The Point by John Dixon is a fantasy novel set during our current era. The story revolves around Scarlett Winters an eighteen year old female rebel. Scarlett was usually more interested in partying than using her skills to insure her future. When she discovers her ‘Posthuman” abilities in a manner which could have got her in trouble, she is forced to enter a special Posthuman program at West Point or go to prison. This was almost enough to have me stop reading and pick another book for military fiction is rather low on my lists, even below Young Adult and this had both.
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Del Rey
Released: 2019
Stars: 4 Stars
Reviewer: Michael D. Griffiths
The Point by John Dixon is a fantasy novel set during our current era. The story revolves around Scarlett Winters an eighteen year old female rebel. Scarlett was usually more interested in partying than using her skills to insure her future. When she discovers her ‘Posthuman” abilities in a manner which could have got her in trouble, she is forced to enter a special Posthuman program at West Point or go to prison. This was almost enough to have me stop reading and pick another book for military fiction is rather low on my lists, even below Young Adult and this had both.
However, I am glad I stuck to it, because it turned out to be a fun rump and I grew more interested in Scarlett’s progress through the law and order maze of West Point. She struggles to keep from losing her mind as West Point seeks to bury her individualistic ways beneath soul robbing regulations which attempt to turn the students into drones for the system.
As the tale progresses, more of her power is revealed and she is classed as a level III, which only one other girl possesses. The plot grows thicker and some of the leaders and her follow students have darker sides which makes her own path less certain.
Scarlett herself is a child of chaos and has a hard time fitting in. If it was not for a few privileges her special powers bestow upon her, she might not have made it through the program. The danger level grows when they discover there was a first class of students who went rogue and are causing acts of terrorism. Soon she and both her enemies and allies will have to step up and engage these villains.
This is a tight novel and I am sure others would give it a higher rating than I. However, I just do not dig military heroics as much. Also, I know the X-Men cornered the market early, but I have read a lot of fiction where modern teens have to use their mutant powers to overcome their self-absorbed ways and become heroes. One might argue she will do better as part of a team instead of going rogue, but frankly her being at West Point ends up costing a few thousand kids their lives when the villains come looking for her. I guess I should enjoy the triumphs of a chaotic person being forced to be lawful, but instead I just saw it as an agency robbing Scarlett of ninety-five percent of her life.
The novel is fast paced and has a fair dose of action. I enjoy the characters which are tarnished and the heroes and villains are all not just black and white. The novel has a few funny parts and developed characters although some faded into the background to the point where I didn’t remember who a few of them were when mentioned later. This is an above average Young Adult book, because only a youth could have been in her shoes. I also love that this novel stands alone and the author is not proclaiming it as a first in some lengthy series I would never see the second book of. Lovers of X-Men style action and military fiction should get a lot out of this and check this new novel out.
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