****THERE WILL BE SPOILERS****
I wasn't sure how I felt about the book overall, but I've had time to let it sink in and, I liked it. Didn't love it, but I liked it. The ending was a bit eh, kind of like, OK, I'll wrap this up in a pretty bow for everyone. I'm terrible though, I looked up transhumanism so I could understand it, and after I read what it was, I pretty much guessed how things were gonna go down. I didn't get it 100% right but I was close. So it wasn't that big of a twist/shock point when the truth was revealed. I was happy Sienna turned out to be a "good guy", but at the same time it felt cheap. The real "bad guys" in this novel are, us, the human race and our penchant for destroying the planet on which we live. And The Consortium, they were also the villain. But it's kind of a grey area with that. All the trickery and disinformation that Brown threw at us was a bit annoying, to me anyway. It was an over-the-top illusion on such a grand scale, but then again, that is the point, to show how powerful and deceptive The Consortium is. I think really what I like/enjoy most about Brown's works (and I've only read two), is his historical and locale descriptions. His detailing of art, architecture, historical facts and icons, are breathtaking and always make my artistic-wanderlust-soul, yearn to visit every place, see every building & piece of art he describes.
I did dig the plot, the overpopulation, how we're over consuming natural resources, water shortage, reducing fish from over fishing, letting species of animals and flora & fauna die out, the destruction of precious, and vital, ecological wetlands, forests and jungles, and so on. That's all a very real concern worldwide.
My only criticism really is, his storytelling is mediocre. I felt that way with Da Vinci Code as well. He writes short, fast-paced information filled chapters that end with cliffhangers, which make the readers "HAVE" to read the next chap just to see what happens. This also makes for a very quick read. Overall, I enjoyed & liked it. I would give it a rating of: X1/2-XX (out of a XXX rating system) Leaning more towards the X1/2.
Stay Booked! Happy Reading!
