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Ell Donsaii #12
Impact!
“Impact" is the twelfth book in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers whose heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation that makes her a genius and provides her some astonishing athletic abilities.
In “Impact,” Ell’s been taken off the “Most Wanted” list and is resuming somewhat of a normal life. Her old friend Phil Zabrisk is on his way to Mars. One of her exploration rockets is about to land on an earthlike world.
Then an enormous comet crashes into Tau Ceti three, threatening the lives of the teecees there. Aliens that Ell and others have come to think of as friends. Phil falls on Mars, breaking his hip in a fashion that needs surgery soon if he’s not to be crippled.
Can she save her friends at Tau Ceti and is the risk of porting Phil back to Earth acceptable?
Oh, and her son Zage is confounding people right and left…
In “Impact,” Ell’s been taken off the “Most Wanted” list and is resuming somewhat of a normal life. Her old friend Phil Zabrisk is on his way to Mars. One of her exploration rockets is about to land on an earthlike world.
Then an enormous comet crashes into Tau Ceti three, threatening the lives of the teecees there. Aliens that Ell and others have come to think of as friends. Phil falls on Mars, breaking his hip in a fashion that needs surgery soon if he’s not to be crippled.
Can she save her friends at Tau Ceti and is the risk of porting Phil back to Earth acceptable?
Oh, and her son Zage is confounding people right and left…
253 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2014
403 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Laurence E. Dahners
62 books672 followersI was born on the island of Cyprus where my dad was employed as a mining engineer. We moved to the Philippines (more mining) when I was three and then to Arizona when I was 9. I went to med school at the University of Arizona and did a residency in Orthopaedics at the University of Kansas. I taught Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until I retired in 2017.
I've always loved science fiction and it's been great fun getting to write some. I also like music and have a little home recording studio. You can read more, listen to some music and look at some of my art, at http://laury.dahners.com/ if you like.
If you want to contact me, or be put on my email list to be notified when new books come out, just email me at ldahners@gmail.com
Laury Dahners
I've always loved science fiction and it's been great fun getting to write some. I also like music and have a little home recording studio. You can read more, listen to some music and look at some of my art, at http://laury.dahners.com/ if you like.
If you want to contact me, or be put on my email list to be notified when new books come out, just email me at ldahners@gmail.com
Laury Dahners
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 2, 2024
Really interesting!
October 14, 2014
The only legitimate complaint I can muster about this book is that it is so short. There is a great deal that happens in such a short story yet it doesn't feel forced or incomplete.
Ell learns to play golf, and the TeeCees face a disaster, Zane develops a personality and a few other things as well. In previous (odd numbered) books Dahners left a great deal hanging for the following story. This is a complete but very busy tale.
Ell learns to play golf, and the TeeCees face a disaster, Zane develops a personality and a few other things as well. In previous (odd numbered) books Dahners left a great deal hanging for the following story. This is a complete but very busy tale.
September 29, 2014
Have adored every one
I would recommend this book to everyone. Just seeing it makes my day so much better. if there could be a new one weekly, my life would be complete.
I would recommend this book to everyone. Just seeing it makes my day so much better. if there could be a new one weekly, my life would be complete.
October 23, 2015
i really didn't like the smart kid angle in the book
March 2, 2021
I haven’t come up with a better term so I will call these books “competency porn” (think Sherlock Holmes and James Bond). I LOVE competency porn so I blew through all the Ell Donsaii books in about two weeks. As a result I’m giving books 1-16 the same review. While these books largely hit my sweet spot, I recognized several imperfection but, before listing those, I want to first say I greatly enjoyed these books and so I encourage anyone who enjoys “competency porn” (I really hate that term) to give them a try.
The first problem is actually kind of a small, yet somewhat annoying: I had read the author’s Vaz series (alos recommended competency porn) immediately before this one. In fact the Ell Donsaii blurb did not make the book sound appealing to me and so I only gave them a try because I liked the Vaz series so much. Unfortunately this resulted in realizing the author re-used story lines. While this is disappointing it only slightly diminished my enjoyment and the Ell series, with its 16 books to Vaz’s 4, quickly moves beyond this issue.
The second problem is the author writes by recipe and that recipe is: Have multiple secondary story lines that remain unresolved at the end of the book to make the reader buy the next book. An example would be a main story line about terraforming Mars accompanied by a side story line about a vaccine. The Mars story will be resolved by the end of the book but the author will also have spent pages setting up a will he/won’t he for a character to secretly try the vaccine. While the author almost universally handles multiple story lines well, in the end I found this approach truly unfortunate as this author is good enough to keep readers coming back without this manipulation. In short, this author’s books would have been much better if treated as stand alones rather than installments.
Finally, from my point of view, the books are short. The three samples I took from the series were: 217, 210 and 210 pages. I view anything under 300 pages as short and prefer books 350 pages or longer. I must admit, however, that I got all of these books for $4 off Amazon so I don’t really feel shorted. Had I seen these books on a shelf in a book store I likely wouldn’t even have picked them up based on how thin they are.
