#Review Unto Leviathan

Forgotten it already! #Writing success and not so much

#Review Unto Leviathan

#Review “Unto Leviathan” by Richard Paul Russo

Pub in 2001 as ‘Ship of Fools’

Normally I enjoy ark ship along with Big Dumb Object (BDO) tales and this one has both. In many ways I did like Unto Leviathan, the mysteries on the planet Antioch and the strange, apparently lifeless alien spaceship as told through Bartolemeo. He’s a strong character with bionic limbs and whose closest friends, the Captain and Pars, another oddity, are of similar age, experience, voice and desires – as if three aspects of one. Bartolemeo has a love interest too in the Bishop’s right-hand woman, Veronica. Sadly it is platonic but it all adds to the mystery. For me there’s too much religion in this adventure, and that in spite of the atheism declared by most of the main characters including the Bishop! We have the stereotype that all aliens are evil and malicious, and for me there’s no satisfactory ending nor solutions to many of the conflicts. Spoiler: interesting that the alien ship sprouted tentacle-like arms much like the Cthulhu creature of Lovecraft dark fantasy and a kind of match for the biblical and in this case eponymous Leviathan.

There are few turns of phrase I wish I’d written. One is “a dark, mental creature of doubt.” Don’t we all have those? Lovely. A page-turner for those yearning for deep space travel.

Nelder News

Just finished the first draft of a hard science fiction story to be submitted to Rosie Oliver for a Sferics Anthology. My story, Angular Size, plays with our perception of size. The Moon, for example, is smaller than the size of our tiniest coin when held at arm’s length. That apparent size is know as Angular Size. What if an object slid into view alongside the Moon that appeared to be the same angular size but in fact that was its real size – ie a tiny coin. How could that work? How would people respond? The story is being treated to critique at the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) Orbiters currently. I had problems because in my early draft I had religious zealots and the Puerto Rican mafia Asociación Ñeta, or simply Ñeta, threatening the main character, while she works at the Arecibo Radio Telescope. However, that ran into way over the 9,000 word limit so much to lose.

Meanwhile two of my short stories, Blue Ice and The Examination have been accepted for a Rave Soup Anthology to be published any minute. I’ve sent a paper version of my children’s illustrated fiction, String Theory to a publisher Fledging Press in Edinburgh. All digits crossed they love it enough. (Not loving it enough has become the #1 cliché reason for rejection). Xaghra’s Revenge – a paranormal / historical fantasy has been sent to Pendragon Press for consideration.

Up to the winter solstice and Christmas. Seeking an epic escape from humdrummery? Get lost in this post-apocalyptic gem,

ARIA smarturl.it/1fexhs that’s the Kindle link.

Paperback Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/ARIA-Left-Luggage-Volume-1/dp/1905091958/

Paperback UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/ARIA-Left-Luggage-Geoff-Nelder/dp/1905091958/

Publisher’s website with more details and formats. http://www.ll-publications.com/leftluggage.html

Buy it quick before you run out of memory!

You tube video trailer

http://youtu.be/oh0AAXIe8VU

Fancy a short horror set in the warm Malta waters? Voyage of the Silents

One of my wife’s colleagues ran into a container. Clarify Nelder. Okay, he was sailing to the Isle of Man and the container had fallen off a ship. To a writer of spooky stories this is a rich start to a horror story. What’s in the container? Surely not people, yes but what kind of people… It’s called Voyage of the Silents, published by Pennyshorts for less than a cup of tea

http://bit.ly/1HHmBYS