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The Architect of Grayland
SCIENTISTS FROM THE FAR FUTURE KIDNAPPED HER.
THREW HER INTO A HORRIFIC EXPERIMENT.
SHE REFUSED TO DIE.
Elaine, a modern-day woman, is abducted by elite Historical Anthropologists of the far-distant future. Spirited forward through time to their university laboratory, she is locked into a vast, empty, gray habitat built for the study of “primitive” humans.
Elaine awakens in this appalling place, alone, naked, and terrified. She has no idea that a hidden audience of university students is studying her every move. Forced to create food, clothing, and shelter using nothing but her ingenuity and her bare hands, she fights a constant battle to maintain her sanity.
Desperately lonely, Elaine searches for other people. After a journey across the featureless gray landscape, she locates two fellow captives: Marc, who might be her soulmate; and Adam, a brilliant but troubled fifteen-year-old. Together, they form a precarious yet vibrant and supportive community of three.
But now Elaine is about to lose it all. The Historical Anthropologist in charge of the experiment, Professor Mirri Daaha, is methodically destroying Elaine's carefully constructed world to study how her “primitive” test subjects will react to escalating threats to their existence. Elaine must confront the Professor and ultimately bring herself, Marc, and Adam safely home.
THREW HER INTO A HORRIFIC EXPERIMENT.
SHE REFUSED TO DIE.
Elaine, a modern-day woman, is abducted by elite Historical Anthropologists of the far-distant future. Spirited forward through time to their university laboratory, she is locked into a vast, empty, gray habitat built for the study of “primitive” humans.
Elaine awakens in this appalling place, alone, naked, and terrified. She has no idea that a hidden audience of university students is studying her every move. Forced to create food, clothing, and shelter using nothing but her ingenuity and her bare hands, she fights a constant battle to maintain her sanity.
Desperately lonely, Elaine searches for other people. After a journey across the featureless gray landscape, she locates two fellow captives: Marc, who might be her soulmate; and Adam, a brilliant but troubled fifteen-year-old. Together, they form a precarious yet vibrant and supportive community of three.
But now Elaine is about to lose it all. The Historical Anthropologist in charge of the experiment, Professor Mirri Daaha, is methodically destroying Elaine's carefully constructed world to study how her “primitive” test subjects will react to escalating threats to their existence. Elaine must confront the Professor and ultimately bring herself, Marc, and Adam safely home.
- GenresScience Fiction
498 pages, Paperback
Published February 16, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 7, 2024
The Architect of Grayland by Evelyn Arvey is a quick read, but a book you are likely to return to. Speculative fiction is always a good reference point as a reflection upon current events in soceity (as was the case for Orwell) and as such, I am thrilled at the highly talented authors in this genre I have been lucky enough to experience thus far
Elaine is transported to the future, a human lab rat if you will (imagine the Truman show, but without the people or the neighbourhood and research scientists instead of media execs) However, Elaine has no home comforts, she needs to learn to survive in this environment without losing her mind when the scientists toy with her achievements. An interesting twist to the story is the inclusion of two further "lab rats" into the experiment
The Architect of Grayland is absolutely inspired and written with vivid worldbuilding and diligent character development. An intelligent and insightful piece of literature that will generate conversations and reflections for years to come
Thank you to Netgalley and the author Evelyn Arvey for this stunning ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own
Elaine is transported to the future, a human lab rat if you will (imagine the Truman show, but without the people or the neighbourhood and research scientists instead of media execs) However, Elaine has no home comforts, she needs to learn to survive in this environment without losing her mind when the scientists toy with her achievements. An interesting twist to the story is the inclusion of two further "lab rats" into the experiment
The Architect of Grayland is absolutely inspired and written with vivid worldbuilding and diligent character development. An intelligent and insightful piece of literature that will generate conversations and reflections for years to come
Thank you to Netgalley and the author Evelyn Arvey for this stunning ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own
March 27, 2024
A present day woman is taken by future humans to act as a lab rat for anthropology research. Utopian Fiction. Experimentation, ethics, surviving vs. thriving, evolution, humanity and the environment. I read this in one sitting, couldn’t put it down. This novel really works because every element in the story is given life and importance. From the h and her found family, each with their different flaws and talents; the acerbic scientist with her non-existent/sad love life and terrifying ambition; even the foreign earth they live on is given presence and agency. A beautiful study in empathy, connection and the importance of community. An excellent novel.
