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Beyond Earth's Horizon
The protagonist of “Beyond Earth’s Horizon” by Anthony Fucilla is an astronomer who accidentally enters a parallel universe. This world is controlled by elites who have placed computer chips in the brains of those they rule over. When a mind probe reveals that the protagonist is destined to plant a bomb in the palace of the supreme lord, he is condemned to death. A fortuitous accident and an encounter with a rebel allow him to escape execution, but he faces the two challenges of battling the oppressors and returning to his own world.
156 pages, Paperback
First published June 23, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 9, 2021
The first question on the minds of a review reader is, should I buy it? The second is usually a mix of will I finish it, it is boring, offensive, badly written? Overall I would say it’s worth buying, there are some flaws but this is mixed in with some fresh ideas. This usually happens in art, new writers like musicians or directors have their best ideas early on. It often depends on whether the freshness outshines the lack of experience that a more established and boringly mainstream artist can provide. Personally I find fresher ideas are better, I can forgive a lot to not be bored. These stories are never boring, the flaws are real but fixable over time. This review is not intended to put off the reader. It’s mainly to explain the flaws I see and how I think they are being dealt with in each book.
This is an interesting story, it is much longer than the others the author has done. In a previous review I said the author wrote some good stories, my biggest complaint is they seemed to be too short. Often the plot would have been expected to continue on in obvious ways, or some scenes weren’t filled out as much as other writers do. This can be a good or bad thing, if a book is filled up with plot holes or anticipated scenes then it is often better for it to be too short. However readers tend to expect a story to be novel length, this one is well on the way to that. He deserves some credit for having a lot of interesting ideas, though not as fleshed out as they could be.
The idea of parallel universes has been done in many novels and TV shows, a recent example is Counterpoint as a series. In a theme which is crowded with many books, this one seems to offer some new ideas. Without spoilers, the main character is reasonably well described. Often readers complain that the protagonist is not likeable enough, or the villain is not hateable enough, so why should they care what happens? The protagonist here could be better supported by more heroic ideals and actions, but generally it’s easy to care about whether he succeeds.
The action sequences are pretty good and well described, the format probably works better for people who can visualize what is happening. A lot of books are not like this, in those the story is in words that don’t really evoke pictures of what the characters and scenery look like. This can be an advantage for some readers who don’t have that visual imagination, when books are too visual it seems to put some off. I like it personally.
The author’s stories are a lot like episodes of a science fiction series, it’s easy to imagine them unfolding over 40 minutes on TV usually with a shocking twist at the end. It also reminds me of Black Mirror, they were separate short stories made into a series. Another good analogy was a recent BBC series of Philip K. Dick short stories. When the pace gets going it is usually relentless, at other times the protagonist is debating with himself all kinds of issues. This is a good format, some would work well in TV shows. It’s not so good for novels where readers want a longer story, that makes a longer movie. Think for example of Philip K. Dick, usually short stories that are extended later into movies based on the themes he develops. On the other hand some long novels are poorly adapted into movies, too much has to be cut out.
The world building here is not as good as Dick’s, which is no surprise, some work would still need to be done to establish a story with its own franchise as a world like Counterpart. There is a lot of potential, but this is usually from it being too short. Some connections could be better thought through, it may be they just needed to be brooded on for a lot longer to flesh them out better. How to do this is difficult, it’s easier to be a critic than a writer. But some do manage to thread this needle, I expect the author will work it out eventually.
He also has a lot of science in his books, these are often thinly disguised as lectures. Sometimes these could be better handled, it’s a common technique in novels to have a layperson that needs things explained to them. That enables the scientific background to be naturally communicated to the reader who also doesn’t know these things. But it seems these lectures are made to someone who knows them already, that tends to feel artificial. It would be easier to fix though, just aim them at a novice. For those who like the science they won’t care, for others it may distract from the flow of the story.
What represents hard science fiction is largely unknown with these themes. Some say there are parallel universes created in Everett's interpretation of quantum mechanics. Others believe the idea of a multiverse is nonsense, mainly because there is no way to test the existence of it. This hasn't stopped many novels and tv shows from exploring these ideas, at this stage no one really knows. But then no one really knows whether warp drives and teleporters will be possible either.
Some scifi books respond to this by sticking to only the most mainstream of physics theories, no faster than light travel for example. Others like this story, and Counterpart, try to explore these other possibilities. They seem at this stage to be fair game for science fiction.
There are other devices authors use to make a book longer, for example there can be multiple character arcs through the story. The reader follows these different characters as several stories combined into one. The author here doesn’t use that at all, it would be an obvious way to make longer books. This creates the problem of a one character story, the protagonist is usually well described with his motivations.
But the other characters have little depth, we don’t find out much about their origins or motivations. A wife is introduced in several stories, then nothing is heard from her again. This leaves the romantic side hanging, something many female readers like. Even the villains seem to be one dimensional like this, but usually their bad intentions are clear enough. If a reader was asked questions about the other characters they would struggle to define them at all. This is a common problem though, watch the online satires about the Phantom Menace for example. But writing is a competitive market and readers come to expect these things.
