Official Review: Synthetic Illusions by Mary Fan

[miztree46]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Synthetic Illusions" by Mary Fan.]

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Synthetic Illusion is the second book in the Jane Colt Novel series. This story of science fiction continues to follow Jane as she fights to achieve her hopes and dreams. She is determined to become a well known music composer and be with the love of her life, Adam.

Adam is a seminary student who has a kind nature and is devoutly religious. He also has a closely guarded secret. Adam’s secret is safe until he begins to have nightmares. During the terrible dreams, Adam perpetrates monstrous acts against innocent people. When Adam wakes, he finds that the people he has dreamed about are actually dead. Government officials trace the heinous acts to Adam and plan to detain him for the murders. But all is not as it seem. Things get even more complicated when Jane’s brother, Devin is ordered to capture Adam. When Jane finds out that her brother is after Adam, she and Adam make their escape and begin life on the run.

For the most part, I enjoyed reading Synthetic Illusions. The story had conflicted and steadfast characters, menacing villains, and an intriguing story-line. Although the story is a bit melodramatic at times, Mary Fan’s work is well crafted and packed full of action. She created a universe that is easy to visualize and presented an array of characters that were well developed. It was fascinating to follow them as they faced difficult dilemmas and dealt with the complex reality of their universe.

The themes found in this book encourage readers to think about concepts such as: what one will do for love, the perceptions of reality, and the issue of forgiveness. The author also challenges conventional ideas about good and evil. Her story shows that these notions are not always easy to define. I particularly like one statement that the author made about evil because I believe it is very true:
“Evil in the guise of good is the darkest form of evil in existence.”

I did not immediately realize that Synthetic Illusion is part of a series of books. This fact came to light when Jane expressed a searing hatred for another character. It turned out that the two had a history which played out in the book that paved the way for Synthetic Illusions. Fans of young adult (YA) sci-fi may want to read Artificial Absolutes to better understand Jane’s motivations and back-story. Even though Synthetic Illusion is a sequel, I think that people who choose to read it will be able to enjoy the story even if they have not read the first book of the series.

There are grammatical errors in this book, and at times theses mistakes interrupted the flow of the story. In the beginning of the book the author forgot to italicize a sentence that showed the internal dialogue of one of the characters. I thought that this sentence was out of place, but as I read further I discovered it was just a continuation of the author’s method of switching between the characters’ internal dialogue and third person point of view.

If it were possible, I would give this book a rating of 3.9 out of 4 stars, because during parts of the story, expletives spewed out of the mouths of some of characters. In certain instances, I understood why the characters used this language, but at other times I was putt-off when they cursed to vent their frustration. I felt that the author should have continued to show her adept writing ability rather than let the characters use profanity.

Overall, I was very impressed with this author. Several times while I read the book, I thought to myself, “Wow this woman can write!” Mary Fan loves to sing, and it is great to see that she has also found her voice as an author. More than likely, fans of YA sci-fi will enjoy reading her book. I give Synthetic Illusions a formal rating of 4 out of 4 stars.

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[astralcolt]

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it

[miztree46]

You are welcome. I really liked your story.