My Review of The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid
My summary: Diabolics are genetically-created super-humans who are created to act as bodyguards to the rich. Nemesis has sworn to protect Sidonia, heir to the galactic senate. Only now the power-mad Emperor has summoned Sidonia into his court, and Nemesis must go in Sidonia’s place in order to keep her safe.
Why I picked up this book: It was suggested on Writing Excuses a while back, and I thought it sounded super interesting with SF elements as well as romance.
What I knew going in: Mostly what it says on the back of the book.
My response: I really liked the world building in this book. People living in space who then decided to worship the sun and stop teaching science, so they only have technology as long as the machines that produce and repair it keep working. They even have chat rooms with remote controlled avatars for communicating over long distances and nano-machines that can change everything about your appearance. Some fun ideas that really sparked my own creativity.
The plot wasn’t amazing, but it was satisfying. It was rather obvious that the love interest was not insane, and the antagonists are just through and through evil, but I liked how Nemesis worked through not believing she was human to believing she was capable of love. Also, the body count was really high in this book, but while it felt odd, I was not bothered by it.
Do I recommend this book?: Yes. I think it was an overall entertaining read, and I throughly enjoyed the world building.
