MY Ramblings on The Bane by Keary Taylor

The Bane
By: Keary Taylor 
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Author Website
Book Received From: NetGalley

Summary:
Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

The Bane is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance.

Previously published as Eden, due to reader demand it has been revamped and rereleased as The Bane: book one in The Eden Trilogy.

My Ramblings: 
I love when you get to discover books and authors that weren't on your radar and suddenly it's like a whole other world of books opens up for you. How is it I didn't know about Keary Taylor before NetGalley put The Bane in my path? The Bane was originally published in 2011 under the title Eden and was revamped (and retitled) as part of The Eden Trilogy, with the sequel, The Human, coming out mid-June. This book was excellent and I'm really glad that I stumbled across it on NetGalley. 

At the heart of the story is a girl named Eve who lives and works in Eden. She has no memory of her life before she arrived in Eden although she knows from hearing the stories of others about how the world used to be before machinery took over the human race. Somewhere in here is a parallel to The Terminator series, but instead of technology simply becoming aware one day, here we see human experimentation and ambition going sideways and getting out of control. what I really enjoyed was that the leap from where we are today to where we find Eve isn't that large of one. Already we are building better prosthetic that are helping people get back to life as normal. Cybernetics are certainly something that is being researched and worked on, so is it really that huge of a leap to see how we could start to use technology and fuse it with DNA to help people live a more full life. 

Here we see how it so quickly spiraled out of control. I particularly liked how Taylor told the story from two different ends. First we see how Eve and the other residents of Eden are living now, post Evolution. We watch as they try to stay alive, how they survive in a world where they have to provide for themselves mostly off the land, while still fighting off the Bane.  When West arrives in Eden he brings with him a key to Eve's past and also some secrets to how the Bane came into existence. Through West we get stories from the past and the gaps are filled in not only for Eve, but the reader. 

I know that this is a pretty technical review thus far, and there's a reason for that. It's relatively rare that a book surprises me, that the twists and turns actually catch me off guard, but Taylor managed it. I had an inkling of what was happening, of what part Eve played in the story of the Evolution, of what she was capable of and who she would find herself choosing. I was only partially right on most of my guesses, and that was awesome. There are twists and turns, there are moments of action and peace, and there are times when you can see the weight of the world pressing down on these people as they try to just stay alive. Mostly though, there is hope. Hope that there is a real possibility to survive, to defeat the Bane and the find a normal life amid the chaos. Watching the characters navigate a world turned upside down and face the unbelievable (like the Bane) and the very normal (finding love) is very satisfying. I for one can't wait to not only read The Human when it comes out, but also pick up the free short story, The Raid, and the free prequel, The Ashes, that Taylor has made available for Kindle.