Jack, Sarah, and Ethan live in a world of magic. Fireballs, magically enhanced stealth, and even precognition are all at their fingertips. But the “magic” they wield is actually sufficiently enhanced technology: the result of interfacing with a global AI network. Cirrus, the massive Earthlike space station they call home, even has its own psychic dragons! But when their friend Priya calls them back to Earth, they discover that home is in danger. The press swears that Cirrus has been shattered, and proving otherwise will be difficult.
But this deception is part of a grander scheme. Danny Kou, who has long been at odds with Jack and his friends, is working with a nameless, faceless mentor to bring Cirrus under his control. How? By using an exploit built into the genetically engineered dragons who roam the inside of the space station. When Jack and Sarah find themselves back on Cirrus, they discover that a takeover is already underway. With time ticking down and their magic inaccessible, they’ll need to pool their resources to find out what’s happening to their home and save it before it’s too late.
In SCATTERED, author John Harvey assumes that readers have already read the first two books of The Cirrus Chronicles. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s the natural way of things. While some allowance is made for late adopters—such as a playful scene in which Jack, Sarah, and Ethan show off their powers, or an early-doors investigation where Priya locates players from previous installments—it will behoove a reader to start at the beginning to appreciate the book in full. There is more than enough story to carry SCATTERED on its own, as the nature of Cirrus’s dragons is brought out into the open in full, but little things like the relevance of side characters and past major events will get a little lost in the mix.
That aside, SCATTERED thrives on its worldbuilding. Comparable to Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series, The Cirrus Chronicles roots traditional fantasy magic in a blend of quantum mechanics and time-looping AI. But rather than simply hand-waving the effects as “magical,” the narrative explains how these effects work. An ice spell opens a portal to a ski slope’s snow machine, while a light spell invokes a future memory of the caster’s surroundings. It’s a clever mix of sci-fi and fantasy that is governed by a whimsical (but believable) set of rules.
Overall, SCATTERED balances political intrigue with teen fantasy-adventure: a perfect middle-ground for lovers of epic fantasy and futuristic sci-fi.
While readers new to The Cirrus Chronicles may feel a bit lost in the deluge of characters and new information, John Harvey’s SCATTERED still stands alone as a unique and magical adventure reminiscent of Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series.
~Kara Dennison for IndieReader