Wesley Britton's Blog - Posts Tagged "dystopian-future"

The Gemini Effect
Chuck Grossart
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• https://www.amazon.com/Gemini-Effect-...

The opening pages of The Gemini Effect signal that this is a story full of horror, the sort of horror you will find when relentless mutant monsters are set loose on a mostly defenseless American mid-West. The hordes of first vampire/zombie rats, then affected humans, and finally killer birds create a terror that simply never relents in an extremely fast-paced thriller.

Chuck Grossart is very descriptive of the rather implausible events (how could thousands of killer creatures be created in such a short time period?), of the military equipment and personnel, and of the scientists seeking a solution to the expanding apocalypse.

He’s less successful when he interjects a second plotline, of third-generation Soviet sleeper agents with the power to immobilize the president of the United States. It’s as if two books were squeezed together which works on some levels, but the White House storyline is even more implausible than the hordes of seemingly unstoppable monsters transforming and replicating underground.

The author deserves major kudos for his storytelling style which makes this novel a page-turner that engages the reader for much of the novel. I admit, I never understood why the creature’s quickly established weakness of being unable to endure light was never developed into useable weapons and the nation’s leaders resort to other devastating options to kill the mutants. The final chapters are even more difficult to accept as the entire globe erupts into various wars completely unrelated to the American scourge. It would be unfair to describe the ending other than to say much of what happens doesn’t make much sense, considering the biological agent that accidently started it all shouldn’t have the clout to do what it does.

Still, I recommend The Gemini Effect for readers who like their reads fast and furious with little in the way of character development. For the record, the book is apparently a substantial revision of an earlier edition titled The Mengele Effect, a title that actually makes more logical sense. While the book seems to be a stand-alone effort, there are threads left dangling for at least one possible sequel.

This review was first published at BookPleasures.com at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...

At long last! Return to Alpha, the sixth book of the Beta-Earth Chronicles, just went up at Amazon! Experience what our earth will be like 40 years in the future after global warming, the deveastation of waves of biological weapons, and the surprisingly unwelcome news we’re not alone in the universe.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0778JDBX7

The Arkhe Principle: A post-apocalyptic technothriller (Volume 1)
Maxwell Rudolf
Print Length: 314 pages
Publication Date: October 3, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ISBN: 154686654X
ASIN: B0764Z611D
https://www.amazon.com/Arkhe-Principl...

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton


One of the many Facebook writer groups I belong to is called “Grim dark Fiction Readers & Writers.” After today, when I think “Grim dark fiction,” I’m going to immediately think Max Rudolf’s The Arkhe Principle. That’s because, beginning with the very first page, readers are going to be buffeted with violence of every kind and variety. Rudolf labels his book “post-apocalyptic”; without question, it’s harder to get more dystopian than The Arkhe Principle.

In the grim and dark future set some 250 years from now, we’re in a time following a wave of biological weapons the despised Americans and their hated contractions unleashed. Now, the king of Britain, King Edward, the Saxons and the Romans, have a very loose alliance as they seek to destroy the Americans’ capital and their worship of their god, Thomas Jefferson. It’s a savage future where you won’t meet many good guys. Mostly killers and victims and victims turned killers.

The main characters we come to know through fragments and often psychedelic flashes include police inspector Rosie Rex, her son John, Dr. Victoria Tesla/Katherine Dueva, who is in one existence a failing student at the ruthless Institute, and Gungnir Odinson, a psychopathic murderer and rapist. Among the many strange circumstances that connect these people is the fact they were accurately described in the manual for the great Arkhe, a pre-times technical manual that no one can decipher. That’s because just starting to read the manual causes great distortions in perception, and saying the word causes reality changing ripples in the world.

Those reality changing ripples continually make The Arkhe Principle a challenging read as Rudolf plays with language to convey those alternate states. Here’s a brief sample:

error. Good evening, Dr. Tesla. As you know, everything may possessPlasstien, including food. Our workers at our core facility are due to solve this conundrum...
Line. Error 999. Victoria? Doctor Tesla?
Error by margin. See manual 35 for assistance. Rerouting Planks. Please stand by.
The screen nulled out and flashed blue three times.
"Unfortunately, this will render all non-neo animals as inedible. Extinction plans are still in process and are predicted to end in 25 years. Violence
is progression towards UNIFICATION ERROR." It sputtered. "DNA Number: 235-ATGC-21912$>_Alpha_Original, your disruptive genetic entanglement is forming
drastic unfortunate side effects..."
The form turned to static.

Other passages are much more linear and straight-forward, but all readers of The Arkhe Principle should be on notice the novel requires close attention and some rereading as you go along to keep track of the shifting realities in a very unusual time and place. It’s the sort of sci-fi that should appeal to readers who, again, like their fiction dark, grim, apocalyptic and challenging.


This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Feb. 11, 2018 at:
http://1clickurls.com/uXZj7ry

Damaged Beyond All Recognition (Infinity's Trinity Book 1)
Alan Felyk
Print Length: 361 pages
Publisher: Alan Felyk; 1 edition (January 1, 2018)
Publication Date: January 1, 2018
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B077VJGJCD
https://www.amazon.com/Damaged-Beyond...

