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Four decades ago, an event called The Melt ripped the world into two; The Federation in the Western Hemisphere, covering mainly North and South America and The Blankzone in the Eastern Hemisphere, covering Eastern Asia and some of Eastern Europe. After a period of poverty and unrest, The Federation is able to renew itself, joining the two continents of The Americas together under one flag. Life is relatively normal there; teenagers go out and get drunk, go to high school and try to avoid their parents when hungover. Adults go to work and have families and own homes. They have cars, they have Holo’s (equivalent to a cell phone), they have fun and they gather around their TV to watch films and the Presidents’ speeches. But in the Blankzone? Well, no one knows for sure; there is too much radiation, and no communication has been had from within the area since the events of The Melt. One evening, a few weeks after James’ 17th Birthday, he and his family are gathered around their TV to watch the latest speech from the President of the Federation. After it’s finished, his parents tell him that he’s about to drafted into the military, as he’s achieved the highest markers in the area on Federation statutory tests. From that moment on, his life is going to go on a trajectory that he’d never dreamed of.
While Cut From Stone was an interesting trope, it’s one that is somewhat reminiscent of K. A. Riley’s The Resistance Trilogy and the following books about the Emergents. The East is cast as a shadowy, unknowable terror encroaching on the Free World, and the government is happy to keep pushing that narrative. Teenagers are recruited at age seventeen to become super-human-weapons to be used against the East. But not everything is as the government tells them. Cut From Stone is eerily similar in this regard, with James and his cohort of new friends developing skills that are almost preternatural. As they go through more and more brutal training, James and his friend become more and more disaffected with the Federation’s treatment of them.
There are many plot points of Cut From Stone that seem to be a bit extraneous to the story; characters who are featured quite a lot who then make no further appearance. Some of the characters from initial training, who are mentioned multiple times, who James seems to develop a small relationship with, disappear with nary a thought further on. Although, the one person that merits an early appearance and not much mention further on would be Kaylie; her mentions and appearances shows how James’ apathy to his old life increases throughout his time in the military. How he has become conditioned to concentrate only on his team of fellow teens who now rely on him, as much as he relies on them.
In all, OMeara’s novel is a good dystopian tale, although occasional somewhat pedestrian and with a confusing and huge cast of characters.
S. A.
First published on Reedsy Discovery as part of their ARC Program. You can read the original review here.
You can buy Cut From Stone from Amazon, and it’s also available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited. Click on the books name to read it.