Gore, Lore, "The Roar" and More Than Enough Ice

First Paragraph: 

"My name is Norman Leonard and at one time I lived in Liverpool, North West England, with my wife Chrissy. We were among the stubborn few that stayed. The speed of the advancing ice had taken everyone by surprise and the edge of the glacier had already reached the ruins of the Forth Road Bridge, the old one, not the narrow one-lane nightmare they threw up some years back when a heavy ice storm finally snapped the suspension cables. Before long, the glacier would rumble its ponderous path down into England and pretty soon Cumbria would become as uninhabitable as Scotland had been for the last five years."


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Hard Winter: The Novel by Neil Davies is a dystopian horror/thriller.

PLOT

The year is 2118. The world is rapidly falling prey to mother nature, as she brutally crushes it with inescapable, unstoppable ice. It is unclear how the world got into this state, but we'll put it down to global warming mixed with the nuclear winter of 2062.

Norman and his wife Chrissy live in Liverpool. When "the freeze" happened two years ago, all the 'VIP's' were evacuated from the city. Many others left, and Liverpool is as lifeless and bleak as the grey skies that bare down on it. Norman and Chrissy are forever on the move. Little by little the glacier advances, pushing them out of whatever abandoned building they called home. And everyday they have the same conversation, stay or leave? Chrissy believes the government will eventually step-up and come back for those who remain. Norman retains his life-long cynicism of mankind. Travelling is undeniably dangerous, but the approaching glacier is inevitable- eventually they will have to move. What's holding them back is fear. They have no destination, no shelter, no food. With no law and order, other people are a threat, as hungry eyes hunt for easy prey. Large groups could provide safety, but trust is hard to come by in these harsh times, especially with rumours of cannibalism spreading through the figurative grapevine.

But when the River Mersey floods, destroying everything Norman holds dear, the choice is taken. There is no more time. It's leave or die. South or bust. So begins his harrowing journey through pain, exhaustion, grief, frostbite, infection and fear. 

Along the way, various people will flash through his life, but his deep mistrust for others keeps them at a distance. And the terrifying Norseman and inexplicable giants that follow close behind keep him moving, while all the time one question haunts him- is there anywhere left to go?

REVIEW

As with most post-apocalyptic stories, the focus is more about the people. How they adapt and change when their existence depends on it. When law and order is wiped and responsibility is meaningless. The cruelty and ruthlessness of those who will do anything to survive. However, this story also places a lot of emphasis on community. On the kindness of strangers. For the setting, Norman meets a surprising amount of people on his journey. Yes, I suppose it's not like there's dangerous, human-seeking zombies out and about, forcing people to hide. Other than the ice and humanity itself, there isn't much threat, so unlike zombiepocalypses- where most of humanity is instantly zombiefied or dead, we still have a lot of people about. However there are still dangerous people about. Cannibalistic raiders for one. Who have trained wolves. If there's anything I've learnt from this genre, it's that the end of the world tends to bring out the worst in people, and I would be inclined to have a little more self-preservation that most of the people Norman meets seem to have. There were looters, addicts and murderers long before the apocalypse hit, and it's only going to get worse. There are plenty of people willing to sell out their humanity in order to keep it a little longer. 

I know the author was focusing on the good in people (as well as the bad- since there is no such thing as purely good or bad people), but I'm not sure how realistic that is. Yes, there are kind people who would help, but would you trust a random stranger knowing that it was quite literally a life or death decision? The only reason the untrusting Norman is even involved with them is because he would be dead anyway without them, so there was no harm giving it a shot. But that's what the story focuses on. The people who will trust without anything to gain.

The plot itself is pretty non-existent to be honest. Not necessarily a bad thing. The whole concept is running. Trying to outrun something that can never be escaped, for the sake of it. Because why wouldn't you? Even if you know you're just delaying the inevitable, why wouldn't you run to the very last step?

The future setting is more of warning factor, I think. As far as I can make out, absolutely nothing is different a hundred years in the future- other than the fact that ice rules the world. And impossible, gigantic creatures run ahead of it, killing everything in their path. But judging by the characters' responses, I doubt that's the norm. 

Speaking of, the Icelandic Trolls (or whatever they are) were certainly chilling in their immenseness, but ultimately irrelevant and unnecessary, what with the encroaching glaciers from all sides that will eventually encase the entire world in ice- killing everything in the process. Though they do provide a more immediate threat, and create some tension that running from a slow block of ice (albeit a very fast slow-moving block of ice) wouldn't quite convey.

Not the most hopeful of endings, but what can you expect? There's an inevitability that can't simply be deus ex machina-d away- well I suppose it could, but not very convincingly, and would've left me with a little bit of not-a-happy-bunny-syndrome, so I'm glad there was no easy answer- not that fantasy horror/thrillers are known for easy endings. 

My main criticism is the main character himself- Norman. He's a hard character to hate, but also to like. To be honest, I had no strong feelings either way- which is a shame since we see everything through his eyes, and therefore spend a lot of time in his mind. He has a tendency towards extreme self-pity- which is arguably very human, but also very annoying when a lot of the book is him thinking about how little he thinks of himself, how selfish he is, how much he hates himself. It can become a little grating as page after page after page, Norman feels sorry for himself. Wishing he was braver, cursing his cowardice. It's relatable, but I got tired of it very quickly, and wanted to smack some sense into him. For goodness sake man, I know the situation is bad, I know you've lost a lot, and you've made some mistakes, but get on with your life, instead of curling up in a ball of self-hatred. If you feel so bad about being untrusting or being a burden, if you feel guilty above past sins, then man-up and take action. Make the change, because it's not going to happen with you moping in the corner, drowning your sorrows with bitterness. He is aware of this, but it only makes him hate himself that much more. Every time he takes a step in the right direction, he falls and retreats even further back, with more and more guilt and fear holding him there. To his credit, he does try, but always despises himself for not doing more.

