I’d enjoyed reading Kenneth Thomas’ scifi adventure novel VanWest: The Past, so I was excited to receive the sequel, VanWest: The Present.

The descriptive beginning reminds readers where they are in this dark future world.  VanWest begins in the underworld of New Jersey, ready to make the shady, dangerous arrangement that will get him to Mars to continue his quest. Readers will see some old friends, as well as a wild variety of new characters in this cyberpunk-style adventure. VanWest is still our hero, and readers will see him tested again. 

The writing style in VanWest: The Present is a lot like the first book, blending the simple, declarative narration describing a complex scifi universe, with lots of moving pieces, and stylized dialogue to show characters’ backgrounds and personalities.  And the worldbuilding still works, the factions have believable goals in this dystopian future, and the twists work well in the established world. 

Although the factions of this universe are creative science fiction inventions, there’s the same familiarity with current social issues that worked so well in the first VanWest novel. The concerns of inequality are present through this novel,  while the story offers scifi conflict between the fictional Universal Council and the Earth Resistance.  There’s also an uplifting theme of allies and friendship that really works in a dystopian future world. 

I originally called VanWest: The Present a sequel, but it’s really the second in a trilogy, with one more VanWest story coming.