Rth Rising by Donna Steele

Summary:

Kat Stans and Davd Palfy have very different experiences growing up in a space colony far from the over-polluted Rth of their ancestors. However, both end up as Enforcers for Puter, the computer programmed on Rth supposedly to serve, but now showing signs of controlling the colonists. Kat is assigned by the head enforcer to hunt down and return a "shirker," any colonist who tries to escape Puter's authority. This shirker turns out to be more than she bargained for. Sparks fly when Davd himself turns the tables on her, capturing and kidnapping her. Spirited away to an unmapped village hidden in the wilderness, her growing feelings for Davd hamper her foresworn duty and threaten the safety of the family members—still controlled by Puter—that she’s left behind.

Reviewer: Dolce Amore

After the destruction of the planet Rth and the creation of a new place to live on the planet M-27A, Puter, the computer, is keeping busy setting the number of children everyone is allowed as well as the careers their lives will follow.

Everything anyone needed was provided by Puter.

The original colonists had him programmed on Rth.

Kat’s grandfather, Chi, discovers that Puter is already on the task of decreasing the population; Puter has a program installed by somebody who did not want the colonization to happen. When Chi tries to uninstall the program, Puter kills him.

Kat has always wanted to be a doctor like her grandmother, so when Puter sets her path as enforcer and removes her right to have babies, she is devastated.

"43035KPS, Kat Stans," Puter intoned. "Enforcer, no children."

  As if that wasn't shattering enough, Kat’s parents split soon afterward.

Davd Palfy, an enforcer, has had a traumatic childhood, so when he discovers that there are people escaping Puter and living independent of the dictates, he decides to help more people escape. He balks at his life-script now forcing him to have a child Puter designates for him. When he disappears, Kat is sent to find him and bring him back. Things don't go as planned, however. He is the one who captures her and decides to keep her for his own.

"You're not ready to travel yet. You need to eat. Replace the blood you lost."
"I didn't know you cared," he said, his voice sounded low, sexy.
"I don't. But I don't know the way home without you."
"Ahh," he placed his hand over his heart. "You wound me."
"Not as much as the liger did."

Rth Rising is an interesting book and I liked some of the interactions between the characters, like the example above. However, the book’s style proved to be a bit boring: too much unimportant information disseminated slowed it down. While it had some futuristic elements in it, there were some elements from the supposed Rth that were clearly from Earth, like the fairy tales (Cinderella, Les Miserables, Treasure Island, etc.). I rate it 3 stars.

Publisher:Rebel Ink Press
Review Courtesy Of: ManicReaders