Review: Meritropolis by Joel Ohman @JoelOhman

Meritropolis

by Joel Ohman

Publisher: CreateSpace 

Published: September 2014 

Pages: 226 

BLURB:

The year is AE3, 3 years after the Event. Within the walls of Meritropolis, 50,000 inhabitants live in fear, ruled by the brutal System that assigns each citizen a merit score that dictates whether they live or die. Those with the highest scores thrive, while those with the lowest are subject to the most unforgiving punishment--to be thrust outside the city gates, thrown to the terrifying hybrid creatures that exist beyond.

But for one High Score, conforming to the System just isn't an option. Seventeen-year-old Charley has a brother to avenge. And nothing--not even a totalitarian military or dangerous science--is going to stop him.

Where humankind has pushed nature and morals to the extreme, Charley is amongst the chosen few tasked with exploring the boundaries, forcing him to look deep into his very being to discern right from wrong. But as he and his friends learn more about the frightening forces that threaten destruction both without and within the gates, Meritropolis reveals complexities they couldn't possibly have bargained for...

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MY REVIEW:

I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

Charley has just turned seventeen years old and has been moved above ground to live now. Charley lives inside the walls and gates of the city Meritropolis where everyone is assessed each week. They are judge on their worth to society and are given high or low scores according to what they can or can’t do. They are judged on how smart they are and what kind of shape they are in. Like if they are strong and can fight or hunt for food. They are also judge how what their health if they are sick or not. If they get a low score and are not capable of taking care of their selves or anyone in the city then they are put outside the gates to live or die all alone. It is not likely that they would ever survive for long on the outside with all of the hybrid animals running around and are always looking for their next meal.

All of the children live below ground and are not allowed above ground until they are old enough to take care of their selves. Charley lost his little brother when they were both just little kids. Charley’s little brother Alec scored a low score when they were small so therefor he was put outside the gate. Charley anger has been growing ever since and his driving force to put an end to the system. He has been building his own score so that he could one day hopefully get revenge for what they did to Alec.

Charley’s only reason for living is to take down the system and destroy it and whoever created it. Charley as well as all of his new friends that he has made since being moved topside believe that people are worth more than a score no matter what is wrong with them. Charley and his friends are finding out that everything that they were raised to believe are all lies.

I liked Charley he was very smart and strong and cared a lot for human life. He cared more for other people than he did his own self, he had one big ole’ heart. I liked Sandy as well I just that she and Charley could have had more time alone with each other. But I was really hoping that Charley would get together with Elena, the girl whose little sister Bree was put outside the gates too. I hope that we get to see more of Elena and learn more of her story and who she is in future books. I hope to see more of the main characters in Meritropolis as well. But there was a few background characters that I would like to have known better.

I can’t wait to read the next book in the series Meritorium and hope to see and learn more about the system and the people who started it and why. I am going to miss Charley, Sandy and a lot of the other characters too. I loved that we got to see the story through each characters pov. I love getting inside each character’s head and knowing what they think and feel.

I am so glad that I finally gave Meritropolis a chance and wished that I had given it a try a lot sooner. If you love a good dystopian story then you are going to love Meritropolis. It will grab you right from the beginning and won’t let go even when you read the last word because you are waiting for more. Meritropolis is one of those books that you don’t want to put down and wished that you never have to. So if you have not read it then I highly recommend it to all dystopian book lovers.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

Other than an author, who are you Joel Ohman?

My name is Joel Ohman. I am 33 years old, married to my best friend, Angela, and have 3 kids, ages 5, almost 3, and 1. My writing companion is my 130lb Bull Mastiff, Caesar (who's asleep on the job most of the time, to be honest). I am a Christian who likes to talk about the good news of Jesus Christ. I do volunteer work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and also with my church in Tampa. I am a serial entrepreneur, having founded a number of different startups in the web space. I am currently the President & CEO of 360 Quote LLC and Real Time Health Quotes LLC, and we own a lot of different web properties, one of the most popular ones being our workout website/iOS App/Android App for Exercise.com. You can learn more about me at JoelOhman.com.

In the Meritropolis series how were the animal combinations decided upon?

For example, I know you chose to write about a bion (bull-lion), as well as many other freaks of nature. So what I want to know is how did you decided which animals to meld together and why.

I have a big list of animal combinations that I came up with before I began writing the book, and I tried to work in as many as I could. Sometimes the only criteria was that I liked the way the name sounded. There are over fifteen new animal combinations introduced in Meritorium as well as a couple of big reveals toward the end that many readers might not see coming…

Who illustrated the animal combinations that are featured before each chapter?

