Seeds of War by Rachel FisherSeries: Eden's Root #2
Published by: Self Published on July 16, 2012
Genre: Dystopian, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Survival
Pages: 262
Source: Blog Tour
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Rating: ★★★
The mission of Eden must be fulfilled and Eden's best Seekers are needed. Forming a new group they dub the Seeders, Fi, Asher, and Sean are joined by a new addition as they set out to bring hope and support to the Topsiders in the form of radios and heirloom seeds. Their experiences Topside prepare them for the threat from marauding gangs they call Lobos, but it is a different, less obvious sort of threat that takes them by surprise. As radio broadcasts begin to reconnect Eden and the Topsiders, the Seeders stumble upon mysterious broadcasts from unknown stations. When two of their own new radio stations go silent within days of each other, Fi and her companions realize that something is terribly wrong. Eden finds itself pitted against a growing and unknown force as their very mission lights the flames of war.
Seeds of War is a tricky book to review. While I was still very interested in the overall idea, I felt like this book suffered from second-book-in-a-series syndrome. It was missing a strong, central, overarching conflict. It had a lot of mini conflicts, and a few half developed overall conflicts, but nothing was really strong and central. I think that made the book lose focus a bit.
Before I dive further into that, I’ll talk about some of the things I liked. I really enjoyed learning more information about the famine and the government’s involvement. This was something I was really craving in Eden’s Root, but we never really got. So to see some of that finally come to life, was AWESOME! Eden starts communicate with Diaspora II, and at one point they finally start asking some tough questions, like What the heck happened and how did the famine begin? In the first book I really starved for those little details, and in Seeds of War, we finally get some bits of information.
There were also some really sweet romance moments, but there are good things and bad things about the romance itself. At about the halfway mark, I was suddenly hit with a really sweet romance between Fi and Asher. The problem was that it practically didn’t exist at all before this point, and then it really dwindled down after this point. I know that Fi and Asher were already dating when the book started, but I feel like their romance never really came into play in the first half of the book. They were just.. together. There was no sweetness, no fluffy love stuff.. to the point where it almost made me forget that they were dating at all. Then it suddenly came at us full force for like ten pages, and I really enjoyed it. I just wish that could have been more integrated throughout the entire book. Honestly, in the context of the book, I guess it does completely make sense that the romance would take the back seat, but if you know me, you know that I’m a complete romance junkie, and I hunger for it at all times. 😛
Side note: there was a moment with unprotected sex that made me roll my eyes. Sometimes I just can’t believe teenagers are that stupid. I know some of them are, but it just aggravates me.
The pacing at the beginning of the book was… really weird. Fi & Co. had to go on this huge six month long mission. They made a big deal out of it, and there was this whole sad moment about Fi having to leave her sister behind and say goodbye to her, and them all going on about how it’ll be sooo dangerous. But those six months passed by in like 10-20 pages. I just felt like there was a huge build up, and I thought it was going to be a really central part of the book, and then it was just over in a quick breeze. I honestly think that entire part could have been cut from the book and just summarized as something that already happened between books one and two.
Seeds of War also had some religious points in it that I wasn’t crazy about. I’m not a religious person and I don’t love reading about it. The religion didn’t dominate the book, but for a while I thought it was going to. It’s connected to the “growing and unknown force” that’s referenced to in the blurb, which is introduced as a group of religious extremists called the Truthers. I didn’t mind the religious extremism, because that can be interesting to read about. I think it only started bothering me when Fi was almost buying into it.
Once we got passed the religious stuff, there was a cool new development involving the Truthers and my interest was really piqued, but then nothing really happened and I felt like the ball was dropped a little. There was no clear purpose to connect the characters to the Truthers, so for the most part I just saw them as existing independently of each other, with a few references here and there. The lack of direct contact/conflict between the Truthers and Eden made me lose interest in them a little. But, as I said, there are some REALLY interesting developments there, and I know they will be expanded upon in book three! So that’s something to look forward to!
Let’s bring things back to the positives! Ultimately, I really recommend this series to people because of how original and realistic the subject matter is. This is one of those books that will really scare you. It sheds light on some very, very real issues, and raises some interesting questions. Seeds of War has more terrifying realism, sweet romance, and really proves that even teenagers can make a real difference.
For me, this book wasn’t quite as good as Eden’s Root, but I’m thinking the third book will probably be an improvement. This book may have served as a bridge, but at least it shows that there will probably be an insane, epic showdown in the third book!
Overwhelmed by that novel-length review? Read my review summary here (click to view)
Overall the Eden’s Root series is fascinating. It’s a very realistic take on what could happen to us some day.. maybe even soon. That’s what makes this book interesting and terrifying at the same time.
Seeds of War, while still a good book, suffered from being a very “bridge-like” book. There is less action in this book than in Eden’s Root, and there’s less of a strong, overarching conflict/goal. There are a couple of really interesting plot points regarding Diaspora II and a religious extremist group called The Truthers, but neither of these are really fully developed.
Despite its faults, Seeds of War does set the stage well for the third book in the series. It sounds like war will finally come about and there will be an epic showdown of sorts!
Giveaway
The Verdict
You are 100% right, the main conflict was missing. And I agree about the romance too, it was so missing for so long, but once it hit, I did love it.
I think you hit it the most with the pacing. Their seems to be these lead ups to big events but nothing really happens once they start.
Don’t be silly, I didn’t think this review was too long. I have been wondering if I should shorten my reviews but I always have so much to say, that’s why I sometimes write my “short reveiws” which really are long but are short for me. I am hopeless. But I am starting to phase out my own version of the blurb. I only started it because it seems like most people do it, but as long at the blurb from the book is good, I don’t need to do one myself.
Thanks Jennifer. 🙂
I think phasing out your version of the blurb is a good idea. Usually the blurb itself will suffice. But if the blurb is vague or doesn’t really explain the plot that much, then definitely write your own! Sometimes when blurbs don’t really tell me what happens in the book, I want the reviewer to include an overview!
I hopped over and bought Eden’s Root today and am looking forward to the journey. Thank you for sharing with us, it looks like a fun trilogy and I am wanting to read it all 🙂
I hope you enjoy it! 😀