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Echoes Of The Forgotten
462 pages, Paperback
Published May 22, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 18, 2025
This was a very perplexing book, whose meaning absolutely eludes me and will probably elude me for a long while still. It's military horror, though with a lot of philosophy and metaphysical questioning thrown in, a tale overwhelmingly complex and dense. The premise seems simple and straightforward at first sight: soldiers mysteriously isolated in a bunker after some never precisely explained Event, find themselves the victims of a huge conspiracy involving an AI, an artifact, an experiment, and an enormously ambiguous plan of the US Army weaponizing the paranormal. OK, on second thought this may not be as simple a premise as I initially believed, but compared to what comes after (this is a 500 page book!), it's definitely much simpler than the main plot.
The story develops in circles, and sometimes there are alternative chapters included, and plenty of back-and-forth as the soldiers go deeper and deeper into the bunker. Supernatural phenomena start happening, strong indications of which were already present even before the soldiers begin wandering about. Endless debates and bickering among them follow as well, since the bunker seems to slowly transform into a trap, sealing them in. But things go really haywire when they realize that something is trying to communicate with them, forcing them to choose or decide humanity's fate: a super-strong AI has gone rogue and demands certain tasks to be done, tasks with as much sinister as existentially critical significance. By that time, the author has started enlarging the (practically all male) cast, bringing more and more military people into the story, drawn from upper levels of command. Revelations of great interest ensue, albeit in a truly relentless pace, almost inhuman: labyrinthine complexities come up every couple of chapters, and a web of many different threads (moral, political, military, social, metaphysical, technological) is set up, through which the story keeps trying to go forward - and step by step, a certain understanding coalesces penetrating the fog and offering a compass to both readers and characters to keep reading to the end.
This is my first time reading this author, and if I've grasped correctly what he's trying to do, I appreciate his ambition and vision for this kind of book. Several of his other books seem to be alternative versions of this story. So I'll treat this as a debut novel, mentioning a couple of things which really bummed me out: there's way too much repetition from chapter to chapter, way too slow pacing, way too much debating, and way too little action for a military horror novel. Fair enough, this may not be a typical novel of this genre, but this kind of almost "mechanically" produced writing ends up keeping some great sci-fi ideas concealed behind the clunky prose and the interminable and repetitive dialogue. Plus the book ends on a cliffhanger, without making it apparent how the story might reasonably continue.
In sum, this is a tale with great speculative potential, containing several intriguing ideas about the purposes of AIs and how intelligence may affect the laws of reality. There are explicit nods to Stanislaw Lem, Philip K. Dick, and Jeff Van Der Meer's Annihilation, though the general lack of atmosphere and suspense make the book far more pedestrian than anything they wrote. Strangely, this may be intentional on the part of the author, since there's an underlying impression that the book is trying to convey a sense of inevitability usually found in blunt trial testimonies or dry police reports rather than fiction.
The story develops in circles, and sometimes there are alternative chapters included, and plenty of back-and-forth as the soldiers go deeper and deeper into the bunker. Supernatural phenomena start happening, strong indications of which were already present even before the soldiers begin wandering about. Endless debates and bickering among them follow as well, since the bunker seems to slowly transform into a trap, sealing them in. But things go really haywire when they realize that something is trying to communicate with them, forcing them to choose or decide humanity's fate: a super-strong AI has gone rogue and demands certain tasks to be done, tasks with as much sinister as existentially critical significance. By that time, the author has started enlarging the (practically all male) cast, bringing more and more military people into the story, drawn from upper levels of command. Revelations of great interest ensue, albeit in a truly relentless pace, almost inhuman: labyrinthine complexities come up every couple of chapters, and a web of many different threads (moral, political, military, social, metaphysical, technological) is set up, through which the story keeps trying to go forward - and step by step, a certain understanding coalesces penetrating the fog and offering a compass to both readers and characters to keep reading to the end.