He does develop a few exceptions as the story progresses- through necessity more than anything (fair enough)- but they make him more vulnerable because of it. It is very human, but in this adapt-or-die world, I struggle to understand how he survived so long through anything but sheer dumb luck, since he seems so incapable of doing anything. I can understand that most people would not instantly be survivalist experts, but it's been two years. How can you survive two years without learning anything?

I think a lot of people may disagree with me on this front- citing him as realistic and well-rounded, but when you have someone as self-depracating as Norman as your main character, and have to listen to his self-hatred for two hundred and fifty pages, it can wear a little thin. He does eventually snap out of it, but it's so late in the game that it's pretty inconsequential. I think if the book had been based around ending Norman it would've been so much better. A Norman who still thinks little of himself, but manages not to let that get in the way of actually doing something. Who can put that to one side when push comes to shove and people are in danger. Yes it is realistic, and yes it may be human, but how much do you want to listen to someone whine about how useless they are? 

Overall, a dark, brutal read, with cannibalism, mass-murder, rape, buckets of gore and a lot of violence. It is certainly not for the faint of heart. An interesting premise and a story that focuses a lot on the connections between people. The bonds, the cruelty and the kindness. As to the genre, I suppose it could be considered a horror/thriller/adventure with a little fantasy thrown in, but it comes across as more of an exploration of the human psyche, set against a backdrop that tears down all the social walls people normally hide behind . 

Even with my gripe with Norman, I still enjoyed this book. It had tension, it had fear. If you don't like gore, this may be a little too intense for you, but if you're a fan of more adult-themed dystopian stories, this may be right up your street. If you're put off by my views of Norman, think as I did. Norman is like that one person you find yourself stuck with during the apocalypse. He's whiny and annoying (though you can see where he's coming from), but he's still a person, and that alone is enough of a reason to stick by him.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.

The Great Machine That Controls Us All

First Paragraph:

"The Ironclads lifted Finn and heaved him into the moving engine. He kicked and bucked, skinning the knuckles of his left hand on the hatch as he tried to stop himself, but it was no good."

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Engn by Simon Kewin is a little fantasy, steampunk and adventure all rolled into one.

PLOT

Finn lives in a small village in the mountains. Like other children, he grew up hearing stories of the brutal Ironclads and their home base- Engn. Few have seen it and returned. Engn is said to be one great machine. Every day it grows more and more, so more hands are needed to man it. The masters of Engn take the labour they require. They send their Ironclads out into every village, every home, picking up children to be brought to their city. It is not a request you can refuse.

Finn's sister was taken when he was little. Though painful, his parents assured him this meant he was safe. They can't take more than one per family, and he lives his life in relief. Until they show up at his door, and the long journey to the contained city begins. No one gets in unless they're taken. No one gets out, apart from those tasked with bringing in more hands.

But Finn has a plan. A promise he made with two friends years ago. One was taken, the other vanished. Their promise- to destroy Engn. But that is easier said than done. It's only when he arrives in Engn that he realises what a task that is. An iron dictatorship runs the city. The people are slaves. Broken and beaten, their bodies used to fuel the furnaces when they're deemed useless. Eyes are everywhere. What can one boy do against the might of Engn?

REVIEW

The first quarter of the book is told alternating between past and present. Most of the time spent in the former- we see Finn's life so far, and how he came to be where he is now. By the first third, he has reached Engn and the story really begins.

This is a slow-paced novel. There are action sequences, but they're so short and few that most of the story drags. What should be a tension-filled book, lacks it because most of it is spent seemingly doing nothing. Reading this book was like walking from A to B. You can enjoy the walk, the scenery can be varied and pleasant, but in the end you're still just trying to get to point B. There's nothing engaging enough about the scenery to make you stop and enjoy it. This isn't a hugely long book, but it felt very drawn out, and I found myself just wanting to reach point B.

The story isn't bad, the characters aren't bad, the plot isn't bad. In fact there's nothing bad about this book, but there's something lacking that means the story doesn't work as it should. I can like or dislike a slow-paced book depending, but for a slow story to still be gripping and enthralling, it has to be done extremely well, and unfortunately this isn't. 

The ending is predictable. In fact, there aren't really any surprise plot-twists at all. I could guess the main plot points, which isn't a bad thing in itself, as long as they keep you interested. It's been a long time since I've read a book I had to force myself through, and regrettably this is one of those. 

The basic premise sounds interesting enough, but the writing and pace let it down. Steampunk world in a dystopian setting sounds like something that could be great. The Pavlovian argument that people can be conditioned- that if you 'train' them enough, they'll respond subconsciously to your orders is one we've seen before. Done right, it can create a chilling atmosphere, but done wrong and it serves no real purpose. I'm afraid to say it's the latter in this story. 

I've been pretty negative about the story, so I want to reiterate- this is not a bad book. The main hurdle to overcome with this book is its pace. If you can get past the fact that nothing ever seems to be happening, even during crucial 'saving-the-world' scenes, you might enjoy this book. The characters aren't bad, but I didn't really feel attached to any of them as I usually would. The story just comes off a little flat, lacking depth and character. 

It's amazing that the book could tell us so much, without really telling us anything. Nothing is ever explained. I don't even think that any of the characters knew anything. They were just doing it because it's the way of things. This may sound ironic considering my above comments, but a little more description would've been nice. For instance, I have no idea where or when this book is set. It's clearly not our world, and I'm pretty sure it's on another planet, but like I said, it's not explained. Not that is needs to be. It wouldn't really add anything to the story, but it would solidify the setting a little more.

I don't regret reading it, but I don't think I'd do so again. In this end, this was just getting from point A to B.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author through a giveaway. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Fantasy and Sci-Fi Collide in an Explosive Supernova of Interesting Characters, Worlds and Concepts

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The Curtain Falls and Other Stories by David Wesley Hill is a collection of twelve short stories. 

The connection between all of them is the genre. They all have elements of sci-fi, fantasy or both, some more subtly than others. 

The first is 'The Curtain Falls'. 

First Sentence:

"Dad lost his job not long before mom got sick."

Set in a bleak, dystopian world sometime in the future, the sun blazes ruthlessly on anyone still on the Earth's surface- mostly the poor. Anyone with money lives downtown- underground. It's power is now so strong that extreme protection must be worn whenever you venture under its rays. Incredibly powerful sunscreen, hats, goggles, gloves. Plant and wildlife has been brutally culled by its strength. 

People now fear skin cancer like nothing else- to such extremes that skin grafts are commonplace and highly coveted. There's not enough supply to meet demand, as taking someone's skin involves killing them. When I say skin graft, I mean your entire body's worth of skin. Pawn shops now buy and sell body parts. 

A giant cover is being built over the Earth, to try to lessen the sun's radiation. It is humanity's last hope. Without it, the Sun will get more and more powerful, until nothing can survive. The air itself will become poison. 

In this world lives our young protagonist. He is never referred to by name, so I can't give you one. He lives with his mother, father and older sister. Until their mother gets sick and dies, and the shade (the cover around the Earth) falls. 

The second story is "A Bad Case of the Flu". 

First Sentence:

"When I woke up that morning, I wasn't there."

 And....hooked. 

In this future, everything runs on technology. Door locks are replaced with thumb scanners. Thumbprints are used for everything. ID, to use your credit cards, to open doors, etc. Instead of usual muggers, 'thumbers' are the more general thieves. They inject you with venom and ask for your thumb in return for the antidote. If you agree, they give you a local anaesthetic, slice off your thumb, inject you with the antidote (with added soporific) and you wake up twelve hours later missing a thumb, but generally in good health. With your thumb, they can use your cards and go on a buying frenzy.

Carl Darwin is a thirty-four year old doctorate student. Most of his life is virtual. Even his classes are all on-line, so he rarely leaves the house. Unfortunately, this makes him the perfect target for Los Estados Unidos de la Sud- a group of spies/terrorists who take identity theft to the extreme. Some send out a virus that wipes all your information, and replace it with their own, to basically, legally become you. Others take it further and steal your skin, prints and eyes, so they can pass all scans and DNA tests.

Carl is luckily targeted by the first kind. He wakes up to find nothing works for him. Gets locked out of his apartment, and accused of being the spy by the police. Nothing he says can verify his identity, since it's all been altered by the spy, who has already taken over his life and is comfortable making himself at home- in Carl's apartment.

With no way to reclaim his identity, maybe it's time to create his own.

The third story is 'SQ 389". 

First Sentence:

"What is it?"

Again set in the future, we meet Lieutenant Alphonse Perusquia- better known as Loo- of the police. He is a member of the Silver Bullet Squad, consisting of himself and seven other cops. 

In this reality, people have sockets on the sides of their heads, allowing them to jack into the 'Net'- an entirely virtual world, where most people spend their time. Reality is a ghost town. People shop, work, socialise, everything in it. They can manipulate the world around them, allowing them to change their appearance, and travel huge distances in a single step, as well as many other things. 

Loo and his partner Hennessy are in charge of investigating a homicide. They plug in from their individual homes and check out the virtual scene of the crime. The virtual world exactly mirrors the real one, right down to the people in it, allowing them to survey the crime scene and victim without having to physically be there. 

They suspect the deceased was the victim of a 'wolf'- a person who transforms themselves into a wolf in the virtual world, then tags their victim and traps them in a pocket reality that only the 'wolf' or 'lobo' can control. The 'wolf' then hunts and viciously kills its victim. Why? For the fun of it. If you die in the 'Net', you die in the real world too, and your body sustains the same injuries. 

Now the Silver Bullet Squad are in charge of tracking this 'wolf' down. Loo is afraid that this 'wolf' is more dangerous than any other they've encountered. That it's lost its connection to its own humanity, and its bloodthirst is rising and unquenchable.

In the fourth story, "Dead on Departure" we meet Randall Hightower, a lawyer who has discovered his physical body has been shot while he was in the 'Net'. 

First Sentence:

"I was murdered at five past seven Wednesday evening."

This story is set in the same world as the last one, and Loo makes a reappearance, though this story seems to take place before the events of the last one. 

Normally, if someone dies while in the 'Net', an ME announces their death and their virtual avatar software shuts down too. On the rare occasion, the physical host dies too quickly for the program to shut down properly, and the avatar is left stranded in the 'Net'. They are known as 'ghools' (a combination of ghost and spooled data).

Now that Randall is nothing but data, he has no access to anything or anywhere. He has no identity. The moment Randall Hightower was declared dead, his avatar became nothing but unconnected information. In a day, it will start to degrade, and within the week he will be 'dead'- again. 

Without a purpose, he and his loyal AI- Matthew- go on the hunt for his killer. Randall also wants to purchase storage space so he can backup his data and not die. But that costs money and while he had plenty of it alive, he has no legal access to it, because he's just strings of code now. He is nothing but a glitch. A glitch who is rapidly running out of time. 

The fifth story is 'Casper the Unfriendly Ghost'. 

First Sentence:

"They knew by the stench what they would find behind the door."

Unlike any of the other stories, this one provides us with not only a year, but an exact date of when it takes place. That being March 15, 2045.

Again set in the same world as the two previous stories, Loo returns. This time his partner is Felix Naiff- a young newcomer. Whether this is set before or after the other stories is a mystery, but in this one the two are called in on a suspected death.

They travel to the real apartment of Owen Casper- who they soon discover is a junkie. Or was a junkie. 'Junkies' are people hooked to the 'Net'. By law, a person is only allowed to spend four hours in the virtual world each day. Junkies modify the modems used to connect, and can stay in the 'Net' for an indefinite amount of time. They use feeding tubes for nutrients, muscle stimulators so their bodies don't wither, and catheters for the obvious. 

Unfortunately for Owen, something went wrong in his setup. The body has clearly been dead for a while, and is decayed and bloated. Casper's avatar, however, is still in the 'Net', having been there for a month. Junkies are ofter gamers, and enter the virtual simulations of games such as World of Warcraft equivalents. If they spend too much time in the game, they can lose touch with reality and believe themselves to be the character's they create. 

When Casper tries to leave the 'Net', he is met with unfortunate news and an officer who quickly gets on his bad side. No one wants to be on the bad side of a mage- or a man who thinks he's a mage and still has access to the technology in his apartment.

In the sixth story, "Burying Marmee", Phyg and Child wake up to find their Marmee has passed sometime in the night.

First Sentence:

"We never figured out what Marmee died from."

They tell Jo Tree (Child's father) and he leaves her body on the street, to be cleaned up by one of the many other species living on the planet of Ramoravar alongside them.

Phyg and Child and not too happy with this action. Jo Tree tells them Marmee is no longer there. That her soul was her and the body is nothing but a husk. With her soul departed, the meaty home she once occupied is no longer important.

However, Phyg and Child grew up with their Marmee telling them stories of the funeral rites of her people. That's what she wanted and that's what they want to give her. The problem is money. They don't have any. But maybe they can find some charity among the numerous other residents. Perhaps one of their species has a funeral rite that Marmee would approve of and that they can afford.

So the two set off, with their Marmee in Child's red wagon, looking for a suitable service. It seems that's easier said than done, and things go from weird to weirder. Then space pirates attack.

In the seventh story, "The Price of Tea in China", Will was five years old when he pushed Jimmy the school bully out the window. When asked why, he claims Jimmy 'wasn't right', so he 'fixed it'.

First Sentence:

"They took him from his family because of the thing he did in kindergarten."

An incredibly intelligent boy, he is taken to Haldane Federal School, where he gets to play games all the time, but can never again have contact with the outside world. Of course, all the games are actually tests. Holdane is a very special school. It recruits children like Will. There are no adults, only AIs, and no children older than twelve. 

As his twelfth birthday draws nearer, will wants to know why. What happens when you turn twelve? He soon finds out. On the day he turns twelve, he wakes up in someone else's body, in an unfamiliar room. A prison cell. In his hand a note, that reads, 'Something's broken here. Fix it."

The eighth story is "Far From Laredo". 

First Sentence:

"The sun overhead was a feeble orange and red ball very different from the vital yellow orb familiar to Charles Duke."

Charles Duke blinks in one world and opens his eyes to a new one. A Laredo, Texas man from the year 1879, he is a little surprised to find himself in an unknown place, clearly hundreds if not thousands or millions of years in the future. Strange creatures inhabit this world and one of them seeks his help.

It turns out they've summoned him to help with a demon problem. Their town is located near one of the many gates of Hell, and occasionally demons can escape. Most of the locals bait demons with human flesh, then ambush them and put coercive collars around their necks- ultimately letting them control the demons. Who they then use as slaves to work on their plots. 

Duke is sure that the three demons he's hired to hunt are escaped slaves, but doesn't care too much. They are demons after all. He agrees to the job, with the condition that his payment be as much gold as he can carry and that he be returned to his own world and time.

He soon discovers that wit and cunning are much more effective than riding in guns blazing.

In the ninth story, "The Good Sheriff", Charles Duke's adventures continue. 

First Sentence:

"Charles Duke rode out of the desert after the five hard days and found himself in badlands."

Picking up when the last story left of (don't read this if you don't want spoilers of that one), Duke is again trying to find his way home. He finds a wizard who agrees to send him home if he procures one hundred grains of good. Good in this world is a physical element, but very rare. 

Duke decides to take on the duties of sheriff to help earn himself some of the coveted good. 

The tenth story is 'The Whispering of Flies". 

First Sentence:

"The old drunk staggered across the cobblestones and caromed into the lead horse of the party that had just turned onto the street, causing the stallion to throw its rider, a tall man in the uniform of the imperial bureaucracy."

Glaven Cray is an imperial rider. When he gets knocked of his horse by the local drunk, he is informed that the man is harmless, but has a tale worth telling. Curious, he orders the guards to bring the man home, sober him up and get him presentable.

When the man knocked into Glaven, he was covered in flies. Not things that Glaven wants welcomed into his home. But the flies are persistent. Even after a fully-clothed bath, they still cling to the now sober man.

The man agrees to share his story for a drink, and so begins his tale. He was fifteen when the war killed his family and brought him to the refugee camps. With no money, he sought employment as a thief for a shady man. His cut was small, but more than most people had. Several other boys were in his leader's employment. 

One day he was offered a job which promised riches in return for his service. He and another boy took the job and follow the mysterious man. But things aren't always as they appear. That was when the flies first clung to him.

In the penultimate story, "An Encounter with the Medeoulin", Jamie is running from his father. 

First Sentence:

"He could hardly see the trail for the mist but Jamie was running, keeping his eyes on the ground to avoid the roots crisscrossing the path."

Through the forest he flies as his father chases close behind. How could his father move in with his mistress- the woman who pushed Jamie's mother away? 

He seeks one of the 'fairy houses', where he has relatives through his mother's side, who always have their door open for him. But when he gets there, he finds an unwelcome visitor- the Medeoulin, who intends on eating both his curious family and himself. He'll have to think fast to get out of this one.

The last story is "Traveling Man'. 

First Sentence:

"Traveling Man followed the summons of the drums over the hills where it was always winter."

Traveling Man follows the sounds of the drums that summon him. They lead him to a village under the curse of a witch. The family that resides there implore him to help. 

The people here have many names, for their names are based on relation. First Son can also be known as Second Brother or Seventh Cousin- depending on whom is addressing him. The witch too has many names, but to Father and Mother he is known as Last Son. 

Last Son was always different, and was therefore picked on. He's decided enough is enough and rules the village with his lightning. Traveling Man wants to heal Last Son, not kill him, but to do so Last Son will need to co-operate and Traveling Man will need to keep his wits, as the lightning ignites his curiosity.

An interesting mix of stories. Some continue from others and share characters, while others are stand-alone, unrelated by anything other than genre. There is a lot here to be offered. Each story has an individuality and uniqueness to it. Most are in first person POV, with some even going as far to leave the protagonist unnamed. A couple of them can drag a little, but others fly by.

They all have a unique feel to them, quite unlike any other short stories I've come across. By the time you finish the book, the beginning feels like it was a very long time ago. So much happens and there is a lot of content contained with this book's pages. The stories can even feel like full novels. The whole book is only around 200 kindle pages, but each story feels substantial.

By short story standards, these are mostly average to above average length, with the shortest at 7 kindle pages and the longest at 18 (which is on the longer side for a short story). There is so much description and variety, that they feel a lot longer than they are, but not in a negative way. Like I said, a couple can drag at times, but there's enough of an assortment here to interest most people. 

They do all share the sci-fi or fantasy genre (though aimed more at the sci-fi), with many of them set in the future and/or on other planets. There's a large range of subject matter, and a huge amount of description. If you're not one for long paragraphs of description, this might not be for you, but it adds to the abnormality of the stories and creates a more detailed image of a very different world. 

If I had to pick my favourites, I would probably go for 'The Curtain Falls' for its chilling and creepy ending, and 'The Whispering Flies' for its concept. A close runner up was 'Burying Marmee' for the odd mix of humour in morbid situations. I did also really enjoy the character of Charles Duke. Pulled out of his element, he instantly and easily adapts and never seems very fazed by anything. I can almost imagine his uninterested, almost bored expression. He also has a quick wit, but questionable morals.

Overall, I enjoyed some of these stories more than others, but that is often the case with compilations. There was no story that bored me or that I disliked and I was entertained by the mix of connected and stand-alone stories. Not the best short story collection I've ever read, but certainly worth reading.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author through the author. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Miracles Are in the Eye of the Beholder

First Paragraph:

"Lucas was dressed smartly, ready for work. He sat at the kitchen table and buttered his toast, and cracked at the top of the boiled egg his wife had made him for breakfast. Angela stood nearby, scrubbing at a small spot on the working surface. Layers of regret hung between them like unfashionable wallpaper. It made the place seem ugly."

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The Miracle Inspector by Helen Smith takes place 30 years in the future. London is no longer a democracy, but run by dictators. This future is misogynistic and patriarchal. Women are not allowed to leave their homes (unless visiting female relatives), must wear a burqa when opening the door (or at any other point where they can be seen by people other than their husbands), are not allowed to work, have no rights or education and must ask their husbands for permission for anything they do. A woman is not allowed to use contraception or have a drink without her husband's permission.

There are no schools, children must always be kept inside, men are the only ones who venture past their front doors with any frequency. Once they reach a certain age, men are taken away and never seen again, while women are left to slowly fade away behind closed doors. All these changes were put into effect as men believed it would keep women and children safe from pedophiles, rapists and terrorists. Those three things pushed the city into ruin. There are no planes and the only transport is by car, ship or train. The only people who have cars work for the government- who also police all other means of travelling. Some try to leave, but the possibility of escape is infinitesimal and no one is ever heard of again. The best way to survive is to keep your head down and not ask questions. Create safety out of anonymity. 

Lucas works for the Ministry. After the change, divisions were set up for everything, some vital, some pointless. This way they hope to monitor everything. So there are Inspectors of Cats, of Women, of Flowers and then there's Lucas- who is the Inspector of Miracles. Miracles in this future are just as unlikely as in our world, perhaps even more so, but in the new legislation it was decided that "the right to believe in miracles was enshrined in the constitution. And if a miracle is to be believed in collectively, then first it has to be found." So now Lucas spends his days being called out to various "miracles", whether they be claims of the new Messiah or the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast.

Every night he comes home to his young wife, Angela, and they sit in silence. Occasionally, words will pass between them, but for the most part, their marriage is just as bleak as the world they live in. They love each other, but their communication skills are almost non-existent. Lucas claims, "their relationship was also about the silences." He believes they reach each other on a deeper level. This may be true, but there's a constant tension between them. Words go unspoken. As Lucas puts it, "he was too preoccupied with keeping his thoughts hidden, to worry about hers." He constantly fears he'll say the wrong thing, so ends up never saying anything at all. 

Lucas' thoughts are written in an odd, almost disjointed style, that perfectly emulates how thoughts occur in the mind. Some don't make sense, are completely irrelevant and utterly nonsensical. We basically get every thought that pops into his head, which is more realistic than the edited thoughts we normally read. It's a hard thing to make work, but it matches the humour and tone of the story very well.  There's this odd mix of a very dark world and plot, combined with light and sometimes very British humour. A lot of the lines have very dead-span delivery. For instance, there's a situation where three men are drinking Ribena. Apparently, Ribena has been found to increase a man's life span and his libido. Lucas decides the men must do it for the latter reason, as men don't survive long enough to have to worry about the former.

Meanwhile, Angela is a very lonely and bored woman (for understandable reasons). She spends all day at home and sees and speaks to almost no one, except Lucas- who barely speaks to her at all. Then one day an old poet by the name of Jesmond drops off his life story in her hands. He's famous for his rebellious poems and songs and was close to Lucas' father. But, Lucas doesn't want to see him, so Angela is the one he always visits. When he drops off letters and poems from his past, she can't resist reading them.

But Angela wants to get away. When she brings it up with Lucas, he suggests Cornwall (because he thinks he should say something, but doesn't really expect her to say yes). She agrees and begs him to get them out, take them to Cornwall to start a family and live a free life. The situation in London may be dire, but the rest of the world is as it is now. For the most part, it is a free world (depending on where you are) and a utopia to Londoners. This is the basic plot of the story. Getting to Cornwall. Why Cornwall, because all Londoners want to go on holiday to Cornwall.

Lucas, on the other hand, begins fantasising about other men's wives. Almost every other thought is about sex, almost to a distracting level. There's no point to it and it doesn't go anywhere. After a while, it gets a little irritating, but the story constantly switches between him, Angela and Jesmond. At least for a little while. So it's bearable. As we see more of his character, there is also this uneasy quality about it. He has such a desperate existence, that he feels very much like a man who could go over the edge at any moment. He cares for very little, but then that keeps you safe in this future. He is too young to know what freedom was like, he grew up with this oppressive regime, so I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was the same. Perhaps it's more noticeable with him because we're seeing his thoughts. 

Jesmond gets small sections in the book, but for the most part he's unrelated to the plot. He is rallying up a rebellion with his underground poetry- where the androgynous look is all the rage. It's more than a fashion statement, it's a way for women to stay safe and men to show solidarity with them. Baggy clothes hide figures, women keep themselves thin to create a flatter silhouette. They keep their hair short, while men grow it long and keep themselves clean-shaven. This way women can pass as men in the right circles. 

Half-way through the book, the situation changes. The story is told more and more through increasingly fractured thoughts. There'a good reason for it, but saying more would spoil it. The effect it gives is great. It creates the atmosphere, builds the tension and causes a growing sense of fear to develop.

The pace quickens exponentially. What starts out as quite a slow book, suddenly becomes a race to the finish line. It's hard not to give anything away, but if you read it you'll understand. So much happens in the second-half. Everything starts falling together and then falling apart. 

I would almost say that the second-half of the book is an entirely different story than the first. They are connected through the main characters, but everything else changes. The book really comes into its own in the second-half. The first-half is almost irrelevant. The characters become more real and more important to the reader. In the first-half I was almost apathetic towards the characters, but when they reach the second-half, suddenly I was on the edge of my seat willing them on. Somewhere between the first and second-half, a switch is flipped and everything changes. The second-half will be what I remember of this book, it will be the reason I tell people to read it, it will be what makes me read it again. I will go through the slow, irrelevant first-half time and time again to reach the wonderful second-half.

Like I said before, the pace changes unbelievably quickly and the ending hits you before you know it. I loved the ending. It's very ambiguous, but brilliant. There are so many questions that appear throughout the story and you don't really get answers to any of them. That may annoy some readers, but I found it all the more gripping and all the more realistic. Life doesn't have all the answers. There are some things we will never know. The ending can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. There's no clarity and we don't really know what happened. I didn't know whether to feel happy or sad, empty or complete. Those unanswered questions, will keep the story and its characters with you, long after the final word.

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author through a giveaway. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Mining Robots, A Dystopian World and the Dangers of Drugs

First Paragraph:

"Louise saw her first. "Stop the van!"

"No way." The driver spun the wheel to the left to carve a path between the young woman in their path and a twisted, blackened hunk of machinery. "She's not our problem."

   Amazon /Amazon.co.uk

A Wasting Time by William Esmont is a short novella set in a dystopian world. Sometime in the future, robots are very real and now do the jobs no human wants. For example, working the mines. Robots drill through the rock and find anything of use. However, bringing in the robots doesn't free the men. As is turns out, quite a few men are needed to service the robots and keep them going.

One of these men is Angus Mundy, who uses drugs to keep himself going throughout the very long days. Unfortunately, he also owes a "Mafia-type" boss a lot of money. The boss gives him a choice, setting up the plot of this very short story.

In this world/future the drug Angus uses is J4X or JAX (to give it its street name). What the drug is isn't important though. This is a story more about Angus and his daughter Hilary and how much damage drugs can do. Not just to one person, but to everyone around them too. Since the book is short, the slippery slope is very abrupt, but I suppose it's representative of how quickly a person's life can spin out of control.

I know we've seen this plot a million times, but still I was gripped by it. I keep saying it's a short story, but it really is. At only around 70 pages, the book was over before I knew it. At no point was I bored or put off by a topic that could very easily be repetitive and dull.

For such a short book, a lot happens. However, there's no real conclusion. We're brought full-circle to the beginning without any more knowledge of what's happening than when we began. I'm under the impression that this may be a series, so there'll probably be answers in the next book. If you cut out the beginning and the end, this could be a good book about the dangers of drugs, not just physical ones, but all the other ways they can damage peoples' lives. With the whole book, we need another part to have any closure. I'm looking forward to seeing the direction this series (if it is one) will go, because at the moment the story is incomplete.

If you've read any of the author's other books, this has his writing style all over it. We have a sporadic timeframe, the dystopian world, the very gritty, dark atmosphere and the very claustrophobic ambiance, that all combine to make a very tense read. A good story, but missing the next part.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author through a giveaway. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Hey I Just Met You, And This is Crazy, But Now You're a Zombie, So Please Don't Kill Me Maybe

First Paragraph:

"Megan Pritchard stretched and yawned. She was only two hours into the graveyard shift, and she had already served three customers. The first had been a laid-back, beer-drinking trucker, the second, a German who reeked of tequila and had trouble keeping it up, and the last, a wild-eyed, fifty-something man who smelled like a dirty ashtray and wouldn't take no for an answer. Number four, another trucker, was in the bathroom washing up. She sighed and ran her hand across the bed, smoothing the comforter.  The toilet flushed.

   Amazon /Amazon.co.uk

The Elements of the Undead: Omnibus Edition contains all three books in the trilogy by William Esmont. Those three being Fire, Air and Earth. I'm going to explain a little bit about each one (without giving too much away) and then conclude with my thoughts on the series as a whole. 

But first, a little background. The Elements of the Undead Trilogy is a horror series (though the horror is pretty tame considering the plot. I would call it more of a thriller/ adventure). A zombie apocalypse breaks out at the very beginning and we're brought along with the characters as they react and absorb all the information and struggle through each situation they're faced with. 

I'll start by saying there are a few graphic scenes, such as zombies eating people or sex scenes, as well as course language. If that's not your cup of tea, you have been warned.

In book 1, Fire, we meet quite a few pivotal characters who, step by step, are brought together. First we have Megan Pritchard- a prostitute who works in a brothel in the desert, four hours outside of Vegas. She is planning to visit her sister in Tucson when the zombies start appearing.

Meanwhile, we have very brief snippets of Alicia (who is more of a secondary character if that), working in a supermarket, when she witnesses a zombie attack outside the store.

We then switch to Jack and his wife Becka in New Mexico, who have two twin daughters, Maddie and Ellie, who are in the process of building a birthday surprise for their girls, when Jack's mother calls telling him to look at the news.

Then there's Cesar, the illegal immigrant from Mexico, crossing the border with a few others into the States in the hope of making it to Kansas.

We then switch to Kevin Salerno, who has just landed in Idaho returning from a business trip to Shanghai. 

Then along comes Captain Mike Pringle, flying a Boeing with his co-pilot Marty Sellers, when one of the passengers goes rogue and starts attacking people.

Switching again, we meet Peter Woo, a devout Christian who believes the apocalypse is the Rapture come again.

Finally, we meet US Navy Commander Betty Hollister, who is the first woman to ever command a ballistic nuclear missile submarine in the Navy and her second in command, Andrew Pollard as they receive a message from HQ to bomb certain cities in the US to try contain the zombie plague.

So you can see we have quite a few characters to keep switching between, but somehow the author makes it work. Bit by bit, we get brief, little snippets of each group before moving onto the next, slowly revealing more and leading them all, inevitably, to the same place. We are given more information about a few particular characters more than others. In the first book, I would say the key characters are Megan, Jack, Cesar and Hollister. With Mike, Peter and Andrew adding specific important plot points. 

However, as you can imagine a lot of the characters (if not all of them) end up in sticky situations and we're not always given the details of how they manage to escape. For instance, hopefully this won't be a spoiler, but Mike is in the cockpit of the Boeing. The last thing we witness of him before he crops up again later in the story, is a zombie banging against the door trying to get in. They're 30,000 ft in the air. Yet, we never receive any explanation of how he survived or got to where he was. Or what happened to anyone else on the plane. This happens for a few characters, but it's understandably considering how many of them there are. 

In this case, having that many characters actually works in the story's favour. Normally, I would say too many characters spoil the broth. They just make it confusing and distract from the main "flavours" you want people to experience. If done wrong, it can destroy a book, but if done right, like in these books, it creates the necessary viewpoints to get across the different reactions people would have and allows the author to mess with their brains the way it would in real life. Think about it, a zombie apocalypse breaks out. What are the odds everyone (providing they survive long enough) would keep their sanity. We all have a very different way of dealing with problems, especially one of this magnitude. Some people will harden up and become the nearest thing real life has to action heroes, some people will fold and lose their minds, some people with end it, rather than face the alternative. Those are just a few possibilities because the mind is so complex that you can never really predict how someone will adapt (if at all). That's where having a large cast plays to the trilogy's advantage. Not only can we get multiple reactions, but it also lets the author write some of the characters off without leaving too small of a cast behind.

Pretty much all of the individual stories happen simultaneously, giving us a view of many different parts in the States. We don't ever hear much about the rest of the world, all we know is that zombies are global and likewise situations are probably happening everywhere. 

In Fire, we get some information about the zombies themselves. As pretty much anyone who has ever heard of a zombie knows, they can come in many different forms, with many different strengths. In this trilogy, we have simple, traditional zombies. They lumber along (with the exception of radiation-poisoned zombies (courtesy of all the bombs dropped on the States via Hollister's orders), who can sprint), are often missing limbs, organs or anything else, their vocabulary is restricted to moans and growls and you can only kill them with a headshot. They also travel in packs. Oh, and when food is scarce, they're cannibals.

While we're never given any concrete reason for zombies appearing out of nowhere, it is suspected that "zombiefication" happens from some kind of virus or disease. The victim starts off with symptoms similar to the flu and then quickly becomes aggressive, before converting to complete zombie. It's quick and deadly. It also spreads surprisingly fast, in fact, the virus went global in only a few hours. Also part of traditional zombie lore, one bite is enough to turn you, with the added complication that any of their fluids (saliva, brain fluid, etc) can infect you as well- if they get into your bloodstream. So when you're fighting for your life, make sure to keep your eyes and mouth closed and cover any cuts or scrapes. They have no blood though, so at least you don't have to worry about that too. Unless of course you have to kill a human who has been bitten, to stop them becoming a zombie. Though most of the people in this trilogy keep a spare bullet for themselves in that eventuality. 

As the story progresses, we witness two survivalist camps forming (with a few stragglers on the side heading their way). On one hand, we have the Scorpion Canyon group in Tucson. A relatively laid-back (considering the situation) group, who are looking out for everyone's best interests. On the other hand, we have an aggressive group, run in military style. The two groups deal with the living dead and the people in their confines very differently. The first group survives on raids and equality, while the second struggles under a dictator for a leader, who is quickly losing the plot, but still desires power, authority and complete loyalty on penalty of death.

As the two groups become aware of the other's existence, tensions run high as one group wants to co-exist and the other wants absolute dominance over everything and everyone. 

Throughout the books, there are some nice quotes from the likes of Robert Frost and Ezra Pound (among many others) which make for some pleasant, figurative palette cleansers between scenes.

Now we come to book 2, Air. An original and unusual idea for a second book, Air has almost nothing to do with the first book and at only 10,000 words long, it's not a format I've ever seen in a series before. The only similarity in plot is the zombie apocalypse. But I found it an interesting way to backtrack and introduce a new character, without confusing the readers or relying on flashbacks.

In this book, we meet Chris Thompson. Using another not-often-seen technique, the author places us in the middle of his story, without even a name to go on. Though considering this book is only 10,000 words, we're pulled up to speed rather quickly.

It starts off with him on the roof of the Liberty Medical Centre, holding off a horde of zombies with the aid of a rather feeble door. He's contemplating what he believes are his final few moments and the choices he made earlier in the day to end up at this point.

I won't give too much away (especially considering the length of this book), but it's suffice to say he came to the hospital to visit his brother, Dave, after he was in a car accident. Of course, considering how the virus starts (remember the flu symptoms), they have the bad luck of being in the exact worst place possible. What's the old saying? The worst place to be sick is in a hospital. This is quite a while back from the main story (a few months back in fact), as we return to the very beginning of it all. 

Short and sweet, Chris' story continues and ties in with the rest in the final book, Earth. There will be a few spoilers from the previous books below here (nature of a series I'm afraid), so if you don't want to know, stop reading now. If you're interested in the series, why not try it out? Final warning for spoilers below.

Set three years later, not much has changed. Zombies are still everywhere. There are less survivors than before and those still around are more savvy than they were at the start.

Straight away we're introduced to yet more characters. Ryan Franklin, his wife Paige and their 14 year old son, Luke. They live in an underground bunker in Arizona, courtesy of Ryan's brother-in-law Mitch persuading him Armageddon was approaching. Unfortunately for Mitch, he never made it to his own bunker. The only other members of their community are Jim, his wife Felicia and Jim's father, who live in an adjacent bunker.

Megan and Jack return, along with another new character in the form of an ex-military retiree, Archie Henderson. They are planning to move the Scorpion Canyon group to another canyon across the valley, where they'll have more access to water and food.

Immediately, we can see that something is different in the zombies' behaviour. They are gathering in swarms much larger than previously seen and all seem to be waiting for a command. They are now almost impossible to fight (due to sheer numbers) and are advancing upon all compounds. 

The Franklins are forced to decided whether to stay and fight an impossible battle or try to escape in their car, while a wave of zombies fast approaches. Meanwhile, Megan, Jack and Archie are still in the wilderness trying to survive more zombies than they've ever seen. 

Not surprisingly, the two parties eventually meet up. Drawn together by necessity, they discover something that leads them to believe there is another survivalist group in Tampa. Deciding, it would be best to find them, they start the long journey.

As we start to learn more about the newcomers, the unease builds. As it turns out, Paige was on antidepressants long before everything went under and it's no surprise that zombies all over the world have put her precariously close to the edge. Dealing with a woman who only has brief moments of lucidity and a rapidly weakening grip on reality, while trying to survive impending death, is enough to make anyone nervous.

Chris Thompson also returns with a brief explanation of the last three years. He and a few other survivors made their way to Galveston and then onto one of the oil platforms in the Gulf. Their group has been slowly growing since and (apart from storms) they are kept safe by the sea. The sea also provides plenty of food, they gather water from frequent rains and the generators provide ample electricity. Surprisingly, they also have internet. Some satellites are still functioning it seems, allowing them to keep a check on storms in the area.

With zombies such a dominant presence on the planet and the number of living people dwindling by the second, is there any way to win or even to simply survive?

The way these books are written is less like three books made into one story and more like one story made into three books. What I mean by that is that the plot flows almost seamlessly between one book to the next (with the exception of the second book for obvious reasons). Within the plot, the timeframes change often enough that even with the 'three years later' subtitle at the start of the third book, it could well have been part of book 1. It would even be possible to make it all one book without making any changes. What I'm trying to say is it's less episodic than some series. There's no obvious end to one book or beginning of the next, more just the start of the next scene. And I enjoyed it being like that. Often in series, the later books will be set some time after the previous ones and we get a lot of backtracking and flashbacks to fill us in. While we do get a little filling in at the start of the third book, it's done in a way that could've taken place after the end of the first. I actually didn't realise I was on the third book until I finished the series.

The ending is a little abrupt and leaves no real conclusion. But then considering that the zombie apocalypse has broken out, there are very few ways to give a definitive ending, short of killing all the survivors. 

However, there are also a few unanswered questions. One, what happened to Hollister's group? The last we see of her she went stir-crazy, was drugged up and killed her second in command. Did she end up destroying the group through sheer ineptness? Did the zombies attack them at the same time as Scorpion Canyon? Did she kill everyone and then die herself? 

The final niggling question is the zombies themselves. In the third book, the idea that they're under command is introduced, but never expanded on. They seem to be getting smarter or are waiting for orders from a leader, but it's never explained.

I don't know whether there were ever any plans for another book (perhaps Water based on the previous titles?), but I would've liked that plot point to go somewhere.

Having said that, I did thoroughly enjoy the series. While I'm not always a fan of gore, it's handled well here. It is graphic, but not too graphic. At no point did I find the huge cast of characters confusing or distracting and they were all given surprisingly detailed situations considering the amount of time we had with each one. Each of their survivalist stories are basically the same, but then they would be. A zombie apocalypse breaks out and your first instinct is to get away from the larger cities. To try to find other people. To bunker down and try ride it out.  And that's exactly what they did. While the stories are similar, they're all given just enough individuality to make them interesting, rather than reading the same scenario ten times. 

If you're a fan of zombies or dystopian worlds this series will be right up your alley. I breezed through it and, before I knew it, was at the end.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author through a giveaway. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.