J. Patrick Black offers a strong first novel with "Ninth City Burning." Black creates a compelling dystopian reality after an alien attack upon earth. Within this reality he paints a clear picture of the breakdown of people groups within the society, showing both how it is constructive for the society and flawed in its secret keeping. Black also creates compelling characters, drawing each of the main ones from different parts of society -- a couple from one of the central cities, a couple from the armies of earth, a couple from the towns created to support the central cities, and a few from the tribal groups that wander earth. Each of these people seeks survival in the world that have been forced to live within.
These compelling characters and the fantastic reality make for a great book that is hard to put down. The only negative is that it took way too long to get places. It took too long to understand the threat of the Valentine Aliens. It took too long to come to a firm grasp of thelemity. It took too long for the various character arcs to come together and accomplish the purpose set out for within the narrative. Some of these things sill remain unresolved at the conclusion of this first book in a series. This may be by design of the author, but as a reader I find this slightly frustrating.
I received this book as part of the blogging for books program from Penguin/Random House.
