gypjet's review
4.0
I received this novella from the author for an honest review.
First off, I was disappointed because I wasn't told that it was a novella. I was expecting a book length work. On my Nook, it is 63 pages long. However, I'm not opposed to short stories and novellas and I was really in the mood for some meaty sci-fi after a steady diet of sugary paranormal fantasy. This story did not disappoint.
As the blurb for the story indicates, mankind is attempting to colonize worlds they have discovered in the off chance that we can't fix the issues with our own planet. In this case, the powers that be send off several "Ark" ships with colonists and a crew to worlds that frankly they only know fall into the "habitable" zone. This story follows a ship that ends up on a planet that is constantly in winter. Since it isn't habitable, the story follows the lone child born (to hopeful parents before they knew)as the colony succumbs to the worst of human nature in the brink of their certain deaths.
Pros: Very convincing sci-fi, seemed to develop scientific plots and possibilities, didn't ignore physics and kept it real. Very good description of the lapse of the human pysche when faced with hopelessness. Very good description of madness and despair.
Cons: This didn't need to be novella length. There was plenty of meat there to develop the tale to book length. The author could have spent time with more character development, the characters were flat and not much time was spent on them. The story was more plot driven then character driven and the narrative very detached. More explanation could have been done with Elyse's "friends" particularly her ghoulish bread-baking biochemist friend. More could have been discussed about the actual building of the colony on the planet and the interactions and reasons behind Elyse's madness and actions during this period.
Basically, the time spent on the planet at the end of the book is the least explained and the most interesting. Why did the garden in the end? It was successful for a time, why didn't they start over? It seems that it may have been possible to succeed even under the brutal conditions under the ice with the exception of Elyse's agenda and as a reader I wanted to see that. I wanted more colonists awakened and more children born and this could easily have been full length novel and even darker and more twisted than it was.
I did give the story 4 stars because it was very compelling, interesting and a good study on human behavior. I would recommend it to lovers of sci-fi (adult there is a very disturbing rape scene).
First off, I was disappointed because I wasn't told that it was a novella. I was expecting a book length work. On my Nook, it is 63 pages long. However, I'm not opposed to short stories and novellas and I was really in the mood for some meaty sci-fi after a steady diet of sugary paranormal fantasy. This story did not disappoint.
As the blurb for the story indicates, mankind is attempting to colonize worlds they have discovered in the off chance that we can't fix the issues with our own planet. In this case, the powers that be send off several "Ark" ships with colonists and a crew to worlds that frankly they only know fall into the "habitable" zone. This story follows a ship that ends up on a planet that is constantly in winter. Since it isn't habitable, the story follows the lone child born (to hopeful parents before they knew)as the colony succumbs to the worst of human nature in the brink of their certain deaths.
Pros: Very convincing sci-fi, seemed to develop scientific plots and possibilities, didn't ignore physics and kept it real. Very good description of the lapse of the human pysche when faced with hopelessness. Very good description of madness and despair.
Cons: This didn't need to be novella length. There was plenty of meat there to develop the tale to book length. The author could have spent time with more character development, the characters were flat and not much time was spent on them. The story was more plot driven then character driven and the narrative very detached. More explanation could have been done with Elyse's "friends" particularly her ghoulish bread-baking biochemist friend. More could have been discussed about the actual building of the colony on the planet and the interactions and reasons behind Elyse's madness and actions during this period.
Basically, the time spent on the planet at the end of the book is the least explained and the most interesting. Why did the garden in the end? It was successful for a time, why didn't they start over? It seems that it may have been possible to succeed even under the brutal conditions under the ice with the exception of Elyse's agenda and as a reader I wanted to see that. I wanted more colonists awakened and more children born and this could easily have been full length novel and even darker and more twisted than it was.
I did give the story 4 stars because it was very compelling, interesting and a good study on human behavior. I would recommend it to lovers of sci-fi (adult there is a very disturbing rape scene).
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