Heidelinde Penndorf
„THE SUPERFLARE“ – absolutely recommended reading!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review from Germany dated July 2, 2022
The SF novel with over five hundred pages is a blast – intense, fascinating, pictorially written, interesting, very exciting, emotionally gripping and multi-layered. 80% dystopian, but with an ending that gives hope. Some of the characters are very complex, learning and evolving. It is a novel that gets under your skin, that is disturbing, that you can’t forget. A novel that shows where fanaticism, morbid ambition, abused science, too much power in individual hands and trusting AI can lead when empathy and love are left out. The best for humanity wanted and blinded led into the abyss.
Those who know my many book reviews know that I rarely spoil, but here it was more or less a MUST for me, because the book is simply breathtaking, and I want to attract many readers to read it. Details of the plot, however, I will not tell you! In some parts it is not far from reality at all. The plot makes you think and raises, among other things, the questions of how we will all live/want to live in the future. And how close can we let artificial intelligence into our lives.
There are two living worlds on Earth in 2051 – a near-natural self-sufficient world and a sterile world controlled by AI and few humans. A world without animals, plants, without any germs, bacteria and viruses – created to protect people from epidemics.
Both life worlds have no contact with each other.
In the sterile living world, children from the age of six to eighteen live in complete isolation, each to his or her own, without reference persons. They see each other, learn and play with each other only virtually. Even the food is served by the artificial intelligence, even the medication, which drives their emotion level towards zero.
But suddenly everything is different, nothing works anymore and a cruel chaos breaks out. The children and young and older adults have never learned to take care of themselves. Their psychological resilience is not up to the situation, their unsatisfied needs lead to quite strong negative emotions and inhuman behaviors, they partly behave like animals – ‚eat or be eaten‘. Since in the AI life world everyone lived absolutely germ-free and sterile, an immune system is practically non-existent, which now takes revenge, because many become seriously ill because they are suddenly exposed to the ’normal‘ world.
A young girl and a small group around her, however, is different. They seek contact with the other world of life and interpersonal encounters of a positive and also negative nature occur. Both groups learn from each other, also to survive in a new way, to trust each other, to build relationships and to stand up for each other.
But the artificial intelligence has repaired, evolved and sees itself as the sole ruler of humanity, trying to break all resistance and subjugate the people from both worlds as work slaves for the rebuilding of the sterile world. Whether the artificial intelligence succeeds, they read best themselves.
One thing I can tell you, there is a lot of action, something happens on every page of the book, it is a movie in book format, one that is worth reading.
Chapeau, Andrew G. Berger!
Heidelinde Penndorf
https://penndorf-rezensionen.com/index.php/rezensionen/item/931-der-sonnensturm-scifi-roman-andrew-g-berger
BookJunky
Super dystopia, a modern Romeo & Juliet
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review from Germany dated June 3, 2022
My opinion
I was allowed to read „The Solar Storm“ by Andrew G. Berger, as a review copy. My very first thought after finishing the book was: boar… violent. But that’s no way to get an impression. Hence, my detailed opinion of the book. The cover comes across as plain and very unspectacular. There are some spelling mistakes, but they are rather careless mistakes and probably not everyone will notice them. Those were already all my minus points to the book.
The idea is not new, but in the implementation it is extremely well designed. The story begins shortly before the event and we get to know the main protagonist. This one lives in a fully digitized world with AI. A solar storm cripples all devices and there is no more electricity, so the AI turns against the humans. You can quickly get a picture of the environment and the protagonist. For me, the head cinema was immediately on and I felt like I was in a movie that was playing in front of my inner eye and from which I was reluctant to emerge.
The author manages to captivate and carry you away in no time. Even though it is a pure Sci-Fi book, the life of two different worlds is described quite realistically. I kept thinking that we could end up in the same situation as the characters in the book. The storyline has many twists and turns, making it a very fast-moving story, as you fly from one event to the next. Cross-reading is hardly possible, because you would miss too much. Some events are so unpredictable that I sometimes sat there with my mouth open. Likewise, the writing style is extremely clear and detailed. It conveys many images and also the feelings of the protagonists.
You also always notice in between that there is still a secret bubbling up between the lines and you can’t stop reading until you finally get to grab it. The ending came fast and furious and ends in an incomplete happy ending. It leaves the future open, but the plot lines that have been there from the beginning are almost completely resolved and finished.
My conclusion
For me, „The Superflare“ by Andrew G. Berger is a modern Romeo & Juliet with a happy ending. There are many exciting twists and turns, a good arc of suspense, and a great ending. A compelling read for anyone who enjoys reading sci-fi and dystopias. (https://buecherjunky.de/rezension-der-sonnensturm/)
Sally’s Books
4.0 of 5 stars
Great dystopia
Review from Germany dated June 2, 2022.
The world in the future. We accompany 17 year old Julia, who lives lonely in a so-called honeycomb and communicates mostly only with an AI. She has never really seen her friends, she can only meet them in the virtual world. At least, until the time when an EMP destroys all devices that are connected to electricity.
Julia was a great protagonist for me. She counters, thinks things through and doesn’t put up with everything. I liked her rebellious streak right away.
But Julia is not the only storyline we follow. There is, for example, the president and a military officer.
All strands are connected sooner or later, so you get to see a lot of the world and that was exciting.
In general, I found the book mostly exciting and peppered with interesting ways of thinking. There are surprises every now and then, which make the book a good pastime.
Of course, with the number of pages, there are a few long stretches, but I could get over them.
I also liked the ending and it was coherent.
I highly recommend this book for dystopia fans.
https://sallysbooks.home.blog/2022/06/02/der-sonnensturm-von-andrew-g-berger/
