Review: The Shifters of 2040

The Shifters of 2040
By: Ami Rebecca Blackwelder
ISBN: 978-1453785133
Series: Shifter Evolutions

1. The Invasion of 2020
2. The SCM of 2030
3. The Shifters of 2040
4. The Hybrids of 2050
5. The Hunted of 2060
6. The Revolution of 2060

Summary via the e-book:
Set in Alaska in 2040, Melissa Marn and Bruce Wilder must work under the iron fist of the SCM, while still trying to maintain humanity. Discovering a world of shifters and hybrids, the scientists must struggle with human prejudice and betrayal. With the original ancestors, dubbed shifters, still living on earth, humans are in the midst of a fifteen year old war. As the eldest hybrids, Unseen and Diamond, learn about humans the hard way, with the loss of loved ones and sacrifices, love on planet earth proves challenging. With underlining themes of how prejudice breaks human connections and animal/wildlife conservation, this novel which has received rave reviews will leave the reader flipping through the pages.

Review:
Shifters of 2040 raises many questions that often are over looked. What does it means to be human? What rights are to be afforded to every living thing, regardless of their species classification? Are we willing to fight for our freedoms or will we bend to the will of another for our "safety"?

Shifters of 2040 is a wake up call in the guise of a piece of science fiction. This type of book I would say is most similar to George Orwell's Animal Farm which raised many similar questions in a different time. Ami Blackwelder manages to show this universe from various points of view through her variety of characters. Her main character is military scientist, Melissa Marn, whom has her world shaken by an encounter with a shifter (Brenden) and her interactions with her colleague, Bruce Wilder. This motley group of characters alone are but a mere piece of the complexity of this story.

All the conflicts faced within this book are shown through all the different sides of the characters: the scientist, the experiment, the soldier, the general, the hunter, the hunted, the lovers, etc. That Ami Blackwelder was able to show these characters and conflicts in such a way that it makes it real for any reader is a great feat. I for one, during reading much of this book my heart was in my throat every time the characters on both sides of the conflict were threatened with the exception of a certain general (who I would happily have seen killed).

This book is a solid three because the beginning of the book felt a little disconnected from the rest of the book due to the many, many descriptions that could have been left in the glossary. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to see the best and the worst in people as well as enjoy a little romance.