This is my first time reading this author, and if I've grasped correctly what he's trying to do, I appreciate his ambition and vision for this kind of book. Several of his other books seem to be alternative versions of this story. So I'll treat this as a debut novel, mentioning a couple of things which really bummed me out: there's way too much repetition from chapter to chapter, way too slow pacing, way too much debating, and way too little action for a military horror novel. Fair enough, this may not be a typical novel of this genre, but this kind of almost "mechanically" produced writing ends up keeping some great sci-fi ideas concealed behind the clunky prose and the interminable and repetitive dialogue. Plus the book ends on a cliffhanger, without making it apparent how the story might reasonably continue.
In sum, this is a tale with great speculative potential, containing several intriguing ideas about the purposes of AIs and how intelligence may affect the laws of reality. There are explicit nods to Stanislaw Lem, Philip K. Dick, and Jeff Van Der Meer's Annihilation, though the general lack of atmosphere and suspense make the book far more pedestrian than anything they wrote. Strangely, this may be intentional on the part of the author, since there's an underlying impression that the book is trying to convey a sense of inevitability usually found in blunt trial testimonies or dry police reports rather than fiction.
February 16, 2026
Echoes of the Forgotten by Mathew G. Alfes is a haunting post apocalyptic thriller set inside a forgotten Cold War bunker.
Years after the world ended, Captain Howard Claesson and his remaining crew still wait for orders that never come. Supplies are fading, morale is breaking, and something inside the bunker feels wrong. The walls seem to knock in response. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Men begin to crack under the silence.
Then the radio comes alive, broadcasting Claesson’s own voice.
As reality bends and buried secrets surface, Claesson must confront the possibility that the bunker was never just a shelter. Dark, claustrophobic, and unsettling, Echoes of the Forgotten explores isolation, memory, and the fear of something awakening underground.
Years after the world ended, Captain Howard Claesson and his remaining crew still wait for orders that never come. Supplies are fading, morale is breaking, and something inside the bunker feels wrong. The walls seem to knock in response. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Men begin to crack under the silence.
Then the radio comes alive, broadcasting Claesson’s own voice.
As reality bends and buried secrets surface, Claesson must confront the possibility that the bunker was never just a shelter. Dark, claustrophobic, and unsettling, Echoes of the Forgotten explores isolation, memory, and the fear of something awakening underground.
February 26, 2026
This book delivers a chilling blend of psychological thriller and sci-fi horror. The Cold War bunker setting is brilliantly claustrophobic, amplifying the paranoia that seeps into every interaction.
The mystery unfolds in fragments — distorted recordings, shifting rooms, repeating orders — forcing the reader to question what is real alongside Claesson. The idea that the bunker may be evolving, or remembering, adds a haunting metaphysical layer.
It’s not just about survival. It’s about identity. About memory. About whether we are living beings — or echoes of something else.
A tense, thought-provoking read.
The mystery unfolds in fragments — distorted recordings, shifting rooms, repeating orders — forcing the reader to question what is real alongside Claesson. The idea that the bunker may be evolving, or remembering, adds a haunting metaphysical layer.
It’s not just about survival. It’s about identity. About memory. About whether we are living beings — or echoes of something else.
A tense, thought-provoking read.
March 10, 2026
I truly enjoyed reading your book. The atmosphere you created inside the bunker is incredibly haunting and immersive. From the very beginning, the sense of isolation and quiet dread pulled me in, and it only deepened as the story unfolded. The way you portrayed the psychological strain on the crew especially through Captain Howard Claesson felt very real and unsettling.
Overall, this was a gripping and atmospheric read. Your storytelling and world-building made the bunker feel like a character of its own, and the themes of memory, identity, and isolation were handled beautifully. Thank you for sharing such a compelling and unsettling story.
Overall, this was a gripping and atmospheric read. Your storytelling and world-building made the bunker feel like a character of its own, and the themes of memory, identity, and isolation were handled beautifully. Thank you for sharing such a compelling and unsettling story.
March 9, 2026
Echoes of the Forgotten by Mathew G. Alfes is a creative and exciting sci-fi thriller filled with mystery, tension, and imagination. The story keeps you curious from start to finish, and the eerie bunker setting makes it a really fun and memorable read. Great job by the author for crafting such an engaging story! I happily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspenseful science fiction.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews