Review by Samsam97 -- Shield Down by William de Berg
Posted: 23 Dec 2020, 13:57
[Following is a volunteer review of "Shield Down" by William de Berg.]
William de Berg’s sci-fi novel Shield Down follows the story of an astrophysicist James Templeton, who spends his entire career studying a magnetar known as SGR 0245+05. Due to his close acquaintance with the magnetar and disregard for what other scientists thought of his findings, Templeton releases a scientific paper claiming that the cause of past global extinctions stemmed from the reversal of Earth’s magnetic field, an event which fast approaches. With this knowledge, he and another scientist whom he wrote the paper with, Pavlich, conclude that Earth is heading into its next mass extinction with an upcoming gamma ray burst from SGR 0245+05. This, of course, results in Templeton’s exile within the scientific community; aside from his two graduate students, it seems nobody truly believes the warning Templeton gives. This warning that later comes to fruition. Luckily, one of his graduate students, John Bazany, has prepared for this event, building his own underground colony in hopes of saving humanity.
I give this novel 3 out of 4 stars. Before I begin, I would like to say that any negative comment I have to say about this novel is purely opinionated. Structurally speaking, this book was beautifully written. I hardly found any grammatical or spelling mistakes. Most that I did notice weren’t anything to get up in arms about. I noticed that William de Berg is, in fact, a scientist, and that is definitely obvious upon reading his novel. The science that supported this novel was explained properly, and in a way that those who aren’t accustomed to those terms may feel somewhat comfortable with. Though some with no scientific background may get caught up on the science jargon, the overall plot is easy to follow. In fact, there are references and definitions added as footnotes on each page for those who need a quick brush-up on. It gives me textbook vibes and I think it’s a great idea. It did, however, make me a bit uncomfortable when I saw Wikipedia used as a reference. That being said, if you are someone who hates reading novels that are heavily knowledge-based, this isn’t for you. Especially the first four chapters; they seem to really overload on the information. If you do, in fact, love science, this could pique your interest. Now, I will mention my likes and dislikes for the subjects: storyline/story flow, characters, and writing style.
This story started out very slow. The first of three parts to the story mainly focus on background information between Templeton, his two graduate students John Bazany and Carletta Jackson, his former lover Dr. Jacqueline DeFazio, and friend Dr. Pavlich. Yes, it was very slow, but imperative to the story. The author delivered this part of the story smoothly, despite its lack of action, and that is something I give high praise for, as it is not easy to deliver bland information and make it interesting. Because of the slow-burn of the story line, the progression into the climax of the story is more exciting. In the second and third parts, I found I couldn’t put the novel down for the need to know what happens next. For the most part, we follow Templeton’s story, and I will admit that his storyline is beautifully executed. Overall, I enjoyed the story-line, despite its slow progression.
Even after reading, I am still on the fence about characters. I’ll start with my positive points. The author fleshed out each character as their own person, with their own flaws and good characteristics. They were each distinct and had their own easily distinguishable voice. My problem, however, is how difficult it was for me to relate with any of them. Templeton usually came off as aloof, Jackie was your stereotypical ‘stoic, powerful old women who shields her heart from the public,’ Bazany wasn’t shown as excitable as mentioned throughout the novel, and Carletta was barely in the novel at all. The latter I was very disappointed considering she is written in the first page. In fact, I’d looked forward to knowing more about Carletta and was interested in her character development. I will admit that Templeton grew on me as the novel went along but having hardly any characters to truly cheer for/relate to can remove a reader from a novel.
Lastly, I will touch on the author’s writing style. Overall, everything was well-written. I noticed the precision done in the editing process and I, as a reader, appreciate the time and hard work one would put in doing that. My one concern is how often the author tells the reader something rather than showing through action and dialogue. Readers are smart enough to pick up on a character’s emotion by their action, rather than having their emotion spoon-fed to us. An example is on page 52: “Templeton’s mood quickly turned to anger.” Instead of telling the reader what he feels, show it. In fact, much of the story is told by recounting past events; when done too often, this makes the writing style come off as clinical and that may take away from the enjoyment of the novel. As to why I didn’t give the complete 4 stars, this would be a major contender. Though, as I’ve said before, this story is too well fleshed-out and true to its scientific basis to be given any fewer stars than 3. Overall, I enjoyed this read, and would recommend to any science fans, as well as those who enjoy end-out-the-world sci-fi novels. Where it lacks in action, it makes up for in an intriguing plot and satisfactory progression of events.
******
Shield Down
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
William de Berg’s sci-fi novel Shield Down follows the story of an astrophysicist James Templeton, who spends his entire career studying a magnetar known as SGR 0245+05. Due to his close acquaintance with the magnetar and disregard for what other scientists thought of his findings, Templeton releases a scientific paper claiming that the cause of past global extinctions stemmed from the reversal of Earth’s magnetic field, an event which fast approaches. With this knowledge, he and another scientist whom he wrote the paper with, Pavlich, conclude that Earth is heading into its next mass extinction with an upcoming gamma ray burst from SGR 0245+05. This, of course, results in Templeton’s exile within the scientific community; aside from his two graduate students, it seems nobody truly believes the warning Templeton gives. This warning that later comes to fruition. Luckily, one of his graduate students, John Bazany, has prepared for this event, building his own underground colony in hopes of saving humanity.
I give this novel 3 out of 4 stars. Before I begin, I would like to say that any negative comment I have to say about this novel is purely opinionated. Structurally speaking, this book was beautifully written. I hardly found any grammatical or spelling mistakes. Most that I did notice weren’t anything to get up in arms about. I noticed that William de Berg is, in fact, a scientist, and that is definitely obvious upon reading his novel. The science that supported this novel was explained properly, and in a way that those who aren’t accustomed to those terms may feel somewhat comfortable with. Though some with no scientific background may get caught up on the science jargon, the overall plot is easy to follow. In fact, there are references and definitions added as footnotes on each page for those who need a quick brush-up on. It gives me textbook vibes and I think it’s a great idea. It did, however, make me a bit uncomfortable when I saw Wikipedia used as a reference. That being said, if you are someone who hates reading novels that are heavily knowledge-based, this isn’t for you. Especially the first four chapters; they seem to really overload on the information. If you do, in fact, love science, this could pique your interest. Now, I will mention my likes and dislikes for the subjects: storyline/story flow, characters, and writing style.
This story started out very slow. The first of three parts to the story mainly focus on background information between Templeton, his two graduate students John Bazany and Carletta Jackson, his former lover Dr. Jacqueline DeFazio, and friend Dr. Pavlich. Yes, it was very slow, but imperative to the story. The author delivered this part of the story smoothly, despite its lack of action, and that is something I give high praise for, as it is not easy to deliver bland information and make it interesting. Because of the slow-burn of the story line, the progression into the climax of the story is more exciting. In the second and third parts, I found I couldn’t put the novel down for the need to know what happens next. For the most part, we follow Templeton’s story, and I will admit that his storyline is beautifully executed. Overall, I enjoyed the story-line, despite its slow progression.
Even after reading, I am still on the fence about characters. I’ll start with my positive points. The author fleshed out each character as their own person, with their own flaws and good characteristics. They were each distinct and had their own easily distinguishable voice. My problem, however, is how difficult it was for me to relate with any of them. Templeton usually came off as aloof, Jackie was your stereotypical ‘stoic, powerful old women who shields her heart from the public,’ Bazany wasn’t shown as excitable as mentioned throughout the novel, and Carletta was barely in the novel at all. The latter I was very disappointed considering she is written in the first page. In fact, I’d looked forward to knowing more about Carletta and was interested in her character development. I will admit that Templeton grew on me as the novel went along but having hardly any characters to truly cheer for/relate to can remove a reader from a novel.
Lastly, I will touch on the author’s writing style. Overall, everything was well-written. I noticed the precision done in the editing process and I, as a reader, appreciate the time and hard work one would put in doing that. My one concern is how often the author tells the reader something rather than showing through action and dialogue. Readers are smart enough to pick up on a character’s emotion by their action, rather than having their emotion spoon-fed to us. An example is on page 52: “Templeton’s mood quickly turned to anger.” Instead of telling the reader what he feels, show it. In fact, much of the story is told by recounting past events; when done too often, this makes the writing style come off as clinical and that may take away from the enjoyment of the novel. As to why I didn’t give the complete 4 stars, this would be a major contender. Though, as I’ve said before, this story is too well fleshed-out and true to its scientific basis to be given any fewer stars than 3. Overall, I enjoyed this read, and would recommend to any science fans, as well as those who enjoy end-out-the-world sci-fi novels. Where it lacks in action, it makes up for in an intriguing plot and satisfactory progression of events.
******
Shield Down
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon