“We do our part – where nature and the nation places us. Each of us to our own abilty … and thus ensure the wealth of the nation.”
In Bakerton, most people don’t work. They are designated as Citizens and get a stipend and privileges because they are medically inferior. Workers and Entrepreneurs are the ones who get trained and do the work for the city. There is a Council in charge, but darker forces are working behind the scenes to control them. Nathan, a lawyer, finds the new wall being built between the Worker and Citizen area too much. Police are abusing their power at the checkpoints and Nathan sees their world becoming more divided. His grandfather, a Citizen who still farms somewhat illegally, opens his eyes to the true history of their country. Can Nathan convince others that their system is broken?
I was contacted by T.B. O’Neill to review The Wealth of a Nation. I was offered a free copy in exchange for a fair review. I was interested in reading the book because of its dystopian storyline. In Bakerton, laws that focus more on protecting people from themselves, not ensuring their freedoms, have replaced the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Nathan is in search of the truth and wants to do the right thing. However, when border police assault him after trying to protect a female coworker who was assaulted, he finally learns who is in real control of the city. He and his friends and family prepare to take on the system by helping Nathan run for an empty council seat. At first, he is allowed to run because the council thinks he would be a good pawn, but when he starts talking against the wall, he is given a chance to change his mind or leave the race. He fights on, but it puts his family and friends at a great risk.
I found this storyline interesting. The book would be better if the author took time to explain the new society and its workings much earlier in the book. I just read along hoping it would be explained at some point and it was near the very end. Readers of dystopian novels would enjoy The Wealth of a Nation as it presents a different scenario of a world after a U.S. Civil War. It reminded me in parts of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. There are a few typos in the books, but very few compared to other self-published books I have read.
Do you enjoy dystopian novels? What is your favorite dystopian setting? Comment below!