Bottom line: While not perfect, these books are pretty easily worth the read for any lovers of competency porn.
The first problem is actually kind of a small, yet somewhat annoying: I had read the author’s Vaz series (alos recommended competency porn) immediately before this one. In fact the Ell Donsaii blurb did not make the book sound appealing to me and so I only gave them a try because I liked the Vaz series so much. Unfortunately this resulted in realizing the author re-used story lines. While this is disappointing it only slightly diminished my enjoyment and the Ell series, with its 16 books to Vaz’s 4, quickly moves beyond this issue.
The second problem is the author writes by recipe and that recipe is: Have multiple secondary story lines that remain unresolved at the end of the book to make the reader buy the next book. An example would be a main story line about terraforming Mars accompanied by a side story line about a vaccine. The Mars story will be resolved by the end of the book but the author will also have spent pages setting up a will he/won’t he for a character to secretly try the vaccine. While the author almost universally handles multiple story lines well, in the end I found this approach truly unfortunate as this author is good enough to keep readers coming back without this manipulation. In short, this author’s books would have been much better if treated as stand alones rather than installments.
Finally, from my point of view, the books are short. The three samples I took from the series were: 217, 210 and 210 pages. I view anything under 300 pages as short and prefer books 350 pages or longer. I must admit, however, that I got all of these books for $4 off Amazon so I don’t really feel shorted. Had I seen these books on a shelf in a book store I likely wouldn’t even have picked them up based on how thin they are.
Bottom line: While not perfect, these books are pretty easily worth the read for any lovers of competency porn.
June 5, 2020
Felix the Cat
I was one of the first TV generation. In the middle to late 1950's, many cartoons were popular, many of them being converted to voice-overs that were previously silent shorts. One of the most popular was Felix the Cat. Felix had a "magic bag of tricks" and whenever he got in a fix he would reach into his bag of tricks. One of the tricks was a foldable black hole that he would unfold and dive into, usually to hide from his enemy or to walk through a wall. Was this the inspiration for Dahners' PORTS? I have no idea, but it is strikingly similar. Without port technology the Donsaii series would not exist, at least in this form. Dahners continues to expand practical applications for these ports in Impact!, while at the same time speculating what it would be like to survive a major meteorite impact. The title is also a play on words in that these ports would have an amazing impact on technology and life as we know it. Over-riding all the technology, however, is the most important elements of life: compassion, caring, and love. Even with all of the technological "bag of tricks" that All Donsaii invents, it would not matter if not for the obvious love she has for humans and even aliens.
I was one of the first TV generation. In the middle to late 1950's, many cartoons were popular, many of them being converted to voice-overs that were previously silent shorts. One of the most popular was Felix the Cat. Felix had a "magic bag of tricks" and whenever he got in a fix he would reach into his bag of tricks. One of the tricks was a foldable black hole that he would unfold and dive into, usually to hide from his enemy or to walk through a wall. Was this the inspiration for Dahners' PORTS? I have no idea, but it is strikingly similar. Without port technology the Donsaii series would not exist, at least in this form. Dahners continues to expand practical applications for these ports in Impact!, while at the same time speculating what it would be like to survive a major meteorite impact. The title is also a play on words in that these ports would have an amazing impact on technology and life as we know it. Over-riding all the technology, however, is the most important elements of life: compassion, caring, and love. Even with all of the technological "bag of tricks" that All Donsaii invents, it would not matter if not for the obvious love she has for humans and even aliens.
December 17, 2024
This is another escalation free (almost) story. It's almost about the routine lives of Ell and others. Yes there are some challenges, Teecees struggle after the comet hit their planet and Phil's accident. But that's it. I didn't feel so much connected with either of them, and therefore, was almost detached to what happens to them. And knowing the Dahners' style, I knew from the start that they wont face much suffering and their issues would be sorted quite easily. No 'hero's journey' stuff.
Anyways, almost forgettable. The only that generated any emotions is when the scene at the music concert. That's it.
Although Dahners say that he keeps the scientific discoveries to one or two, in this series there are almost ten already, and I'm not counting the evolution of the main discoveries, eg PGR, and port tech.
It goes on to cure blindness in this book. All of these by very small group of people and most of them by Ell herself.And now Zage is also showing signs of becoming a scientist and I'm sure he'd have made some discovery/invention by next book.
Anyways, almost forgettable. The only that generated any emotions is when the scene at the music concert. That's it.
Although Dahners say that he keeps the scientific discoveries to one or two, in this series there are almost ten already, and I'm not counting the evolution of the main discoveries, eg PGR, and port tech.
It goes on to cure blindness in this book. All of these by very small group of people and most of them by Ell herself.And now Zage is also showing signs of becoming a scientist and I'm sure he'd have made some discovery/invention by next book.
