Book Review: Disrupt by Imran Siddiq

My rating: 4/5 for the series.

The final volume in the Divided Worlds trilogy, that began with Disconnect and Disassemble.

The research base that once was home to Zachary and thousands of others is now a frozen-over bunker on Europa, people only by the androids that were abandoned as the base lost all power. Zachary is no longer human, which means that he and his love, Rosa, are no longer different from each other. This is of little comfort to Zachary, for Rosa is on Titan and believes Zachary to be dead. But there is yet one human left on Europa, a half-mad engineer who refuses to die on the frozen planet. Clinging on to that slim shred of hope, Zachary inspires the androids to build a spaceship from the wrecks that litter Europa, in an attempt for him to be reunited with Rosa and for them to be reunited with their people.
The characters from the original two books return once more, with the addition of Benedict, the engineer, and a few other incidental characters. Zachary’s anatomy has changed radically, but Siddiq hasn’t granted him any additional powers or abilities, if anything, Zachary seems even more fragile. Despite the new body, Zachary is still as determined and resourceful as ever.
Some writers approach each book in a series as a fresh novel, allowing for the fact that a reader may pick up a later volume and come into a series a little later in a character’s journey. Siddiq, however has opted to continue the third book immediately after where the second left off, albeit 7 months having passed whilst Zachary lay senseless. This is perhaps due to the second two books releasing simultaneously, with the writer hoping that readers would purchase both books together. I downloaded all three books at the same time but did not read them consecutively, therefore found the opening chapter a little disorientating, much like the lead character must have felt on waking up after the seven months.
Also, the writing doesn’t seem to have developed that much more than where Siddiq was in volume 2, again perhaps due to him having written the two books without pause in between. There are still some clumsy descriptions littered through the book, but overall the pacing, the twists and reader buy-in is still there and well maintained. There is also the issue of the conclusion to the novel and the trilogy being a little rose-tinted, with only the most vague suggestion that the conclusion is taking place in the protagonists mind. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a little more adversity and perhaps even continuity of style.
On its own, this book merits 3 stars. But with all that said, this volume should be seen as the final part of a trilogy and not as a standalone book. Therefore, I’m scoring the series as 4 stars. Its original, dark and edgy fiction and I am sure that Siddiq will continue to provide us with more stories and will continue to improve as a writer.