Harbinger in the Night (The Humanity Blueprint Book 1)
Adult; Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror; (Market)
In the near future a new space race is in full swing to be the first to colonize Mars. The United States and allied European governments working alongside private industry are competing against the RSAC, a new Russian-Chinese alliance, to build working spacecraft to make the long journey.
In preparations for the mission, an engineering team from an aerospace/tech conglomerate is building out the interplanetary communications network, when a mysterious object emerges from the depths of interstellar space. As the nations of Earth scramble to investigate this strange comet, they must overcome plots from within and the machinations of a malignant AI in order to be the first to meet the menace, or the promise, that the intruder foretells.
Major Koda Cheveyo, a special operations soldier is tasked to lead his team to face this possible threat while Michael Thompson, a quantum computer engineer, works with his homebrewed AI to counter the emerging peril from within. Together with the help of a billionaire tech tycoon and a government security agent, their mission could reshape the future of humanity.
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 8 out of 10
Character/Execution: 7 out of 10
Overall: 8.00 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Harbinger in the Night is a dense and inventive hard sci-fi thriller set in a plausible near future. International politics, complicated technologies and artificial intelligence, and adventures in space make for an exciting narrative. The book has a satisfying plot arc that sets the stage as a launching point for a larger series.
Prose: The writing is confident and uniform. Shifting perspectives don’t detract from the book's tone, and detailed language lends authenticity to the scientific basis for many of the story's ideas.
Originality: The authors clearly took great pains in sourcing credible scientific ideas. The result is a confident and original narrative, propelled as effectively by its ideas as its conflicts.
Character/Execution: The story unfolds through multiple perspectives, but most interesting is that of the AI. In general, character descriptors are strong and character plots are skillfully woven throughout the larger plot and conflict.
Date Submitted: May 05, 2023