a review by Rebecca Muir
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release date: 2011
The Emerald Tablets is the sequel to Paul Garrety’s paranormal thriller The Seventh Wave (reviewed here). It had quite a different feel to the first book – it is more of a sci-fi book about a technologically advanced society rather than a book about the occult.
Callum is thrust forward fifty years into the future. Confused and isolated, he must make sense of who he is and what has happened, and decide who he can trust. He eventually rediscovers Maggie, whom he has been separated from. Together they must once again risk everything to stop the Immortals gaining complete power. Along the way he meets an angry young woman called Leah, and her insightful son Matty. They need each other, but Callum must first gain Leah’s trust.
As in The Seventh Wave, this book explores the need to decide between serving self-interest and sacrificing for the sake of others. In the “baddies” we see self-interest taken to its ruthless extreme and revealed for the damaging path it is. The other characters, Leah in particular, are faced with difficult choices to make. Is a little self-interest justified, despite the cost to others? How far do we need to go, how much sacrifice should we be prepared to make for those around us? These are important questions the book raises.
I enjoyed this book more than the first one, probably because I’m more into sci-fi than paranormal. As with the first book I would recommend it for older teens or adults rather than younger readers. It was a fast-paced and generally enjoyable read, with interesting characters and a fascinating imagined future. It is a blend of sci-fi, adventure and romance.