Hunted by Geoffrey Arnold
| Hunted by Geoffrey Arnold | |
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| Category: Science Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Luke Marlowe
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| Summary: Geoffrey Arnold continues his Quantum Twins series with Hunted - a book that moves from world building to an interesting, fast paced plot with fascinating character interactions at the heart of it. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 448 | Date: April 2016 |
| Publisher: Matador | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1785891854 | |
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Tullia learns about survival in the bush when she is taken hostage and later saves a youth's life during a hunt. Adopted into a Bushman family and the tribe, her presence stirs disparate feelings amongst the young men and women, a mixture of awe, desire, fear and hate. Living a very different life, Qwelby, Tullia's twin, is deeply shocked by the violence on Earth. As he is rescued by his four best friends from the Pit of Despair, he experiences his first feelings for Tamina, a girl he has known for years. Feelings which become much stronger for another girl he tries to help during a violent attack from his own world as he and Tullia seek to restore their telepathic link. Forming a connection with the twins during the attack, the girl, Xaala, is charged by her master with monitoring their attempts to mentally reconnect – and to prevent them. Xaala is torn between her mixed feelings for the twins and obeying her orders. Meanwhile, on the planet Vertazia and in secret, Quelby's family and friends build what they hope will be the first-ever inter-dimensional transport. On a short test run, the village where he is staying is discovered. When Quelby finds out he is being watched, he flees from the village...
I reviewed the first volume of the Quantum Twins series, Ripped Apart a year or so ago, and it's fair to say I had relatively mixed feelings on it. A rather interesting concept behind the book (according to the introduction, this series isn't fiction, but a real story told to the author by the telepathic twins at the heart of it...) was rather hard for a cynic like me to swallow, but once I got past that, the elements of world-building at play were intriguing - and explored well.
In Hunted, it's clear that Arnold has given himself a little more room to explore his characters and play somewhat. Having taken the time in Ripped Apart to develop his concepts, Hunted allows Arnold to throw his characters into some new situations, throwing both them and the readers into the action from the off - the short chapters allowing the story to move swiftly and with considerable pace. That doesn't mean the author skimps on things such as character development though - little touches like a translation guide to the languages and wonderfully described moments containing the Twins communicating telepathically, stand out as extremely enjoyable moments for me.
I have to admit that I was a little dubious about reading another book in this series, but over the course of Hunted it becomes clear that Arnold is a skilled author - and he's created a fascinating mythos surrounding his lead characters. Those characters allow him to explore topics that are both relevant and interesting - and as such I'm looking forward to Book Three in the series!
For further reading, I most definitely recommend book one in the series - Ripped Apart. Whilst Hunted does feature a brief description of the events of the first book, it would be impossible not to get lost without having read Ripped Apart first. You might also enjoy Betrayed also by Geoffrey Arnold.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Hunted by Geoffrey Arnold at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Hunted by Geoffrey Arnold at Amazon.com.
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