SFF Chronicles News
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2013
- Messages
- 1,458
16th October 2013 04:04 PM
Tim James
This is a book with a difference, although it most certainly is Science Fiction, there is that feeling to it that it might be the world outside your window, just a few minutes into the future, days perhaps or a few years at the most.
It would be more than easy to try and compare it to Orwell’s 1984, but that would be hardly fair to the author who has done a great job and told an engaging story with more than a little skill and talent.
The characters are well drawn and the speech came across as realistic, the thought process that we are party to seemed to be true; and the world, well it could be ours a few years from now, well described and brought to life with just that little edge, that spark of wrongness that lets you know that although it might feel like home it is something slightly different.
The story itself is about an undefined place that might be now, it might be tomorrow, where the way of things is just slightly exaggerated, that little bit further along than here, maybe a little bit more wrong, maybe not.
The main character, Phil Edwards is someone who is an anomaly, who can’t quite be categorised by society, and this makes him as something of an interest to those who monitor such things. But in a time where governments and their representatives might be more totalitarian there are those that would stand against them. And such is the group Undercurrents who see in Phil the perfect figure to use and manipulate events to bring the perceived corruption down.
The clever thing though, and probably for me the two biggest points in the novel are that Grimes never forgets that there are two sides to every story and as it progresses we begin to realise that no matter how ‘bad’ the official side is, there is a negative side to any insurgency and a good side to any regime. Even more though it is the individuals that make up the story that really sell it. On both sides there are good and bad, those who have their views challenged and changed and it gives the book more depth than could be initially expected.
The conclusion and payoff when it comes looked to be sliding down the path of an easy wrap up, but again Grimes managed to wrong foot me, even when I had it all worked out I was looking in the wrong direction. An excellent novel, well told and engaging.
Undercurrents is self published and as is often the case it is worth noting just how far the writer has gone to make the book presentable. In this instance it seems that Grimes has taken a truly painstaking approach to get things just perfect. It does not feel rushed or over written, which speaks of good editing, as does the fact that I noticed no formating or spelling mistakes (something that often slip by in traditionally published books.)
Tom Grimes has been a member of Chronicles since August 2011. He goes by the user name of TheTomG and has taken part in a number of the writing challenges, and has also taken the time to share his artistic renders amongst other things. His latest post was back in July of this year.
Tim James
This is a book with a difference, although it most certainly is Science Fiction, there is that feeling to it that it might be the world outside your window, just a few minutes into the future, days perhaps or a few years at the most.It would be more than easy to try and compare it to Orwell’s 1984, but that would be hardly fair to the author who has done a great job and told an engaging story with more than a little skill and talent.
The characters are well drawn and the speech came across as realistic, the thought process that we are party to seemed to be true; and the world, well it could be ours a few years from now, well described and brought to life with just that little edge, that spark of wrongness that lets you know that although it might feel like home it is something slightly different.
The story itself is about an undefined place that might be now, it might be tomorrow, where the way of things is just slightly exaggerated, that little bit further along than here, maybe a little bit more wrong, maybe not.
The main character, Phil Edwards is someone who is an anomaly, who can’t quite be categorised by society, and this makes him as something of an interest to those who monitor such things. But in a time where governments and their representatives might be more totalitarian there are those that would stand against them. And such is the group Undercurrents who see in Phil the perfect figure to use and manipulate events to bring the perceived corruption down.
The clever thing though, and probably for me the two biggest points in the novel are that Grimes never forgets that there are two sides to every story and as it progresses we begin to realise that no matter how ‘bad’ the official side is, there is a negative side to any insurgency and a good side to any regime. Even more though it is the individuals that make up the story that really sell it. On both sides there are good and bad, those who have their views challenged and changed and it gives the book more depth than could be initially expected.
The conclusion and payoff when it comes looked to be sliding down the path of an easy wrap up, but again Grimes managed to wrong foot me, even when I had it all worked out I was looking in the wrong direction. An excellent novel, well told and engaging.
Undercurrents is self published and as is often the case it is worth noting just how far the writer has gone to make the book presentable. In this instance it seems that Grimes has taken a truly painstaking approach to get things just perfect. It does not feel rushed or over written, which speaks of good editing, as does the fact that I noticed no formating or spelling mistakes (something that often slip by in traditionally published books.)
Tom Grimes has been a member of Chronicles since August 2011. He goes by the user name of TheTomG and has taken part in a number of the writing challenges, and has also taken the time to share his artistic renders amongst other things. His latest post was back in July of this year.
