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Worldender
Lucy Castle is not afraid to take risks as long as the pay is good. But when she accepts a lucrative offer from a tall stranger in a plague doctor mask, she starts to question her life choices.
The sky is falling and they have three days to save the world from an alien made bio-weapon turning children into mutated killing machines.
A girl used to the weight of the world on her shoulders now holds its fate in her hands.
The sky is falling and they have three days to save the world from an alien made bio-weapon turning children into mutated killing machines.
A girl used to the weight of the world on her shoulders now holds its fate in her hands.
408 pages, Paperback
Published October 5, 2021
About the author
Nick Nikolov
2 books3 followersI used to read fantasy in high school and play a lot of video games,
emphasis mainly on games. My first encounter with amazing storytelling was in a game called Legacy of Kain: Soul
Reaver for a hard-to-come-by Playstation console, you read that right, the very first Playstation. The importance of amazing stories became starkly apparent since that encounter. In the coming years up until graduation from University with a bachelor’s degree in Automation, games were the main source of gripping narratives. Upon entering the workforce, the need to create grew so great, that a change had to be made. The choice being, either suffocate the creative drive or attempt to get good at writing. And here we are, after seven years of struggles, two and sometimes three jobs at once, and a lot of hard lessons learned, finally, an actual book that can be read!
emphasis mainly on games. My first encounter with amazing storytelling was in a game called Legacy of Kain: Soul
Reaver for a hard-to-come-by Playstation console, you read that right, the very first Playstation. The importance of amazing stories became starkly apparent since that encounter. In the coming years up until graduation from University with a bachelor’s degree in Automation, games were the main source of gripping narratives. Upon entering the workforce, the need to create grew so great, that a change had to be made. The choice being, either suffocate the creative drive or attempt to get good at writing. And here we are, after seven years of struggles, two and sometimes three jobs at once, and a lot of hard lessons learned, finally, an actual book that can be read!
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 16, 2022
I would like to thank Foul Fantasy Fiction, Bear Hill Publishing and BookSirens, who allowed me to read this advanced review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Lucy works a couple of jobs – one at the small grocery store across the street from where she lives and the other making deliveries on her bike. She’s trying to make enough money to pay for her mother’s medication, which is pretty expensive. Lucy’s smart, pretty sassy and has a great best friend, Sarah. One day, at the grocery, one of the regular customers bought some oranges, without realizing that one of them carried an alien virus of a form that could only infect children and it turned kids into psycho killers. It spread incredibly fast. Luckily for Earth, an alien by the name of Dr. Emidius, had come to Earth to look for and contain the virus. Lucy offered to help him, and they go out hunting rampaging children. I liked Lucy’s character most of the time, but I just wasn’t buying the alien guy with a beak at all. What had started out as a pretty good story somehow just devolved into Lucy and Emidius slaughtering infected children and I just wanted it to end (just not as suddenly as it did).
November 30, 2021
Reading this book played out like a movie - I couldn’t wait to pick it up again and see where the story was heading.
I felt it was slow at the start, but every part of the story was interesting, so although the real action and the horror aspect didn’t really kick in until around a third of the way in, I was still gripped by the characters and plot.
The characters are well written, and the relationship between Lucy and the Doctor is strangely sweet.
This book has plenty of action, fun sci-fi and some gore (I could’ve gone for a little more, but I’m a gorehoud…). I’d recommend it to any sci-fi and/or horror fan for a fun, cinematic read.
I received a review copy of this book, and would like to thank the author and Book Sirens for the opportunity to read and give my honest opinion.
I felt it was slow at the start, but every part of the story was interesting, so although the real action and the horror aspect didn’t really kick in until around a third of the way in, I was still gripped by the characters and plot.
The characters are well written, and the relationship between Lucy and the Doctor is strangely sweet.
This book has plenty of action, fun sci-fi and some gore (I could’ve gone for a little more, but I’m a gorehoud…). I’d recommend it to any sci-fi and/or horror fan for a fun, cinematic read.
I received a review copy of this book, and would like to thank the author and Book Sirens for the opportunity to read and give my honest opinion.
December 5, 2021
A friend recommended this book to me because I love Evil Dead and thought I would like it. This book certainly didn't disappoint on that front. Except instead of people being taken over by an ancient demonic force, it's children getting infected by an alien disease that turns them into Richard Cronenberg style monsters. Pretty cool, if you can dismiss the fact that this is happening to children, which is a terrible tragedy that feels a little glossed over, but the tone of the book makes this less problematic than it sounds. I also loved the interactions between the MC Lucy and the plague doctor. Who doesn't love a good plague doctor, am I right? Only this one is from outer space. I did, however, find the story lagging in the beginning and it took a while to get going. I personally thought some of the action scenes were a bit too detailed where I found myself skimming through a bit. There was also a romantic element, that although I always love in books, felt a bit on the forced side and could have been written out. Other than that, it's a great first book for this author and look forward to more of what he has to offer. Fans of Raimi and Cronenberg will definitely get what they came for with this one.
November 16, 2022
Aliens and rampaging zombie infection… this is a page turner, not a relaxing read.
Lucy is a well-drawn heroine—street smart and hardboiled, but not in a superficial, wise-cracking way. She does crack wise (she’s a fun character), but she is also a deeply ethical person who carries heavy burdens and is a determined fighter. When the alien doctor arrives on the scene, he immediately recognizes her qualities and skill set and enlists her in the battle ahead.
The Doctor, too, is appealing, possessing alien-world intelligence and a dispassionate focus on the job to be done (i.e., saving the world). But, happily, he is not unsusceptible to the many charms of our heroine.
I call bs on reviews that say the romance is unnecessary to the story. A romantic b-plot is as old as narrative. Because it works. Why it works is maybe a question for the anthropologists. At any rate, Lucy and the Doctor are a winning pair.
The main plot focuses on Lucy and the Doctor’s world-saving mission. A combination of character and chance positions these two as humanity’s best hope as a devastating virus tears through the population, converting children into sadistic predators and plague super spreaders.
The story attends to details of its setting, including highly realistic descriptions of things like the run on banks that follows the initial outbreak, and of the knife shop proprietor, with his “smooth” voice—“like someone on TV trying to sell you jewelry after midnight.” (I love the specificity of this simile.) It also makes use of the Doctor’s alien-visitor literalism, springing off of his misunderstandings for dialogue-driven exposition.
Time flew while I was reading this story.
Lucy is a well-drawn heroine—street smart and hardboiled, but not in a superficial, wise-cracking way. She does crack wise (she’s a fun character), but she is also a deeply ethical person who carries heavy burdens and is a determined fighter. When the alien doctor arrives on the scene, he immediately recognizes her qualities and skill set and enlists her in the battle ahead.
The Doctor, too, is appealing, possessing alien-world intelligence and a dispassionate focus on the job to be done (i.e., saving the world). But, happily, he is not unsusceptible to the many charms of our heroine.
I call bs on reviews that say the romance is unnecessary to the story. A romantic b-plot is as old as narrative. Because it works. Why it works is maybe a question for the anthropologists. At any rate, Lucy and the Doctor are a winning pair.
The main plot focuses on Lucy and the Doctor’s world-saving mission. A combination of character and chance positions these two as humanity’s best hope as a devastating virus tears through the population, converting children into sadistic predators and plague super spreaders.
The story attends to details of its setting, including highly realistic descriptions of things like the run on banks that follows the initial outbreak, and of the knife shop proprietor, with his “smooth” voice—“like someone on TV trying to sell you jewelry after midnight.” (I love the specificity of this simile.) It also makes use of the Doctor’s alien-visitor literalism, springing off of his misunderstandings for dialogue-driven exposition.
Time flew while I was reading this story.
October 26, 2022
Nick Nikolov's Worldender follows Lucy Castle as she endeavors to help an otherworldly creature prevent the end of the world. Readers are dropped right into the middle of the action from the prologue, and get a sense for how serious this bio-weapon is. We follow Lucy's struggle to make ends meet, followed by her encounter with the Plague Doctor and the creature it hunts. Each story beat feels intentional, and when it comes to the final showdown readers are bound to feel all of the story's tension release quite nicely.
While I agree with other readers that the opening chapters from Lucy's perspective drag on a little, I also felt like they were necessary to establish Lucy as a character and her motivations for helping the plague doctor. I never got the sense that a bit of dialogue was out of place, or that a scene didn't advance the plot. I devoured this book, and eagerly dove into each chapter with excitement, anxiousness, and a sense of dread that I think Nikolov was trying to evoke.
My one issue with the story was how lightly the infection of children was handled. I think the first scene where readers understand the severity of the situation was well done, and many scenes after it were very enjoyable for me. I will warn readers that, while I enjoy gore and terrible consequences in fiction, not everyone does and should read this one with caution. Overall, I thought that this was a great introduction to Nikolov's writing, and I look forward to seeing what he writes next!