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

I admit it. Alan Felyk has an imagination I simply envy. The tag line for his new Damaged Beyond All Recognition is “Extending the literary traditions of Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams ...” Vonnegut, certainly. Adams, well, from time to time. It’s certainly true that this novel is going to appeal to readers who like high-minded humor laced into a complex, layered yarn.

Three unusual protagonists anchor the proceedings. First, there’s Paul Tomenko who is a famous writer chronicling events in the counter-culture in Colorado in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Suddenly, he finds himself traveling to and from God's library somewhere outside the Universe. That’s the current God, the less than omnipotent being in a long chain of less than omnipotent beings.

For example, there’s no longer an afterlife for humanity to ascend to. Humans can no longer access memories from their past lives in previous versions of the Universe or acquire new memories. So who can replace God when he dies as he is coming very close to that point?

It’s Paul who has to find the solution to this dilemma with the help of his two lovers, the genius genetic Maggie Mae Monahan and the Sci-Fi novelist Allie Briarsworth who intuitively senses events from the past and future.

Paul’s brain creates some unusual supporting players like the gatekeeper to God’s archives who is a doppelganger for Cher and the very helpful librarian who is a doppelganger for actress Katharine Ross. Clearly, these women came from Paul’s unfulfilled carnal wishes. Toss in Gronk and Grita, two six-year-old neo-Neanderthals who are the most intelligent humans on Earth due to reconstructed DNA. Did I mention the story includes traveling across multiple planes of existence or a species of aliens who want to obliterate humanity so they can become the supreme creations of the cosmos?

Metaphysics have rarely been treated with such originality or irreverence. This is entertaining science fiction with a cerebral framework, lively tone, well-drawn characters (with overly restrained sex lives, sad to say), and the unexpected on nearly every page. You should probably make a point of not missing this one as you too might be a figment of Paul Tomenko’s imagination. Wait till you find out where you’ve been. Talk about a Big Bang . . .

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on April 24 at:
https://waa.ai/z5mq

This is a huge weekend for Wes Britton as Alpha Tales 2044 was just published on Nook, Kobo and iBooks. Tomorrow, Dec. 9, it’s coming out on Amazon! For this entry in the Beta-Earth Chronicles, you have your choice of e-books or paperback!

Link for Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/BNAT2044
Link for apple/ iBook http://bit.ly/IbAT2044
Link for Kobo http://bit.ly/ATK2044
Link to all stores http://bit.ly/B2RAT2044
Lulu paperback http://bit.ly/LUAT2044


Here are links to the first two posts in our ongoing blog tour—

https://www.kmmcfarland.com/blog/new-...

https://urbanhype101.wordpress.com/20...

https://www.kmmcfarland.com/blog/new-...


Stay tuned—more news as it comes in, hot off the press as they say!

Alpha Tales 2044: A Beta-Earth Chronicles Collection
Wesley Britton
Print Length: 173 pages
Publisher: Alien Vision (December 9, 2018)
Publication Date: December 9, 2018
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B07KJBSQG5

https://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Tales-20...

Reviewed by : Lisa Frankford O’Day
(Reprinted from Amazon with the author’s permission.)

5.0 out of 5 stars

A wonderful short story collection that will take you to unimagined places, each of them different, but all tied together by the Beta-Earth saga.

The first of the stories is taken right out of the Beta-Earth Chronicles; it stars one of my favorite characters, Sasperia. She and the Supreme Head of the Munchen Collective (love these titles!) save the world. And they do it with lots of adventure and excitement. And a bit of sadness.

Next is “The Fates of Evil Men”; this story takes us back to Alpha Earth – our earth – in a sort of dystopian virus plagued era. It is also full of twists and turns, and very unlike any other dystopian sort of story I’ve ever read. An excellent story with a surprising twist in the end, but still, not my favorite of this collection.

The next group of stories fill in some history of what happened to the earth, and some of the latest generation of the Renbourn’s trials and adventures. Followed by “Murder in the Canyon,” further fleshing out the family on this latter day earth. More trials for the family, and decisions made to, again, move on. Leading to “Sasquatch.” Which, in this version of Earth’s future, really exists. This is my favorite story of the whole collection.

I recommend anyone who likes science fiction, adventure, or even some romance, to try this collection – it is well written and fun to read!

This review will be reposted at the New Book Review blog on Dec. 23:

https://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com...

Alpha Tales 2044: The Beta-Earth Chronicles
Wesley Britton
Print Length: 173 pages
Publisher: Alien Vision (December 9, 2018)
Publication Date: December 9, 2018
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B07KJBSQG5
https://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Tales-20...

Reviewed by : Bobbi Chertok

5.0 out of 5 starsINTELLIGENT, HUMOROUS and EXCITING. BRAVO!
December 23, 2018

Dr. Wesley Britton's "Alpha Tales 2044: A Beta-Earth Chronicles Collection" gives new meaning to the word prequel. His characters spring back to life when their unique physical descriptions are revealed and their deeds and goals come into focus. Britton visits a fantasy world which shares the same problems as those on Earth. As they seek to cure a devastating virus, we aim to cure cancer. Years into climate change and confronting evil, Dr. Britton's heroes and heroines seek out ways to deal with the very same problems we have on Earth today. Intelligent, humorous and exciting. Bravo!