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In the Reign of the Ilev
.These people lived in a city with a sun and two moons. Their days and years flowed in an orderly manner according to their customs.
Why did no one, except the Chosen, ever leave the City?
Why did no one ever ask questions?
Who was in charge of the City?
When Nina is finally allowed to leave the City, she is determined to return triumphant as the Winner Champion of that year and to find answers to all her unspoken questions. However, nothing could have prepared her for the horror she discovered outside the City Walls.
She has to traverse shifting realities and transmuting landscapes that play havoc with her senses. .
In the regin of the ilevis an action packed adventure. Nina discovers that the ultimate game in the reign of the Ilev is to try and kill your perfect self before she kills you.
Who will win?
Some of us are flawed and vulnerable, because we have feelings.
Thus perfect indifference will always win.
Or not?
Journey with Nina and find out why the City had an abundance of cleaning-androids.
Evil has an ordinary human face.
It is a fast-moving story, full of suspense, which explores what it means to be human. It is fantasy fiction for now, but is this where we are going?
Although the protagonist is eighteen, I cannot box the story as merely for teens for we were all young once and we know what it was like and many, if not all of us, sometimes still feel the confusion and angst of being lost in a hostile and confusing world.
5 star review: You can't help but compare your life with that of the inhabitants of the City and wonder if it's time to become a Chosen one and destroy the order that's keeping people from really experiencing life and the universe. Given a chance, would you be a Nina?:
Written by Martie Preller, multi award-winning outh African author who writes under the pseudonym of Mary Meddlemore too. She and Mary have a clear cut working relationship. Martie keeps quiet and Mary is in charge ...
Why did no one, except the Chosen, ever leave the City?
Why did no one ever ask questions?
Who was in charge of the City?
When Nina is finally allowed to leave the City, she is determined to return triumphant as the Winner Champion of that year and to find answers to all her unspoken questions. However, nothing could have prepared her for the horror she discovered outside the City Walls.
She has to traverse shifting realities and transmuting landscapes that play havoc with her senses. .
In the regin of the ilevis an action packed adventure. Nina discovers that the ultimate game in the reign of the Ilev is to try and kill your perfect self before she kills you.
Who will win?
Some of us are flawed and vulnerable, because we have feelings.
Thus perfect indifference will always win.
Or not?
Journey with Nina and find out why the City had an abundance of cleaning-androids.
Evil has an ordinary human face.
It is a fast-moving story, full of suspense, which explores what it means to be human. It is fantasy fiction for now, but is this where we are going?
Although the protagonist is eighteen, I cannot box the story as merely for teens for we were all young once and we know what it was like and many, if not all of us, sometimes still feel the confusion and angst of being lost in a hostile and confusing world.
5 star review: You can't help but compare your life with that of the inhabitants of the City and wonder if it's time to become a Chosen one and destroy the order that's keeping people from really experiencing life and the universe. Given a chance, would you be a Nina?:
Written by Martie Preller, multi award-winning outh African author who writes under the pseudonym of Mary Meddlemore too. She and Mary have a clear cut working relationship. Martie keeps quiet and Mary is in charge ...
83 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 22, 2012
7 people want to read
About the author
Mary Meddlemore
6 books16 followersMy name is Martie Preller - I am a multi-award winning South African author, also writing under the name: Mary Meddlemore (Martie is a local variant of "Martha")
What if we were all only characters in somebody else's book?
I think crazy thoughts like that and try to keep away from people who want to label me, because I think labels are meant for tins of peas on a shelf in a shop.
I started reading when I was six and devoured book after book. I was enchanted with all the different worlds I discovered and the "characters" in books seemed much more real than the "real" people around me. They had thoughts and feelings, were sometimes disturbed and anxious etc., while it seemed to me as if "real" people were "cardboard" or two-dimensional people. I was so happy to have found people like me in stories!
I loved the way a story tells the "whole" story, with a clear-cut beginning and an ending. Life is a very confusing place and it seems to get more confusing every day!
So, this fanatical reader became an author. I wanted to add more stories to the abundance of stories that already existed and what better way to to start than with a story that proves the existence of the Story Dimension! In order to do that, I had to consult the expert - Mary Meddlemore, of course. :)
What if we were all only characters in somebody else's book?
I think crazy thoughts like that and try to keep away from people who want to label me, because I think labels are meant for tins of peas on a shelf in a shop.
I started reading when I was six and devoured book after book. I was enchanted with all the different worlds I discovered and the "characters" in books seemed much more real than the "real" people around me. They had thoughts and feelings, were sometimes disturbed and anxious etc., while it seemed to me as if "real" people were "cardboard" or two-dimensional people. I was so happy to have found people like me in stories!
I loved the way a story tells the "whole" story, with a clear-cut beginning and an ending. Life is a very confusing place and it seems to get more confusing every day!
So, this fanatical reader became an author. I wanted to add more stories to the abundance of stories that already existed and what better way to to start than with a story that proves the existence of the Story Dimension! In order to do that, I had to consult the expert - Mary Meddlemore, of course. :)
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July 17, 2013
A dystopia that resonates.
I have had the pleasure of reading two of Mary Meddlemore’s works before. Mary Meddlemore is a character in Forever After. A Dimensional Love Story, one of the novels I have read and loved and has also adopted the writing credits for In the Reign of the Ilev and The Seventh Sheep, a collection of four of the most whimsical and magical short stories I’ve ever read. My previous experiences meant that I was really looking forward to Ilev and it did not disappoint, although it is a very different read.
