Promising book..
I was quite intrigued by the story in 'Infinity lost'.
The story
Set in the (not so far??) future, technology has achieved miracles like for instance weather and personality(!) modifying hardware and lots of other cool things(these two were the ones that really struck out). Behind all this development is the Blackstone Technologies, a multi billion company owned and funded by the genius(and mysterious) mastermind Richard Blackstone. Richard has a daughter named Infinity(yeah cool name!). Only a fist full of people know about her existence, as she is raised in a mansion sealed from humanity. We get glimpses of Infinity's childhood through a number of weird dreams she keeps on having, only these 'dreams' are in fact memories that were erased from her mind.
The narration is first person and we are just as confused as 'Fin'(Infinity's nickname), trying to comprehend what is really happening, what is fake and what is real. The super private school Fin attends (only after she turns 13, for some reason) is granted a tour to the Blackstone Headquarters - this is where all this tech magic is made. And then all hell breaks loose. Well, not exactly, but we are near the end of the book were there are loads of action packed scenes(some wayyy to graphic for my taste). Plus, of course there is romance, that I for one didn't care at all. The book ends, unsurprisingly with a cliffhanger and we have to wait until 2016 for the next installment!
Overall, as I said at the beginning the idea is promising and I quite liked Infinity. However, the world building doesn't feel as solid as it could be. For instance, I didn't fully understand at what extend the more serious technology is performed. Memory and behavior modification is achieved and used but is it used by the government only or something? Maybe, if the book was a bit longer it could include some more details which I feel are necessary. Other interesting characters in the story include Fin's best friend (which no surprise is a computer wonder kid), Jonah (Fin's bodyguard, although I am sure that he is more connected to her than the author is letting on) and her evil nanny Theresa (who is not explained in this book why she hates Fin so much). If you ask me, this at least should have been explained, as it's quite obvious that Theresa had a hand in the 'creation' of Fin.
I will read the next book as I hope it explains more.
Some of my (random) thoughts on the story (spoilers,duh! =P )
Infinity is not human. You can see that easily because she is very clever for her age and also because her mind power is mind blowing powerful (she can actually heal herself, if she sets her mind to it!) That being said she is not a machine either. She obviously has feelings: happiness, sadness, anger, love. She is probably something in between and her dad obviously played a huge part in that. She also has two personalities: Fin and Infinity. The author kinda of hints this duo, through the memories/dreams Fin is having, as she can't remember anything she sees, her recollection of events being totally different.
Lots of thoughts will pass through your head while the revelations of Fin's past take place, as to were the story might go. Jonah, the bodyguard is an interesting character to say the least. He can be Fin's dad. In a lot of ways he is, even if in the end it might turn out he isn't. Another thought I had is that Richard might not be a person at all. A machine. A pretty powerful one. Moreover, the evil crazy nanny, who is also a doctor(?), probably inserted "Infinity" in Fin's brain and regrets it because I guess she found her morality(??). Creating a super human can make you doubt yourself I guess(even if 'mother' Theresa (couldn't help it; I had to use her name like that) murders in cold blood a bunch of innocent kids. Some morals...)
Expect lots of crazy neuron-modification mambo jumbo to occur in this book, which are not explained; they just happen.
On a final note, the title is a little misleading, as Infinity is 'found' and not actually 'lost', but I guess it sounded a better title (this or 'Infinity Found' will be the last book's title). The next book of the series will be 'Infinity rising', so you can guess that the 'bad', more machine like persona will try to dominate Fin. Looking forward to reading that!
