Condemnation

by Kell Inkston

As a student of the prestigious Royal Academy, Clare's work on automatons needs to not only impress her professors, but also honor the legacy of her late mother - who wrote the book on humanity's mechanized companions.Clare discovers an inconvenient truth via a hidden recording at home, and now she believes there's a chance her mother could be alive.Wasn't her mother supposed to be dead? At least, that's what the police reported.She decides to find out herself; she has to know the truth.Sneaking underground into the forbidden substation system, Clare does find It has intelligence. It hunts. It can KILL.She finds a perfect copy of her walled off city, but something's wrong; something's very wrong.Welcome to Substation 7, an atmospheric, seeping fantasy thriller where the world is the lie, and that lie wants you dead .Link to book two of

Genres: Science Fiction

346 pages, Paperback

Published September 28, 2019

About the author

I'm Kell. I do weird stuff for "the government" and write stories on the side. Please support me so I can quit my job and write even more.

If you want to get in touch with me you can check out the facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/KellI.... I'm there every day, and we all have a little fun there.
You could also just email me at kellr.inkston@gmail.com and we could chat for real.

I like gardening, birds, food, videogames and literature. Yes, a winning combination of interests for certain.

Until next time:
"So long, and thanks for all the fish!" - a dolphin

Reviews

[Myriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing start of a new series! This book is incredibly engaging, exciting, suspenseful, original, scary, and incredibly well written, the latter being a norm for this author. I loved everything about it and I can't wait to read the next book.
This is an interesting mix of dystopian, science fiction, technological advancement, horror, and YA fantasy with elements of magic. As usual, the author does not limit himself to one genre but lets his imagination guide him into the worlds unknown. Sometimes I feel like there are no limits to this author's imagination and originality. Well, not just sometimes, most of the time. The author always surprises me with something new, unexpected, and unusual.
The main character is Clare, a young engineer who starts asking forbidden question and when they do not get answered, she starts looking for answers herself. What she finds is equally shocking as it is scary. Clare is determined young woman on a mission and nothing will stop her from finding out the truth. Her strength is unparalleled and her spirit unbreakable. Even when she faces the worst horrors and stares death in the face she fights with everything she's got. 
Later on as the story unfolds, there are so many incredible details that start falling together as a puzzle. And all the unexpected twists and turns in the plot start making perfect sense. The way the author unfolds the story slowly and masterfully presents the intricate details of the plot is breathtaking.
The characters are beautifully developed, not just Clare, but her father, Carrie, Waine, and Oswald. I am not saying anything more about the characters, you just have to meet them by yourself. And the automatons are so versatile and so surprising, masterfully done.
I am missing all the words I need to praise this book, this series, and this author as much as I think they deserve. I think the author has outdone himself on this one and even if I thought I could not love him more or admire his work more, oh this just made me fall in love all over again. I need more!!!!!
The books only make sense if read in order, which is: Condemnation (Substation 7: Book 1), Liberation (Substation 7: Book 2), coming soon, and Reclamation (Substation 7: Book 3), coming in a couple of months.

[Victoria Larque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clare is a young woman, who takes on a task so vast it made me dizzy, but I never once questioned her reasons or her resolve. She makes sense, even when she makes mistakes, and that made me root for her.
The characters feel all too real, even the non-human ones. I especially enjoyed Carrie, and the banter she has with Clare. I expect them to become as thick as thieves as the story progresses.
The overbuilding did not overwhelm me and the technical aspects were interestingly shown and explained, so I didn't skip any of it. (To my shame, yes, I start skipping when things get over-explanatory.)
Also noteworthy are the details which make this book great. I felt Clare's suffering, I felt her iron will, and I smelled, tasted and felt the same things she did, which did elicit the one or other 'eww'.

