Mr Ruins (Ruins Sonata #1) by Michael John Grist
Book 1 of the Ruins Sonata trilogy.
Ritry Goligh is a former Arctic marine living in a dystopian, tsunami-wrecked future. He works as a graysmith- a specialist capable of diving the minds of others and implanting or erasing memories. Scarred by the events of the Arctic war, he leads a directionless life of alcohol, violence, and sex, until a man calling himself Mr. Ruins offers him a devil’s bargain- gain a future, but forfeit his soul.
At the same time, a crew of hardened marines rouse in a unique submarine designed to dive through lava within a planet’s molten core. They have no memories except their names, ranks, and a burning urge to complete their mission. Yet none of them know what their mission is, or what the stakes will be if they fail.
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Review
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*
Rating: 5 Stars
Mr Ruins is the first book of the Ruins Sonata trilogy. It tells two stories; the first of one man’s struggle against a terrible evil and the second of a group of marines tasked to complete their mission no matter what.
Ritry Goligh is a broken man. Working as a graysmith he fills his empty life with booze and women. When the story begins he’s weak, seriously flawed and at times a difficult character to like. As the novel progresses and Ritry is struggling to get his life back in order he becomes stronger and very likeable, and definitely I found myself caring for the character and his fate.
Mr Ruins is an excellent antagonist and the perfect adversary for Ritry. He incorporates everything a villain should be; ruthless, devious, manipulative, charismatic, frightening. You could literally feel the atmosphere of the novel change with every scene that he was in.
Alongside Ritry’s battle against Mr Ruins runs the story of a group of marines who are tasked with completing a mission without any knowledge of their time before it began and what might happen should they fail. At first the two stories seem unconnected but further into the novel how they are interlinked becomes clear.
Mr Ruins is a fantastic and extremely well-written science fiction novel. The plot is engaging, compelling and very cleverly thought out, which kept me guessing right up until the very end. I highly recommend Mr Ruins to lovers of the science fiction genre!
Shari Sakurai 