Assessment:

Plot: Project Renaissance flavors its hard-boiled story with some science-fiction spice, even if the end result comes off as somewhat muddled, and occasionally cluttered by expository real-world connections that do more to limit than expand on the world and narrative.

Prose/Style: Gates's prose struggles with an expository voice that often derails the proceedings, but when it does find its groove it serves as a serviceable vehicle with which to navigate the story. Tweaking to allow more circumstances and interactions to flow in-scene would greatly benefit the book as a whole.

Originality: While there are some interesting ideas floating around inside Project Renaissance, too many of the proceedings are built around familiar genre trappings.

Character Development/Execution: The cast of Project Renaissance exists more as the personification of concepts, ideas, philosophies, and archetypes than they do as fully-formed and complex beings which, while delivering some genuine and impactful moments, struggle to achieve a true measure of connection, be it with one another or the reader.

Date Submitted: July 01, 2021