Chaos E.

I write this from Page 140, and I’m already sold on this being an all-time favourite book of mine. The storytelling is very different from any other sci-fi I’ve read: every chapter is sort of like an ‘episode’ or instance, progressing the story and introducing one to a new character, scenario, or perhaps both. I liken it to the best parts of Firefly, or Fallout, in style: the protagonist is a sort of Kurosawa/Leone drifter-type, on their own personal quest, and it’s not (to the midway at least) touched on much — this makes them enigmatic and someone I want to know more about, but that I enjoy knowing less about too. The world is reminiscent in stylings of Borderlands or perhaps Waterworld, and manages to keep the cowboy aesthetic alive alongside the ‘arcane’ or magic-adjacent revilement of technology to a great effect. All in all, I’d recommend this to any fan of the above mentioned titles. The whole book makes for a compelling narrative. I look forward to learning of the Stranger’s complete origins, and seeing what falls on her path next!