When we dream, where do we go?
Olivia Merton has only ever known Earth after the shift. For fifteen years there has been no sunshine, little rainâŠand resources are scarce.
A recurring dream provides an escape from her troubled family life and monochrome reality in a journey to a vividly coloured landscape, populated by four distinctive societies.
This world is Verntropa.
Her attempts to describe her dream-memories to others are met with distrust and she fears for her grasp on reality - until she discovers that Earth is in danger and a mission on Verntropa awaits her if she is to fulfil her destiny.
Does Olivia have the prophesied power needed to strengthen the link between her two worlds, or will they be damaged beyond repair?
As Oliviaâs fate unfolds, she is thrown into a fast-paced adventure where she fights to discover the cost of true friendship. One thing is certain â her life will never be the same again.
When we dream, where do we go?
Olivia Merton has only ever known Earth after the shift. For fifteen years there has been no sunshine, little rainâŠand resources are scarce.
A recurring dream provides an escape from her troubled family life and monochrome reality in a journey to a vividly coloured landscape, populated by four distinctive societies.
This world is Verntropa.
Her attempts to describe her dream-memories to others are met with distrust and she fears for her grasp on reality - until she discovers that Earth is in danger and a mission on Verntropa awaits her if she is to fulfil her destiny.
Does Olivia have the prophesied power needed to strengthen the link between her two worlds, or will they be damaged beyond repair?
As Oliviaâs fate unfolds, she is thrown into a fast-paced adventure where she fights to discover the cost of true friendship. One thing is certain â her life will never be the same again.
Blancher â Verntropa
Blancher Husken rested his feet upon his windowsill and allowed himself a deep breath out.
âItâs over now, I no longer need to worry,â he muttered to himself for what may have been the hundredth time that day, if for no other reason than to simply reassure himself.
The sun was warm and Blancher was relaxed. In fact, he was so relaxed heâd decided to take the afternoon off from his usual busy role as the Vice President of Verntropa.Â
He planted his gaze firmly outside his window, the many potted plants standing tall in the sunshine. The sky, at this very moment, was glowing a vibrant shade of plum purple, a colour that in Blancherâs opinion, presented quite a magical vibe over the region â something he knew his fellow Verntropans had taken quite a fancy to in recent times.Â
Blancher belonged to the Dafwons, one of the four societies in Verntropa. Dafwons liked to think they most resembled the humans from Earth except, of course, for the perfectly placed patch of orange fur on their chests and their cat-like tails. That, and they were quite a bit shorter than the average fully grown human.     Â
Although he didnât like to admit it, Blancher was now considered middle-aged. His body ached when he got out of bed each morning. He could no longer swim the whole perimeter of the vast lake and, worst of all, he needed to wear spectacles all the time.Â
Blancher stroked his long, straggly beard â also orange â and glanced to the clock hanging above the stove in his kitchen. His son, Swatch â now his only son â would be home from his education in just two short hours. Blancher wiped a tear from his eye as memories of Swatchâs older brother, Hatch, filled his mind.           Â
With a clear schedule and nothing to do until Swatch came home, Blancher decided to pour himself a cup of tea. The last few months had been unusually stressful for him. Heâd been the Vice President of Verntropa for over ten years now, but heâd never experienced anything quite like the events of the last three months.Â
âItâs over now, I no longer need to worry,â Blancher repeated to himself. âNot for another fifteen years, at least. And a lot can happen in fifteen years.â
Yes, for now he was going to enjoy the fruits of what had been accomplished. Blancher smiled to himself again, took a sip of his tea, and gazed over the mountains in the distance, each one a different shade of pastel yellow, a stark contrast to how theyâd appeared not too long ago.Â
Blancherâs admiration of the Verntropan backdrop was interrupted by the sound of his front gate opening. He couldnât see that side of his yard from where he was sitting, but he could hear the footsteps approaching his door. He took note of the time, double checked his cleared schedule, made sure his message bank was empty, and quickly determined that he was, as he assumed, not expecting any visitors that afternoon.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
The knocking sounded urgent, which made Blancherâs nerves return. Reluctantly putting his teacup down, he walked over to the door, wondering if it would be better to simply ignore the visitor and pretend he wasnât home.Â
âOh, itâs you,â Blancher said, as he opened the door to his unexpected house guest who walked straight inside, not even pretending to wait for an invitation.Â
âWhat you did was wrong, Blancher,â he said, his height towering over Blancherâs short frame.Â
âIt might be considered polite to greet me with a hello before storming into my home and verbally attacking me, donât you think?â Blancher said, not at all happy about this intrusion on his home.Â
âYou wonât get away with this forever,â the house guest said.
