Carmen Futuri

A Song of Future Love and Sorrow

Fiction - Short Story/Novela
146 Pages
Reviewed on 05/12/2022
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Author Biography

Lev Shtyn was born in Ukraine and grew up in Germany. He was trained as an architect in Italy and works in the industry. Shtyn competes in ultra-marathons and is an avid Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. He lives in Canada.

    Book Review

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Carmen Futuri: A Song of Future Love and Sorrow is a work of fiction in the science fiction and adventure subgenres. It is suitable for the general reading audience and was penned by author Lev Shtyn. Set in the futuristic Star City – an advanced independent city state run entirely by artificial intelligence – the book follows a pair of young lovers whose desire to have a family of their own is threatened by the rise of a political group with a dangerous plan for the future of Star City. The millennia spanning saga that follows sees the protagonists explore what makes them human as they struggle to save it in the face of rising technological ideology.

It’s a pretty incredible feat to juggle both an epic saga covering hundreds of years worth of human development that asks and dissects deep philosophical ideas about the nature of humanity and an intimate story about two people in love trying to find their place in the world and not lose any of the scope of the former or the focused character work of the latter. Author Lev Shtyn demonstrates a considerable literary caliber in doing so almost effortlessly. I adored the characterization throughout the story that saw the protagonists continually grow and develop in response to their world. It felt natural in how the progression was gradual but with plenty of room for surprises along the way. Overall, Carmen Futuri manages to join the ranks of great science fiction works by telling an exciting and compelling story that dives deeply into personal and philosophical ideas about who we are and what is and isn’t important.

Pikasho Deka

Carmen Futuri: A Song of Future Love and Sorrow by Lev Shtyn is a dystopian sci-fi novella set in the distant future. In a post-apocalyptic world, humans reside inside groups of sealed-off colonies known as Confederates, due to raging storms that make most parts of the world uninhabitable. Star City is the capital of the Confederates, a marvel of human technological advancement run by a self-aware AI named Selene. The narrator and the love of his life, Ahna, desperately want a child to fulfill their family. After a senate leader reveals to the narrator that the powerful Clergy is on the verge of taking control of the senate and seeks to attain immortality by making humanity obsolete, he is determined to fight back. In doing so, he will be separated from his love for a thousand years.

Lev Shtyn crafts a fascinating futuristic post-apocalyptic tale whose themes surprisingly mirror events occurring in our world right now. Tragic and poignant, Carmen Futuri is a love story set against the backdrop of a political power grab in a world where every aspect of human life has been taken over by technology. Shtyn's worldbuilding is meticulously detailed, and the descriptions of Star City and the surrounding storm-wracked domain feel truly cataclysmic. The book is divided into three parts, with the narrative focusing on themes of love, tyranny, and what it means to be human. The narrator is a complex character who unwittingly finds himself amid great turmoil and change. If you're a fan of dystopian stories, this is just the book for you.