In short, I loved it. The writing style is very different from what I'm used to, but I adored it. It took me a little to get used to the tone but the world building and scene setting was always clear, and precisely worded, so I found my way around fairly quick. The way the author writes made me nostalgic in a way, it always has a... wink, for lack of a better word. Yes, I'd say the author writes with a wink in his words. And I love that. 
The storyline itself has many twists and turns, and even though one feels a bit shielded from the characters because of how the story is told, I sweated and suffered with Clare, I was mad at her and I felt for her. Which is the most important part of any story; it made me feel. And it is clever. But most of all it is exciting. There are a few breathers here and there, but most of the time you just want to keep on turning the pages to see what happens. A thrilling ride for sure.

[Russell Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

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For the record, I received an Advanced Review Copy of this book with the request to leave an honest review for other potential readers, this is that review. I thought that this dystopian story was interesting and unique. It is not one that I recall having ever run across before in my 5 decades of reading books. The plot certainly knows how to twist and turn effectively to keep you guessing as to where the story will go. I have my surmises as to what I think is going to happen next, but I'll have to wait for book 2 to find out. The ending of the story I thought was just a bit abrupt (I would have liked to know what happened to Carrie) but overall, it tied up the majority of loose ends leaving only the overarching storyline cliffhangers that are to be expected. The characters are well developed and relatable. As you move through the story, you pick up so much more about the characters, their personalities and their motivations from their actions and reactions than just being told something about them. The writing is good and flows very nicely. A few minor plot bog downs when Clare goes into her head but not enough to deflect the flow of the story much. The pacing is good and builds up a pretty good momentum. I rated it 4 stars due to some plot points and character development that I feel were missing or not presented with enough detail. Overall, I will say that this book is definitely worth the time it takes to read. I look forward to reading the 2nd book in the series.
Step 3) Submit Review Links

[Fredmund Nice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Substation 7: Condemnation is Kell Inkston's strongest foray into horror, thriller, and dystopian writing so far in the author's continual incorporation of aspects of every other sub-genre to create a thing mostly independent of strict genre labels. The story further fleshes out the sci-fi/fantasy crossover, already established in Inkston's catalogue with its unique take on magi-tech, through which it explores themes of coming of age - and out from the sheltering bubble of academia, the relation that law and order can have with truth, the power of will in the individual, and the limits and pitfalls an overly systematized development can have on a society.

Kell has managed to create a setting, story, and for lack of a better word 'feeling' which stands sturdily on its own while still maintaining the connection shared by the rest of the works in the author's all encompassing 'Inkrealm'.

My greatest gripes - which at their most are only minor - are with the way the foul language can muck up the flow of the dialogue - not to say ugly words can't or aren't used artfully here, the understandable but still overused precocious adolescent protagonist forced into some dire situation, and the occasional teasing sensationalism the narrator will indulge in.

I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review. (actually the author has me locked in a cellar and has fed me nothing but stale ramen for the past 2 weeks)

[NoNo JoJo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is a hard one to review. I had to sit for a little while after finishing this book and really figure out how I felt about it. Ultimately, this story has a neato idea - sort of a steam-punk dystopian thing with fantasy tinges - but it's severely hampered by the lack of an editor. The pacing starts off really tight, but then we start leaving the intriguing main plot to follow side characters and flash back to engineering classes (that do nothing to explain the magical aspect of the robots, which is the most interesting part). The journey grinds to a halt so the main character can avoid evil robot after evil robot. No questions are answered, nothing is resolved, and the main character is left is such bad shape I don't really know how she's supposed to continue on. It's also clear the writer really wants to use big fancy words, but doesn't know what most of them mean. Multiple times I could tell they were using one word when they really meant a sound-alike. Or, my favorite moment, the main character allegedly pukes out her own guts (I'm not sure the author knows what "entrails" means. Unless she was just trying to emphasize how hard the character is puking, but it was really clumsily done if that's the case). The final fight scene is also improbably brutal. The main character's nose is broken, but she really doesn't express any discomfort thereafter, and manages to talk just fine, which just doesn't happen with that sort of injury. It's purely for dramatic effect.

