The Unity Game by Leonora Meriel

I must say that I was a bit hesitant to pick this book up as philosophical works are not my preferred genre. But I ended up really liking it, mainly because the 3 story lines were so different. It wonders about the afterlife without being religious (far from it, at one point we have a class of alien lifeforms giggling about the concept of religion.) Dark and with at times explicit sex and violence, I gave it 5 stars.

I rather liked this book as it took a fresh look at the meaning of life and what steers humanity. It is told through 3 very different stories.

There is David the money hungry stockbroker who wants it all. I probably preferred this story as it was quite dark and macabre at times. The character development of David was well written; his gradual descent into paranoia and madness.

The alien Noe bouk (it’s spelled different in the book, but I can’t seem to find the right character on my keyboard!) who is coming to the end of its life, lived as a dutiful worker.  It discovers it wants to live on and forms a powerful connection with another being called the Admiral. The style of writing is wildly different and it suits the alien story line well.

Then there is the young Edinburgh girl who searches for meaning in her life after her grandfather Alistair passes away. Through Alistair we get the view of the author into her vision of the afterlife. The story of Elspeth and also David is unresolved, I might have wanted a little more threads tied up, but some readers would be happy to fill in the rest themselves.

The three stories and the different styles they were told in, all worked well. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to anyone wondering about life and the universe.