The Rising Tide Liminal Sky Book 2
Science fiction, LGBT+, Fantasy
DSP Publications
October 30, 2018
388
Earth is dead.
Five years later, the remnants of humanity travel through the stars inside Forever, a living, ever-evolving, self-contained generation ship. When Eddy Tremaine and Andy Hammond find a hidden world-within-a-world under the mountains, the discovery triggers a chain of events that could fundamentally alter or extinguish life as they know it, culminate in the takeover of the world mind, and end free will for humankind.
Control the AI, control the people.
Eddy, Andy, and a handful of other unlikely heroes—people of every race and identity, and some who aren’t even human—must find the courage and ingenuity to stand against the rising tide.
Otherwise they might be living through the end days of human history.
Review by (Xanthe)
Reviewer for The Paranormal Romance Guild
The Rising Tide is set a few years after the events of The Stark Divide. We have a lot of the same main characters along with some new ones as time passes and events unfold.
It did take me a while to get into and enjoy this second book in the series.
In part one, year 2171, we have at least nine different POV’s and it was a lot to keep up with and follow. We have a mystery straight from the beginning of the book and an interesting plot develops with huge consequences for characters and Forever, the world that has grown and is travelling through space to their new home.
It was great catching up with some of the people that we met in book one, seeing how their characters have progressed and what relationships they now have. Society has had to learn new ways of living compared to what they were used to on Earth and it’s interesting in what methods have been relearned. It’s slow going after they lost some of their technology at the end of Book One but the community as a whole is doing the best it can. The human element is clear with those that are striving to make a better and able world for everyone to live in and one person who is absolute in that they know best and will show the rest how it’s done. There is an eclectic group of people that make up those fighting for everyone and I enjoyed how everything developed both with relationship and the plot of the first part of the story. There are a couple of plot twists that I did not see coming with a lot of drama, action and intrigue as to what is going on.
In part two, year 2181, I found it much easier to fall into the story telling, enjoying the pace and plot. Fewer POV’s and there are people who were rescued in part one that have a big role to play now and it’s great to see how they have come from where they were to their place now. Those who don’t know them fear them and what they are capable of doing. Fear now grows for a new threat and it’s those people who are feared that come to the aid of other MC’s that we know and it becomes a hard fought battle to save their world again from the same source. There is redemption available for a character that we came to know loosely in part one and I was so happy to read that after finding out his history throughout this part of the book. There are also new relationships formed, both familial and romantic. Whilst I wouldn’t class this as a romance there are a few different relationships that become established. This is an LGBT+ book with a wide array of people from all sexualities which I love as they have come to live on this world and it is, from what I can tell, seen as accepted and the norm for any relationships to occur. Part three also gives us several characters who show that you are still capable of learning, whether about the world, people, sexualities, presumptions etc. Packed with emotion as we move through this dramatic part three, tension, mystery and heartbreak were big for me as the events unfolded leading to a dramatic ending.
In part three, 2188, we have a dramatic end to the book. It is the largest section but I think covers the shortest time span, maybe a few days, if that. The action was fast paced but it was constantly enthralling and I had to keep reading to find out what would happen to the characters we’ve come to care about and the world as it is on Forever at the moment. The heroes of this part are people that we have come to know and love and it’s gotten to the point that you feel proud of who and what they have become. There is true determination to do what’s needed in order to save their “world”. There is one prevalent bad guy that just cannot seem to stay gone and the way he comes back each time is an amazing feat of imagination. Huge praise to J. Scott Coatsworth for his thoughts, ideas, development and vision of how this story would begin and continue and the characters evolve throughout.
The Rising Tide is packed with emotion, strong bonds and relationships that develop through the parts of the book, and the plot is, again, an amazing feat of imagination. A living world by itself that has so many working parts to consider but then throw in characters and a story that has to keep you engaged and interested throughout, it’s fantastic from the author. The book did start off slowly for me, taking quite a while for me to get into the story but once I was involved, I was gripped by the characters (good and bad) and the connections that they all made, and the overall story arc as Forever moves towards its final destination but it first has to survive from the people within.
This is a series that I would recommend reading in order and those who loved book one, The Stark Divide, and fantasy and science fiction will love The Rising Tide.