I just finished the 3rd entry in the “Atopia” sequence and I had a great time. The first two entries were excellent stories, “Atopia’ specifically drove me to pick up other books by Mather. Once I read “Cyberstorm” and “Darknet” I knew I had found an author I could relate too and I have read everything since.
To begin, “Utopia” is a great read. And, let me add, mind-blowing. I appreciated that Mather included a summary of prior events at the beginning. I could tell from the first few pages this story was going to be good. The opening introduces us to a completely new character/story line. It’s up to us to figure out how it relates to the story we know. References to other story arcs and other book really make the entire story arc feel really full and complete. The story starts just prior to the end of “Atopia” with the hurricanes approaching the Atopia platform. We see key events and experiences from the previous books, but this time from Bob’s viewpoint. Bob begins to question reality and meets a ‘dark figure’ who puts Bob on a path of discovery. Bob goes on a hunt for answers and takes a piece of Sid with him. Together, the path Bob and Sid take to discover the truth is wild to say the least. Moving from timeline to timeline, universe to universe they search for answers. The hunt takes billions of years and billions of lifetimes Along the way we meet various characters from the story in previous times and learn about how things came about and converged on the Atopian technologies. Mather has a unique way of shifting the story between timelines. One chapter ends one thread and the next chapter begins another but, the story stays continuous.
As I read these story and follow all that is happening, I remember back to the previous books and how this story interleaves with those books. It really brings it all back together. So much so, that I will begin a marathon of re-reading the entire “Atopia” sequence as well as “Cyberstorm” (because it is kind of Book 0 in the sequence). I do not know if there will be any follow on Atopia stories, “Utopia” really did feel like putting it all to rest. But if this universe is re-opened, I will be ready to accept what it delivers.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, any of Mather’s books would make awesome productions: TV Series, Mini-Series, TV Movie or Full Feature Hollywood movie. Amazon has a great opportunity to make some very interesting stuff with this author. “Atopia” would make a wonderful multi-season TV series on Amazon Video. Come on, Amazon.. You can do it!
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