Cut From Stone
Brendan O’Meara
Independently Published (2022)
ISBN: 979-8986128900
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (10/2022)
“Cut from Stone,” is the first book in the Crafting Humanity series by Brendan O’Meara, occurring during a time that I perceived as our not-to-distant future.
A mysterious event occurred in which the planet was divided into two sections. As people in the west regrouped on the North and South American side, they formed what is known as The Federation of the Americas. The rest of the world is cut off to them, and horrible things happen to those who try to explore what is referred to as The BlankZone. As time progresses, it is feared that the Federation is about to fall under attack by whatever is on the BlankZone side. When the military seeks teenagers for intensive training, a young man named James is selected and experiences some harrowing adventures during this time and ends up on a small elite team. No longer relating well to the outside world, this unit becomes like family. As time progresses, James and his team must train to prepare for an invasion from the BlankZone. They need to be ready to do what they must in order to protect the people of the Federation.
“Cut from Stone,” took me on a wild adventure! I found it disturbing that it did not seem like it was happening too far into our future. This made it seem more real to me. It is unnerving to consider that something like this could actually happen. My imagination tends to run wild anyway, and this did not help. That is what makes reading this story so fun!
The characters are realistic and go through a great deal of character development that adds depth to the story. Their interactions with each other helped bring the pages to life. The settings were also created in vivid detail. Well described, I felt like I was inside the story, instead of safely reading on my couch. I often caught myself holding my breath! I also loved the technological advances that have occurred during this time. They are high tech, but not too much in that they still need real people to go to war.
I believe that “Cut from Stone,” is one of the best-written dystopian novels that I have ever read, YA or otherwise. I am happy to know that it is going to be part of a series and I look forward to getting my hands on the next episode!
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