July 11, 2018
Pretty great book
I have loved every single Laurence Dahners book I have read. This one too. But for the very first time I felt like it slowed down in spots. Not disastrously so, but noticeably so. I still look forward to the next one. I still feel like I can trust Mr Dahners to provide me with great reading. But I guess it is too much to ask for every single one to be terrific. But you merely very good is still wonderful.
I have loved every single Laurence Dahners book I have read. This one too. But for the very first time I felt like it slowed down in spots. Not disastrously so, but noticeably so. I still look forward to the next one. I still feel like I can trust Mr Dahners to provide me with great reading. But I guess it is too much to ask for every single one to be terrific. But you merely very good is still wonderful.
March 28, 2024
Absolutely addictive series, really glad there are more books to follow!!!!!
Congratulations to Lawrence Dahners for this amazing series. It’s hard to find such an interesting and exciting author who not only writes intelligently but also provides top rated plots, characters and excitement in the stories. I’m really looking forward to the next book.
Congratulations to Lawrence Dahners for this amazing series. It’s hard to find such an interesting and exciting author who not only writes intelligently but also provides top rated plots, characters and excitement in the stories. I’m really looking forward to the next book.
May 16, 2019
Book 12 - still incredibly good
When an author is twelve books into a series and the content is on par with the first, really good book, it's just danged impressive. Thank you sir.
This Amazon review is because perks are much deserved.
When an author is twelve books into a series and the content is on par with the first, really good book, it's just danged impressive. Thank you sir.
This Amazon review is because perks are much deserved.
January 20, 2021
Excellent!
I had never heard of the dinosaur paradox till I read this story, it's very interesting. The rest of it is good also, the work on the blind and the fast trip from Mars. Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself and the democrats stole the election.
I had never heard of the dinosaur paradox till I read this story, it's very interesting. The rest of it is good also, the work on the blind and the fast trip from Mars. Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself and the democrats stole the election.
February 22, 2022
Awesome
Another great and very fun addition to the series. Really loved how the multitude of characters tackled the various problems they were confronted with and Zage is a very interesting character as well.
Another great and very fun addition to the series. Really loved how the multitude of characters tackled the various problems they were confronted with and Zage is a very interesting character as well.
February 28, 2018
Excellent STORY!
Keeps you on the edge of your seat with the differing episodic events. Good character buildup and the story focuses on more than one character!
Keeps you on the edge of your seat with the differing episodic events. Good character buildup and the story focuses on more than one character!
June 7, 2018
Excellent
Read
May 12, 2020Good read
If you like science fiction books,you'll like this book. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.
If you like science fiction books,you'll like this book. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.
June 28, 2020
Crazy karma
I bet Ell as a child was also mystifying for her parents, and now she got it back in full with her super genius son!
I bet Ell as a child was also mystifying for her parents, and now she got it back in full with her super genius son!
January 14, 2021
Great story
I have enjoyed this fun filled story of the adventures of Eli Donsaii and her team of geniuses that push the boundaries of science.
I have enjoyed this fun filled story of the adventures of Eli Donsaii and her team of geniuses that push the boundaries of science.
November 7, 2021
Enjoyed the whole series.
January 27, 2022
Not what I thought this would be... good read :)
December 21, 2023
good reading
ok, but a little to much of her being right all the time, or seems like. Still good reading though.
ok, but a little to much of her being right all the time, or seems like. Still good reading though.
February 7, 2025
Another good read
Like the previous books, a good read. Little more action would be nice. The kid is a suprise. Keep it up
Like the previous books, a good read. Little more action would be nice. The kid is a suprise. Keep it up
July 5, 2025
New sight possible and tragically a planet is destroyed.
February 17, 2017
This serie is an interesting project. It starts with a question "what would happen if ..." and the books try to answer it.
It is a light, quick and easily readable set of books. Well written and enjoyable.
It is a light, quick and easily readable set of books. Well written and enjoyable.
July 30, 2016
Great read definitely worth price
It made sit up and think, made me laugh and gave me lows and a little tearing up (because I am a father and I have been through the getting bullied with my kids). I though the price was a little high for the page number but I can't argue with the quality being worth it. Do I recommend - of course! This series continues with good characters and storylines. I continue to learn something each time I read one of the books in this series.
It made sit up and think, made me laugh and gave me lows and a little tearing up (because I am a father and I have been through the getting bullied with my kids). I though the price was a little high for the page number but I can't argue with the quality being worth it. Do I recommend - of course! This series continues with good characters and storylines. I continue to learn something each time I read one of the books in this series.
February 8, 2015
I must say that I enjoyed this story more than many of the other books in the series. Little Zage Kinrais is quite a character - the kid I would love to call my own. Also, there are just a number of "feel-good" moments in the story that I enjoyed without feeling they were contrived or forced. I highly recommend this book but suggest that readers go for the first 11 books before reading this one.
August 17, 2016
Zage is fun.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews