4
stars
‘Unblinking’
is an interesting take on a futuristic dystopia and, a believable one at that. In Minka and Zedd's world, environmental
disasters have rendered most of the planet uninhabitable. Our two main characters grow up in The Tower
Lands, a cluster of ten connected skyscrapers within which every aspect of
their lives occur. Education,
employment, and entertainment are all provided within these Towers, by the mysterious
elite Trustees.
Privacy
is forfeited in exchange for security and transparency, the ever-watchful
unblinking Eye can see and record everyone, at every moment (with the exception
of small rooms in which to change clothing and use the bathroom.) Children are even tracked through their
educational years, there is no opt-out of this monitoring.
Employment
is found only through helping to maintain the Towers or to provide
entertainment; entertainment involves watching individual's Streams or
channels, much like the cable TV selection we have today. Except that the most successful and watched
Streams are 'edited' and include nudity or profanity or otherwise embarrassing
moments that an individual would rather not share with the entire world.
At
first, Zedd enjoys his new job as an Editor, taking an individual's Stream and
splicing it together in such a way that it becomes more fun to watch; always at
the cost of the individual. Minka is one
such victim. She is unwillingly thrust
into Stream popularity when a simple trip-and-fall in her high school cafeteria
appears on a 'Too Hot' Stream, edited for maximum embarrassment when her head
accidentally lands in an athlete's clothed lap.
Zedd
starts to fall for the subject of his work projects and wants to help Minka escape
to one of the other small settlements that still exist in the wake the
environmental disasters. As a Tower
Worker, he has access to information about how life used to be, and how to
leave the Towers. Minka, on the other
hand, repeatedly gets in trouble with her parents and the Tower Trustees as she
tries to research these things on her own.
Zedd
wants to help Minka, despite Minka’s understandable hatred for the
as-yet-unnamed Editor who has made her life miserable. Will he be able to help her escape? Will she let him? Find out!
'Unblinking' is currently part of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program.