âI did what I had to do. You, out of everyone, should know that. Survival of the smartest, the bravest.â
âIs Swatch here?âÂ
âNo, he is at education.âÂ
The guest nodded and continued, âSo, you only care about us then, not them? Not evenââÂ
âHe isnât one of us. He never was. As much as you like to pretend he is,â Blancher said.
The guest threw his arms up in protest before retreating to Blancherâs lounge, and taking a seat.Â
âBut why? Why banish him? We were so close! You were the one who brought him here to help. He could have helped us avoid it⊠avoid all this!âÂ
The guest pointed outside, as he rested his dirty shoes upon Blancherâs coffee table, which only infuriated him more. Blancher was a firm believer of manners and thought that any house guest should wait to be invited to make themselves comfortable in someone elseâs home. Especially this one.Â
âBanish. Pfft. Itâs such a serious word. I simply sent him back to Earth. To his home. This isnât his home. His family need him. It was wrong of me to bring him here in the first place.â Blancher sighed; he really should have pretended not to be home.
âYou canât hide from this forever.âÂ
âIâm hiding from nothing,â Blancher said and turned to face the window, not wanting to look at his guest any longer.Â
âWe saw her, you know.âÂ
The knot in Blancherâs stomach returned. The very knot he thought had finally disappeared.Â
âWhoâs that?â Blancher said, even though he already knew the answer.
âUtivan.â
Blancher ignored his shaking hands and took a sip of tea; he knew better than to respond.
âShe told us about the prophecy. Heâs expecting another child, Blancher. And it is she who will return in fifteen years, whether you like it or not. And these skeletons you think youâve buried so well? They will be uncovered.âÂ
Blancher felt the knot tighten harder. The fear that had lingered since this all began rose inside him once more. Still, his guest continued.
âSwatch will know exactly what youâve done. Everyone will.â
The fear consuming Blancher began to transform. It turned into anger and then grew into a blinding, white-hot fury, and he could no longer control himself.
âGet out. Get out of my home! You and your⊠accusations⊠your threats. They are not welcome here!â
Blancher rose to his feet and his guest scurried across to the front door.
âLook. Iâm just telling you what you need to hear, treat me only as a messenger.â
âGet out. You⊠You will never be one of us. Iâll make sure of it.â
âBlancher, surely thereâs no needââ
âLeave. My decision is final. Do not dare bother me again.â
And with that, Blancher pushed his guest outside, and slammed the door behind him.
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This book does a great job of ramping up the tension, gradually adding on plot points, and keeping the reader interested. The plot held my attention early on and I was happy with the overall pacing. However, the book starts with a sort of âprologueâ that gives away a lot of information that could have been saved for later. It would have led to even more tension and prevent the spoiling of a few plot twists later on.
This book switches points of view between Olivia, a fifteen-year-old human living on Earth, and Swatch, a low-ranking government official on Verntropa. Olivia was an enjoyable protagonist to follow. Sheâs curious, motivated, and often asked the same question I did throughout the story. Swatch was more difficult to follow, as heâs an alien and so it was difficult to connect with him early on. There were a large number of secondary characters in this book that I felt could be merged to streamline the storytelling.
The author has put a lot of work into building the world of Verntropa, as made clear by the multiple races she created and intricate details about the rules of this world. However, the readers are thrown knee-deep into the unfamiliar world early on in the story. Almost all the alien races are introduced within one chapter and I found myself having a hard time keeping them straight. I wonder if the world would have been easier to understand if the story had been told only from Oliviaâs point of view, rather than switching between her and Swatch.
Verntropa - The Balance is the first book in E.L. Clarkeâs Verntropa trilogy and is a great read for SciFi fans. This book has an enjoyable plot and some impressive world-building. The main character Olivia is a fun protagonist that I connected to easily. However, early point of view switches between characters and a prologue hurt the potential for even higher stakes and smoother integration into the setting.