Aquifer

I scramble forward, wanting only to be the same, loathing the feeling of Other. I was pursued down. Now I am pursued on the ascent. I am Luca. I am special. And for that, I am cursed.

Book: Aquifer by Jonathan Friesen, Blink (Zondervan Publishers), 2013

Genre: Speculative, Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

Target Audience: Boys 14+

Subjects: Family Relationships, Truth, Hope

Summary: Rats. Just what everyone dreams of meeting someday right? Luca is the deliverer of his people as was his father before him and so on. Once a year the deliverer must venture underground to continue the deal with the Rats – light in exchange for water. They are the only ones who know the route. But Luca isn’t supposed to be doing it yet. He’s only sixteen after all. His father will be the deliverer for many more years. Or that’s the idea at least. Except for this year something goes wrong and his father doesn’t return from his trip underground. That’s when Luca begins his own journey, a journey of discovery, a journey to the truth – the truth about the Rats, about the world leaders, about the land, and about himself.

Notes: Set way in the future, after severe world wars all emotion has been outlawed and attempted to be even bred out of them. But Luca is different, he is “Other”. And it is up to him to be the deliverer, but when he makes his first trip down, rather than going as the deliverer of his people or to negotiate with the Rats, he goes to try to find his missing father and learns that most everything he has believed all his life is a lie. Soon with the help of an uncle he didn’t know he had, an aunt he didn’t know he had, a rebel who wasn’t supposed to be alive, and a beautiful young girl he begins an attempt to save the whole world, not just the people on top, but the Rats as well. As for spiritual elements, there is something hinted to all throughout the story. A secretly discovered book (all books and reading have been banned) is hinted to maybe be “the” book. People called

“Wishers” pray and wait on fulfillment of a prophecy unknown to Luca. At the end, a character sings Amazing Grace and an entire mob of angry people are stopped at the sound. But nothing is made clear, just hinted at. In fact, the characters multiple times refer to “The Fates” watching out for them, rather than God. The ending does leave room for a sequel so there’s a chance that the next book will cover more. The book does get quite violent – many people die, characters see large quantities of dead bodies and the death of some characters is descriptive.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 2/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Romans 1:25 – They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

Thank you to Booksneeze for providing me with a free review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.