Botanicaust

Botanicaust, Book 1

By: Tam Linsey

Narrated by: Meghan Kelly

The only crop left is human....

Genetic modification has rendered Earth's croplands barren. Some survivors turned to science. Some turned to God. Some turned to the unthinkable.

Dr. Tula Macoby is a proud member of the Haldanian Protectorate, a compound built by those who believe humanity must embrace the same technology that caused the apocalypse. Bioengineered with photosynthetic skin, their mission is to eliminate the cannibalism ruling the world outside the safety of its walls, one conversion at a time.

When a prisoner who is obviously not a cannibal arrives in Tula's lab speaking a language she's never heard before, she's intrigued. His gentle but firm refusal to be genetically modified makes her question for the first time the Protectorate's policy of euthanizing anyone who won't convert.

But the law is clear: Savages who refuse the modification must be exterminated.

With time running out, will Tula risk everything to save the stranger from execution?

(This audiobook contains adult situations: sex, violence, drug references, and murder. You’ve been warned.)

Eerily plausible, Botanicaust is a must-hear for any lover of science fiction, dystopia, and post-apocalyptic fiction.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2012 Tam Linsey (P)2014 Tam Linsey

Imaginative Post Apocalyptic Future

I was a little skeptical about this book because I wasn't a huge fan of the tittle, but I found it to be a very enjoyable listen. If you are looking for something a little different than the usual post apocalyptic fair I would recommend it. I enjoyed the love story mixed with the clash of religion and science. I enjoyed Meghan Kelly's smooth voice and felt she did a good job adding inflection and tone to differentiate the characters. I found some of the children's voices to be annoying at times but that was rare. (And honestly I find a lot of real children to be annoying too so maybe that's good) Would recommend!

Crop failure leads to amazing premise

I'll keep this short. Genetically altered crops fail and humanity is turned on its head. Story starts up a hundred or so years after everything goes to hell. We gen cannibals that are more Amish in nature and "Pod People" who have photosynthetic skin in order to survive.

Tam creates a vibrant and detailed world based on possible events that makes you look at the current state of the world and start wondering when the ball is going to drop. In other words the world building is amazing and totally plausible. Linsey also creates compelling and deep characters. If I am honest I didn't think I would love this book in the way that I do.

Kelly brings herA game to the table, and provides distinct personalities for each voice she does, you NEVER wonder who is speaking and she paces the tale well.

A+

A Great Premise and a Good Story!

It's refreshing to find a sci-fi story that could actually occur in our timeline with a reasonable explanation to the sci-fi components of the story. I enjoyed following the small group of characters as they navigated and introduced us to their world, while exposing the reader to the three factional groups of the timeline and the conflict (whether obvious or unseen) that exists between each group.

The narration here is excellent for the story and acts to keep the reader engaged. This is a good listen!

* I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from AudioBookBlast.

Great story with unique twist

Great storyline. I loved the whole plant people, fossilite , and cannibal thing. Truly enjoyed the book. What prevented me giving it a 5 was all the religious overtime that permeates sections of the book. While born and raised Catholic I enjoy a good sci fi novel. I prefer my religion in church and in my bible not in my pleasure/relaxation reading. I look forward to trying the next in the series. I received this audiobook from the author narrator or publisher for free via audiobookblast in exchange for an unbiased review.

Another Unique Apocalypse

Botanicaust is a rather unique post apocalypse world, after some botanical plague nearly destroyed all crops on earth. The book opens some unknown time after the apocalypse, but I'm guessing more than a couple of generations (there do not appear to be any people who witnessed it first hand left). At any rate, some of the characters have some knowledge of what they were told caused it, but that does come into question in the book.

Humanity in the area of the novel has segmented into several groups. Their are several groups of technically capable people, who see the rest of the uncivilized world as "the cannibals". This is based on their knowledge that there was a lot of cannibalism post apocalypse, so they just have the mindset that everyone non-tech are cannibals. The non tech world, as we start to learn however, is not as simple as "all cannibals". We learn early on that Levi is from a small Amish like community of non-cannibals. And much further into the book Levi himself is surprised to learn that they weren't the only non-tech non-cannibals in the wasteland, and discover there are others living and trading that aren't just wanting to catch and eat them. Yes, there are cannibals, but I don't believe the problem is anywhere near as wide spread as the characters all thought. At any rate, I think all characters by the end seemed to have gained an understanding that none of them were fully right in their beliefs, whatever they were, and had come to accept change.

The book was complete in itself, and didn't really end on a cliffhanger. But I'm really looking forward to the other books in this series - I hope they get made into audiobooks. I do hope perhaps that they delve more into the real "how" of the apocalypse.

The narration was fantastic, and the narrator was able to convey the different characters accents and the tones of the narration. I'd definitely recommend the narrator for continuing this unique series!

