Cliste Bella: Book Review | The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber

(The Evaporation of Sofi Snow #1)
by Mary Weber

Ever since the Delonese ice-planet arrived eleven years ago, Sofi's dreams have been vivid. Alien. In a system where Earth's corporations rule in place of governments and the humanoid race orbiting the moon are allies, her only constant has been her younger brother, Shilo. As an online gamer, Sofi battles behind the scenes of Earth's Fantasy Fighting arena where Shilo is forced to compete in a mix of real and virtual blood sport. But when a bomb takes out a quarter of the arena, Sofi's the only one who believes Shilo survived. She has dreams of him. And she's convinced he's been taken to the ice-planet.

Except no one but ambassadors are allowed there.

For Miguel, Earth's charming young playboy, the games are of a different sort. As Ambassador to the Delonese, his career has been built on trading secrets and seduction. Until the Fantasy Fight's bomb goes off. Now the tables have turned and he's a target for blackmail. The game is simple: Help the blackmailers, or lose more than anyone can fathom, or Earth can afford.

I'm a sucker for Dystopian themed novels. It's more than the curiosity I have of humans self decimation but our idea of what we think our lives would be post apocalyptic. The beginning of this story is what got me hooked - the arrival of an ice planet that changed the lives of humans. It was a plus that this was a gamer/hacker world too.

We immediately jump into an arena scene where Sofi and her brother Shilo are players for Corp 30 and they are playing a reality based computer game much like the Hunger Games arena. Earth is now divided and run by Corporations instead of Governments, and it has been 11 years since the ice planet Delon arrived. The Delonese are observers and do not interfere with the human workings aside from providing some of their technology in rebuilding after the 4th world war.

Sofi is the typical rebel teenager, acting out as much as she can to get any reaction out of their mother who is the leader of Corp 30. She is very protective of her younger brother Shilo, making her fight harder in the games. Being typical, you'd think Sofi's character would be a cliche like all the other Dystopian heroines. In a sense she is, but she has this vulnerability that is subtle in some ways and obvious in others - it makes her more real and relatable. She is not perfect and she's not as jaded as she thinks she is.

I loved the dynamic of the other characters as well - Miguel, the human Ambassador who has a past with Sofi that surprisingly was not sordid; Ambassador Claudius and his outrageous outfits remind me of Effie Trinket from The Hunger games; Ambassador Danya who is more human than Delonese; even Vic the AI who has more personality than the Delons put together.

Some of the plot had a huge resemblance to The Hunger Games - the arena games, the Corps divisions, and the outrageous things the rich do like clothing and betting. Mary Weber made it a notch higher with the addition of RPG type gaming and hacker skills, and of course the involvement of the aliens. The tech linggo was cool. The story was paced fast enough that it did not bore me. Hurrah!