When you think of scifi, you usually imagine something that happens in space, far away from Earth. However, this needn’t be the case. You can write really great scifi without leaving Earth, and that’s exactly what Jesikah Sundin did with her Biodome Chronicles.

If you’ve watched Stephen King’s ‘Under the Dome’, you get the idea: there’s a community living under a dome — albeit voluntarily — that is, the first generation did. Their descendants haven’t been given a choice, but they seem content enough.

However, something is about to change: Leaf and his sister Willow discover a few things that make them distrust almost everybody. Their encounter with Outsider Fillian sets in motion a chain of events they can’t control.

We have here some great characters, notably Fillian and Willow, and I can’t wait to find out how the story goes on.

As is wont in a good scifi story, there’s a lot of technology involved, none of which seems impossible, even with today’s standards. Experiencing some of it through the eyes of Leaf and Willow makes it seem quite alien and outlandish, though.

I have to admit that I quite like the idea of living in unpolluted surroundings, where there is no technology that could do harm to nature. That said, I guess there’d be numerous things I’d miss, so I’d probably not be as content as the idea suggests, and living in a confined space, however intact it might be, probably would drive me mad after a while.

Sunil Patel’s narration was wonderful, he brought the story to life, and I listened every free minute I had. Although there isn’t exactly a cliffhanger, the ending left me wanting for more. I’m very curious about the future developments, and I hope ‘my’ lead characters will be well.

So, if all scifi you know is set in space, you should absolutely try this story, just to give you an idea that there’s more than space battles to a good scifi story. For everybody else: you don’t need to be a geek, or even understand technology to thoroughly enjoy this story.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jesikah Sundin. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. ( )

The basic premise of this story pulled me right in. Take some Medieval LARPers and stick them in a biodome for decades and monitor how their society evolves. Now it’s 2 generations later and the grandchildren of those original LARPers are coming into their own. Willow and Leaf Watson just put their father, Joel, to rest in a grave and they have many questions about where their lives will go from here. Being the two oldest members of one of the reigning houses, they know they hold some power but are not sure what to do with it. Their young sister, Laurel, is still a child and unaware of what perils may befall their family.

Meanwhile, out in the real world with all it’s technology, the Game Master Hannley Nichols plots. The biodome was originally set up to study human psychology when a society is confined yet separate from the larger whole of humanity (as it would be on Mars or such). However, I wonder if his goals have changed over time or if he had ulterior motives all along. A good chunk of the world sees the biodome and it’s residents as entertainment and not a serious scientific study. Initially, Hannley was just a side character, but by the end of the book I had a real interest in him and what his story arc will be for the series.

The word ‘biodome’ makes me sit up and take notice. For many years now I have been fascinated with this concept and the limited number of actual biodome experiments that have been done. The concept definitely helped pull me into this story but I found that it wasn’t executed very realistically. A self-sustained, closed society needs a lot of cross over training and strong connections among it’s members to work. The regular, daily tasks that it takes to live in a Medieval-like society in a biodome were glossed over and I found the enforced gender roles to be unlikely to work in such a situation. Plus, if we ever do send a chunk of humans to Mars to set up a biodome, we will probably make sure they have quality medical knowledge. This group didn’t have that.

So, setting that quibble aside, I was initially interested in the main characters. Willow, who prefers to be called Oaklee (and never let us forget it), is almost 16 and boys are starting to look her way as a potential partner in marriage. However, she lets her emotions rule her. At first, this was a charming quality about her as everyone, even herself, acknowledges this and loves her anyway. As the story went on, though, I found myself tiring of her emotional tantrums, weeping, fainting, crying to the point her stomach aches, etc. Since she was the main female character, I really wanted more out of her.

Leaf is rather mild and not that memorable other than he is easily offended. Meanwhile, Fillion revels in offending people. So maybe Leaf and Fillion were made for each other. Fillion has been a bad boy and is sentenced to a kind of community service that puts him ever closer to the biodome inhabitants. I found his character inconsistent at times even as I enjoyed his cheek. On one had, he claims no woman has offered him true affection before yet in other scenes he bemoans the fact that so many women have thrown themselves at his feet. While many of those girls could have been star struck or inconsiderate fortune hunters, I expect there were a few that served up true affections.

Then there’s some connection between the Watsons and the Nichols that I don’t fully understand yet. Della, Fillion’s mom, was also involved with Joel Watson at some point. So does that make Fillion and his sister Lynden stepsiblings (or divorced stepsiblings?) to the Watson kids? I’m not sure. I felt I needed a little family tree.

The story also gives us some insta-love which isn’t my thing. I expected more out of the biodome inhabitants as they don’t seem to have any method for divorce so I would think that pairings would be made with plenty of consideration for actual love matches. There’s also a love triangle to contend with, and again, that’s not my thing. So I could have done without the romance in this story as it seems to be there just to add drama.

The ending had plenty of drama and some of it was good (like Fillion’s final fist fight) and some of it was silly (Willow’s emotional tantrum). There’s this bit of failed drama where Fillion assumes a false name. This doesn’t go over as planned and yet Willow is fooled… hmmm…. really? And that’s when I decided I really wanted some other main female character. Anyway, all around, the setting and plot hold potential for the next book in the series. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Sunil Patel has a very enjoyable voice. It’s rich and clear and just makes me want to listen to him all day. However, his narration skills need a little polishing. There were a few mispronounced words but his French was good. I felt his Japanese was a bit rough. Also, he doesn’t really do distinct character voices. He did try to soften his voice for the female characters, but that wasn’t consistent either. Whenever Willow was yelling, she sounded just like her brother or Fillion. The biodome inhabitants are supposed to have a general British English accent, which Patel does well, but Fillion and Hannley and all the outsiders really sound just like biodomers in accent. The recording was OK but there are a few places where the volume goes up or the recording sounds a little rough. 3.5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jesikah Sundin. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. ( )

This was a very unique book! It took me a while to get a grip on what kind of story it was—then once that was settled, it really is a fascinating book! Two really different worlds that are related in more ways than one, begin to intertwine.

I was impressed with the authors ability to craft great scenes throughout the book. It really sparked my interest and kept me turning the pages. This certainly helps to draw the reader deeper into the book. The second was the point of view. I admire the skill to not only craft scenes, but also convey the moods, feelings of the characters involved. ( )

**I received a copy of this book from Story Cartel in return for an honest review.**

The book started out a little slow, and I didn't think I was going to enjoy it. Fortunately, I couldn't have been more wrong. Leaf and Willow keep talking about "the secret" their father shared with them just before he died, but it takes quite a while before the reader is let in on that secret. Once that happens, things from the beginning of the book make more sense.

The book is very well written, even as it goes back and forth between the Medieval speech of the New Eden group and the technologically heavy speech of those on the outside.

The characters are well defined, and their relationships are complicated at times, yet realistic always.

The plot is intriguing, and I will be anxiously awaiting the next installment. ( )