Review of Strange Stories II
1 posts
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strange Stories II" by Roger Mannon.]
Strange Stories II: The Empty Earth by Roger Mannon is a small collection of doomsday fiction short stories. The book opens with Alone. A young man accompanies an expedition to Siberia to catalog and analyze soil samples for extra college credit. While his team is there, they accidentally bring to the surface an ancient virus believed to have wiped out the Neanderthals. The virus spreads faster than anyone can imagine, and soon the protagonist is the only living human in his immediate area. The second story, called Tipping Point, tells of Earth’s collapse due to good old-fashioned global warming. An ex-military climate scientist sees disaster coming and tries to warn those around him. When that fails, he begins to teach his son how to survive after nature has turned against humanity. Told from the perspective of the son, who is now thriving but isolated, Tipping Point gives a brief history lesson of how we got to this point.
Both stories are fantastic. They are imaginative and realistic at the same time. They prey on our fear of the unlikely but possible. Completely different voices were invented for the two protagonists. The author employed a wide range of emotions and personalities for these characters. They are both relatable, likable, and easy to listen to as they tell their story in first-person narrative. The two main characters also come from very different backgrounds, and at no point does the reader feel as though the stories are even remotely similar.
There are no negative points to this book. It is incredibly well-written and one of the best post-apocalyptic stories (or collection of stories, as it were) that I’ve come across in a long time.
Overall, I am rating this book a solid 5 out of 5 stars. The stories are wonderfully told. There are no errors located in the book, and it is exceptionally well-edited. At the beginning of each story, the author gives a bit of backstory about how these stories came into existence, which I think adds something special to the book. While reading, you get a great sense of the writer’s motivation and the immense effort he put into giving the readers the best story he could.
I would recommend this book to any fan of post-apocalyptic or dystopian fiction. The characters are very well-developed and the stories are easy to read. My sincerest congratulations to the author for producing such a fantastic piece of work, and I look forward to reading more of their stories.
******
Strange Stories II
View: on Bookshelves |
Strange Stories II: The Empty Earth by Roger Mannon is a small collection of doomsday fiction short stories. The book opens with Alone. A young man accompanies an expedition to Siberia to catalog and analyze soil samples for extra college credit. While his team is there, they accidentally bring to the surface an ancient virus believed to have wiped out the Neanderthals. The virus spreads faster than anyone can imagine, and soon the protagonist is the only living human in his immediate area. The second story, called Tipping Point, tells of Earth’s collapse due to good old-fashioned global warming. An ex-military climate scientist sees disaster coming and tries to warn those around him. When that fails, he begins to teach his son how to survive after nature has turned against humanity. Told from the perspective of the son, who is now thriving but isolated, Tipping Point gives a brief history lesson of how we got to this point.
Both stories are fantastic. They are imaginative and realistic at the same time. They prey on our fear of the unlikely but possible. Completely different voices were invented for the two protagonists. The author employed a wide range of emotions and personalities for these characters. They are both relatable, likable, and easy to listen to as they tell their story in first-person narrative. The two main characters also come from very different backgrounds, and at no point does the reader feel as though the stories are even remotely similar.
There are no negative points to this book. It is incredibly well-written and one of the best post-apocalyptic stories (or collection of stories, as it were) that I’ve come across in a long time.
Overall, I am rating this book a solid 5 out of 5 stars. The stories are wonderfully told. There are no errors located in the book, and it is exceptionally well-edited. At the beginning of each story, the author gives a bit of backstory about how these stories came into existence, which I think adds something special to the book. While reading, you get a great sense of the writer’s motivation and the immense effort he put into giving the readers the best story he could.
I would recommend this book to any fan of post-apocalyptic or dystopian fiction. The characters are very well-developed and the stories are easy to read. My sincerest congratulations to the author for producing such a fantastic piece of work, and I look forward to reading more of their stories.
******
Strange Stories II
View: on Bookshelves |
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