Rachel Crafton is a friend of mine who is a very talented artist. She did each of the 17 different animal combination illustrations (one for each of the 17 chapters in Meritropolis) as well as 14 brand new animal combination illustrations for the 14 chapters in Meritorium:

Chapter 1 - Horoceros (Horse-Black Rhinoceros)

Chapter 2 - Llamabill (Llama-Shoebill)

Chapter 3 - Medusa Tree

Chapter 4 - Venus Mantrap

Chapter 5 - Durkey (Deer-Turkey)

Chapter 6 - Snurtle (Snake-Turtle)

Chapter 7 - Zippo (Zebra-Hippo)

Chapter 8 - Marmosal (Marmoset-Jackal)

Chapter 9 - Hedgedog (Hedgehog-Wild Dingo Dog)

Chapter 10 - Narse (Narwhal-Horse)

Chapter 11 - Sworse (Swift-Horse)

Chapter 12 - Wolverator (Wolverine-Alligator)

Chapter 13 - Boadicon (Bat-Toad-Scorpion)

Chapter 14 - Vulcodile (Vulture-Crocodile)

My favorites are some of the ones that were directly engineered by man to recreate mythical creatures like the unicorn, Pegasus, and even a dragon. (Illustrations available to embed in post)

Who or what was your inspiration to write about post-apocalyptic, dystopian, sci-fi?

I've read a lot in this genre, so I would say it’s a mix of a lot of different things. I really just wanted to explore this question of, "What gives a person worth?" Is it their usefulness to society? Is it because someone loves them? Is it because of how they look? Is it because of their health or ability? As a Christian, I believe that all people have worth, because

they are made in the image of God. I wanted to explore some different takes on this question. I think that the post-apocalyptic/dystopian/sci-fi genre was the best vehicle to tackle some of those deep philosophical questions in a fun and interesting way.

While book #1 was all about this idea of what gives a person worth—and is really the overarching theme of the series—in Meritorium I really wanted to explore what makes a person different than an animal. Is it because we are (hopefully) smarter, more cunning, more powerful? What if that weren’t the case—could you say that an animal is just as important as a person, or even more so? Why or why not?

I also wanted to delve into mankind’s relationship to animals: why do we love some animals, like dogs, and yet eat other animals, like pigs? How do we “rank” the importance of one animal in relation to another? How should we be responsible stewards of the animals around us? Is it possible to love animals and care for them while also eating them? And no, I am not a vegetarian—in case you were wondering—but I think that the Biblical Theology of Creation is uniquely suited to answer some of these tough questions that we all wrestle with, at one time or another, and when you can explore some of these big, weighty philosophical questions against the backdrop of battles and gladiators and creatures with eyes that glint gold in the pitch black night then it can be a lot of fun too.

What projects are you currently working on—both in your writing and otherwise?

The next writing project is book #3 for the Meritropolis series. Other than that, I own a number of different businesses, so we always have new and interesting projects in various stages of development. One fun project is our workout website/iOS App/Android App Exercise.com.

Can we expect to read more about Charley, Sven, Grigor, and the rest of your wonderful characters?

Yes!

Why the title Meritorium?

I wanted a short one word title that was a clever—or at least semi-clever—play on two different words and that was similar to Meritropolis. I like "Meritropolis" because it combines "Merit" and "Metropolis," two words that are great for describing a city where each resident's worth is measured by a score given to them and I like Meritorium because it continues this idea of “Merit” with “Colosseum” / “Auditorium”, words that are perfectly suited for describing a city where gladiatorial games of life or death combat are waged between High Scores and Low Scores, man and beast.

What are your views on marketing your book through social media such as Twitter or Facebook?

I believe that social media can be an effective marketing technique if done the right way. The key is that social media is primarily about building relationships and about delivering something of value. We all know those Facebook friends who incessantly clog up our newsfeeds with pleas to join their health and wellness MLM—don’t be that kind of author! That being said, I do think that Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, etc. can be a great way to meet other readers and authors and discuss fun and interesting things. Hopefully that will lead to more exposure and more book sales, but coming across as too salesy or pushy is something that I definitely aim to avoid.

Do you plot your books? Or, do you just sit down and write what comes to you?

I sketch out a very rough outline, and then I just start writing. Things often deviate, sometimes wildly, from the outline, and I think that usually ends up being a good thing. I do however try to follow a little bit of John Truby's method from his book, The Anatomy of Story.

How long did it take you to write Meritropolis and Meritorium?

It took me about a year and a half to write Meritropolis, almost two years, really, and then less than a year to write Meritorium. I finished the bulk of the writing for Meritorium in about four months, so I feel confident that I could write the next book much quicker, because I learned a lot from my editorial team and others at whitefox.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Joel Ohman is the author of Meritropolis--"The Hunger Games meets The Village with a young Jack Reacher as a protagonist". He lives in Tampa, FL with his wife Angela and their three kids. His writing companion is Caesar, a slightly overweight Bull Mastiff who loves to eat the tops off of strawberries.

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