The State of Nirvana: Awakenings

eBook, 400 pages

English language

Published by IOL PRODUCTIONS LLC.

ISBN:: 978-1-7366326-7-3
ASIN:: B0DHYDKGNY

(1 review)

Nirvana, our perfect future. The idyllic State where government maintains the ultimate safety by control over its Citizens, dictating what food they eat, who they partner with, and what’s acceptable thought. Orderly yet malicious, Nirvana’s justice system uses criminals in gladiator-like games for its Citizens’ entertainment. Games that both kill and incentivize the torture of innocent men. It’s a ruthlessly efficient society that Kip chafes under...

Frustrated and bored with his life of routine, Kip dutifully follows the rules until the day he’s positioned to cross a line he morally can’t. Thrust into a murderous scheme for daring to challenge the edicts of Nirvana’s Citizen Leaders, Kip is forced into an action-packed escape to stay alive that leads to his awakening of what freedom truly is and what he’s willing to sacrifice to have it. If he fails, his life will be forfeited. But if he succeeds in kindling the …

Nirvana, our perfect future. The idyllic State where government maintains the ultimate safety by control over its Citizens, dictating what food they eat, who they partner with, and what’s acceptable thought. Orderly yet malicious, Nirvana’s justice system uses criminals in gladiator-like games for its Citizens’ entertainment. Games that both kill and incentivize the torture of innocent men. It’s a ruthlessly efficient society that Kip chafes under...

Frustrated and bored with his life of routine, Kip dutifully follows the rules until the day he’s positioned to cross a line he morally can’t. Thrust into a murderous scheme for daring to challenge the edicts of Nirvana’s Citizen Leaders, Kip is forced into an action-packed escape to stay alive that leads to his awakening of what freedom truly is and what he’s willing to sacrifice to have it. If he fails, his life will be forfeited. But if he succeeds in kindling the masses, the State of Nirvana will fall.

1 edition

VLK249 reviewed The State of Nirvana: Awakenings by K.P. Boudreaux (The State of Nirvana, #1)

Dystopic melting pot

5 stars

I'm not the biggest fan of dystopian society fiction. One turn with 1984 and its sour ending ages ago made me feel less than "good good" about the genre. So when I get a book which is a combination of The Hunger Games/Gladiator with 1984 thrown in, I'm going to be a little guarded. In actuality, the closest baseline comparison for this society is to the episode of Black Mirror called "Nosedive." Everyone is ranked on their social status and behaviors they display. Everyone is monitored, and a low ranking results in a lower social standing, including being outcast to the fringes. Those who are wise enough to despise this system live in basically the 'badlands' of this utopian society.

Thus, we are introduced to Kip, who is under a lot of pressure from his soon-to-be social-climbing ex to improve his score. And to do that requires an act of …

I'm not the biggest fan of dystopian society fiction. One turn with 1984 and its sour ending ages ago made me feel less than "good good" about the genre. So when I get a book which is a combination of The Hunger Games/Gladiator with 1984 thrown in, I'm going to be a little guarded. In actuality, the closest baseline comparison for this society is to the episode of Black Mirror called "Nosedive." Everyone is ranked on their social status and behaviors they display. Everyone is monitored, and a low ranking results in a lower social standing, including being outcast to the fringes. Those who are wise enough to despise this system live in basically the 'badlands' of this utopian society.

Thus, we are introduced to Kip, who is under a lot of pressure from his soon-to-be social-climbing ex to improve his score. And to do that requires an act of depravity, watching gladiator games to the death. Kip is a man of conscience and empathy, and most importantly, love. His outright refusal to acknowledge the barbaric sport starts the chain of events, that leads him to discover unlikely allies among the people he's been long told to despise.

While this promises to be a series, I'm happy with how the story ties up in the end. Keyword: happy. This isn't some sulky doom ending that the initial thought-police vibes of 1984 gave me. The only qualm is that it is a runaround story. Lots of it. And while that can drag, the ending wraps up maybe a bit too fast given that there is stretches of escape and action beats, I'm fine with it. I enjoy Boudreaux's story-telling style and how he paints his worlds. They're interesting, if not seductive.

I look forward to reading more.

Subjects

science fiction
dystopia