"Apiria Rising" eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Douglas Barton. This is Mr. Barton's first publication.

The story is set in the far future. Aspiria is the capital of a wide sprawling collection of human settlements across a section of space. It is also the location where the smartest of the collective are invited to come and learn, as well as compete. In this society, only the most competitive are allowed to stay at Aspiria. Those that fail are sent back to their homeworlds. The primary character is Dominy who has trained all his life to get to Aspiria. Once there he finds that all is not what he had expected.

I was disappointed with this 295 page young adult science fiction novel. I read about 23% of the way through before I gave up and called a Rule of 50 (https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/using-the-rule-of-50-when-reading/ ) on it. It seemed to be trying to create a "Harry Potter" like world, only with intellect being the skill instead of magic. I think that the plot was very simple-minded, even for young adults. The cover art is OK. I give this novel a 2 out of 5.

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