The blurb I read on good reads was very interesting and I love sci-fi even though I don't read it often enough so I decided to give a try to this offer. Let me stress that this was the first time ever I accepted such offer via Instagram or email and I am not sure I will do this again.
The book has six short stories and only approximately 120 pages. Which is the first red flag that popped in my head? How can you start, elaborate and solve six stories in such a small space? But as they say, don't judge a book by its cover. I simply just started reading without overthinking this and here is my opinion of the book.
The overall feeling was: the book was poor. The fantasy of the author surprised me. I liked the core thought behind each story, although the enjoyment from the reading was torn apart by the writing style. It was the first book by the author and I have to say the writing style was making it clear. There were basic and silly beginner writer errors which could be easily avoided if more attention and time was put into the writing and drafting process.
I have few words to say about each story so I decided to split the review into a few parts and give you the official GoodReads blurb and then my thoughts.
1. Nark-Astra, The Hell Weapon
The weapons he possesses make him the destroyer of worlds, and he burns for revenge. A high-tech take on ancient Indian mythology.
My thoughts: The first short story had a great background, the characters were well written and they all had an amazing backstory. The relationships between them were thought through and the connections were perfectly explained in the story. The names of the characters were very confusing. the names of the weapons were too complicated and so very hard to remember. The ending was very disappointing.
2. Death by Crowd
The dark desires of the masses; darknet websites fueled by a crypto-currency. What lurks in the background – an advanced artificial intelligence?
My thoughts: Great idea! Shocking, disgusting and cruel!
3. Genie
He rubbed a lamp alright, but what he got was the shock of his life. An entirely sci-fi take on the djinn myth.
My thoughts: I think this was the weakest link in the chain. The genie didn't have any backstory and what was drafted didn't make much sense. There was no connection to any bigger world. The main character found a lamp in the old house but the reader never found out where is this house, why was this person in there? It felt like he was lost but then he just walked out. Surely if you are lost the first wish you have is to go home or someplace you know. This story just didn't make much sense to me and the writing style here was also very disturbing. It was written as a play, I don't think it matched the setting of the story at all.
4. Time Crawlers
There are individuals who exist in multiple time periods at once, and there are those who know about them….
My thoughts: Good idea but poorly written. I felt like the same thing was explained over and over in different words. This short story felt like cut out of the context and setting and it was missing background.
5. Eclipse
No attacks, no blood-shed, yet there was an invasion and a conquest. Who are these shapeshifter aliens being hounded by an eclipse?
My thoughts: The short story didn't carry any new idea, but it was still quite interesting, unfortunately, it ended without an end. It was opened and the conclusion was missing.
6. The Cave
The fate of an advanced imperial race hangs in balance as a dark celestial entity meets a legendary protector.
My thoughts: The background of the story was simply just not there. The idea of the legendary protector was great, but this should also make sense why is this person protecting civilizations, what do they get from it? There was some general who was in charge but during the story, we learn that he doesn't know anything at all. He needs to be told what to do by another character. Why and how did this person become a general then? It makes no sense to me. The characters in the story acted irrationally.
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