Unique and unusual

"Botanicaust" by Tam Linsey paints an interesting and unusual post-apocalyptic world. The plot is reasonably complex and well fleshed out with unique characters, the right amount of eerie ambience and oddness to unnerve the listener. This is a cut above the standard generic dystopian novel, with even the tropes being twisted enough out of alignment to be refreshing. Overall, it is a thoroughly enjoyable tale that may not be as bleak as first perceived (depends on your personal ethics I guess).

Megan Kelly's narration was good but with a couple of noticeable dips in the audio quality for inserted edits. This doesn't detract greatly from the flow of the narrative fortunately and is the only negative thing I can say about this audiobook. Kelly's delivery is clear and understandable, her character voices easily discernable and hopefully she'll narrate the rest of the trilogy.

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Different and good !

A really good written story by the author Tom Linsey.

By trying to save the earth and ground erosion, humans introduce a generic modified weed which at first looks good but because of one mistake of not testing it all the way it spread way to fast killing anything in its way including crops not to mention that drinking water gets to be a problem to and some of the human race regresses back to pretty much the Stone Age.
Cannibalism,
Mormons,
High tech ,
And
Some freaks start roaming the planet
The ending is a mystery with all the twists which keeps jumping at you and all that is from the imagination of the author !
Meghan Kelly narration is perfectly done creating a beautiful audiobook.
Even so that there are two more books in this series, each can be enjoyable by itself.

Really waiting for audio of the second book of this series to come out.

Recommended !

Oded Ostfeld.

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good

I loved the narration of Meghan Kelly, who brings the action and suspense.

We have mutant plants, and vegetation is wiped out turning people into cannibals. Levi is a member of a religious community that has kept to themselves all this time. We have a single father desperately trying to find a cure for his terminal son. Tula and Levi, are from very different societies and the development of their relationship is heart warming. This book had suspense, intrigue, romance

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A solid science fiction dystopian tale

Would you listen to Botanicaust again? Why?

I found the different societies very interesting, and thought this was an excellent way to begin a new series. The world building is very complex although the author laid a good foundation for more to come. It's one that you find interesting and then it drags you back to get a better understanding.

What other book might you compare Botanicaust to, and why?

I thought it was very unique. And good for it. It gives you twists and turns, there is betrayal characters you grow to care about and lots of action. Once I found my footing, I enjoyed the uniqueness of the world and the premise.

What does Meghan Kelly bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Really good pace. Narration doesn't feel like your simply getting someone to read it to you, nor is it over played in terms of being too theatrical. A nice voice that helps get you into the story.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

What does the world do when all the crops are gone? Wait and see

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

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Beautiful and alien all at once.

It was the title which first attracted me to this book, with it's hints of both vegetation and destruction. Memories of triffids surfaced, and I could not resist.

Set in an unspecified distant future, the planet's botanical infrastructure had long before been destroyed leaving mostly only tamerisk trees, the all pervasive poisonous amarantox foliage and a scattering of humans desperately ego survive along with bugs and a very few other mammals. Different groups of peopleNs found their own ways to continue living, small and disparate groups, four of which are named and play a part in the story: the scientists, the cannibals, the Old Order, who try to replicate how life used to be, living within an electrified Hold Out, very regulated by their religious fervour, total pacifism and belief in God's salvation despite the increasing number of sick and dying children in their midst, and a fourth group, Abominations according to the Old Order, who have mostly solved the hunger problem by genetically altering themselves to be able to photosynthesis food from the sun, like plants. Their skins are green. Believing themselves to be the best hope for mankind and abhorring the cannibalistic taking of lives, they increase their numbers by taking prisoners and genetically converting those willing to accept (refusal means death). The story centres around Tula, one of the Halvanians, as the green skinned ones are called, and Levi, a man from the Old Order, who has left the safety of the Hold Out in search of a cure for his sick son.

An unique and original setting, well written and very intriguing even if not all of the basics are explained or fully make sense. The tale of Tula and Levi is partly a.clash of culture, part thwarted romance and mostly thriller as the two become outlawed to both of their communities. For this reader, however, the failure comes in not making either of the two main protagonists characters to care about.

Narration of the story by Meghan Kelly is good, her pleasant to hear voice reading with clarity, a touch of emotion and individual voicing for the different protagonists. Her reading definitely enhanced the listening experience, maintaining interest throughout.

This was such an original concept that I wish that I had enjoyed it more. But with less than sympathetic characters and a verbosity of religious intrusion, there were times when I found my patience stretched. With another book in the series already published, though not yet, I think, on audio, I doubt that I have sufficient interest to continue to book two.
Worth a read for the basic idea, though.

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