Gamma by M. Susanne WigginsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
While my attention was captured from the beginning by this dystopian sci-fi tale, I had some problems with understanding the underlying plot and the general location of the setting. It took me many pages of careful reading to decide that we were on Earth, in East America, and there was a sense of oppressive control from outside influences. It could well be that the author intended the lengthy sense of mystery to pervade a good proportion of the book, but I needed more information about the world that was being built for the many characters, whose rather mundane lives were being presented, often in tedious detail. Having spent some time in this book review on the negative points for me, I can now switch to discuss its more gripping, intriguing and fascinating aspects.
There are weird auroras and telepathic properties apparently possessed by certain people, and sinister secrets to be discovered as the tale progresses. The four main characters, Alec, Meg, Tavis and Frank, were all distinctly well written and had me eventually rooting for them to the end, although I liked Meg and Tavis from the very first pages when they each appeared. Sebastian, Chaza and Kyrie are essential to the background revelations of the story, helping to explain some of the psychic, almost clairvoyant, properties and events, which surround the younger characters. The inner thoughts and feelings of the characters come through with remarkable believability and the author, Wiggins, is to be congratulated for her skilful portrayal. The dialogue throughout the book always had a strongly authentic feel to it, but occasionally, the conversations were too long, and slowed down the pace of the tale. Presenting explanations this way could maybe have been improved by showing actual events to illustrate them rather than talk about them? I found the sexual scenes and the birth of a baby extremely well done, with a respectful use of tact and subtlety, giving an essential feeling of romance and emotion, rather than the, all too often, implicitly gratuitous portrayal found in erotica.
I was well into the story before I became more definitely aware of the influence of space travelling aliens, so uncomfortably affecting the cosy domesticity of my favourite characters. And so, despite the lengthy narrative, I was firmly hooked and eager to discover what awaited them. The imagery, both metaphoric and actual, used by Wiggins is compelling and wonderful and helped to counterbalance some of the deeper psychological moments for this reader. Towards the end of the book there is another character who explains, ad nauseam, many of the complications in the plot to the interested parties, as well as to the reader of course, and I wondered whether that was really necessary considering that a sequel (or two?) was on the way. Notwithstanding this, I enjoyed M. Susanne Wiggins foray into fantastical sci-fi with Gamma and look forward to reading more of the saga later. This intense and imaginative epic will, without doubt, appeal to the many other fans of the genre.
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