The main character is another sticking point. She's a clever, resourceful girl, but she's also a huge brat. She's very disrespectful to her poor dad, who's doing the best he can, and she is /horrible/ to the poor robot she's with. This robot saves her time and time again, at great cost to itself, and she just keeps yelling at the poor thing, even when it becomes steadily apparent that it's smarter than your average 'bot and might be capable of emotions. Honestly, if the robot betrays her or something further in the series, I wouldn't even be mad.

Overall, this book was not terribly satisfying. It does create a lot of tension and has a good little mystery, but the writer's craft simply isn't honed to the point where it's fun to read. Again, it's in dire need of an editor.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I want to say that I received this book for free to write a voluntary review, and I hope that I received an unedited copy. There were so many grammatical errors it actually distracted from the story, and it seemed like the author was looking through a dictionary trying to use big words to sound smart rather than working on the content. Instead of a captivating dystopian adventure, it was written like a school project that was trying to use spelling words a certain number of times. I was shocked at how many times the word "chassis" could appear in a novel. Second, the whole basis of the robots were that they were both magical and scientifically engineered. The magic was never really explained and the engineering aspect left a lot to be desired as well. Perhaps it was supposed to be explained better in later books, but there were classroom scenes that seemed to have no other purpose than to explain these robots, and they did so poorly. Thirdly, the whole book was written in an odd manner. Everyone spoke the same with so many half formed words and sentences, tons of ...'s, and always talking over each other. I'm sure it was trying to emulate natural conversation, but it was distracting and unnecessary. In addition, the scene descriptions were poorly written and confusing. I often could not picture what the author was trying to describe. When they tried to express the fear the main character was feeling and the dark places her thoughts were taking her, it was a jarring transition that seemed to take away from, rather than add to the story. There really wasn't anything I enjoyed about this book, however, I was curious about the ending and Victor, and it had a good plot line idea, so I gave it 2 stars for somewhat keeping my attention. It is possible someone else may enjoy this type of writing, but it was not for me.

[Wyatt Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC and hence some of what I mention here might have been edited by now.

Before I even get to the story, the style of writing was a major problem for me. I usually don't make any annotations when reading because I don't want to stop reading. In this book I made more than a dozen in the first quarter alone.
First, the author wrote in awkward present tense, for example: "Ignoring the calls from the pursuing guards, a bemasked Mary Airineth slams her boot into the rusted grate...." The present tense made the book feel awkward.
Second, the author used some strange words like: "The live-gild sun rays are muffled.." What is "live-gild"? Other mistakes are almost inexcusable, e.g "that's something people want to know about, if effects them." No, it affects them.
Third, in many cases it felt as if the book was written by somebody, who didn't speak English, by using Google translate, for example: "Clare's hair stand on end." It should be stands, not stand. There were just so many of these errors that they kept distracting from the story.
Fourth, all the human characters spoke the same way. They all start a sentence or word and then pause and then start again or use another word. The only difference is some of them use the word "Dude".
Fifth, the character will think of doing something and the author will then add "and that proved to be a mistake". Its as if he is writing a serial, not a novel, and these are the hooks to keep you coming back for more.

The story is a "post apocalyptic, coming-of-age, fear of technology, the people in control are hiding the truth"-kind of story and it moves incredibly slowly. This is supposed to create tension, I assume because the big secret is constantly just out of reach.

The inhabitants of this place just live and work in an enclosed environment with automatons preventing them from straying too far. They are allegedly surrounded by the sea but nobody climbs up on the wall to see if this is the case. The main character, Clare is the rebel. Her mother vanished, probably killed by the automatons because she was trying to see what was really out there and now Clare is going to follow in her footsteps. And the process of getting see the outside is supposed to be fraught with obstacles and danger but just felt tedious. There is almost no character development and one feels no empathy for any character.

The book ended quite abruptly on a cliff hanger, almost as if the author got to the required number of words and stopped. I will not be reading the next book.

I received this book as an ARC and chose to write a review

[Tina G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An imaginative start to a new dystopian tech series...