Ilev is classified under the category of Young Adult Science-Fiction, although it would appeal to readers of any age. It is the story of Nina, and 18 y old girl how is one of the Chosen Four who have been the successful ones in going through a selection process from between 40 promising youths in the City. Now the Four had to go through the Final Test and only one will be the Champion. All the champions become rulers of the City and are in charge of the Master Computer. You’ll tell me ‘not another one of these stories of youths fighting amongst themselves to survive’. Well, not really. The test consists in their being dropped some distance from the City and returning to it. Whoever is the first, will be the new Champion. Nina is very confident, egotistical, and only interested in fame, success, material things and power. She does not tolerate weaknesses or flaws and even notices that the previous champions all seem defective in some way. She goes through a number of strange experiences that make her question her identity (children do not live with their families but are all brought up together) and her perception of reality (is she hallucinating or it is really happening? Does she have feelings for Daniel, one of the other Chosen ones, or is somebody interfering with her brain?). She discovers wonderful places and beings but also horrific happenings. All the things that she thought she knew and were certain are not, and that makes her question herself and become more human.
It’s difficult to empathise with Nina at the beginning of the novel, although from her description it seems that she is a product of the society where she grew up. By the end she becomes a true heroine, confronting the terrible truth destroying and deadening civilisation, and she brings forth a new order. There is a price to pay for the changes that take place, but there is hope for new beginnings.
How does Ilev compare to other dystopian novels of the genre? There is action; there are interesting characters, fantastic situations, a love (?) interest…and much more. Nina is an interesting narrator, not knowingly unreliable (she does not care enough about other people’s opinions to lie) although she becomes confused as to the nature of reality at points. She grows and changes throughout the novel and comes to appreciate the value of cooperation, of stories, of history, and of freedom. Winning is no longer the main goal and total power becomes clearly identified with evil. The City in Ilev is a terrible creation but not so far away from our daily lives and experiences. You can’t help but compare your life with that of the inhabitants of the City and wonder if it’s time to become a Chosen one and destroy the order that’s keeping people from really experiencing life and the universe. Given a chance, would you be a Nina?
This novel could be read as a straight adventure sci-fi novel (although somewhat more challenging that many), but it has a message, learning points and reflections that would satisfy more sophisticated readers. I can only say that I hope Mary Meddlemore (and the writer behind her) keeps writing. I’ll keep reading her. I hope you do too.
I have had the pleasure of reading two of Mary Meddlemore’s works before. Mary Meddlemore is a character in Forever After. A Dimensional Love Story, one of the novels I have read and loved and has also adopted the writing credits for In the Reign of the Ilev and The Seventh Sheep, a collection of four of the most whimsical and magical short stories I’ve ever read. My previous experiences meant that I was really looking forward to Ilev and it did not disappoint, although it is a very different read.
Ilev is classified under the category of Young Adult Science-Fiction, although it would appeal to readers of any age. It is the story of Nina, and 18 y old girl how is one of the Chosen Four who have been the successful ones in going through a selection process from between 40 promising youths in the City. Now the Four had to go through the Final Test and only one will be the Champion. All the champions become rulers of the City and are in charge of the Master Computer. You’ll tell me ‘not another one of these stories of youths fighting amongst themselves to survive’. Well, not really. The test consists in their being dropped some distance from the City and returning to it. Whoever is the first, will be the new Champion. Nina is very confident, egotistical, and only interested in fame, success, material things and power. She does not tolerate weaknesses or flaws and even notices that the previous champions all seem defective in some way. She goes through a number of strange experiences that make her question her identity (children do not live with their families but are all brought up together) and her perception of reality (is she hallucinating or it is really happening? Does she have feelings for Daniel, one of the other Chosen ones, or is somebody interfering with her brain?). She discovers wonderful places and beings but also horrific happenings. All the things that she thought she knew and were certain are not, and that makes her question herself and become more human.
It’s difficult to empathise with Nina at the beginning of the novel, although from her description it seems that she is a product of the society where she grew up. By the end she becomes a true heroine, confronting the terrible truth destroying and deadening civilisation, and she brings forth a new order. There is a price to pay for the changes that take place, but there is hope for new beginnings.
How does Ilev compare to other dystopian novels of the genre? There is action; there are interesting characters, fantastic situations, a love (?) interest…and much more. Nina is an interesting narrator, not knowingly unreliable (she does not care enough about other people’s opinions to lie) although she becomes confused as to the nature of reality at points. She grows and changes throughout the novel and comes to appreciate the value of cooperation, of stories, of history, and of freedom. Winning is no longer the main goal and total power becomes clearly identified with evil. The City in Ilev is a terrible creation but not so far away from our daily lives and experiences. You can’t help but compare your life with that of the inhabitants of the City and wonder if it’s time to become a Chosen one and destroy the order that’s keeping people from really experiencing life and the universe. Given a chance, would you be a Nina?
This novel could be read as a straight adventure sci-fi novel (although somewhat more challenging that many), but it has a message, learning points and reflections that would satisfy more sophisticated readers. I can only say that I hope Mary Meddlemore (and the writer behind her) keeps writing. I’ll keep reading her. I hope you do too.
Displaying 1 of 1 review