*It was a pleasure to read the ARC for, The Architect of Grayland. Thank you E. Arvey.
*It was a pleasure to read the ARC for, The Architect of Grayland. Thank you E. Arvey.
April 26, 2024
Super clever, and well-written. Way outside "believability", but well within the freedom that sci-fi provides. Enjoy this read.
The preview blurb for the book is about as descriptive as you need to understand the premise of the book - that a woman wakes up with a sense of personal amnesia, and not knowing that she's the subject of being studied, and her environment is totally created & controlled around her. The book explores how she retains her sanity, forges a life, and what she learns about herself - and reveals about those studying her.
I loved the way the author created novel resources provided to the character for use in fabricating this new life. Very innovative, flexible, and effective. Given how much ground had to be covered in the book, this could have turned into a long, multi-book slog (that truly need not happen), or skipped over things that were important. Instead, the pacing was excellent; the author didn't make us experience every single thing the character discovered, jumping forward occasionally to skip learnings that didn't need to be explored.
Just before I got halfway into the book, I made a digital note that I had reached a point where I hope somebody options this book to make a movie. I can definitely see it being something akin to the kind of way-out movie like Fahrenheit 451 was.
And let me say that I appreciate one key thing in the Author's Note at the end: That *she* appreciated an editor that was stern - even making her strike 40,000 words at one point. I'm a bit maddened these days by books where there hasn't been a good, strong editor as a partner to the author. This book shows the value of one, and I appreciate both the editor and the author's willingness to let the editor shape the end result.
Finally, there was a novel set of other characters in the book Avoiding spoilers is hard, but let's just say there were a variety of human, and non-human sentients involved, and the author laid them out in just about the right levels each.
This may not be the best book I've read in the last few years, but it merits a high rating nonetheless. 4 stars on those platforms that only allow whole stars, 4.5 stars on the ones that allow fractional stars.
For context, my rating scale is:
- Five stars is when you read a book to the end, put it down, take a deep breath, pick it up and start reading it all over again - or you would if you weren't so anxious to read the next book in a multi-book series. Or, it's simply exceptionally good.
- Four stars is when you tell yourself : ”This is good, this is well-written, this is full of interesting ideas/characters/plot points”, but you know you will never read it again.
- Three stars is when you read it to the end, put it down and proceed to forget all about it in the next instant.
- Two stars when it's so bad that it makes you laugh, or sigh, and want to write a review, but you can't remember the name of the book or dislike it so much that you don't.
- One star when you can't read past chapter 3, even as penance for your sins.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The preview blurb for the book is about as descriptive as you need to understand the premise of the book - that a woman wakes up with a sense of personal amnesia, and not knowing that she's the subject of being studied, and her environment is totally created & controlled around her. The book explores how she retains her sanity, forges a life, and what she learns about herself - and reveals about those studying her.
I loved the way the author created novel resources provided to the character for use in fabricating this new life. Very innovative, flexible, and effective. Given how much ground had to be covered in the book, this could have turned into a long, multi-book slog (that truly need not happen), or skipped over things that were important. Instead, the pacing was excellent; the author didn't make us experience every single thing the character discovered, jumping forward occasionally to skip learnings that didn't need to be explored.
Just before I got halfway into the book, I made a digital note that I had reached a point where I hope somebody options this book to make a movie. I can definitely see it being something akin to the kind of way-out movie like Fahrenheit 451 was.
