Small-Minded Giants by Oisin McGann

8/10

Small-Minded Giants is set in a not too distant future when Earth has entered another ice age and small pockets of survivors take to living in artificial environments. Ash Harbour is such a place, a city built under a vast glass dome to keep out the elements and powered by the machine, which runs on the continual motion of Ash Harbours residents, but things are starting to breakdown, more accidents are starting to happen and people are going missing. Solomon Wheat is 16 and lives with his father who works as a daylighter, clearing the ice and snow from the dome, but Sol's father has been missing for three days now, which happens to be the same time since Sol and his classmates were witness to a horrific crane accident. When a gun and a note appear in Sol's apartment telling him to trust no one, especially not the police Sol realises that he must find his father before whoever he is running from finds him first. The truth of his father's disappearance and the ongoing accidents unfolds at a terrific pace and will take Sol on a journey through a city he thought he knew and make him question just who he can trust.

The main character of Sol is a loner; introspective since his mother and sister were killed in an accident and finds solace in his boxing training. Cleo is a classmate and one time close friend but Sol has had little time for friends recently; maybe this is one friend he should make time for? Maslow is a most interesting character and although he saves Sol's bacon on more than one occasion Sol cannot decide if he is a saviour or sinner.

Oisin McGann tells of a new world designed to be a utopia in a frozen wasteland, however, we soon see that man has learnt nothing from their previous mistakes and society still conforms to a class structure of the rich having everything whilst the poor struggle with little, and the gangsters take what they please. Run by four giants of industry the City is kept alive by the heart engine but it's slowly dying snd someone knows why, maybe it's the Clockworkers? Although no one knows for sure if the Clockworkers exist, some say that's because no one has survived meeting them. Sol must find out where his father fits into all of this whilst now being a fugitive from the law.

A cracking paced read from first to last page makes Small-Minded Giants a real page turner and well worth a read for the above age group, however, this book does include some violence and more grown up themes than are suitable for younger readers.