The Loop and The Block Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour! The Loop was one of last year's major releases, and I know many of you have been waiting very eagerly for the next part of this futuristic trilogy.  As we're discussing two books, you'll find the covers and descriptions after the jump.

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Life inside The Loop-the futuristic death row for teens under eighteen-is one long repetitive purgatory. But when news of the encroaching chaos in the outside world reaches the inmates and disorder begins to strike, the prison becomes the least of their worries.

It's Luka Kane's sixteenth birthday and he's been inside The Loop for over two years. Every inmate is serving a death sentence with the option to push back their execution date by six months if they opt into "Delays", scientific and medical experiments for the benefit of the elite in the outside world. But rumors of a war on the outside are spreading amongst the inmates, and before they know it, their tortuous routine becomes disrupted. The government issued rain stops falling. Strange things are happening to the guards. And it's not long until the inmates are left alone inside the prison.

Were the chains that shackled Luka to his cell the only instruments left to keep him safe? He must overcome fellow prisoners hell-bent on killing him, the warden losing her mind, the rabid rats in the train tunnels, and a population turned into murderous monsters to try and break out of The Loop, save his family, and discover who is responsible for the chaos that has been inflicted upon the world.

Some time in the future - at least a hundred years from now, it's possible I missed a more exact timeframe - the world has fallen under the power of the One World Government and an AI called Happy. Happy controls everything, everywhere. Including the Loop and Block prisons, one for under eighteens, one for adults. Luka's been in the tightly regimented, isolating Loop for several years when things start going wrong. If Luka is careful, if he's clever and quick, if he chooses his companions wisely, he may just survive. But if not...there are far worse things than the Loop in the world...

This is a terrifying, far too plausible look at a possible future. The Loop is inescapable, and isn't that good for dangerous criminals? Happy has found a way to extract energy from the prisoners to help power the prison; isn't that poetic justice, making them part of the system? The med tech keeping them prisoner, the dangerous medical trials they can choose to undertake, it all makes so much sense. That's the most terrifying part of it. And the ending is awful, a real proper cliffhanger.

Even without the futuristic parts, there are some genuinely scary scenes - rats, anyone? - and I really enjoyed this read. I'm a little suspicious about that ending! But I'm looking forward to finding out what's going to happen next.

A quick word of warning before we move on; both titles have a soft, velvety finish on the covers. This makes them very appealing to hold and touch, but they do pick up oils and dirt from your hands very easily. Take a little bit of care if you want them to stay nice.

Now! On to The Block!

In the second book of The Loop trilogy, Luka is trapped in a fate worse than death. But now that he knows the truth about what him and his fellow inmates are being used for, it's more important than ever that he not only escapes, but that he builds an army.

Luka in a prisoner once again. But this time it's a fate worse than death. In the Block, he must toggle between enduring an Energy Harvest for twelve hours of the day and surviving complete immobilization. The only semblance of relief is the Sane Zone, created to keep prisoners from going completely mad. In this virtual reality, the prisoners live out their fantasies of life outside. But for Luka, it's different.

Happy is determined to find out the location of his friends, who disappeared after the Battle of Midway Park. But can Luka battle the descent into madness long enought to stop Happy's manipulation tactics and keep his friends' location safe?

Another prison break is the only chance to protect the Missing. And as reality becomes increasingly scrambled on the outside, it'll take an army to stop Galen from carrying out his plans.

I'm glad I read these close together; there's some recapping, but as the books are meant to follow on very closely from each, there's not much, and with my memory I'd have forgotten everything by now. If only I could also read the third book right away...

In this volume Happy's plans are revealed a bit more and Luka and his (surviving) friends have to figure out how to bring the crazy AI down, using what resources they can find in a mostly demolished world. It's a tall order, and with possible betrayals on all sides they'll have to stick together if they're to have any hope of winning.

How creepy was Purgatory, huh!

Right, now that's out of the way...

This volume keeps the tension of the last one - apart from in one scene I'll get to in a minute - while ratcheting up the threat level and introducing us to some new facets of the world. Ben Oliver has thought very carefully about his world and how everything works and fits together, and it really shows.

The only problem I had was a scene where Our Hero is surrounded many times over, but Our Villain allows him to wander around, talk to people , plot against him and generally take his sweet time, when he should have just grabbed him and taken off. I understand that it lets Our Hero angst and sacrifice himself in a very, very sweet scene, but it still surprised me a bit. Our Villain is not stupid, after all. I also couldn't quite follow the geography of the scene; the characters in the room are wading through knee high water, but the guy just outside the door - isn't? However, visualisation isn't my strongest point, so I may have just not understood it fully.

I really enjoyed this read. Old enemies and allies alike reappear, things change and alter our understanding of the world, and the final volume is going to be a real humdinger. I cn't wait to read it and I'll be urging people to try this one as soon as possible.