Name: The Nothing Within
ISBN: 9781733567619

Andy Giesler

A biological disaster reverberates in Ohio Amish country long after the near-extinction of humanity. The story follows Root, a daring outlier in a culture shaped by conformity and fear. Leaving the safety of her village, Root's journey will show her the truth: that her world has been twisted by people trying to save it.

The Nothing Within

Janice Hopper

This book was a nice surprise! It starts out as a sort of post-apocalyptic story. Then the story fills in a little here, a little there, and we gradually get an idea of what's going on, and what made the world what it was. It goes from a pseudo-medieval sort of fantasy world to a bit more science-fiction-y story.

The heroine is blind, too (mostly blind, anyway - it's all explained in the book.) She's interesting and curious and trouble-making.

There's lots of story-telling going on here, and a few folksy sorts of poems. One of them could totally be a hobbit song! 

It's a fairly upbeat story for a time after the end of (most of) the world. Good work, Mr. Giesler!

I read most of this book while I was knitting my mitered scarf. :D

Janet Doré

Second Goodreads Giveaway book in a row...second time I'm throwing in the towel. 

With this one, it might be mostly my fault.

Fantasy and sci fi are definitely not my genres. As I build a well-rounded library for my future book retreat, I'm trying to buy and read outside of my box. In fairness to both myself and authors, I may have to rethink the reading part. 

This is one of the most well written of the giveaways I've received—sentences flow, punctuation is on point, it's not over or underwritten, and I had no problem bonding with the main character. 

However, I could not follow it for the life of me! I felt like I was reading the second book in a sequel without having read the first. Maybe this is my problem...or maybe it's the author's. I'm truly not sure. 

Had I not read the Goodreads description, I wouldn't have had a clue about the event that was central to the story, known as "the Reckoning"—a "genetic engineering disaster that nearly extinguished the human race" and resulted in chimeras, mutated humans that were a blend of numerous different animals.

Just when I'd think I was figuring it out and connecting to the story, it would switch perspectives. About 20% in, my frustration at being put in a position of figuring it out (not so easy on a Kindle) outweighed my curiosity about the outcome. 

I repeat...this could just be me. If you're a fantasy reader, this guy seems like a very worthy new author and is definitely worth a try!

The Nothing Within

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