seemed t me more like notes made before writing a book than an actual finished book. I gave it three stars for the writing.
January 19, 2019
I won this book. Thank you so much.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. The setup of the planet with the plates was interesting. The parts of a person that were their essence and their soul ( yes, a little confusing but fascinating.) The story line is big bad corporation and the good hearted "terrorists" who want to save the planet.
My problem with the story is characters that seem to disappear. No idea what happened to them. Do not understand the alien chapter at all. I guess the story seems choppy and unfinished to me. I would love to see where you take this. j
I wanted to like this book more than I did. The setup of the planet with the plates was interesting. The parts of a person that were their essence and their soul ( yes, a little confusing but fascinating.) The story line is big bad corporation and the good hearted "terrorists" who want to save the planet.
My problem with the story is characters that seem to disappear. No idea what happened to them. Do not understand the alien chapter at all. I guess the story seems choppy and unfinished to me. I would love to see where you take this. j
May 9, 2018
Due to a muddy plot and characters lacking distinct personalities, I am glad that I did not waste money on this book.
December 9, 2018
The story line in this book has the potential to be five stars. It also has the potential to be a long and best selling series. The only reason that I rate Absolute Ambition with two stars is because the narrative was so disjointed that I kept losing track of what was going on in the book. Over and over I found myself confused with what was going on in the story and over and over I kept having to go back and try to figure out where and why I was presently confused. Doing this so many times kept me from enjoying this story the way I hoped that I would. If the narrative were reexamined and cleaned up to make the story flow more harmonious, this book would likely be a great one.
March 3, 2019
Good story. Fantasy novel. Hated the ending. It's as if the writer just stopped.
December 6, 2018
I won this book from a Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you to the author and Goodreads! I won’t comment on the rumors of Plagiarism but if that is the case that’s very disappointing.
As for the book. It was so confusing and all over the place. I have given this book so many tries and I finally had to accept the fact that I’m not going to finish it. There is multiple views from multiple characters. It switches around so much that couldn’t tell who was who. It didn’t help that the characters weren’t developed. The book sounded interesting but it was just too hard to keep up with.
As for the book. It was so confusing and all over the place. I have given this book so many tries and I finally had to accept the fact that I’m not going to finish it. There is multiple views from multiple characters. It switches around so much that couldn’t tell who was who. It didn’t help that the characters weren’t developed. The book sounded interesting but it was just too hard to keep up with.
December 23, 2018
This book was a blatant rip-off of a popular video game, Final Fantasy 7. The characters are poor pale imitations with dialogue ranging from abstract to clunky. And while the original plot of FF7 is convoluted (required 2 spin off games to properly fill out the story and is getting a remake), this book makes a muddled mess and leaves storylines hanging. There's no comedic effect to make it qualify as a parody, which still wouldn't be the saving grace because the writing leaves a lot to be desired.
As a final fantasy fan, I thought I would've been pleased to find a novelization of one of the better games in the series, but it's so poorly done I can't help but cringe. To add to the cake, my friend found a response the author wrote to a critic, raving that his work is meant to be a parody (he needs a new dictionary to look that one up in) and mocking the critic for not finishing the book. So remove any illusion of class your readers may have.
Also I'm glad I didn't waste money on this. I got a copy for free from a goodreads giveaway with a business card inside asking for a review. Don't support plagiarism.
As a final fantasy fan, I thought I would've been pleased to find a novelization of one of the better games in the series, but it's so poorly done I can't help but cringe. To add to the cake, my friend found a response the author wrote to a critic, raving that his work is meant to be a parody (he needs a new dictionary to look that one up in) and mocking the critic for not finishing the book. So remove any illusion of class your readers may have.
Also I'm glad I didn't waste money on this. I got a copy for free from a goodreads giveaway with a business card inside asking for a review. Don't support plagiarism.
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May 24, 2018Ok, I'm not rating it because I probably will never read it, but from the description and other people's reviews that have read it, I think I can say this. David. Dude. You can do so much more than plagiarizing a video game! Yes you changed a few things up but I knew immediately from the description of vim!
Do you realize how much trouble you're going to get in? If Square Enix finds out about this they have an open and shut case to sue you.
I'd suggest you take this down and not try to sell it anymore, and work on something that's truly original. I know you have the talent to do that. Don't get yourself into any more trouble!
Do you realize how much trouble you're going to get in? If Square Enix finds out about this they have an open and shut case to sue you.
I'd suggest you take this down and not try to sell it anymore, and work on something that's truly original. I know you have the talent to do that. Don't get yourself into any more trouble!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews