Home » Posts tagged "apocalyptic fiction" (Page 6)

Book Review: Welcome to the Apocalypse, Book One: Pandora by D.L. Richardson

 

Welcome to the Apocalypse, Book One: Pandora by D. L. Richardson

CreateSpace, 2016

ISBN: 9781370736201

Available: Paperback, eBook(Kindle, Smashwords)

 

Want to get away from it all but don’t have the time?  Want to experience an apocalypse firsthand?  Want to be a hero and save people from zombies or aliens?  Then welcome to the apocalypse!  In this science fiction thriller, the Apocalypse Games are the latest in virtual reality simulation gaming; twenty-four hours of simulated terror in a fully immersive virtual world where anything can happen.  Using the latest technology, players are attached to a pod with a neural network that enables them to feel, taste, touch and, smell everything they encounter.  Each player starts alone and empty-handed.  Each must find a weapon, find the enemy, find safe zones, and find survivors.  It is survival of the fittest, in a kill-or- be-killed world.

 

Welcome to the Apocalypse, Book One: Pandora has a really good premise, and I was really looking forward to it.  Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver what I had hoped for.  While the plot and setting were laid out well at the start, as the story unfolded it became harder to sort out what was going on.  The ending was really abrupt, and I still wonder what happened.  The descriptions and action parts were generally well-constructed, and flowed nicely.  The characters were pretty distinctive and easy to keep straight.  The fun part of them was that some were virtual reality characters and some were real people.  The author had several instances of telling instead of showing, and there were many instances of poorly worded sentences that were confusing and hurt the flow of the story.  The story could also really use some help with editing. Spelling and duplicated or missing words throughout the made it really hard to stay immersed in the plot, and this really made the story fall apart for me.  I have not read this author’s work before.

 

Reviewed by Aaron Fletcher

Posted on March 18, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Injection, Volume 1 by Warren Ellis, art by Declan Shalvey

Injection, Volume 1 by Warren Ellis, art by Declan Shalvey

Image Comics, 2015

ISBN: 9781632154798

Available:  Paperback, Kindle edition, and comiXology ebook

Injection centers around five eccentric geniuses dealing with the paranormal, and the consequences they must face after inflicting The Injection on the planet. Years earlier, Maria Kilbride founded the Cross Culture-Contamination Unit (CCCU), funded through a partnership between the British government and an up-and-coming company. She hand-selected the members of this new unit: computer geek Brigid Roth; Vivek Headland, a logician and ethicist; folklore expert Robin Morel; and Simeon Winters, a strategist and double agent for the Foreign Office. Fast-forward to the time after The Injection: everyone has established new lives and secured new employment allowing them to track progress on The Injection. The supernatural encroaches more quickly as the days pass, threatening humanity’s time on Earth. The former members of the CCCU must come together to investigate a case of a possessed laboratory and a mysterious disappearance.

This first volume is slow to start, but it definitely picks up. As with Ellis’ previous work, he gives very little away until he’s ready to hit you with something. When he does, it’s intense. I wouldn’t recommend picking up the first volume unless you are a die-hard Ellis fan and are willing to continue with his storytelling regarding this story. I’m not going to give anything in the subsequent volumes, but I would recommend giving this a chance.

Volume 1 collects issues #1-5.

Contains blood, gore, and nudity

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on November 21, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Fungoid by William Meikle

Fungoid by William Meikle

DarkFuse, 2016

ISBN: 9781940544748

Available:  paperback, ebook

The end of the world starts with a rainstorm. Within the rain droplets are small fungoid spores. Every living thing they fall upon develops a fast-spreading infection that immediately reduces them to a itching, writhing mass of bleeding flesh as they scratch, and scratch, and scratch, to try to relieve themselves of the painful itch. Soon, the infection takes a more devious form, able to acclimate to anything the human population devises to protect themselves. The fungus is evolving.

This is a fast-paced read, full of suspense, intriguing characters, science, and a planet-wide apocalypse. It goes back and forth from the perspective of different characters with different motivations. Shaun is trying desperately to get to his family and will stop at nothing to do so. Rohit, a mycologist, observes firsthand what the infection does to the human body when a student voluntarily wanders outside when the droning sound of the fungus gets to him. The reader also sees what happens to a person’s mind from the perspective of one of the infected as it takes hold of Jim, and won’t let him go.

I think the only criticism I have is in regards to the way Rohit’s research of who may be responsible for the global catastrophe is presented. He goes to the university library’s databases, which is good, and discovers the list of who accessed the article previously. We librarians guard our patrons’ usage information with a passion, so this information wouldn’t be openly available. Otherwise, this book was fantastic. Meikle is a great storyteller, and I am most familiar with his Carnacki stories. In fact, there is a nod to the great detective of the supernatural in this book. Recommended.

Contains: some body horror

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on December 23, 2016 by , Reply
First « 45678 » Last