BY AMY PHILLIPS

 

The first instalment of a four book series, the Demi-Monde: Winter and its subsequent seasonal titles has to one of my favourite finds in some years.

This series plays on alternate historical dimensions, virtual experiments and supernatural entities at its most creative. The Demi-Monde is a virtual reality simulation created by the US Military to test out asymmetric warfare at its most treacherous.

Ella Thomas, an eighteen year old student and Jazz singer has been sent into the Demi-Monde to rescue the US President's daughter who has gone missing inside the simulation.

Teaming up with Vanka Maykov, a charlatan psychic, and meeting a collection of colourful characters along the way, we follow Ella's battle in a world so unlike her own as she attempts an impossible rescue mission.

The series really stood out for me with its imaginative world and interesting portrayals of key historical figures.

Famous villains from history, including Empress Wu and Reinhard Heydrich, battle out across five completely separate ideological sectors in the hopes of becoming the ruler of the united Demi-Monde.

Ideologies range from the supremacy of women over men, a religion of sexual deviancy and the belief that there is no almighty god, all with creative play on words titles such as the HerEticalism, ImPuratinism and RaTionalism.

This book creates such an immersion into a new world that it even keeps a vocabulary list in the back of the book.

Every chapter starts with a small excerpt about Demi-Monde trivia in the forms of book extracts or telegrams to keep you interested in what's to come or what's going on in the background.

This series centres around key themes of society and juxtapositions everything that results from dividing people with constant warfare.

Racism, sexism and anything that can make someone different is brought about to an extreme. However, far from being serious, this idea is twisted into laughs with a dark sense of humour; nothing is safe from mockery.

Rees embraces the insanity of it all and that's what makes this series so fun to read.

Although a little slow to start, the dialogue between characters, the dynamic of the story and the flow of the book made it an excellent read.

At 522 pages, although the book looks lengthy, it is a definite page-turner.

 

This book was published by Quercus and is available to buy for £7.99. It can also be borrowed from The Hive as well as other Worcestershire libraries. Click here to check availability and check it out.