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Miasma
Miasma is a colony world, isolated from the rest of humanity. The various communities living there accept their unique technological and social constraints without really examining them, and carry on being an advanced human civilisation as best they can.
Lanton the packet runner, Emi the librarian, and Mokan the (arguably) mad scientist are each dissatisfied in different ways. Their three points of view take the story through mystery, thwarted passion, and life-threatening danger, ultimately facing a sinister explanation for what the Miasma colony really is.
Lanton the packet runner, Emi the librarian, and Mokan the (arguably) mad scientist are each dissatisfied in different ways. Their three points of view take the story through mystery, thwarted passion, and life-threatening danger, ultimately facing a sinister explanation for what the Miasma colony really is.
223 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 25, 2015
7 people want to read
About the author
Pete Alex Harris
11 books13 followersI mostly write SF, low-magic fantasy, and short horror.
My first fantasy novel, The Silk Mind is a semi-serious adventure story. Its sequel, The Source of Fire carries on the tale 12 years later, and some of the more serious implications of the back-story.
My first SF novel, Miasma, has a little bit of romance and a little bit of puzzle, set on a far-future human colony. It's told from the viewpoints of three different people.
I have some short horror tales on the Shadows At The Door website.
My current WIP is a darkish SF novel called disOrder.
My first fantasy novel, The Silk Mind is a semi-serious adventure story. Its sequel, The Source of Fire carries on the tale 12 years later, and some of the more serious implications of the back-story.
My first SF novel, Miasma, has a little bit of romance and a little bit of puzzle, set on a far-future human colony. It's told from the viewpoints of three different people.
I have some short horror tales on the Shadows At The Door website.
My current WIP is a darkish SF novel called disOrder.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 23, 2016
Disclaimer: I wrote it, so obviously I liked it. There were plenty of chances to make it not happen if I hadn't!
So this is not a review to say how good the book it, but what kind of book it is, which will be more use to you if you want to know whether you'd like to try it or not.
It's a science fiction story in humanity's (far?) future, with moderate science content, which I've tried to get right. It's also to some extent a mystery and a romance. I'll acknowledge right now that this being my first self-pub novel, I did some things less well than others.
The characters, their voices and their motivations, I hope you will like. It's in three parts, each with a different POV character, and with some overlap of events, it's clear they don't see things the same way. It was fun writing that.
To be honest, pace is a little uneven. It's slow to start, and slow again at the start of part three. Not a fatal flaw I hope, but not a commercially winning strategy in the age of the Amazon Kindle sample download :(
I think I pulled everything together to fit and express the central theme, so there is that.
There are sample scenes and discussion of how I wrote it on my blog, plus I give away free copies for the asking, usually, so try before you buy.
So this is not a review to say how good the book it, but what kind of book it is, which will be more use to you if you want to know whether you'd like to try it or not.
It's a science fiction story in humanity's (far?) future, with moderate science content, which I've tried to get right. It's also to some extent a mystery and a romance. I'll acknowledge right now that this being my first self-pub novel, I did some things less well than others.
The characters, their voices and their motivations, I hope you will like. It's in three parts, each with a different POV character, and with some overlap of events, it's clear they don't see things the same way. It was fun writing that.
To be honest, pace is a little uneven. It's slow to start, and slow again at the start of part three. Not a fatal flaw I hope, but not a commercially winning strategy in the age of the Amazon Kindle sample download :(
I think I pulled everything together to fit and express the central theme, so there is that.
There are sample scenes and discussion of how I wrote it on my blog, plus I give away free copies for the asking, usually, so try before you buy.
January 30, 2018
I've been a fan of Pete Harris' work since I first edited his short story, 'Under Shiel Croft', for the Shadows at the Door anthology. I was naturally optimistic when picking up 'Miasma' and I'm pleased to say that the high quality of his sci-fi work perfectly matches the quality of his horror fare.
I generally feel that authors tend towards being world or character builders rather than both, but 'Miasma' does a good job of showing Pete's talent in both regards - the damp, misty swamplands of the terraformed world that gives the book its name are suitably gloomy, just as the characters are pleasingly observed. Indeed, it is the characters - the gentle, unassuming package delivery man, Layton, the socially withdrawn librarian, Emi and the brilliant-but-arrogant scientist, Mokan - that are the true strength of this work. If I were looking towards ways in which I feel the story could be improved, I would be tempted to argue that Emi through her own eyes is very different to Emi as seen by the others - but this could just be a matter of perspectives - and if I were being overly critical, the reveal of the last few pages seems a little trite and perhaps unnecessary. Still, these are minor criticisms - this is an excellent book from a very talented author, and I would encourage you to give it a go.
I generally feel that authors tend towards being world or character builders rather than both, but 'Miasma' does a good job of showing Pete's talent in both regards - the damp, misty swamplands of the terraformed world that gives the book its name are suitably gloomy, just as the characters are pleasingly observed. Indeed, it is the characters - the gentle, unassuming package delivery man, Layton, the socially withdrawn librarian, Emi and the brilliant-but-arrogant scientist, Mokan - that are the true strength of this work. If I were looking towards ways in which I feel the story could be improved, I would be tempted to argue that Emi through her own eyes is very different to Emi as seen by the others - but this could just be a matter of perspectives - and if I were being overly critical, the reveal of the last few pages seems a little trite and perhaps unnecessary. Still, these are minor criticisms - this is an excellent book from a very talented author, and I would encourage you to give it a go.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews