After the election of 2028, the new regime ushered in the era of an AI-directed utopia. It was also the beginning of the never-ending war. Many decades later, David, a battle-hardened soldier, is the only one left from the first group of recruits into the war and the only soldier who knows about the old ways. Trapped in the battle zone of unending combat by the regime, David struggles to make sense of the war and his existence. He holds on to objects and memories of his fallen friends to keep his sanity. When he realizes the regime might take these away too, David escapes from the box, a feat no soldier had dared or achieved. Seeking refuge with a family he thought he would never see again, what is David’s fate in the new world order? Find out in TJ Relk’s Sins of the Saviours Book 1: Escape from the Culling Box.

Teasing the idea of a future dystopian world controlled by AI, Relk whisked me away from reality, dropping me into a world of imagination. The vivid depictions uniquely captured the mood and setting of the scenes. It felt like I was next to the cast in every scene, closely following their moves. The storyline unfolds on a multi-perspective timeline. The sharp, character-driven conversations, entwined with introspection and philosophical musings, gave insight into the cast’s conflicts and prompted deep thought about the story’s themes. These include dehumanization, perpetual warfare, technocracy, authoritarianism, technology, survival, family, freedom, and more. The depictions of the cast’s emotions and the juxtaposition of their traits allowed me to connect with them. Lovers of near-future speculative science fiction novels with a touch of dystopia will find TJ Relk’s Sins of the Saviors an enthralling read.

David is a living reminder of a time when things were different, when wars resulted in real deaths and face-to-face communication, accompanied by unpredictable feedback. Now, everything filters through the Goliath network; wars have become little more than glorified virtual reality experiences, and people have forgotten what it means to be human. Exhausted by the monotony of survival in an alien culture, David seeks to return to the one place he understands: his old home, where his mother and sisters await him. He must tread carefully, as those in power do not take kindly to disruptive elements rescripting what they have established as the natural order in T.J. Relk's Escape from the Culling Box: Sins of the Saviors, Book 1.

T.J. Relk draws inspiration for the world-building in Escape from the Culling Box from a blend of contemporary trends and creative thinking. By tapping into today's social media frenzy, where nearly everyone stays connected to the internet through various devices, he constructs a dystopian futuristic timeline centered around social media credits and virtual reality setups that feel disturbingly realistic. David's origin story is concise, with deliberately created gaps to heighten the suspense of the narrative upon revelation. The dialogue is minimal, except for moments when his family members engage in emotionally charged discussions about how the Goliath network has altered their dynamics. Relk balances the dialogue with David's frequent flashbacks and soliloquies, which compare his past to the present, providing context while immersing readers in his dilemma. With its relevant theme and a gradually increasing pace, Relk's novel is an intriguing opening installment in what promises to be an exciting series. I enjoyed this book and look forward to its sequel.