Publication Date: Orbit
Australian Publication Date – 25 September 2018
World Publication Date – 24 July 2018
From exciting new author Rich Larson comes an absorbing young adult science fiction debut that makes use of creepy alien elements, excellent characters and fantastic LGBT inclusions to create a powerful and creative read.
When a gigantic alien ship arrives above Earth and isolates an entire city, all the children that are trapped with the aliens are kidnapped and infested with parasitic life forms, while the adults are clamped and inserted with mechanical devices that turn them into mindless drones.
For the small group of children that escape captivity, the disappearance of all the adults offers them a life of fun and adventure. Falling under the leadership of the charismatic Wyatt, this group of survivors, the Lost Boys, are living the high life, with their newly attached parasites giving them the ability to vanish objects for brief periods of time. While life is fun, they must continue to avoid the mechanical whirlybirds, the pod-like spaceships and the terrifying Othermothers hunting them in the streets.
For Violet, this new world allows her the opportunity to live the life she’s always wanted and to be the person she’s always wanted to be. But Violet’s new life on of the city streets changes dramatically when she finds a new escapee, Bo, and takes him under her wing. Bo has the most powerful parasite the group has ever seen and is capable of permanently vanishing larger objects. It also appears the alien invaders want him back and are deploying hordes of their creatures to capture him.
Sensing an opportunity, the Lost Boys use Bo to fight back against the aliens while trying to uncover what plans they have for the rest of the planet. Breaking into the massive hovering mother ship, Violet and Bo team up with the mysterious Mr Gloom to end this alien threat once and for all. But these two young people will quickly find that the biggest threat to them may be far closer to home than they realise.
Annex is the first novel from Rich Larson and is the first book in The Violet Wars series, with the second book of this intriguing series, Cypher, already on its way. This is a wonderful debut from Larson, which contains a surprisingly intense and at times dark story that will prove to be enjoyable to a wide range of readers.
There are a number of great features of Annex that readers will enjoy; however, one of the most noticeable features is the creepy and well-written descriptions of the aliens and events that the book’s main characters encounter. There are a lot of inventive and twisted creatures, technology and even body modifications that can be found throughout this book, and Larson’s skilled writing helps brings them to life in the reader’s imagination. I was particularly impressed, and a little freaked out, by Larson’s unique creation the Othermothers. The Othermothers are unsettling clones of the escaped children’s mothers, perched upon long skeletal metal legs, who chirp out random phrases in the mothers’ voices in an attempt to lure the escaped children to them and then capture them. Because of Larson’s descriptive writing, these creatures are horrifying and really stood out for me among the other alien antagonists the heroes encountered. Special mention should also be made of the shadowy Mr Gloom, a strange adult they encounter whose appearance is not quite human and who has a range of powerful abilities. I am not going to reveal too much about Mr Gloom because he appears about two-thirds into the book and I do not want to spoil too much about him. I did find him to be quite a fun character. Larson’s descriptions of Mr Gloom are fantastic, especially when it comes to exploring his shadow based abilities, which are a treat to read about.
In addition to the alien creatures and characters that are encountered through the book, readers should also keep an eye on the leader of the Lost Boys, Wyatt. Wyatt is at first presented as a talented leader who has managed to bring the Lost Boys together and keep them alive. However, there is much more to this character than he initially presents, and his real personality begins to be revealed to the heroes and the readers as the book progresses. This is some incredible character work from Larson, and the revelation of Wyatt’s true motivations and persona is done perfectly, resulting in some excellent dramatic scenes and some really dark twists. The author’s use of two separate point-of-view characters, Violet and Bo, works really well when it comes to viewing Wyatt, as the reader is able to observe his different manipulations, his moods and the cracks that appear in his outer façade. This is a very intriguing character that dramatically changes the narrative of Annex in a number of ways, and the scenes exploring Wyatt are some of the best written in the entire book.
One of the key aspects of Annex that will prove to be an interesting addition for the reader is one of the main protagonists, Violet. Violet is a tough–as-nails kicker of alien ass who is also a young transgender girl who has used the lack of adults following the invasion to finally live her life the way she always wanted to. This is an amazing portrayal of a transgender character, as the author creates a stimulating backstory for Violet that examines her past and explores how she became her current self while also exploring the fears and people that stopped her from fully expressing her identity. The book also explores how intrinsic this identity can be and how devastating attacks about identity can be, even during an alien apocalypse. Violet is a well-rounded character, and Larson skilfully displays her other fears, her independence, her new friendship with Bo and her relationships with the other Lost Boys. Violet helps to elevate this book to the next level and make it into a terrific piece of young adult fiction.
This book is an interesting addition to the young adult genre that definitely highlights the empowerment of young people. The human characters of this book are all quite youthful and yet manage to thrive in a hostile alien landscape that has incapacitated all of the adults. Watching these young people come together as a tight-knit group is an intriguing part of this book, and it is interesting to see the subtle techniques Wyatt uses to turn them into his own little army, such as with initiation rites, slogans and other forms of manipulation. Overall, watching this group overcome without adult help the obstacles of being among the aliens oppressing them is a great part of the book. This makes it an interesting read for the young adult audience, especially for those who love to see transgender characters in fiction.
Annex by Rich Larson is an excellent debut and is recommended for those younger readers looking for a science fiction adventure that they can relate to. With some creepy aliens, intriguing characters and a deep look at transgender issues among today’s youth, this is an exhilarating read from a promising new author.
My Rating:
The Unseen Library 