Human .4 by Mike Lancaster

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Plug into a new generation of sci-fi It's a brave new world.
'My name is Kyle Straker. And I don't exist any more.'
So begins the story of Kyle Straker, recorded on to old audio tapes. You might think these tapes are a hoax. But perhaps they contain the history of a past world...If what the tapes say are true, it means that everything we think we know is a lie. And if everything we know is a lie does that mean that we are, too?
0.4 is an apocalyptic science fiction book for teens for fans of War of the Worlds, I am Legend, The Matrix and the X Files.

If you have not ever seen the Twilight Zone circa 1950s, you need to change your life and hop to Netflix instant and watch it. That show is like the grandfather of mind fucks. Every episode has me going what the what? And why would I start off a review of Human .4 by Mike Lancaster talking about The Twilight Zone? WELL, Human .4 is fairly reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, in that your mind will be fucked with and you will find yourself going hmmmm, what the heck just happened. After I finished Human .4, I had to tell my boyfriend about it and discuss the ending and the premise. He pretty much gave me an odd look.

We begin the book with an editor’s note, explaining that what you are about to read is the transcripts of the Kyle Straker tapes. Just like now, tapes are an antiquated technology in the world of Human .4. Unlike today, books are archaic as well. Human .4 then delves into Kyle Straker’s story which is quite odd. You see, Kyle has this pretty normal life (also, they live in England, so the slang is kind of weird), his parents fight a lot, and he has good friends. All of this completely changes when Kyle volunteers to be hypnotized for his friend Danny’s act in the town talent show. Upon waking up from hypnotization, Kyle finds, along with the other three volunteers, life as they know it has completely changed.

It is freaky. I won’t go into spoilers, because half of the fun is in the mind games this book plays. I will also say one of my fears is played on. Hint: Isolation. There are also choices which the characters must make. The choices carry a moderate degree of risk, no matter what they choose, there’s a downside. And I thought that was interesting, that for a certain section, there is no clear choice to make. I liked that.

I was also a fan of how much Human .4 made me think. It may not be the greatest book ever written, but it made me pause and consider, despite taking me about 3 hours to read. It made me consider several what-ifs. And I’d like to think a book that gives one pause is always a good thing. Also: there are Dr. Who references for those of you who go in for that sort of thing.

If you are looking for some science fiction that doesn’t quite feel like science fiction, definitely pick up Mike Lancaster’s Human .4. Especially if like me, you aren’t all that attracted to sci-fi but want to read it so you can fit in with the cool kids, as this is totally sci-fi lite.

Disclosure: Received for review.

Other Reviews of Human .4 by Mike Lancaster:

Helen’s Book Blog
GalleySmith
TenCentNotes
Hobbitsies

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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