Black: The Birth of Evil (The Circle, #1) in Apocalypse Whenever

Aug 09, 2008 Terri rated it liked it

Shelves: horror, apocalyptic-dystopian-fiction

This is the first in a trilogy so of course it was setting up the story for something BIG. The story is about a man named Tom Hunter who dreams in two worlds. In one he has just returned from Bangkok to live with his sister in modern Denver. In the other, it is a post apocalyptic society where a mutated virus has destoyed most of the population in the past. Each time he sleeps in one reality, he wakes and lives in the other. Not sure which is real or whether they both are. But events in the curr ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Tom rated it it was ok

Shelves: hard-copy

I started off this book not realizing that it has been labeled "Christian Fiction"... or maybe "Christian Science Fiction". I'm not sure if I would have picked it up if I had known that. I think when something is pitched to a narrow audience (whoever that audience is) the writing/story doesn't need to be as good, because that audience is going to be more fanatic and forgiving.

I present as Exhibit A: Christian Rock music.

So I admit that my judgement of this book my be tainted, but for most of t I started off this book not realizing that it has been labeled "Christian Fiction"... or maybe "Christian Science Fiction". I'm not sure if I would have picked it up if I had known that. I think when something is pitched to a narrow audience (whoever that audience is) the writing/story doesn't need to be as good, because that audience is going to be more fanatic and forgiving.

I present as Exhibit A: Christian Rock music.

So I admit that my judgement of this book my be tainted, but for most of the book, I was simply not impressed. The concept is good - a man flips between two worlds whenever he falls asleep. The action is good too - the devil and his conspiring minions in World A, spies and deadly viruses in World B. But the overall execution seemed to be lukewarm and kind of naive.

World A (for most of the book) is Garden of Eden style, milquetoast- religious wish fulfillment... Wild lions are tame, friendly beasts! We can breathe underwater! We can fly! In the other world, the hero is trying to head off a deadly virus but with a complete simpleton's approach... Walk up to the front gate of the CDC and demand to speak to someone! In a more realistic story, wouldn't you start out local experts? Make some phone calls or send some emails? Build a solid case? Maybe the author didn't feel there was time. And his sister all too willingly drops her entire life and heads off on a crazy goose chase (does she not have a life and back story of her own?).

In both worlds, story threads get dropped in many places... what happened to the $100k the hero owed the mob and all those mob guys chasing him? And how did his sister walk off and place a big bet on the Kentucky Derby... how did she know who to call and how did she collect her $350,000? And what about that guy Bill on the Eden side who might either be a friend or a complete fiction? If there's no time correlation between the two worlds, why the rush to get knocked out (or put to sleep) all the time to make the transfer? Maybe some of these things will be wrapped up later, but right now it seems like the author is just scrambling as he goes along, covering up flaws in the story as best he can.

Moreover, things are just too bland to be interesting. Our hero falls in love with the very first woman he meets on the Eden world, but its a chaste, "can I hold your hand?" kind of love... blah. In the other world, he consistently tells the truth where at least withholding the entire, unvarnished truth, would serve him (and the story) better. So things don't really get interesting until the bad guys start showing up, doing evil deeds, and misleading everyone, which happens far too late in the tale.

The book completely ends a cliffhanger, so I'll stick around for book 2 and 3 to see where this goes.... maybe I'll change my attitude further along in the story.

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