Liberation for All, Independence for Some
Review of Point Mega, Book 10 of Earths Final Chapter
Review by Tom Pahlow
An explosive addition to Earths Final Chapter, Point Mega introduces us to many of the locations and groups hinted at previously. Written by Julian Fernandes and Illustrated by Jennifer Slater, Book 10 of Earths Final Chapter is filled with revolution, ruthlessness, cunning plots and absolute chaos.
Like the rest of the World in Earths Final Chapter, the Planetary Council City of Point Mega is ready for change. While the head of the city, Catalina Silver, prepares to make her plans for the megacity known she must deal with interference from every angle. There is strife within her own family as Isla Silver, her daughter-in-law, contemplates the future of her children. A future that might not involve Point Mega or the PC at all. Meanwhile, in the bowels of the city, another figure is plotting its own liberation. As all of these plots coincide, absolute chaos breaks out in the megacity and a new beginning for everyone is established. For better or worse.
Wow, there was so much in this one. I’ll start with some slight issues I had with the story. One is a complaint I’ve raised before and that is simply that I almost felt like this could have been a much larger story. Greedy on my part, I know, but there were so many plot points that I wished we had more time to ruminate on and build. Having said that, the story didn’t feel cramped at all, and all the diverging stories were integral to the changes in Point Mega.
For instance, the capture of the mysterious figure known only as the guide seemed to be a little too easy. For a man who had successfully eluded the controlling PC for long enough to become a folk tale, it seems strange that he was caught so quickly. And if the argument is that they always knew how to catch him then It seemed that they should have had far more info on those he was smuggling or even where he was smuggling them. A minor complaint against all the other major points of the book, this is one of the things I personally think could have benefitted from a longer story. Perhaps I just want more of EFC to devour though.
As for the rest of the book. So many things took place. Independence, revolution and escape are major focal points of three stories. Not every story ends well either which is something I enjoy in a good book. The urge to tie everything up in a nice bow is easy to succumb to but I love a story with failure and an open-ended ending. Point Mega does this superbly, as not everyone’s journey goes the way they want it to.
Speaking of open-ended, Fernandes did his classic trick of answering questions only to dangle even more questions in front of you. Some of the places hinted at in earlier books were revealed to be real, but now I have even more questions about what they are. One of these is the Existence of awakened AI. Mentions had been made and robots from the mysterious Nova Viva had made appearances in other books, but we finally got some answers and a little peek at this mysterious community which I have been dying for!
Of course, everything is underpinned by the larger mystery of EFC. Who are the Watchers? And what are their intentions?