Condemnation (Substation 7, Book 1) by Kell Inkston and narrated by Jacob Buchholz is a good, imaginative start to a new series. I look forward to future installments as I think this will turn into a great series as it progresses. 4 stars all around. If you enjoy dystopian tech themes, this is a must-listen.

What’s it about? Clare is studying at the academy and she soon learns things are not as they seem with her mother’s death and the world she lives in. When she begins questioning things, her adventure into the unknown begins and becomes quite the thrill and will only get worse as the King has sicced the Chosen One on her. You get tech, adventures, a quest, futuristic elements, corruption, separatists, an automaton friend and enemies, and plenty more. The flow and character development is good, I look forward to learning more about the characters and their world (Clare and Oswald especially). Things are left unanswered as this is a series of three. Why four stars then? It took a bit long to get going, but once it did (Chapter Five), I couldn’t put the book down. If you start it and feel the same, keep with it.

The narrator, Jacob Buchholz, did a good job. As the book progressed, his pacing and voices became more steady and well-rounded. He has potential to become a great narrator. I would listen to another book by him.

Overall I recommend, especially if you enjoy tech set in a dystopian world.

Parental guidance/trigger warnings: mild violence (guns). Language used: 23 f-bombs, Sx11, damn x15, hell x19.


*I was given a free review copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you for allowing me to listen and review the book!

[Douglas Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our heroine is something of a rebel, unwilling to accept the status quo. Which is generally a good thing, but here it could get people killed.

This is book one of a dystopian steampunk story with bits of magic thrown in as well. The story has magic robots and an oppressive society that wants to keep people in their place. The concepts and ideas behind the story are excellent. Unfortunately, at least for me, the execution left something to be desired. Let's call it editing for the sake of simplicity.

I try very hard not to judge the editing in ARC books because they are often given to reviewers before the editor gets them. But when the grammar and word usage are so bad that it is difficult to read, then something it wrong. I did not care for the way in which the action is described as it sounds like someone narrating a stage play, complete with short, choppy sentences and odd pauses. Finally, in at least my copy, the font was faint and faded into the very white background. Perhaps that was fixed in the published version.

The setting is interesting and there are elements that I would like to know more about, but I can't handle reading more based on the other issues. Your mileage may vary.

I received an ARC through Hidden Gems for review purposes.

[Georgia Tumbleweed McNabb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Start is Very confusing, but worth wading through

I almost stopped reading this story because it seemed like I can in to the middle of a story. Also the terminology used in the beginning did Not make sense. After I persevered through the story came together and was unexpectedly interesting. I have previously read this author and got this book because I like the style, though this one was different from the rest I have read.

[Rose Mcclain · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUSPENSEFUL !!!!
Simply awesome:) I started reading this & couldn't put it down. It starts out with the main character just doing her daily things & then it suddenly gets changed. The suspense has a good build up & really draw you into it. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book to see what happens next lol. I highly recommend this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Suki Rickey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 1

Book 1 had a few errors throughout and was an okay read. The story started off really well and then digressed rapidly towards annoying blundering of the MC and complaining about everything. The author went back and forth to the MC describing something and then a third person description. It was an odd way of writing a book and it became distracting at times. It is also a cliffhanger for book 2.

[Carolynne aka Saucy Chicken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always an adventure!!

Who doesn't love a good robot action adventure story!?!? This book was so fun to read and the character development was off the charts. Ever hold and its people have far more secrets than anyone realizes. Robots, engineers, secret police, and a god king are what you can expect from this book. Loved it!!!

[Carlynne Toomey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an exciting and thrilling read! This story is suspenseful, thrilling, action packed and engaging. Its a little bit scary and spans multiple genres. The heroine, Clare, is very well developed and believable. I can't recommend this enough!

[Robert W. Easton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Cover Didn't Lie

The cover is rich and evocative, which is why I bought the book. The story was equally rich and heart poundingly intense. The world is revealed slowly and expertly, and I want to know more.