Varik Vermillion was a child scientific genius who went on to become a tenured professor while still in his teens. His radical ways cause his colleagues to dislike him, but they can't argue with his genius. One day, a friend named Whit comes to him asking him to become a politician by becoming a member of the World Council. While politics don't appeal to Varik, power does and he agrees, only to become a political pawn to the very powerful group that Whit works for. His rogue antics don't go over too well at the Council and he eventually gets "banished" to Mars, only to continue his life there, eventually meeting the woman who becomes his wife and starting a family.
One day, as he is exploring the wastelands of Mars, he stumbles upon a strange old man and when he follows him, he discovers a mystery that some very powerful people have been keeping - an entire city exists below the surface of Mars, unaware of life up above.
Meanwhile, in a sequestered agrarian community called Eastern, a boy named Drew is tempted to explore the outer edges of the place he calls home by his best friend and neighbor, the headstrong but beautiful Anjali. As they near the mountains that are said to be the un-crossable border, something strange happens and Drew is knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he is back home with his very angry family, and Anjali has vanished and is presumed dead.
After several years pass and Drew gets the courage to try to leave once again, he discovers that Anjali is alive and well and that all he has ever known at Eastern is a big lie. When he discovers the world above has been completely destroyed and those that did it could be targeting Eastern next because of he and Anjali's innocent but curious actions, the pair must team together with a ragtag band of Mars survivors to save Eastern. But will they listen?
Now, while this sounds like a really interesting sci-fi thriller, part of what makes it not as enjoyable is the timeline. According to the back cover of the book, Varik is supposed to live 1000 years after Drew, although I don't recall reading this in the book. The last few pages of the book try to wrap things up and explain them, but not in a very satisfying way. After finishing the book, I was still left with a few unanswered questions and an Appendix that was nothing more than a nine page physics lesson, which didn't help.
In short, I think J.S. Breving has an amazing use of the English language and his writing is excellent. That being said, his book just wasn't clear enough for me and I wasn't crazy about it. Apparently, Machinations is the first in a trilogy, so that may be why some things were left hanging, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
