| Author: | John Calia |
| Genre(s): | ➡️ Science Fiction ➡️ Dystopia |
| Series? | ✅ Yes This is Book 2 of the False Flag series |
| Goodreads Rating: | N/A. This book will be released on November 7, 2023. |
| Personal Rating: | ⭐ 3 / 5 Overall |
🛑 Spoiler Warning 🛑
I might be recounting events, characters, and themes so THIS MIGHT BE FULL OF SPOILERS.
If you’d like to read a review with the spoilers hidden, kindly scroll to the bottom to read my spoiler-free review or head to my Goodreads post. You don’t need an account to read it. 🙂
🗒️ BLURB 🗒️
The Resistance. A hybrid human. An escape to a parallel universe.
After escaping from the Pods or city-states into the dystopian remains of America, Diana Gutierrez-Adams finds herself on the run. She learns that her grandfather is the head of a resistance movement to counter a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of government. Partnered with a hybrid human, she must engineer a jailbreak, counter an imposter-led propaganda campaign in the Metaverse, and jump to a parallel universe as military forces surround her.
Will they survive in this new world—a world that seems familiar until it doesn’t? Will they be safe from an even greater evil? How will they find their place in a society that offers security at a price?
Parallel Lies is the second book in the Artemis near-future science fiction adventure series. If you like fast-paced thrillers in a dystopian setting, you’ll love False Flag.
Source: https://www.johncalia.com/
🌟Review (3/5) 🌟
Parallel Lies delivers on its promise to give an action-packed, sci-fi adventure.
The pros:
- Very sci-fi (traveling in multiverses, metaverse, etc.)
- Action-packed
- Well-paced
- Expositions placed at the correct moments to amp up the thrill
- Interesting and distinguishable characters with clear motivations
- Multiple plot lines that are interwoven so well (conspiracy theories about UFOs, terminator-type of protagonist, climate change, etc.)
The cons:
- I feel like I’m missing some context. I only knew later on that this is a sequel. It’s not detrimental to the plot but sometimes it makes me feel disconnected with the protagonists.
- I found myself asking a lot of times “Why?” Why did this character do this out of nowhere, why some dialogues felt off, why some of the plot points felt too mechanical… and it all made sense in the end. It was an excellent ending, but it didn’t really make me feel better about all the times I wondered why during the reading experience.
Scientific Aspect
This book has a potential to be a good introduction to sci-fi. I’ve always been hesitant to read heavy sci-fi literature because the science gets lost on me. However, in this case, the book managed to simplify the heavy science details into understandable language which I truly appreciated. For example:
“When the universe expanded, the subatomic quantum foam expanded to macroscopic scales to fill the voids in the cosmic web, planting gravitational seeds that grew over hundreds of millions of years into larger stars, galaxies, and more,” said Phil.
Chapter 23
“What?” said Elizabeth.
“Your UAPs came from a parallel universe,” he added.
That said, I can’t give a fair review on the scientific accuracy on this material. Just that I feel like the science explained here holds up in what’s established in this universe. It’s the right amount of exposition placed at the perfect times to create a thrilling experience.
Ultimately, the book gave a not-so-heavy dystopian vibe; just enough to distinguish it from our current lives and create a clearer setting for the story but still exciting in terms of what technology to look forward to.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for an action-packed read that lets you immerse into a dystopian America where the government uses the metaverse to control the populace, and where a brewing resistance and parallel universe travel connects it all, then this would be a good book. I haven’t read the first book of the series yet, but I suspect that it would be better to read that first to fill in some context and enhance your reading experience.
Check out both books from the author’s website!
FAVORITE QUOTE(S)
“Ignorance and impulsiveness always triumph over critical thinking in the media.”
— President Kathleen Porter, Parallel Lies
The Stray Reader 
Leave a comment