Botanicaust

Where does Botanicaust rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Botanicaust is unique when compared to other science fiction books I've read. I really enjoy it when a book suggests futuristic technology and even finds a way to explain it. I do not require exact science but a reasonable explanation is the minimum. Botanicaust did a great job at making me believe that what I was reading could actually come to fruition. The three things that worked together was: Post apocalyptic world, Several different cultures that interact with one another, and everyone is at a different level of technological advancement. This allows the story to never become stale.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I did not have a favorite character(in the traditional sense). Due to a language barrier between cultures, every character has multiple personas. The cannibals seem horrible when viewed by someone who doesn't understand them. But when there is no language barrier you can relate to them better. Although I liked this writing style, It made it impossible for me to like any one person. That is why my favorite character is the union of two. Tula and Levi were very difficult for me to like individually. When they are together, I love them both. They complete each other and I feel like that was the entire point of their relationship.

What about Meghan Kelly’s performance did you like?

Meghan Kelly did a great job at performing this story. I liked how she voiced each character. I could instantly recognize who was talking even if they had not been introduced to the conversation yet. She does a great job with both female and male voices. I never felt like I was missing out on the story due to poor voice acting. She has a soft voice but it carries well. The sound quality was good and the volume was always stable.She does have a bit of an accent. I placed it as Wisconsin.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Several times I got quite engaged with the plot. I would find myself gripping the steering wheel tight and breaking out in a sweat. There are parts of the book that will keep you wanting more.

Any additional comments?

There are a few tasteful sex scenes in the book. Parts of the book, especially the end, deal greatly with religion. Mainly Christianity. If you absolutely hate reading books with any religion in them, then you may lose interest at those parts. It is not overwhelming so just hang in there and it actually becomes very important to the plot. This book will make you take sides and then change them. It will force you to pick a view point and then realize you were wrong. I would recommend this book.

Awesome new world!

Botanicaust is a very unique post apocalypse world or in this case post botanicaust world! I listened to the audio version of this book and it came with a pdf that had definitions for some of the terms used in the book to kind of help you understand things better. I read through this pdf before I began the book, but I never felt like I had to read it again during the book.

This new world has a few different societies that have adapted to the new world in their own minds. There are leaf people, cannibals, scientists and old world people. I found this world very intriguing and fascinating to read about! The book was a little slow to begin with, but I think it needed to be to really explain things better. Once Dr. Tula helps Levi escape his fate of euthanization, this is when the story really becomes exciting. All of the societies believe their way is the right way and Tula and Levi are outcasts in all of them since the escape. Can they bring these societies together and teach them that everyone has something to offer?

Meghan did an awesome job narrating this book. She has an amazing story telling voice that is very easy to listen to. She also did a great job with all of the different voices!

Compelling Novel Where Humans Become Plant-like!

Any additional comments?

Botanicaust by Tam Linsey is a very unique and compelling novel. It is a few hundred years after the Apocalypse where most of the known world died after genetic alterations were made to certain vegetation life, which had the opposite affect than anticipated. [When you think about how many of today’s crops are genetically engineered, this plot is totally plausible!] Most natural food sources are destroyed and the only way to save the human race is to photosynthesize a person’s skin so they are less dependent on food.

The story centers around Tula who believes photosynthetic skin can save the human race. She works in the department that determines whether or not a person who is captured should be “altered” to the plant way of life or euthanized. It is clear she has grown weary of her role and does not believe that if a person refuses conversion, they should be put to death. She falls in love with Levi, a member of a community that is very similar to the Amish, who is captured and soon scheduled for euthanization. Tula soon helps Levi escape his imprisonment and they set off on a quest to find a cure for his son who is terminally ill.

Meghan Kelly did an excellent job narrating. Her narration flows naturally at an even pace. She was easy to listen to, having differing voices for all characters, male and female. She really contributed to my enjoyment of the book and I just couldn’t stop listening ~ I listened to all 10 hours in one day!

Unique.

This was an incredibly unique post apocalyptic book. It's hard to explain the plot because it's better experienced. From what I got, plants destroyed the world and now only 3 type of races are left, Halvainiens - genetically modified people who are plant like and sustained using photosynthesis. Cannibals and Fossilites - I'm still not too sure what these are but I think they are immortal humans (though I'm not sure how) but there race is plagued with genetic defects.

Even with it being so unique, I only kinds liked the story. At times I found my attention wandering cause it seemed to have a lot of unnecessary details or events. I also had to go and skip back at times to replay what they were on about. The audio did come with a PDF of glossarys but I didn't have time to keep going back to it to see. I think maybe if I read it it may have been easier because I could of used the PDF but since I didn't, I didn't enjoy the story too much. Towards the end it was a chore to keep going.

Meghan Kelly did an awesome job as always. I always enjoy her performances and she always delivers. Despite not liking the book as much, Meghan made it easy to listen to.

*I received a copy of this for review. This in no way affected my thoughts.*

Botanicaust

Any additional comments?

Botanicaust had great flow and conflict all the way through. It was hard to put down, and I even cried a little at several points when the plot surprised me. The narrator did a great job.