The Greatest Story Ever Told

by Una McCormack

Iss, a humble kitchen slave who likes to tell stories, finds herself caught up in perhaps the greatest story of them all. Little does she imagine when she stumbles on the small rebellion of Seffish, Crith, and the other dance-fighters she admires so much, how far that
rebellion will spread. An ordinary soul caught up in
extraordinary events, Iss soon finds herself at the heart of an uprising that threatens to overthrow the social order and reshape a world.

Set on a strictly hierarchical Mars, Una McCormack’s The Greatest Story Ever Told is a breathless, stirring tale of bravery, love, passion, and the desire to be free.

Genres: Science Fiction, Novella

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2018

About the author

Una McCormack is a British writer and the author of several Star Trek novels and stories.

Ms. McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written four Doctor Who novels: The King's Dragon and The Way through the Woods (featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory); Royal Blood (featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara), and Molten Heart (featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham). She is also the author of numerous audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.

Reviews

[Helen Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella crackles with good, old fashioned storytelling wit and wonder. I felt like the theme song to Firefly was humming in the background of my head as I was reading it.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit that this is probably the least enjoyable out of the series (not that this is a reflection of the story – rather how it connected to me). The story itself also – unless I missed something – is the most tenuously connected to Mars as well – at times confusingly so. The story itself (without giving away spoilers) is a rebellion story told from an intriguing point of view. I guess the combination of the cover artwork and the title does give it a biblical perspective. Which is further reinforced by the parable style stories you come across within the main dialogue (further than that you will need to read the story).

But it does beggar the question does the cover artwork reflect what is in the story? I know from my Papertiger collection that you find out from the artists that they do get copies of the story to read or at the very least a basic overview but I guess there is also an element of creative license too. I know that back in the 80s the covers were more often than not totally unrelated to the story and acted more as bait to the potential reader – window dressing if you like to lure them in.

Anyway I am sorry to say that this was not the best of the quartet although I get the feeling that it was more my own failing that the author. I am however deeply impressed by the series and will now look at trying some of such sets from Newcon.

[Lee Pfahler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third book by this author that I have read none of which are her media tie-in stories. The story is set on Mars but that connection is never very strong so it could have happened anywhere. The plot is rather disjointed making it hard to follow at times and doesn't fulfill what it was trying to do. The more interesting parts were the mythic stories interspersed throughout the main story. Perhaps if the novella were to be filled out to a full novel it would be better and more cohesive. Nonetheless I think this author has a lot of potential!

[Tim Pieraccini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superbly written re-imagining of Spartacus as an all-female revolt on Mars. Una M is more interested in the group dynamics and relationships than the actual struggle, though this is a clear love letter to what we now call key workers, with some mythic/fairy-tale inserts and some grand Tolkienesque flourishes, especially in the early stages.
Be warned; it's excellent and absorbing, but a little bleak.

[david james · Rating 2 out of 5]

Any book that has the title 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' has put itself under pressure before the cover is opened.

This is a short novella of around 115 pages, that is part of a set of 4 books published by New Con press, but can be read as a stand alone as each book in the set is by a different author and only loosely connected. I haven't read any of the other books in the set as this was received in a book pack from New Con press (albeit being the bonus of a signed limited edition hardback copy).

This is a new author for me and I really wanted to like the book, but it floundered somewhat. It was told in the first person by a downtrodden inhabitant of Mars (human or not we never find out) who finds herself in the midst of a rebellion (who they are rebelling against is also vague). It is in a style slightly reminiscent of Feersum Endjinn, but with a much easier to read dialect, and nowhere near the same level of complexity or storytelling.

There were too many instances of the character referring back to the present (for example, 'we now know that this didn't happen' or 'of course, we know now that that was the best it would be',) and so the book was creating it's own spoilers. The 'greatest' story also didn't seem to know where it was going. It wasn't badly written and it was almost worth three stars, but the book seemed to be building to a big ending with a twist that would have made the book worth reading, but then the author forgot to include an ending. After you've read the last words, you're left thinking 'Is that it?'. Although, if there is a sequel, I'm not sure I could make the effort to read it.