New Review! Of Mice Not Men by Donald Canterbury, 4 Cranky Stars

Of Mice Not Men Book One Division by Donald Canterbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**** 4 Cranky Stars ****



I like to challenge my intelligence every now and then and read sci-fi as I am a simple girl who likes simple words in my books (insert smiley face here). Of Mice Not Men is definitely not for the simple minded.



Don’t get me wrong or be put off by my words please or be scared to read this book. Far from it. A good sci-fi book is one that is well-researched, based on existing facts, saturated with quantum physics, mixed with rocket science and sprinkled with a healthy dose of author imagination! This book definitely ticked all those boxes and more.



Set in the distant future, after men had waged war against one another, exhausted all the natural resources and the very planet at the brink of self - destruction; we find humans are divided into 3 groups: the Developers, the Harmonizers and the minority known as Non-Affiliated Inhabitants of Terra or N.A.I.T. In a nutshell, the Developers want to completely destroy earth and find a new home elsewhere in space. The Harmonizers, or the tree-huggers as the Developers called them, want to try and save the earth and heal it back to life. The N.A.I.T. is too small a group with not enough tech or firepower to make a statement.



The two bigger groups use technology and spies to infiltrate each other. Both are quite savage in their own way whenever they cross path with the other. Time was running out on who inherits the earth or who actually stays alive in the end.



This is a well-paced story. Not for the faint of heart as there are several brutal scenes that might not be recommended for young readers with all the almost visual description utilised throughout the book.



It is also told in multiple points of view, at least from eight different characters if I remember correctly. Each one had a story to tell and was inter-twined with the others in the end. If I had any criticism, the multiple POVs would be it. My attention had been split in so many directions that I didn’t identify with any of the characters or formed any attachment to them. Having said that, that didn’t mean there weren’t any poignant moments to pull at the heart strings as each character went through personal despair and triumphs.



There were no flowery words wasted in the story. No descriptive text to indicate physical attractiveness, or lack of, as well as ethnicity identification for each character. To me, that was special. Everyone was held equal in appearance and there’s only one race: human. The only divisions were the three factions. And within the factions, who held the most power.



The story also ended without a cliff hanger and finished in more of an open ended fashion. I would like to know what happened to the Harmonizers and the Developers afterwards. As well as where eternity took Spatha and Cynthia.



This author is definitely one to watch.



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