Without spoilers then, going into a parallel universe can have the characters at home wondering what happened, trying to help them, etc. The wife can be wondering what happened, this makes the protagonist seem to be loved and missed. Another useful technique is episodes, a chapter can be like a different story within the overall larger story.
The protagonist goes on a journey for example, this is popular with Stephen King and Lord of the Rings. It enables exciting things to happen along the way as the characters move in and out of trouble. Some of that happens here, but this could be extended more to double the size of the novella. With a world being built and explored there should be enough ideas available to do this.
I predicted some of the things that happened as well as the final twist. Sometimes this is good as the story is logical, it can also bore the reader if they anticipate too much. Overall the anticipation was reasonable, the protagonist had enough setbacks to not make his problems too predictable or easy. A lot of my guesses were wrong too.
This story ideas like most of the author’s shorter stories, was quite good. There is still a struggle there as the author grows his talent, which is reasonable. The plot holes aren’t too bad, it seemed to break the rule at one point of introducing a gun and not using it. Not a gun but the reader will notice this. I got the impression at some points that the writer had lost interest in the constant rewriting of a story. But again, this is a common thing with novels as readers well know.
This is an interesting story, it is much longer than the others the author has done. In a previous review I said the author wrote some good stories, my biggest complaint is they seemed to be too short. Often the plot would have been expected to continue on in obvious ways, or some scenes weren’t filled out as much as other writers do. This can be a good or bad thing, if a book is filled up with plot holes or anticipated scenes then it is often better for it to be too short. However readers tend to expect a story to be novel length, this one is well on the way to that. He deserves some credit for having a lot of interesting ideas, though not as fleshed out as they could be.
The idea of parallel universes has been done in many novels and TV shows, a recent example is Counterpoint as a series. In a theme which is crowded with many books, this one seems to offer some new ideas. Without spoilers, the main character is reasonably well described. Often readers complain that the protagonist is not likeable enough, or the villain is not hateable enough, so why should they care what happens? The protagonist here could be better supported by more heroic ideals and actions, but generally it’s easy to care about whether he succeeds.
The action sequences are pretty good and well described, the format probably works better for people who can visualize what is happening. A lot of books are not like this, in those the story is in words that don’t really evoke pictures of what the characters and scenery look like. This can be an advantage for some readers who don’t have that visual imagination, when books are too visual it seems to put some off. I like it personally.
The author’s stories are a lot like episodes of a science fiction series, it’s easy to imagine them unfolding over 40 minutes on TV usually with a shocking twist at the end. It also reminds me of Black Mirror, they were separate short stories made into a series. Another good analogy was a recent BBC series of Philip K. Dick short stories. When the pace gets going it is usually relentless, at other times the protagonist is debating with himself all kinds of issues. This is a good format, some would work well in TV shows. It’s not so good for novels where readers want a longer story, that makes a longer movie. Think for example of Philip K. Dick, usually short stories that are extended later into movies based on the themes he develops. On the other hand some long novels are poorly adapted into movies, too much has to be cut out.
The world building here is not as good as Dick’s, which is no surprise, some work would still need to be done to establish a story with its own franchise as a world like Counterpart. There is a lot of potential, but this is usually from it being too short. Some connections could be better thought through, it may be they just needed to be brooded on for a lot longer to flesh them out better. How to do this is difficult, it’s easier to be a critic than a writer. But some do manage to thread this needle, I expect the author will work it out eventually.
He also has a lot of science in his books, these are often thinly disguised as lectures. Sometimes these could be better handled, it’s a common technique in novels to have a layperson that needs things explained to them. That enables the scientific background to be naturally communicated to the reader who also doesn’t know these things. But it seems these lectures are made to someone who knows them already, that tends to feel artificial. It would be easier to fix though, just aim them at a novice. For those who like the science they won’t care, for others it may distract from the flow of the story.
What represents hard science fiction is largely unknown with these themes. Some say there are parallel universes created in Everett's interpretation of quantum mechanics. Others believe the idea of a multiverse is nonsense, mainly because there is no way to test the existence of it. This hasn't stopped many novels and tv shows from exploring these ideas, at this stage no one really knows. But then no one really knows whether warp drives and teleporters will be possible either.
Some scifi books respond to this by sticking to only the most mainstream of physics theories, no faster than light travel for example. Others like this story, and Counterpart, try to explore these other possibilities. They seem at this stage to be fair game for science fiction.
There are other devices authors use to make a book longer, for example there can be multiple character arcs through the story. The reader follows these different characters as several stories combined into one. The author here doesn’t use that at all, it would be an obvious way to make longer books. This creates the problem of a one character story, the protagonist is usually well described with his motivations.
But the other characters have little depth, we don’t find out much about their origins or motivations. A wife is introduced in several stories, then nothing is heard from her again. This leaves the romantic side hanging, something many female readers like. Even the villains seem to be one dimensional like this, but usually their bad intentions are clear enough. If a reader was asked questions about the other characters they would struggle to define them at all. This is a common problem though, watch the online satires about the Phantom Menace for example. But writing is a competitive market and readers come to expect these things.
