Cursed Legacy by Anna K Lane
Overview and Synopsis
Kallum has no memory of the first ten years of his life. He has no real plans for the future. As a means to an end, he undertakes an FIS test, an acutely disturbing simulation designed to find out if he has what it takes to enter a prestigious position within the city of Levitor – which would mean a living and an opportunity to approach his beloved.
But things go wrong. The simulation goes from manageable to nightmarish, and when he’s released, the city around him is under threat. The power source which keeps its protective dome online – and the dangerous Reavers out – is on the blink. And pretty soon, Kallum’s life is turned upside down.
Writing style and the narrator:
The actual prose style is good. There were a few minor errors toward the end of the book (always tricker for beta readers and the author themselves to pick up, due to general editing fatigue).
But frankly, I found it a bit hard to follow and less engaging than it should have been. That’s probably more down to plot and pacing than prose, though.
World-building:
Levitor is an interesting place. It’s high-tech, but the people living there don’t really understand what keeps their city humming. Food is scare and the citizens are afraid of the outside world. Lane goes into detail about the small aspects of city life; the bakery, the illegal hooch, the mandatory militaristic schooling.
Characterisation:
Kallum, Flyx, Aegon and the various humans and not-so-humans encountered along the way all have their back stories and their own wants and needs. The main problem is that Kallum’s driving motivation seems to waver a lot. One moment he’s aiming to settle down with Yadira, the next he’s setting out to save the city, and then he’s waylaid and ends up spending two weeks in a cave because of an esoteric agreement with a city noble.
While Lane has had a good stab at providing character biographies, everyone seems a bit ephemeral. I found it difficult to care for anyone. Boniface’s and Kallum’s relationship, and Kallum’s love for Yadira, are supposed to be central concerns – but I didn’t get much of a sense of real connection or loyalty there. At one point, a slew of people help Kallum out (he isn’t a particularly proactive protagonist) – and I was left wondering why.
It’s fine to have a protagonist torn between love, duty and self – but I don’t really get that impression. Kallum just seems to welter around from one place to the next, wandering from a mountain cave to a bakery to an airfield. He’s a bit aimless, and that brings me to the plot.
Plot:
I’m not sure what the stakes were, here. The Dome breaks, but the city isn’t in immediate danger. Kallum finds out about his strange heritage, but it falls kind of flat.
In a way, this reminded me of some of the more frustrating and inscrutable animes I’ve seen; ones where people get arrested or die or find out they have an amazing power, but all in an incomprehensible or emotionally dislocated context.
There is some circularity; some strange occurrences at the start are explained by the end of this instalment – but, and not to get too spoilery – even the ending is oddly indecisive. Kallum stands on the threshold of a grand adventure – and then makes a decision that undermines any sense of jeopardy hanging over the city.
Overall:
Usually, I can put my finger on precisely why a book almost but doesn’t quite hit the mark for me. I’m not sure what happened here – and that actually has a lot in common with my experience of Kallum’s journey. It’s all a big foggy.
I don’t mind when a protagonist is manipulated or is unknowing. I like mystery. But I like a sense that the author is in control, and knows where the narrative is going, as well as a sense of risk, pace and significance and that’s absent here. I like having the rug pulled from under me. But in this case, the rug is too frayed to leave me off balance.
A reluctant 12/20, because there is some real skill here.
Other Worlds 