While I agree with other readers that the opening chapters from Lucy's perspective drag on a little, I also felt like they were necessary to establish Lucy as a character and her motivations for helping the plague doctor. I never got the sense that a bit of dialogue was out of place, or that a scene didn't advance the plot. I devoured this book, and eagerly dove into each chapter with excitement, anxiousness, and a sense of dread that I think Nikolov was trying to evoke.
My one issue with the story was how lightly the infection of children was handled. I think the first scene where readers understand the severity of the situation was well done, and many scenes after it were very enjoyable for me. I will warn readers that, while I enjoy gore and terrible consequences in fiction, not everyone does and should read this one with caution. Overall, I thought that this was a great introduction to Nikolov's writing, and I look forward to seeing what he writes next!
November 5, 2021
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I wasn't sure what to rate this book to begin with. It some aspects it is a 5, in others a 4, and in some aspects only a 3. I decided to go with 4 for the following reasons:
- Although I didn't find it to be sophisticated sci-fi like I usually go for, it was marketed as like "the classic sci-fi horror alien invasion movies like The Blob." It definitely lived up to this statement. It was gory and sometimes funny. But it wasn't a comedy by any means.
- I really liked the characters. Though I found the main hero, Lucy, to be a bit cliched (tough girl with a chip on her shoulder), she was well developed enough that she made sense and didn't come off as a stereotype.
- The interactions between the Lucy and the Doctor character were fun and complex. They made me laugh a few times. I found myself rooting for their strange friendship (why can't these crazy kids just get along!)
- The story, though not complicated, was interesting enough to keep me going regardless of the fact that this type of action/horror is not my kind of thing.
Overall it was a fun read, and I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to people who enjoy things like the b-movie horrors like the one mentioned above.
I wasn't sure what to rate this book to begin with. It some aspects it is a 5, in others a 4, and in some aspects only a 3. I decided to go with 4 for the following reasons:
- Although I didn't find it to be sophisticated sci-fi like I usually go for, it was marketed as like "the classic sci-fi horror alien invasion movies like The Blob." It definitely lived up to this statement. It was gory and sometimes funny. But it wasn't a comedy by any means.
- I really liked the characters. Though I found the main hero, Lucy, to be a bit cliched (tough girl with a chip on her shoulder), she was well developed enough that she made sense and didn't come off as a stereotype.
- The interactions between the Lucy and the Doctor character were fun and complex. They made me laugh a few times. I found myself rooting for their strange friendship (why can't these crazy kids just get along!)
- The story, though not complicated, was interesting enough to keep me going regardless of the fact that this type of action/horror is not my kind of thing.
Overall it was a fun read, and I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to people who enjoy things like the b-movie horrors like the one mentioned above.
October 11, 2022
A very solid debut novel written by Nick Nikolov. Nikolov flawlessly blends together sci-fi and a video game feel, culminating in a fascinating fast-paced book that will keep readers engaged until the end.
I will say, however, that there are certainly elements of this book that feel very much like a debut novel. It felt too long and tedious at times, the romantic storyline felt forced and it didn't really add much of a dynamic to the overall story. On the whole, the story could have been 50-100 pages shorter and I think it would have made for a more cohesive and exciting read. Additionally, I would love to see this as a graphic novel--at times it felt very much like one, so even just an addition of some graphics would have been cool. Some of Nikolov's descriptions deserve that much.
With that said, it really was a great read and the plot was so interesting and imaginative. Nikolov clearly has a wondrous imagination and did a lot of background work to make this book come alive, which I am immensely pleased about. I deeply look forward to seeing where Nick Nikolov goes next.
I will say, however, that there are certainly elements of this book that feel very much like a debut novel. It felt too long and tedious at times, the romantic storyline felt forced and it didn't really add much of a dynamic to the overall story. On the whole, the story could have been 50-100 pages shorter and I think it would have made for a more cohesive and exciting read. Additionally, I would love to see this as a graphic novel--at times it felt very much like one, so even just an addition of some graphics would have been cool. Some of Nikolov's descriptions deserve that much.
With that said, it really was a great read and the plot was so interesting and imaginative. Nikolov clearly has a wondrous imagination and did a lot of background work to make this book come alive, which I am immensely pleased about. I deeply look forward to seeing where Nick Nikolov goes next.
