LitPick Review
The Outside Intervention by Andrew Orange is set in a new world order world where there are no countries. There is a Leader over the whole world population while the world's population is divided into segments or castes. The Vors are the ruling class while the simples live to serve the whims of the Vors. But the Vors are actually not the highest in society. The "outs" are higher and have the special ability to read peoples' emotions and even manipulate them. Most of the "outs" are entirely self-serving, self-righteous, and self-absorbed. Except Keir. He just discovered his "out" abilities and is being helped by a man by the name of Dark who is the Imperial Secretary (ImpSec) and heads up the department that keeps an eye on people in the world. Keir is just learning about his new abilities when Katrina is introduced to him as part of his "out" promotion. She's a slave to the Emperor, but he gives her to Keir as a gift. What Keir and Katrina discover together in their journey to learn and live will impact the entire Empire. Will they follow the will of the Emperor or that of the God or is there a third option?
Opinion:
The Outside Intervention by Andrew Orange at first blush reads like the typical teenager-saves-the-world YA novel. The world is in chaos. Justice is obstructed, and corruptions run deep and high up, all the way to the Emperor. People are selfish. There is little hope. And then, like a typical YA novel, the teenagers are the ones to save the whole world. Like I said, that's what this book reads like if you just read on the surface. However, if you pay attention to the dialog between the characters, you learn about what's really going on. This is a story about order, peace, justice, and revenge. There are moral choices that cause the characters either to grow or to become like the people they are fighting against. Andrew Orange gives us their raw discourses without commentary, except whatever commentary the characters themselves give. There is plenty of political and social commentary on our present society, even a passing reference to MAGA, and other references to sexuality, race, economics, woke ideology, and religion. Yet the main characters themselves behave without personal morals when it comes to sexuality, swearing, lying, cheating, or killing. And this is why I gave the book five stars: I think what Andrew Orange is telling us is that the real success of totalitarianism is when it turns its enemies into totalitarians themselves. Keir and Katrina are hopeful of being better and their philosophies are better, but their behavior is just the same as the tyrants they work to overthrow.
Comments from the author in response to this review:
On Sep 13, 2022, at 11:50 AM, Andrew Orange wrote:
Thank you.I read the review.I disagree with the reviewer 'praetorian2004' that "Yet the main characters themselves behave without personal morals when it comes to sexuality, swearing, lying, cheating, or killing. ... Keir and Katrina are hopeful of being better and their philosophies are better, but their behavior is just the same as the tyrants they work to overthrow."Kier and Katrina are certainly not saints, but they are very different for the better from other outs.
I have shown this quite clearly in the book.
In this regard, a few questions to the reviewer about our real world.
In the modern war between Russia and Ukraine, is Ukraine's behavior the same as Russia's?
During World War II, was there a difference between the US and UK on one side and Germany and Japan on the other?
Did Churchill have the same personal morality as Hitler?
Were Reagan and John McCain different from Andropov and Putin or not?Sincerely, Andrew
