Sim 299

Johan Twiss has created a fascinating and slightly disturbing world, where we see infants on the planet Ethos tested to see if they're suitable for the Prime injection. The injection gives them special abilities that can benefit the planet in its battle against the Splicers, but with those abilities also come debilitating defects. Aidan is unique in that he has not one, but two Prime abilities. His abilities also don't seem to come with the usual defects.

Also, he doesn't sleep. Hence the title. During the hours when everyone else sleeps, Aidan runs battle simulations. He's gotten farther than any other Prime has. But now he's stuck on Simulation 299. Can he get past it? And if he does, what happens then?

This is solid sci-fi, but it isn't sci-fi to the point that people who aren't readers of the genre would feel overwhelmed by it. The world is built out pretty well, and the Prime abilities were explained clearly enough that most readers should get the gist of them. The book is very readable, and the characters are fleshed out nicely for the most part. They're preteens/teenagers, and they act accordingly.

The Primes are grouped by age rather than ability, and I love that Twiss has them forming their own kind of family. These are children who've never known the love of a mother or father, but they love each other and are deeply concerned for each other.

The animals were one of my favorite little tidbits in the book. There are some fantastical animals on Ethos, creatures like the cobramoth and the burning battlant, the hippophant and the kangadog. We don't know exactly how they came to be - genetic experiments? some freakish accident? - but the drawings are just wonderful.

I Am Sleepless reminded me a bit of Ender's Game, a bit of Ready Player One. But it was very much its own work. Twiss has created characters and an environment that I want to know more about. The book did end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but that only makes me want to hurry up and read the next in the series!

Thanks to BookSirens for an advance reader copy of the book. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.