The Bane by Keary Taylor (ARC)

The Bane (The Eden Trilogy #1)
Keary Taylor
Pub: March 5, 2013

Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

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I really wanted to like this one, I did. I was already a fan of the author from another book she's written, and I love the Terminator movies, the Sarah Conner Chronicles, etc., so I was really looking forward to this. Ms. Taylor did a great job in creating this post-apocalyptic cybernetic new world and I had an easy time picturing what the Bane looked like and how the infection inside them hungered to spread to the rest of the human race. Unfortunately, my love for this novel died there.

THE WRITING. It was so mechanical and robotic, filled with nothing but short, simple sentences. I know, I know, the MC is actually half cybernetic. Half people, so she should be able to relate to us on some level. It all felt so disjointed the way she would abruptly think on one thing for two sentences, then something new the next without transitions. To be honest, I actually overlooked all this for the majority of the novel just because of the mechanics running through her.

 

Which leads me to my next issue: SHOW NOT TELL. I was told everything in this novel. Forget emotions, Eve wasn't even able to absorb the land or people around her in a way that made me feel like I was right there with her. I was a spectator the whole way through and a poor one at that. Half way through The Bane, Eve began fighting against the chip in her head and the ability to feel emotions trickled through. And when the scientist adjusted her settings to allow her to feel again, I was still told how she felt instead of allowing me to see it through her eyes or feel what was going on inside her. Scratch that, there was a minute amount of bodily reactions going on when she kissed near the end, but that was about the extent of it.

I'm sorry, I could've forgiven all of this robotic behavior if the writing had changed by the end of the novel to show Eve transitioning into something more human, so long as her narration adjusted along with it, but it didn't.

 

THE LOVE TRIANGLE. Eve has never felt love the way normal people do. I hate to say it, but this love triangle only seemed to exist because two guys were suddenly kissing her and making a play, who she doesn't even feel anything for in the beginning. If a third had come along and done the same, would we automatically have a love square? Because that's how this came off to me. You kiss her, suddenly she thinks she's interested, even though she can't explain why. Honestly, it doesn't even come across as much of a triangle because Eve never really seemed interested enough to bother. On a more personal note, I didn't like who she chose at the end of the story. If she needs to end up with someone, I truly think the other is more compatible. She spoke of love and imagined herself getting married to him one day but I just didn't get it. But once again, I was told all this instead of shown, so I almost rolled my eyes when she went off on how she realized she loved him and everything was suddenly all about him. How easily she forgot the other when the poor guy was fighting to keep his life! Ugh! So cold! And this with the ability to feel again!

 

THE INFECTED. I had a few issues with the humans infected with TorBane. If they were adapting to become better hunters and could actually fly helicopters, use weapons, and strategize to lure humans away from their compound, then how on earth did a small group of survivors make it in the wild with hunters searching the grounds around them. Sure they moved every once and a while, but they still traveled to the same garden to work everyday. I don't think they would've survived for years that way, especially since all the Bane had to do was touch them to infect them. Furthermore, the sleepers (ie. the ones that just stand there and stare at you instead of attacking). Say what? If the TorBane could evolve and take over and destroy the world as quickly as it did, why did a lot of the humans it infected need years for the cybernetic material to take over them on an individual level?

And why wouldn't you electrocute their @sses every time you saw one just so it could never come to life and infect someone? At the very least, take an axe to its legs so it can't chase anyone down!

 

I don't know peeps. This novel just rubbed me the wrong way in a lot of places. Others seem to enjoy it so I'm not going to discourage anyone from trying it. Read it and let me know if it's your cup of tea. Maybe I'm missing something the others are seeing.

 

ARC provided by author for honest review.