Future Apocalypse: Beginnings
Author: Barbara J. Gilbert
I often have a difficult time reviewing indy published books. I am a huge advocate for indy authors. I want every single one to be highly successful and widely read. So, I have a harder time being completely objective in my reviews. In the end, I take a deep breath and do my best. I praise the positives that I see in each indy work first, while still truthfully pointing out problems in a constructive manner.
First, the positives -- this is an interesting take on the idea of time travel. I love stories that make me think about the ethics and possibilities of such technology. Is it even possible...and if so, how? And, if we could -- should we? What are the ramifications of travelling outside our own time? The concept alone sends me into sci-fi nerd ecstasies.
I like the characters. Paulette Brown is a highly intelligent woman, driven to develop a device that can travel both forward and backward in time. She funds her dream project with an R&D idea to invent bionic replacement limbs for amputees. Paulette is a strong main character who makes the best of her situation. Her friend Greg is a bit whiney, but fits the best friend/maybe-more sidekick role pretty well.
The story, once it hits its stride, is interesting. I definitely wanted to know what was going to happen next! The plot moved along relatively quickly, with things picking up once Paulette travelled in time.
There are some issues with this book, however.
I listened to the audio book version of this story. The audio is just a bit short of 5.5 hours long. Very easy listening length. But, the narration is problematic. The audio quality is poor -- lots of echo. The narration itself is amateur (badly voiced characters, mispronounced words, and odd inflection). But, I did notice that the narrator changes for books 2 and 3 in this series, so it seems this problem has already been addressed.
Overall, I enjoyed this story. I wanted to know what happened to Paulette. But, this first story has some major writing issues. A professional editor could have helped, in my opinion. There are some plot continuity errors and long scenes or descriptions that are not relevant to the plot or characterization. Conversation is poorly written, coming off at stilted, unnatural or even juvenile at times. Details are over explained that could be simply implied.
The science is problematic. A genius with two years of college and no medical knowledge could not develop a working, fully-integrated bionic limb with a skeleton crew. It would take a medical team headed by neurosurgeons and other experts decades of testing on animals before a test limb would ever be attached to a human being. The military would never appropriate R&D funds to a project with no research history, record of testing or a prototype of some sort. Pulling a proposal out of the blue sky does not net hundreds of thousands of dollars in R&D funds. And there is no explanation of how Paulette's time machine design works. That part is pretty much glossed over with jumps in story time, and suddenly she is testing a working pod.
These are rookie writer mistakes that could have been corrected with the help of a professional editor. The quality of this book could be greatly improved with professional editing and some rewrites.
So, I like the basic concept and characters...that kept me listening to this audio book even when rough edges in the writing and poor narration pulled me out of the story. I like the concept enough to try book 2 in this trilogy, Journey to the City of Technology.
**I voluntarily listened to a review copy of this audio book, provided by the author. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
