«Exposed. Humanity Craves Power« (I'm not sure how you are supposed to spell the title correctly) is not the first book of Anton D Morris. His other work — «Men, Djinn & Angels« — is also a very good story I enjoyed a lot.
I really like "Exposed" and I recommend it. Then why should you read the rest of this review? Because every person has preferences, and I'm here to explain some aspects of the book so it would be easier for you to form your own opinion.
The title might be a bit long, but it's accurate. This book tells about power. How and why you acquire it. How you keep it. To what end you use it. What you feel in the process.
So, the genre is pretty obvious — it's a book about politics. Sure, it has some elements of business and economics. But politics is (by its very definition) a process of acquiring and keeping power, so it's the most accurate description. So, if you feel you won't get excited witnessing how one company gets acquired by another, if you don't want to hear the character's conversation about politics, if you can't get thrilled listening to a character exercising his oratory skills to win supporters — then this book is probably not for you. But if you (just like me) can appreciate these subjects — you will likely enjoy the book because it's written really well.
The story is happening in more or less modern days (the book was published in 2020), but unlike many modern contemporary books, this one does not contain an overwhelming number of modern notions. For some reason, I quite dislike it when a book constantly mentions Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Uber, and all the other modern companies, apps, and services. This book knows what it needs to mention, so it ignores the existence of everything else. I like this, and you might find it refreshing as well.
To be more precise, this is not a book about one person. There is (in my opinion) the main character—Horus Fitsroy—but the book has zero chapters told from his point of view, which is unusual. Every chapter is showing someone else's perspective. Most of those people are Horus' family, but there are also people influenced by him. Don't worry; the number of those points of view is too high, so you shouldn't get confused. The author did a good job of keeping his story easy and engaging. But if you don't like books with multiple points of view — now you understand why you are reading this review.
The book's prologue and first chapter use the classic formula of immediately putting the viewer into action.
In the prologue, we're bombarded with names and also are familiarized with some aspects of the book: lots of dialogue, lots of descriptions of characters' actions, thoughts, and body language. I like the dialogues in this book. The flow of words is easy and smooth; the vocabulary is rich (but not too rich), and the way people speak is believable and natural. Descriptions are also on point most of the time. And this holds true for the rest of the book, so don't worry.
The first chapter makes a jump in time. Being the highest point of conflict in the book, it shows us where we are going and what we shall acquire in the end. The author doesn't tell us whether or not we'll be successful at acquiring it, but the promise is made. Here, we learn what the book is about and see how it is written. Although I learned even more names, the old ones were still mentioned, giving me the confidence that all shall be explained and tied together in due time. The chapter offers a taste of the author's ability to seamlessly integrate the present events with the character's memories and thoughts. We're getting an idea of who the main character is, an idea of his values and strengths.
So, by the time you're done with the first chapter, you should already have a good idea whether this book is for you or not. Starting from here, the story will jump back in time and begin flowing forward, patiently telling us how the events of the first chapter came to pass. I personally find the author's way of telling the story inventive and engaging. It was hard for me to stop reading. I wanted to know more and kept wondering about the story while away from the pages.
So, what else is in this book? What do the characters go through in their strive for power? What do they encounter? What do they think and talk about? I'll give you the bullet points.
Surveillance. Or rather the never-ending process of some people trying to hide the truth while others do their best to uncover the secrets. The book makes certain points about surveillance and its integration into our lives.
Education. Or rather a system of raising children how they are supposed to be raised. After all, the parents play an even bigger role than any school or university. The book talks very specifically about how the education system must work in an ideal world, and the characters are trying to make that happen.
Economy, taxes, laws. These subjects are obvious, given the book's genre. But the author does a good job of explaining why his characters think the way they do. You do need a certain knowledge of the subject to understand what they are talking about, but I never claimed that this book was for everybody.
Politics. It includes the art of negotiations, convincing, and subterfuge.
Secret societies and symbolism. I like finding interesting symbolism in books, and "Exposed" is one of them. In it, the "secret society" is not so secret and is absolutely believable. And cool, at least for me. I like it when books are cool.
Slavery. This phenomenon is tied to almost every other subject of the book. Slavery is a profitable business governed by laws. Being a slaver (and a slave) alters one's perspective and views on the world. The book tackles how the general public sees the issue, how slavers and slaves view themselves, and how they teach their children. The author focuses on the "African-American" enslavement, which is a common subject of modern literature. Still, many of his points apply to other slave societies and regimes.
Okay, now you know what to expect from the story. But what about the characters? They are different, each with their own goals, strengths, and weaknesses. And I like the variety. Every character is believable enough, likable enough. Some are more important than others, true, but in general, the author did a good job balancing them out. What I mean is while first-row characters effectively move the story forward, others serve to tell us more about the first-row characters.
So, I told you a lot of what I like. But is there something less ideal? Yes. Although I really like this book, it's not perfect. In fact, I don't know any ideal books. So, what's wrong with this one?
Although the flow of the dialogue is pretty much perfect, the narration sometimes falters. The amount of repetitions is not ideal for me. Instead of finding cleverer ways to say what he needs, Anton often just writes "I...", then "I..." about something else, and then even more "I..."'s.
Plus, the narration sometimes suffers differently. "Cassandra understood. She nodded." Wouldn't it be better to write "Cassandra understood and nodded"? Or just "She nodded"? It doesn't ruin the book, but it is noticeable, at least for me.
Two previous points were about the crude instruments of the language, but there is an issue with the finer ones. The author sometimes is not subtle enough in disguising his ideas as the ideas of his characters. There's something about the way he writes that betrays him occasionally. It's hard to explain what's wrong and how it could have been different, and some readers may disagree with me.
Conclusion. Anton D Morris managed to write quite complex and a very good story. The characters are smart and diverse. The points tackled in the story are interesting and important. Time and again, this book made me think and rethink my views on a variety of subjects. The issues I had with the story could not ruin the excitement I felt reading it. I don't like rating books using points, so don't expect a "10/10" from me. But I definitely do recommend this book to everyone who enjoys the genre.
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