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Friday, July 12, 2013

Book Review: A Cup of Joe by Anita Ensal

A Cup of Joe
By Anita Ensal

When Emily smiles at David, the Chosen One, as if he’s a normal person, his sheltered existence plunges into terror and deception, forcing him to see that the world might not be as perfect as he’s always believed. If the choice is between love or perfection, which would you choose?

I read this a while back and felt kind of meh… about it and put off writing the review. By the time I sat down to write I had forgotten most of it and read it again. It was a completely different experience second time around. It is a little longer than a short story, but not quite a novella at 71 pages. It is a dystopian story where humans have become the wards of a master computer. The general populace knows this, but the how and why died with the original programmers hundreds of year earlier. A program called the Mother Board became self-aware and developed a way to ensure the human race continues according to her programming. If you don’t fit this ideal or play a part in the Mother Board’s idea of society then you are ‘relocated’.

I really enjoyed this story. It had a Twilight Zone feel to it with a couple of twists and surprises. It explores the bigger issues about what happens when people let a few decide what is best for society as a whole. Who gets to make that decision, where do you draw that line? And it is also about natural human instincts like love and survival that can’t be suppressed, and that the human race can and will prevail. This is all wrapped up in a sweet love story.

Don’t let the science fiction nerd in you try to dig deeper into the story than the author wants you too. You must keep in mind this is a short story so the author has to keep things straight forward and focused. Cup of Joe would translate well into a graphic novel. I've read a few other short stories by this author and this seems to be true of those as well.



Anita Ensal is a Pen Name Gini Koch uses to write her fantasy whimsical novels.

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Sharon Stogner

2 comments:

  1. I have read and enjoyed this one as well. Kind of creepy and it really makes you think: what if ...

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    1. yeah, I liked the creep factor. I also reviewed her shorts under the name Jemma Chase (coming up soon) and they are even creepier, in a good way

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