And let me say that I appreciate one key thing in the Author's Note at the end: That *she* appreciated an editor that was stern - even making her strike 40,000 words at one point. I'm a bit maddened these days by books where there hasn't been a good, strong editor as a partner to the author. This book shows the value of one, and I appreciate both the editor and the author's willingness to let the editor shape the end result.
Finally, there was a novel set of other characters in the book Avoiding spoilers is hard, but let's just say there were a variety of human, and non-human sentients involved, and the author laid them out in just about the right levels each.
This may not be the best book I've read in the last few years, but it merits a high rating nonetheless. 4 stars on those platforms that only allow whole stars, 4.5 stars on the ones that allow fractional stars.
For context, my rating scale is:
- Five stars is when you read a book to the end, put it down, take a deep breath, pick it up and start reading it all over again - or you would if you weren't so anxious to read the next book in a multi-book series. Or, it's simply exceptionally good.
- Four stars is when you tell yourself : ”This is good, this is well-written, this is full of interesting ideas/characters/plot points”, but you know you will never read it again.
- Three stars is when you read it to the end, put it down and proceed to forget all about it in the next instant.
- Two stars when it's so bad that it makes you laugh, or sigh, and want to write a review, but you can't remember the name of the book or dislike it so much that you don't.
- One star when you can't read past chapter 3, even as penance for your sins.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 27, 2024
A woman wakes up naked in a strange place, she doesn’t have any memories and has no idea how she ended up here. She doesn’t know it yet but she’s being watched.
In a future that’s not dated, researchers are kidnapping humans from the past to experiment on them and to study their reactions.
This book was a trip, I’m not sure how I feel about it yet to be honest. I did love that you are thrown into this world with very little explanation cause sometimes too much world building kind of kills the story. But the lack of answers did left me a bit frustrated.
I enjoyed seeing people from the future seeing us as so primitive with really weird customs, cause that’s the way some people see people from the past, so that was a nice message to send.
I also really liked Elaine as a character and came to enjoy the little group she created with Marc and Adam but wished we learned more about their past.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
In a future that’s not dated, researchers are kidnapping humans from the past to experiment on them and to study their reactions.
This book was a trip, I’m not sure how I feel about it yet to be honest. I did love that you are thrown into this world with very little explanation cause sometimes too much world building kind of kills the story. But the lack of answers did left me a bit frustrated.
I enjoyed seeing people from the future seeing us as so primitive with really weird customs, cause that’s the way some people see people from the past, so that was a nice message to send.
I also really liked Elaine as a character and came to enjoy the little group she created with Marc and Adam but wished we learned more about their past.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 28, 2024
This story had, for me, a unique concept. On the cover, it states - “Imagine waking up in the future. Not as a visitor, but as a laboratory specimen.” This was a richly imagined story that I wanted to keep reading.
The story does alternate between one of the study subjects and the lead professor of the experiment. It entertained me on different levels. The science aspect of the experiment was laid out clearly, and the story stayed within the rules throughout. The human behavior aspect, both from a present day standpoint and the viewpoint of trying to decipher the past with incomplete information, was filled with emotions that kept me deeply involved in the story. The characters made me want to find out how they changed, if at all, during the experiment. I felt the author managed the danger, desperation, anger and humor well.
I received an advanced copy through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The story does alternate between one of the study subjects and the lead professor of the experiment. It entertained me on different levels. The science aspect of the experiment was laid out clearly, and the story stayed within the rules throughout. The human behavior aspect, both from a present day standpoint and the viewpoint of trying to decipher the past with incomplete information, was filled with emotions that kept me deeply involved in the story. The characters made me want to find out how they changed, if at all, during the experiment. I felt the author managed the danger, desperation, anger and humor well.