Without spoilers then, going into a parallel universe can have the characters at home wondering what happened, trying to help them, etc. The wife can be wondering what happened, this makes the protagonist seem to be loved and missed. Another useful technique is episodes, a chapter can be like a different story within the overall larger story.
The protagonist goes on a journey for example, this is popular with Stephen King and Lord of the Rings. It enables exciting things to happen along the way as the characters move in and out of trouble. Some of that happens here, but this could be extended more to double the size of the novella. With a world being built and explored there should be enough ideas available to do this.
I predicted some of the things that happened as well as the final twist. Sometimes this is good as the story is logical, it can also bore the reader if they anticipate too much. Overall the anticipation was reasonable, the protagonist had enough setbacks to not make his problems too predictable or easy. A lot of my guesses were wrong too.
This story ideas like most of the author’s shorter stories, was quite good. There is still a struggle there as the author grows his talent, which is reasonable. The plot holes aren’t too bad, it seemed to break the rule at one point of introducing a gun and not using it. Not a gun but the reader will notice this. I got the impression at some points that the writer had lost interest in the constant rewriting of a story. But again, this is a common thing with novels as readers well know.
July 27, 2021
My attention was caught almost immediately on starting to read this book. That occurred when I reached line three and saw the author refer to 'unrestricted fuel supply' rather than use a scientifically incorrect term such as 'renewable energy' - after all, any respectable scientist knows that energy may neither be created nor destroyed, merely transformed from one form to another, but once used that is it, it's been used and cannot be renewed, at least not in the correct linguistic sense of the word 'renewed'. Using the word 'renewable' definitely gives the wrong impression of what is actually happening. Here the terminology is accurate! Having had my attention thus captured, I continued to read with eager anticipation of what was to follow. I wasn't disappointed although, in this book, Anthony Fucilla does rely on scientific theories I would regard more as speculations rather than accepted theories, even in the world of conventional wisdom. Anthony explains some of these notions, such as multiverses, extremely well and any reader unfamiliar with such ideas will learn of some advanced scientific notions in a most unusual way - unusual in that they'll come to them via science fiction which is, according to present day conventional wisdom scientifically accurate. Of course, various modern scientific speculations, such as multiverses and black holes, must be godsends to the science fiction author but Anthony Fucilla is not just any science fiction author, he is one who is attempting to use science fiction to convey deeper philosophical and religious truths to his readers in a (in my view) thrilling, gentle way. The foreword to the book, written by Vicky Sheppard, is also excellent and should be read first as it highlights some of the important features to follow. Anthony later proceeds to highlight a number of situations possibly facing the world now or in the not too distant future - among these being the whole idea of a surveillance state and mind control or, in other words, the increased power of the state to eventually control all aspects of humans' lives. As usual in books by Anthony Fucilla, these, and other, issues are explored in depth but in a manner easily readable to all. On the other hand, any dedicated sci-fi aficionado can simply sit back and enjoy an intriguing story in his favourite genre and, like all other readers, end by wondering precisely what is implied by the ending! Read and enjoy!
June 27, 2021
Once again we have an intriguing s/c book that really stirs ones imagination. Anthony Fucilla's "Beyond the Horizon" is a little bit chillingly but certernly an entertaining future peepshow into what is certernly could be a prolific insight into man's belidgent technological future. Without doubt a good book for long plane journeys and before bed reading. Without doubt a prolific no holds bared insight into mans continued infatuation with high tech advancement and the danger of it's short comings if one can look at the opposite end of a telescope. It is a having started can't put down book. So any distractions while reading the book would not be welcomed by the reader. The book explores in my view the possibilities of inner mind travel into our brain, with it's infinite possibilities that have always been foretold by our scientists. The amount of high tech information given to the reader in writing is so easily understood, it's forbidding. The theory of parallel universes has been suggested before and this opens up some questions and some answers. At the end of the day the book is a well written, and is a can't put down novel. The writer seems to have the ability to immerse the reader into the story, and somehow involves the reader as a participant. This takes the reader into another world other then the readers own. The simplicity of the writing is a key to the understanding of the books scientifically exciting, and intersting future insight story.
July 15, 2021
Putting the science in science fiction... If you like science in your science fiction, you've come to the right place. In Beyond Earth's Horizon, Anthony Fucilla constructs a vast scientific framework, from quantum theory to astrophysics to neuroscience, in support of his main character's dive into the multiverse. Follow Professor Gregory Seymour as he encounters alternate versions of friends and family in a desperate attempt to escape back to his original universe. But what are the odds that he will make it back to that exact same universe which he called home?
--- Wayne Bass
--- Wayne Bass
July 6, 2021
A solid five stars from me. Anthony's novella Beyond Earth's Horizon is a world class sci fi story worthy of much attention. Hard sci fi at its best that is cutting edge, a roller coaster of wisdom that enlightens the mind on deep and meaningful subjects. Reading this will expand your mind to another level as true sci fi should do.
Anthony has raised the bar of his writing further yet again. Enjoyable, complex and enlightening.
Anthony has raised the bar of his writing further yet again. Enjoyable, complex and enlightening.
December 20, 2023
Thank you!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews