Sit down with a book that lingers in your mind well beyond the last page:
The story isn’t bound to the major characters which is what I enjoyed the most about this novel. It finds its real story in the conflict that can only be inferred by the different people and their individual stories no matter how short for the reader.
In a near-future world where the car is king and the people are divided between those who ride on a network of highways connecting the glittering hubs of the city, and those left on foot -- the lowly “Peds” -- who inhabit the lands that lie between them, Robert Balkoner has always believed these latter, even if disadvantaged, are well cared for by the city as a whole. These beliefs are shattered, however, when a freak auto accident thrusts him among the Peds, and he discovers a system more varied, complex, and sometimes horrific, than anything he might have imagined. Yet even here Balkoner also can find love, as well as a handful of rebels willing to barter their lives in a quest to improve conditions for themselves and their fellows. A novelette.
The story isn’t bound to the major characters which is what I enjoyed the most about this novel. It finds its real story in the conflict that can only be inferred by the different people and their individual stories no matter how short for the reader.
The full review is posted at Long and Short Reviews and a book excerpt is available at Untreed Reads.
Peds by James S. Dorr:
In a near-future world where the car is king and the people are divided between those who ride on a network of highways connecting the glittering hubs of the city, and those left on foot -- the lowly “Peds” -- who inhabit the lands that lie between them, Robert Balkoner has always believed these latter, even if disadvantaged, are well cared for by the city as a whole. These beliefs are shattered, however, when a freak auto accident thrusts him among the Peds, and he discovers a system more varied, complex, and sometimes horrific, than anything he might have imagined. Yet even here Balkoner also can find love, as well as a handful of rebels willing to barter their lives in a quest to improve conditions for themselves and their fellows. A novelette.