Midgard

By: Jeanne Hull Godfroy
Publisher: New Degree Press
Publication Date: August 30, 2022
ISBN: 979-8-88504-560-5
Reviewed by: Kathy Stickles
Review Date: February 20, 2023

Midgard is a science fiction thriller that is set on Earth in the middle of the 22nd century and it is an excellent story. It combines all of the best things about a book - excellent writing, a plausible, albeit very frightening, plotline, and characters that are just normal people trying to make the best of a dreadful situation.

In Midgard, Jeanne Hull Godfroy presents her readers with an Earth that has crossed the line in terms of its inhabitants completely destroying it. In this story the Earth is now hot, totally dry, and basically a place that is uninhabitable. Nothing can be grown anymore and all food is processed. There is no longer any beauty to the land, no flowers or trees. This story is a possible glimpse into what our world could become.

Enter the Human Resiliency Program which is a large group of government-sponsored programs that are making an effort to save as much life as it possibly can until the planet is able to recover and move forward. While it sounds like a great solution, the program does have its drawbacks. For example, the projects are only able to save a small group of people out of the population as a whole and, because of that, the struggle to get into and stay in these programs is a huge one.

The main character of the story, Sam Richmond, is one who has survived and is lucky enough to become a part of one of these programs. Sam is a strong young man who really believes in the program and his part in it. Once he is chosen to be a part of the program though, many of his grand ideas vanish as he faces many challenges. Sam finds out that some of the people who were close to him have started to disappear, his new home is attacked, and he uncovers clues that show him a huge plan being undertaken by others which will destroy almost all of the remaining life on Earth. As Sam struggles to make sense of all of this, will he be able to find the people he loves and, more importantly, will he be able to figure out how to save all of life on Earth?

Jeanne Hull Godfroy’s writing is really superb throughout this story. Midgard has an exciting plot that is easy to read and understand and the story really allows the reader’s imagination to soar as they see the world as it could be in the future. In addition, the character development in this story is truly fabulous. For one thing, there is so much cross-over in the different relationships that is so well-written that everything about it just flows perfectly and allows for the reader to care about each one. In addition, the characters all have their own flaws. No one is perfect in this story and there are no heroes - every character is doing the best they can to survive in this horrible world.

The book ends with many questions but the author takes care of that for us by simply putting “End of Book 1” as her final statement. After wondering how she could possibly tie it all together at the very end, this statement actually made me very happy. Thank goodness there will be more adventure ahead for Sam and all his friends. I cannot wait to see what happens next and I am sure you will feel the same way.

Quill says: One of the best things about any book is when you can actually believe that the plot is something that can, and quite possibly will, happen in the future. Midgard is a book that completely gives the reader this one thing. Although it is a terrifying thought, this could well be the future of our world.

For more information on Midgard, please visit the author's website at: be-stirred.com