In Ora: The Land of the Superior by Sotto VoceMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was reminded at several points while reading ‘In Ora’ of George Orwell’s great dystopian novel ‘1984’ and its disturbing future scenarios. Sotto Voce’s book also had a strong element of romance throughout the story and I found the denouement particularly touching - unlike Orwell’s book. The author of ‘In Ora’ has an excellent way of expressing the relationship between Luke and Rui; such that I found I was rooting for them from the start, and desperate to find out how they eventually would fare. Luke had agreed to be a subject in an experiment in order for Rui to receive free special medical treatment. Although the book was quite sparing in some of the technical and medical details, I assume to allow readers to get on with the essence of the couple’s plight, while they lived as visitors in this advanced land of Ora. But I would have liked much more scientific details. It is a science fiction story after all.
The three main protagonists were very well drawn, including that of Nioby, the doctor, whose character was developed so well as things moved on. The tale had plenty of twists and turns keeping you intrigued and puzzled, eager to turn the pages and find out more about the two, so dissimilar, lands of Ora and Origin. I had a problem sometimes knowing which character was speaking and some attention is needed to editing the book. Often Voce used expressions that seemed inappropriate and confusing which spoiled the flow of the story. While it is necessary for the author to theorise about the future developments of robotics and human DNA manipulation I felt there was a lot missing to engage readers, like myself, with a scientific background.
However, I recommend this story for its originality, pace and ever present feeling of menace; notwithstanding the need for more editing in several parts.
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