The Prophecy (Peace Child) [Kindle Edition]

The Prophecy is a novel I hadn't heard much about until I picked it up last week. As someone who adores all things futuristic the premise defintely appealed to me, but I hadn't seen many reviews and so I wasn't sure what to expect. As it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised by this absorbing and unusual story set in the Earth's far distant future.

As a main character, Kaleem is an underdog you can't help but root for. He's the son of a single mother - a rarity in a world where natural conception is unheard of - and lives in a cave-dwelling with outdated technology compared to that of his friends' homes. His society forbids certain knowledge and considers the pursuit of this knowledge tantamount to theft. History is out of bounds, and so is information about life on other planets in the universe. For Kaleem, as for the reader, the effect of all this secrecy achieves one thing only: major curiosity! Luckily for us, when Kaleem is chosen as his generation's Peace Child he is granted all kinds of knowledge and experiences that he would never otherwise have known about. Most importantly, he learns to speak the languages of the different planets in his universe, meaning that he alone can acquire knowledge from the people of other planets. As his world expands, Kaleem learns more about who he is and discovers just how much different nations have to offer each other. It's a message that is sure to resonate with the 21st century reader, as our societies become more multi-cultural than ever before.

On to my very favourite part: the world-building. Or in this case, universe-building. As well as a fascinating cave-dwelling society on the future planet Earth, now known as Terrestra, we encounter virtual reality constructions of life on other inhabited planets and get to travel with Kaleem on his mission to the planet Zandra. Wherever the story takes us, there's mind-blowing technology, intriguing local customs and a sense of the history that has moulded and shaped these very different civilisations. It's all richly drawn and satisfyingly complete, with a generous sprinkling of those tiny little details that can make readers truly believe in a sci-fi world. We learn that Terrestran teenagers socialise at a bar which serves nectar laced with mind-altering chemicals, and that Zandran men have no problem with receiving bouquets of Black Tulpen from female admirers. We taste breakfast on the planet Tarentet, and it's delicious.

The Prophecy isn't the flashiest book on the shelf. But for fans of YA sci-fi and dystopia, it's the kind of novel that truly satisfies that desire to explore new worlds. It's thought-provoking and it's unique. I enjoyed it whole-heartedly, and will be looking forward to visiting Gill James' vision of the future again in the second Peace Child novel. Those who enjoy stories set in the future should definitely consider giving this out-of-the-ordinary tale a look.

I really enjoyed reading this book. There's loads of great descriptions about future technology and how different people live. The main character is likeable and although he's the hero of the story he makes mistakes which he learns from and isn't perfect, making him much more realistic.

In places the plot was a little bit predictable but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing as the predictable elements were things I wanted to happen. The story was more about how these things occured than the end point.

I was pleased to find out that the book is the first in The Peace Child Triology and I'll definitely be reading the next one!

The Prophecy is set over 1000 years in the future. The people of Terrestra (Earth) have been forced to live underground because of a poison cloud in the atmosphere. Although in the past people from Terestra have travelled to many other planets and even started other settlements now that they are living underground they no longer allow planetary travel. Even though the poison cloud has started to lift they have become predjudiced against people who live on other worlds who they believe are different from themselves.

Kaleem has always been different from others - his looks, his homelife and the lack of a father have all lead to teasing from his peers. He is more different than he had imagined though and his life will change drastically when he finds out about the Babel Prophecy and his role in it.

I found the premise of this story really interesting and was looking forward to reading it but unfortunately I found it a really difficult read. This was partly due to the names of some of the main characters - which were difficult to pronounce and made reading a struggle - but it was also due to the lack of explanation of some of the major events that happen. I still have no idea what caused the poison cloud that meant everyone on the planet was forced underground and would have liked a better explanation of this. I also found it wasn't clear how some of the technology they had actually worked which caused some confusion for me.

Having said that I did find that Kaleem was a likeable character, he made mistakes but learnt from them and that made him more believable. I found the story idea interesting and when I got into the flow of reading I did want to carry on and find out how it would end. I'm not sure if I'd pick up further books in the series though.