Synopsis
I’m not dead yet, but this isn’t living…
They call me the Ghost. I wander the surface of this nameless city, unseen, searching for the sister I lost many years ago. It is a forsaken place, its battle-scarred surface left to burn under a relentless sun.
I should have given up. But when I uncover a disturbing connection between Lyca’s disappearance and the ancient wars that destroyed our city, I refuse to let it go.
The city is restless. Long-forgotten wounds are beginning to itch. People whisper about rebellion, rising-up to take back what was stolen from us. I only want what was stolen from me.
I would do anything to find my sister, even if it means starting a war. But some secrets were meant to stay hidden, and what I have uncovered will change the city and its people forever.
I’m not dead yet, but I will be soon…
About the Series:
In a world scorched by natural disaster, and a city destroyed by centuries of war, hope is a word most people have forgotten. Mutant soldiers enforce the rule of the few, monsters lurk in the tunnels below ground, and an enigmatic group called the Timekeepers play a deadly game with the lives of the survivors…
When one woman stands up to fight, she finds an army behind her. And when she falls, she’ll take an empire down.
For fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora, and Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. This dystopian science-fantasy series will keep you guessing with secrets, simmering tension, and high-stakes action.
Review
UNDERCITY: REBELLION by SC Jensen is a post-apocalypse dystopian novel. I’m a big fan of SC Jensen’s Bubbles in Paradise series, which is a cyberpunk comedy detective series. This is more of a science fiction adventure. If you know anything about my writing then you’ll know I am a huge fan of post-apocalypse settings and absolutely love ones where new civilizations have started to emerge from the chaos.
The premise is that Ghost is a young woman who lives in the City. The City exists underground to avoid the burning surface but also in the shadow of the literal upperclass town of Elysia. Basically, it functions like Battle Angel Alita with the super rich, technologically adept people living above the incredibly poor scavengers. Technology is much worse in the City, though, with only a few places even having electricity.
Ghost has a singular obsession that has been driving her for the past ten years: find out if her sister, Lyca, is dead or alive. Lyca was abducted by forces unknown and it has left Ghost chasing every lead even after every other person has given up. Even Ghost is about ready to throw in the towel when she’s approached by an infamous guerilla fighter named Lynch. Lynch has been fighting the good fight against the Elysian Empire since before she was born and claims that not only is Lyca alive but he can take her to the Ghost finds herself blackmailed/bribed into helping Lynch plan his most audacious plot yet: to eliminate the King of Elysia known as the Ursaar.
Unfortunately, Lynch doesn’t have the underworld ties that Ghost does. Ghost doesn’t either but she knows many capable individuals who she’s burned bridges with and might be able to persuade to participate in the plot. It’s sort of like Ocean’s 11 meets V for Vendetta.
I really enjoy both the world-budiling and characters of this story. The setting is extremely well realized with the desperation of the City contrasted to the decadent corruption of the Elysian Empire. This is an adult novel rather than YA but reminds me, at least in part, of the best from the 2010s when the dystopian and post-apocalypse craze was all the rage. Ghost is a fully grown woman, though, and also LGBTAQ which adds an interesting layer to events. Will she go with Lynch or her long-time lover Mirelle?
If I had any complaints about the book, I would say that I think the Ursaal is a little too over the top as a villain, being a horrific narcissistic Oedipal monster that isn’t so much unrealistic as he is uninteresting. Despite this, he’s not the only antagonist and I much preferred the Timekeepers as a morally ambiguous force. They’re a group that preserves both history as well as technology but have been hoarding it for their own benefit.
This is definitely an underappreciated indie novel and I encourage people to give the first book a try out. The second book is one that I’ve already read and enjoyed but the third (and presumably final) will be coming out this year. If you’re looking for an interesting post-apocalypse science fiction setting with likable characters then this is the book for you.
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