Fledgling

Fledgling is the first book of a sci fi series set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, one in which the haves of Upper Earth are trying to solidify their control over the have-nots of Lower Earth. A rebellion movement is brewing on Lower Earth, split into two factions, one more violent than the other. Time is ticking down before the Enlightenment when all Lower Earth residents will get a scalplink, supposedly to give them access to education and information, but, in reality, to control their minds and make it easier for Upper Earth to exploit them.

Raisa, daughter of Upper Earth’s ruler, believes that her upcoming marriage to Lein, of the Lower Earth elite, will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for all, beginning with the Enlightenment. But she is a pawn that all factions, including her own father, want to use for their own ends. While being kidnapped several times over by various agents, she learns the truth about what Upper Earth is planning, and she chooses to join the resistance movement.

Musaid is a Lower Earth resident who is entirely loyal to Lein until he realizes he has been used to betray everyone he loves. At the very last moment, he protects Raisa and the rebellion leaders by killing Lein.

The narration also switches among several other points of view, characters from different parts of the world, providing insight into their sides of the conflicts. Each gets dilemmas of agency and loyalty that move the plot forward.

The world-building has some interesting twists on the typical scenario of haves exploiting have-nots. Upper Earth is suspended in the sky, and the poorest part of Lower Earth is literally the Underground. Politics are realistically complicated, with well-meaning leaders on both sides following different philosophies; it takes some time before the really evil antagonists are revealed for who they are. This is a story about how the stories we are told influence how we see the world, often blinding us to the truth.

Character relationships are the core of the book, making the political conflict meaningful. Each character’s loyalty is to a person or persons more than to an abstract ideal, and the way those loyalties are affirmed and betrayed gives depth to the action plot—which does get a little repetitive with all the capturing and escaping and running around in the woods.

Because of the large cast of characters and the complicated world-building, narration is sometimes bogged down by exposition. Flashbacks are more frequent than they need to be. Each POV has a complete backstory, which provides plenty of believable motivations for each character but is a lot for the reader to keep track of and often slows forward momentum. The multiple POVs are handled admirably, but the addition of several new ones partway through the book somewhat clutters the story. Presumably these will be key characters in the sequel as the book actually ends with a couple of the new POVs and not the two main characters. (It’s not always clear that Raisa and Musaid are the protagonists, in fact, but they’re the ones with the clearest character arcs.)

Fledgling is an ambitious novel with character depth and resonant themes. It sometimes loses focus, hampered by all the threads it’s trying to weave together. The narration would be less cumbersome with fewer POVs and a lot less backstory. But readers will enjoy Musaid’s star-crossed lover plot, Raisa’s growth from a pawn into a leader, and the fun details of a future Earth.