Book Review: ISAN by Mary Ting

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Title: ISAN
Author: Mary Ting
Publisher: Vesuvian Books
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Young Adult

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Purchase Links:
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Amazon // Indiebound

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ISAN
International Sensory Assassin Network
Mary Ting
Vesuvian Books, May 2018
ISBN 978-1-944109-56-1
Trade Paperback

From the publisher—

THE WORLD HAS CHANGED.

SCIENTISTS WARNED IT WOULD HAPPEN.

Meteors devastated the Earth. World Governments developed plans to help surviving citizens. The United States disbanded and salvageable land was divided into four quadrants—North, South, East, and West—governed by The Remnant Council.

Struggling to survive, seventeen-year-old Ava ends up in juvenile detention, until she is selected for a new life—with a catch. She must be injected with an experimental serum. The results will be life changing. The serum will make her “better.” To receive the serum, Ava agrees to join a program controlled by ISAN, the International Sensory Assassin Network.

While on a mission, she is abducted by a rebel group led by Rhett and told that not only does she have a history with him, but her entire past is a lie perpetuated by ISAN to ensure her compliance. Unsure of who to trust, Ava must decide if her strangely familiar and handsome captor is her enemy or her savior—and time is running out.

A major requirement of any speculative fiction—including science fiction, fantasy and the like—is solid worldbuilding so the reader can understand this imaginary setting and how/why it came into existence. When worldbuilding is done well it can be the star of the book; when it isn’t, the result can be a kind of heartless story with no real point. Ms. Ting has done a slightly incomplete but very nice job of creating her characters’ world.

The first part of this book is a little slow but I chalk it up to the author needing to spend time on that worldbuilding and the action definitely picks up later, quite satisfactorily. Throughout the story, I found gaps here and there but I actually prefer it that way because I don’t want all the answers spoonfed to me. Ava doesn’t understand everything either, not by a long shot, so we learned together.

Imagine yourself as a teenaged girl turned into an assassin, one with enhanced abilities that are used to make killing more efficient. Kind of scary, right? During all the training sequences, I couldn’t help thinking about a couple of movies, Wonder Woman and Black Panther, in which young women are schooled in the art of fighting with constant training (and, in both cases, said training is a visual work of art). The big difference, of course, is that Ava has no real choice and the ultimate goal is less than honorable.

Ava begins to question that goal and cemented herself in my affections with her courage and willingness to look beyond what she is told. She’s not entirely alone, naturally, but I appreciated that the romantic tension between her and Rhett did not become the be-all and end-all of her existence. This pair is an interesting duo and I want to see much more of them and some of the other characters—Ozzie, Tamara and Brooke in particular—but it’s their search for truth that sets them apart from so many others in their universe. Well done, Mary Ting!

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, May 2018.

About the Author

International Bestselling Author Mary Ting/M. Clarke resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children’s chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.

Author links:

Website // Twitter // Facebook // Goodreads

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