Fragments
Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence—it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?
Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what’s left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira’s journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn’t even know existed.
The second installment in the pulse-pounding Partials saga is the story of the eleventh hour of humanity’s time on Earth, a journey deep into places unknown to discover the means—and even more important, a reason—for our survival.
Please note, this book is second in the series, if you haven’t read the first there may be spoilers.
Picking up a couple of weeks after the events of ‘Partials’ ‘Fragments’ is a very strong second book in a series. It holds a hint of nostalgia for me as ‘Partials’ was the first book I was given to review by the Big Book Little Book team, as soon as the galley for ‘Fragments’ appeared I was very eager to get my hands on it, the book didn’t disappoint.
Partials was very heavy on the sci fi, Fragments has moved away a bit from this. It’s still an incredibly strong theme in the book, it always going to be when you are writing about biologically engineered robots, but much of the science has already been established so I suppose it doesn’t need explaining in quite the same way. There is also a move away from the dystopian topics of control, this book looks at individuals and their relationships to a much greater extent. It’s almost as Dan Wells felt as though he needed a book to establish his world and then he could concentrate on his characters. That’s not to say that the characters aren’t well drawn or one dimensional in Partials, but in Fragments we did see a greater depth to them and some relationships were explored in more detail. This was fantastic, as for me it’s the characters that really make a book. Fragments also had more of a sense of adventure to it with some incredible action packed scenes. This isn’t just a book for the girls, even with a female central character this is a book that I should be able to sell to the boys too.
There is still the crucial element of Romance and the hints of that ever present YA device, the love triangle, but this doesn’t take over the book. It’s there in the background, enough to satisfy those who like a little romance in their books but not enough to overwhelm the story. Just the way I like it.
Fragments has built such a believable future world that you can’t help but be drawn into the story. It isn’t a short book, but despite the length and fairly complicated storyline it is a fairly easy read. The writing draws you in and you really start to care about the characters. I found that I needed to know more and had to carry on reading.
The book also raises some interesting arguments over morality. The entire premise of the series, the creation of bioengineered robots, who think for themselves, being made for military purposes is always going to raise some interesting questions into the ethic of such a thing. What I have found incredibly interesting in both books is that Wells has decided to set the book after a virus has wiped out most of the human species, rather than the event itself. This means that both sides have had chance to evaluate their actions and how different camps have come to different conclusions is very interesting. The preconceptions of each side towards the other could be applied to so many issues that affect the human race, it becomes an interesting study of what it means to be human, even though one side technically isn’t. This really comes to the fore in Kira’s internal struggle, raised as human until she finds out that she is actually a partial as a teen, she feels that she doesn’t fit in either world. Human’s would see the robot whose kind almost destroy the human race, where as the partials just see someone is thinks like a human. I’m really looking forward to seeing how all of this can be resolved in the next book.
Verdict: A well built world, fantastic characters and some interesting moral issues, what more could you ask for?
Reviewed by Alison
