Elysium comes to us as Georgia Cline’s debut novel. It falls squarely in the Dystopian, Apocalyptic, YA (Young Adult) genre with Science Fiction sprinkled on top. All right, that’s three genres mashed together, so maybe “squarely” is the wrong word. Let’s say it falls in line with a great deal of popular and successful fiction that incorporates similar patterns. As such, one might ask how it matches up against the likes of Hunger Games and Divergent. Such a comparison would be unfair and miss the point. Elysium stands on its own—even, if it unfortunately shares its title with a number of books and a rather successful motion picture.

What is the story about?

A genetic experiment has gone terribly wrong. In its wake earth is left with two kinds of people, those who succumb to the plague the experiment left in its wake, and those whose bodies carry immunity to the scourge. The latter, when discovered, become enslaved and literally drained of their life-giving blood. This injustice at the core of the moral struggle that drives the story and its characters.

Our protagonist, Eliza, as you might guess, belongs to the latter group. And she’s just been discovered. Which means the bad guys are after her, and thankfully, rebels have come to take her to safety. Their rescue will take her to an almost magical place where she will become the key to resolving a critical conflict between her benefactors and her persecutors.

At this point I will stop with story details to avoid further spoilage. I will mention in general that to me the reason why Eliza becomes key to the conflagration, and the nature and scope of the conflagration itself, feel at times forced and not fully fleshed out.

This story features a great concept and a compelling protagonist. Unfortunately, the setup does not lead to a satisfying conclusion. Sometime after the middle of the story, the narrative falters. Until that point, the author held my interest with an interesting premise and writing that sets a dark, threatening mood. Throughout, one reads terrifically descriptive passages, and for me, this all climaxes when we enter the city of Elysium. The author not only demonstrates a lively imagination, but manages through description to imprint her vision in this reader’s mind.

Yet, after that wonderful passage, I started asking what was happening. I couldn’t come up with a concrete answer till the end, after plowing through a lot of stuff that amounted to little by way of story or character development. Well, there is some character development, but it feels at times uneven or superficial. For her young age, Eliza takes on a lot, including a speech to Elysium’s governing chamber which does seem way over her head, but which she delivers with the aplomb of a thirty year old. This seems to not match. The romantic aspect of the story also felt incomplete and undeveloped. As for the climax of the story itself it came across rather rushed, with a struggle that felt too quickly and somewhat too neatly resolved.

On the plus side, the author writes with ease, and the power of image-evoking narrative is definitely hers, making for an enjoyable read. Given this is her debut novel and how many years of writing still lie ahead of her, we can look forward to her future work blossoming into its fullest potential. We should also anticipate Georgia Cline’s follow-up to Elysium, as there is much in the world she created that cries for future developments and story-telling.

Rating: 3 / 5 stars