Child of Etherclaw By Matty Roberts Book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway! {Ends 8/29/22}

Review By LAWonder10:

The Child of Etherclaw is an interesting book and has the potential to become a very popular series for Dystopian fans. It is set in a time hundreds of years in the future. Earth has been drained of its resources and an alien entity came to, supposedly, save it by putting up towers to enhance resources.

The story centers on a girl and her adopted younger brother. The mother had been killed in an accident. The devastated husband quit being a father for awhile. The young girl had to fend for herself and her younger brother. The Brother did most of the cooking. They depended on each other.

The father was often gone weeks for his job. Since losing the mother’s income, they had to sell everything and move to a lower level. She studied hard and was determined to get a good job after graduation and get them back to a higher level of living.

She developed a very close friendship with a girl and a boy fellow students. They shared interests in important things and became very close.

She invented electronic type of things. To do so, she scavenged the underground for scraps and parts with which to create with or to sell so she could purchase other parts.Her brother insisted on going with her although it was dangerous and illegal. One time things took a turn for the worst and their whole lives were forced into a different direction.

The action and suspense increases, new characters evolve, unexpected twists occur, and fantastical things happen.

The characters were defined well and the scenes were described well and easily visualized. The characters felt real although, at times, were slightly “far-fetched”. The “Child” of  Etherclaw wasn’t quite accurate for the title. The cover image was done quite well.

I felt a few parts of the story, especially at the end, was awkwardly done…Like the author wasn’t sure how to continue. However, each time this occurred the story did move forward quite well even though it felt “choppy”. If it was solidified, it would be a great novel.

I offer a Three and a Half Stars rating for this novel

This book was gifted me with no pressure to post a positive review. This is my honest review.

Settings from Child of Etherclaw

The entire story takes place in an area of the Pacific Northwest called New Cascadia. Civilization underwent a Great Collapse 200 years ago, and has slowly been in the process of rebuilding itself. The locations range from densely packed with people to empty and abandoned, from safe and comforting to hostile and deadly.

New Cascadia
Once home to almost a billion, the population of New Cascadia was devastated two centuries
ago. Now, a mere fifty million people live together in various wards and districts that have been rebuilt in the years since. The sprawling megacity stretches along the coast of the Pacific Northwest and also functions as a city-state.

Prior to the Great Collapse, the city grew upward to accommodate the vast numbers of climate refugees who headed north. Towers and platforms stretching hundreds of stories high now act to segment and segregate the current population by socio-economic status into low, mid, and high tiers. Commerce and travel between regions within the city is tightly controlled by the Cascadian Authority, adding further difficulty for residents on the lowest tier. 

Lower Ashe Ward
New Cascadia is divided into a number of wards, most of which are connected by maglev transport. Fenlee Harper and her family live in Lower Ashe Ward, one of the safer inhabited
zones in the lower tier. She knows many in her community and feels a deep sense of comfort
around the smell of fried street foods, smiles from neighbors, and the chaotic energy of the
bustling avenues.

Lunarinto Market
The Lunarinto Market is a labyrinthine, tangled knot of alleyways that serves as a hub where a
thousand subcultures mingle. Lanterns and dimly lit signs hang at irregular angles above faded awnings and recessed doorways leading to tea cafes, medicine dealers, rundown bordellos, questionable credit brokers, junk and pawn shops, and untold numbers of stores selling illicit goods. The Market can be dangerous to those who are out of place, but full of opportunity to those who know where to look.

The Undercity
Beneath New Cascadia lies the Undercity. As the sea levels began to rise and portions of the
megacity started to regularly flood, they sealed off the lowest levels and built upward. Some
areas were used for underground transit for a time, but those were abandoned after the Great
Collapse. What’s left are endless dark tunnels full of junk and treasure that Fenlee routinely
scavenges for spare parts and anything she can trade.

Eastern Wilderness Zone

Between the megacity of New Cascadia and the mountains making up the Cascade Range lies
the Eastern Wilderness Zone. These wildlands are overgrown and uninhabited. Pre-Collapse
ruins can still be seen in places where the abundant plant life hasn’t managed to swallow them.

The area can be deadly to the unwary traveler, and those who decide to brave it are on their
own.