December 13, 2021
This book is incredible! Especially for a first-time writer. The characters are well written and fully fleshed out & believable. The world building is great. Even the monsters are nicely realized and freaking scary!
There are a lot of twists in this story that work well and are not overtly obvious, which is nice. It gets tiring always guessing what's going to happen and being correct. :)
I can't share my favorite part in detail because it would give away a lot of the story, so suffice it to say, it's the ending. I highly recommend reading this if you like sci-fi and zombies. But this isn't your typical book of either of those. I hope Nick puts out a ton of books in the future; I'd like to read every one of them.
There are a lot of twists in this story that work well and are not overtly obvious, which is nice. It gets tiring always guessing what's going to happen and being correct. :)
I can't share my favorite part in detail because it would give away a lot of the story, so suffice it to say, it's the ending. I highly recommend reading this if you like sci-fi and zombies. But this isn't your typical book of either of those. I hope Nick puts out a ton of books in the future; I'd like to read every one of them.
January 13, 2022
This was an interesting book. The story concept and plot were interesting and well developed, with obvious scope for continued stories. I found the main protagonist to be a little unlikeable, which isn't a deal-breaker, but made it harder to really care about what happened to her. There were also times when I felt that the book (or at least certain chapters) were overly lengthy, and some tighter editing may have helped with the pacing.
Overall, however, this was a book that I did want to keep reading, and broadly enjoyed. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Overall, however, this was a book that I did want to keep reading, and broadly enjoyed. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 26, 2021
This book was an amazing read from start to finish. It has everything that a sci-fi title requires - fleshed out characters each with their own struggles and goals, well-written plot that keeps your attention till the very end, and a great worldbuilding to top it off.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a science fiction fan!
P.S. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a science fiction fan!
P.S. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 30, 2022
I think that there are some good ideas behind this book but character development and pacing feel a little off at times.
The main character at times feels like it's two characters that are being forced together.
Giving these characters room and time to grow would greatly improve the story in my opinion.
But the core idea was an interesting take.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The main character at times feels like it's two characters that are being forced together.
Giving these characters room and time to grow would greatly improve the story in my opinion.
But the core idea was an interesting take.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 4, 2021
Overall a really good science fiction horror type read. It's more for people who are looking for books to read for quick entertainment. It made me chuckle a few times, but was still serious enough to make the characters matter. A good start to a series, which I assume there will be more considering the way it left off.
I received a free copy from the publisher and am leaning this voluntarily
I received a free copy from the publisher and am leaning this voluntarily
November 6, 2021
Really great start from a first novel overall. As entertaining as you would expect from sci-horror. Warning it is also as gory as you'd expect from the genre. Which is a plus for me but not really for some people. The kids was a cool angle, like Children of the Corn on alien meth. Wasn't very nuanced though, in my opinion.
March 7, 2022
I really enjoyed reading this, i liked the use of aliens and the horror elements. The story was well done and the characters felt like real people.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 18, 2021
A free book from Voracious Readers thank you
Cracker of a book. Great storyline, good strong characters and an entertaining read
Cracker of a book. Great storyline, good strong characters and an entertaining read
January 28, 2022
I liked the goofy interactions between Lucy and the plague doctor - well written and fun!
It felt like I was watching an interesting anime.
Great first book for the author! Keep up the good work!
It felt like I was watching an interesting anime.
Great first book for the author! Keep up the good work!
April 17, 2022
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book and I was pleasantly surprised.
The author does a convincing job building the story with just the right amount of suspense.
Towards the end of the book, it felt as if the author was rushing to meet a deadline and tossed in the obligatory sex encounter and rushed ending. The book does leave things open for more stories and I’m curious to see where that goes.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The author does a convincing job building the story with just the right amount of suspense.
Towards the end of the book, it felt as if the author was rushing to meet a deadline and tossed in the obligatory sex encounter and rushed ending. The book does leave things open for more stories and I’m curious to see where that goes.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
January 15, 2022
Interesting take on a Sci-Fi horror story. Intially introducing us to an alien contagion in the past in Italy and the alien Plague Doctor fighting to defeat it. Then it jumps to now when yet again Earth is being attacked by this contagion, with the Plague Doctor arriving to contain it yet again. He meets Lucy, a fighter on many levels and when the virus gets out of control and starts infecting children they work together to end it. The dynamics between them works well and the story flows well. I look forward to the next installment.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews