A Better World

Continuation of the Brilliance Saga. Available to read and listen on Kindle Unlimited.

I started this series a couple of years ago and this has been on my KU titles checked out since then. The 1st book was interesting, with an interesting premise and world-building around it which all seems entirely plausible. The idea is that at some point in the early 2000's, children around the world begin being born with special “gifts.” Not so much like mutants from X-Men. More like the natural variability already seen in humans, only amped up considerably. For instance, one normal human may be able to read body language better than another. A “brilliant” level 3 would be better at this than the best “normal” human in the world. A level 1 brilliant “reader” is so good at this that they can basically read your mind. But they also have a close to 100% suicide rate by the time they're 20 because they can't keep the thoughts of those around them out. Likewise, stock trading is a super-easy game for someone with the right pattern-matching and mathematical skills, so the market is suspended once it's no longer “fair” for normals. Now, 1% of humans born are Brilliants to one degree or another, which changes the world. As you can imagine, that creates quite a divide in how to handle the situation.

This book starts shortly after the first one and includes many of the same characters. The main character, Nick Cooper, once a hunter of Brilliants, is now working with the President to try to find a solution to the conflict between both sides. Then a new terrorist group arrives on the scene - The Children of Dawn - with the goal of further increasing the chaos and increasing the divide between normals and brilliants. Who is behind the COD? Are there still elements within the government trying to use these events for their own purposes? Are they even behind it?

This is a fast-paced book with interesting scenarios. For some reason, I liked this one much better than the first one. The motivation of the various characters makes sense. There is minimal political “commentary” compared to many books set in the “near future.” I find this a refreshing and welcome respite given the world in which we currently live.