I did not expect much when I requested it, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The apocalyptic scenario with a virus wiping out humanity is not a new one and it kind of become Hollywoodian for all the movies were made. What this story has different is the focus not on the outbreak itself, but on the causes and effects, worldbuilding on all aspects of a society – from demographics to politics – and mostly on the decisions ought to be made when facing total annihilation.

As the author said in the epilogue, “I intended to raise awareness about some of our society’s problems, projected into a distant future. Overpopulation, resource consumption and research on sensitive technological and medical advances should be tackled today and a means of control developed, to protect future generations from disaster.”

The book is not action-packed or filled with gore details – both are kept at minimum details, which I rather prefer. The storyline is fluent, with little gaps, which I believe will be filled in the next book, but it stands well on its own.

Bottom line, it’s gripping, entertaining and touches some critical issues which I think will become reality much sooner than 24th century, as is the case here.

Courtesy of Eliade Moldovan, I was given a glimpse of the future and bore witness to an Earth divided. The exploding population of the planet was divided amongst two countries. A thoughtfully carved-out storyline drove the narrative at an even pace. The plot gained momentum as the scenes progressed with ground-shaking intrigue. The main character, Clara, was well-drawn. I stayed precariously balanced at the edge of my seat right up to the heart-pounding end.

A twist came early on revealed that we had finally broke through and made contact with an alien civilization - the planet Fracony. Actually, it was the people of Fracony that had discovered Earth back in the 20th century. Technologically speaking, they were light years ahead of the beings from the Blue Planet.

Zooming 400 years into the future, we find the Earth divided into two countries - two societies. Gaia presides over 60% of the land mass with a swelling population of twenty-five billion. Esperanto, occupying the remaining 40% of land has a sustainable population of only 3 billion.

The resources of the bulging Gaia economy are dwindling at an alarming rate. Gang activity had ballooned to unprecedented proportions. If allowed to continue along the same lines; the country would implode. Something had to be done, and done soon. The only alternative left to save it from its downward spiral would be sending some of its burdening population to Esperanto.

Clara, born gifted from an experimental 'gene match' program allowed her to communicate with the alien society of Fracony. She even had a Franconian mentor who only recently passed away. She was the ruler of Esperanto and was well aware of Gaia's escalating problems and refused to share in its plight. If such a mass migration were permitted, it would decimate the peaceful lives within the borders of Esperanto practically, overnight. It would not be tolerated.

Just when the leader of Gaia thought that his country's woeful problems couldn't get any worse, it crashed and burned with a great nosedive. A highly contagious, incurable virus was released within its country's borders. Asking Esperanto for permission to enter was no longer an option. They had to accept some of those who were not yet infected, so they hoped.

In defense of their homeland, Esperanto sealed up their borders and kept them under continual surveillance. With a lethal virus consuming the people of Gaia, no one was allowed to enter Esperanto's borders. Anyone attempting to do so would be greeted with deadly force.

Many of the escaping citizens from Gaia had been killed while attempting to find sanctuary in Esperanto. It was a race against life or death. Returning back to Gaia was not an option. Clara knew that if only one infected person from Gaia found refuge in their country, the death-dealing virus would spread nationwide. All would die.

My thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this digital edition in exchange for an unbiased review.