Compendium

The natural resources to run Lumin’s high-tech gadgetry are in danger of being depleted, so the planet’s leaders have made the difficult decision to end the use of technology for 500 years to let the planet and its core have time to heal and regenerate. But not everyone is in agreement, and the keys to the information that will be needed to restore use of the tech years down the road are carefully hidden and protected.

The Order has grown up 650 years later to this end. Mia Jayne, who was raised by her father in the tropics of Lumin, finds herself in the service of the Order when her father seeks help with his health. She is angry to essentially be forced into being an acolyte in the organization her father had always railed against, and she doesn’t do much to try become a real part of the Order.

Mia is assigned to help in the Archives, and during her work cleaning the old books, she discovers a strange little book that ends up being much, much more than what it seems. The knowledge Compendium provides opens up a whole new world to her. But Mia has no idea where the book will end up leading her and what it will mean to the whole of Lumin.

Compendium is a well-written and engaging book that kept my interest from start to finish. The way the people on Lumin use the planet’s natural resources for energy is a fascinating concept, and the notion that a civilization would have to take 500-plus years “off” from using high-tech gadgets is one that should prick at the hearts of anyone in today’s highly wired society. The only real downside to the book is that it’s the first in a planned series, so readers will have to wait to learn more about the fate of Mia and Lumin.