Book Review of The Gatherer by Colleen Winter 3/5

A decent enough read.. That had the potential to be so much more.

I grew up on a steady diet of mostly b-rated ScyFy/SciFi movies and, I have to admit, that may have influenced my interest in this book a little. Was I intrigued? Yes.
The reality just didn’t blow me away.

My brain just hit a wall.. forcefully. I legitimately went to continue writing and every thought in my poor, exhausted head hit the big red ‘Stop!’ button.

*ten minutes later*
So.. Staring at the computer screen while your brain malfunctions accomplishes absolutely nothing.

Perhaps we should just get to the review.. Shall we?

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The Gatherer by Colleen Winter

First line: Storm paddled easily downstream, the cabin falling behind her, the hills on either side casting large shadows across the fast flowing river.

“Universal peace is a beautiful dream, but not at once realizable.”
–Nikola Tesla

Storm Freeman and a small team of thinkers create The Gatherer, a machine capable of pulling electromagnetic energy from the very air around us.. finally giving the world access to clean energy. While some of the other team members desire more testing, more time, Storm is eager to share this marvel with the less privileged. So she arranges to have it released to the public in secret.

Some communities were grateful for her invention, revering Storm and her team as heroes, while others.. were less thrilled.

Because soon it becomes very clear that The Gatherer is causing a sickness that, over time, slowly kills all who are continually exposed. No one is safe and there is no cure.

On the run from various groups that want to use her, and struggling with worsening symptoms of her own, Storm is in a race against the clock to stop The Gatherer before it’s too late.. If it isn’t already.

Three Stars!

About the book:

I’m not sure what to say about this one. There were so many questions without answers and I have to assume (and hope) they will all be resolved as the series progresses.

The writing was done well enough, though, it’s difficult to tell when you’re not all that invested in the story or characters. Neither Storm, nor Maria, were all especially interesting to me and Storm in particular was just frustrating.

I did enjoy parts of the book.. but very little kept my interest and I would find myself doing other things while I flipped pages.

There were some quotable lines that would catch my eye and draw me back in..
Not for long, mind you, but I’m a sucker for a good quote.

They made assumptions that made her into something she wasn’t and gave her intentions that were so much more pre-meditated than they actually were. Except this persistence wasn’t about getting a good story. It was about finding hope.

And while this book does raise the question: When you know something is wrong.. to what lengths do you go to make it right? More could have been done here and should have.