I received an advanced copy through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 30, 2024
despite the weight of the plot and subject matter, the architect of grayland was a fast, enjoyable read, that hooked me in from the get-go. arvey has written it in a way that feels light, and while it consumed me, it didn't bite me on my psyche.
i found myself transported into this world, watching as the world was meticulously built in front of my eyes, and curious to learn more about it. at the end of the book, a part of me remained in the story, my mind reliving the thrilling feeling i had while discovering it.
maybe the moment was right for me, maybe the atmosphere played a part in it (reading in a hospital waiting room is an ✨experience✨), and maybe i will question what it was about this book that made me enjoy it so much for as long as i wish to be able to read it again for the first time
*copy received through netgalley in exchange for an honest review
i found myself transported into this world, watching as the world was meticulously built in front of my eyes, and curious to learn more about it. at the end of the book, a part of me remained in the story, my mind reliving the thrilling feeling i had while discovering it.
maybe the moment was right for me, maybe the atmosphere played a part in it (reading in a hospital waiting room is an ✨experience✨), and maybe i will question what it was about this book that made me enjoy it so much for as long as i wish to be able to read it again for the first time
*copy received through netgalley in exchange for an honest review
April 25, 2024
Received as a review copy from Booksirens, this is an honest review. What an amazing story, hauntingly described and got wrenching to witness through Elaine, a victim transported into a future time and forced to become a science experiment of a group of scientists studying humans. The emotional hell that all of these people had to endure a they figure out how to navigate these Gray Worlds to survive since they're provided with nothing; every accomplishment something to cheer as there's nothing to counter the deep isolation Elaine and the others work through and finding no one is truly alone becomes important to getting home and no real emotions of these in charge to care if these "subjects" live or die.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
April 18, 2024
Absolutely enjoyed this book. But I think the blurb gives too much away. I hadn’t read the blurb when I started the book. Puzzling over the purpose of Grayland was a lot of fun. The story is rich with detail, interesting challenges, well-developed characters, and very well written.
Of course, Elaine didn’t know why she’d been abducted. Her memory had been wiped. Her property had been taken. She had nothing to give her clues about her identity or history. I quickly began to root for Elaine and I was amused by the ridiculous captor’s efforts to learn to use her curse words and rude gestures.
I’m very partial to science fiction and the first to admit that it’s rare to find a story that doesn’t seem to borrow from others.
This was new. Very good.
Of course, Elaine didn’t know why she’d been abducted. Her memory had been wiped. Her property had been taken. She had nothing to give her clues about her identity or history. I quickly began to root for Elaine and I was amused by the ridiculous captor’s efforts to learn to use her curse words and rude gestures.
I’m very partial to science fiction and the first to admit that it’s rare to find a story that doesn’t seem to borrow from others.
This was new. Very good.
April 10, 2024
What if the future is not human, and instead it science? This amazingly written dystopian novel shows us that stark world. When Elaine wakes up in the not so distant future, she is considered a “primitive human” to be studied and is stripped off all elements of her actual humanity. The Architect of Grayland is a totally different tale of survival, and it is filled to the brim with quiet desperation and hope. An absolutely beautiful, thought-provoking, and poignant read!
4.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 21, 2024
This was really excellent! A brilliant idea, really well written, a completely baffling situation for the main character & how she struggles to survive in this grey world. I really liked the energy of overall storyline, I found myself not wanting to get up & do other things as I wanted to read the next chapter! Always a very positive sign for a book. I do recommend & I hope to read more by this writer!
April 25, 2024
Very mixed feelings. The plot was interesting and I was engaged the whole time. Some parts felt underdeveloped, while other sections were repetitive and felt too long. At times, the dialogue, particularly Elaine's, was melodramatic and even juvenile -- for instance, Elaine's conversations with Mirri at the end. Overall, it was a fun read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2024
very thought provoking
The architect of Greyland combines social commentary with a possible future, and although somewhat disturbing, it’s wonderful for Book Club discussions to consider and share.
The architect of Greyland combines social commentary with a possible future, and although somewhat disturbing, it’s wonderful for Book Club discussions to consider and share.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews