Engines of Empathy Book Review

I received a free e-copy of Engines of Empathy from the author for a fair and honest review.  For those who may already be familiar with Paul Mannerings other works, such as Tankbread; this is a completely different type of story.  This novel takes place in the very very distant future where all electrical devices run on Emphatic energy, which comes from a mysterious source, because the general population does not know where it comes from. This energy source also makes machines react to people emotions.

This book is comedic science fiction, which other readers have compared it to Pratchett, and at times the paranoia reminded me of Orwell's 1984.  All of the characters have seemingly made up names, such as the main character whose name is Charlotte Pudding, and her compatriot Drakeforth. Another comedic approach is that of this religious cult known as Authurians, which believe really silly things in order to achieve transcendence. Mannering introduces his characters as if this world already exists, and the reader gets a peek into the ordinary lives of these future people. Somewhat slow to start the story moves on to inklings of a hidden mystery of what and where the energy source that this world uses is and comes from.  The author does this in a rather suspenseful way, the events build up and make you more and more interested....a definite page turner. It is labeled as a part of a trilogy, but the book ends in way that it seems like a stand alone. This was my first exposure to comedic science fiction, and I rather enjoyed it. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. So if Monty Python type cults, talking refrigerators, and evil corporations are your thing....check out this book.