Venom

by Christian Cantrell

Venom is a story of improbabilities. Gabriel Kane goes from a struggling architect to one of the most powerful men in the world; Armonía Solorsano -- a young Hispanic girl who grew up in a dilapidated suburban McMansion-turned-tenement -- invents one of the most important and influential pieces of technology in history; a non-profit organization goes from a charity to a decentralized domestic terrorist group; and the greatest democracy in the world finds itself falling into the ever-tightening grip of a dictator.As five people come together with the shared goal of changing the world, they discover that their approaches are fundamentally and irreconcilably at odds. Their partnership becomes a bitter political and high-tech rivalry from which only one of them can emerge.This novella by Christian Cantrell (about 16,000 words) portrays an intersection of politics and technology which is both extremely relevant, and frighteningly feasible.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories

72 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2011

About the author

Christian Cantrell is a writer and software developer living in Northern Virginia.

Reviews

[Jeo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent short story

This story is in the same universe than the Human Legacy Project and it is not as enticing as others from Mr Cantrell. His stories are not original but he gives them a new spin that make you read them all

[Lynxie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book of Christian’s I’ve read that involves the HLP. I’m glad I had some background information from the other book because this one was too light on detail.

The timeframe seemed to jump around a bit too from historical scenes to current day scenes and they were t clearly defined which meant a few moments of confusion. Why did Armonia’s hair suddenly appear long again?! Because it was a memory or a historical scene not a continuation of the story.

This one felt very much like a bunch of ideas tenuously held together by a loose storyline. It needs much more to be a successful story.

The concepts are good, as usual for Christian, but the execution left a lot to be desired this time around.

If you’re keen to try one of Christian’s stories I wouldn’t start with this one.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dystopian look into the future where a couple of geniuses invention put them at odds against each other. One wants to rule the world as permanent Pfesident, the other wants to make the world a better place

[Christina Widmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review at: http://nouw.com/cwidmann/christian-ca...

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the same near future as Cantrell's Human Legacy Project, this short story develops the most interesting aspect of its predecessor. Here, what was previously told to us about the creation of this near future, is expanded and experienced through the use of flash backs. Cantrell once again utilizes the dual story method he’s used in previous short stories. He’s had mixed success with using this method previously. This time he’s able to use it to advance the story and reveal bits of character development throughout. I’m unsure if this is a true refinement of his writing skills or if it’s only a fluke since I don’t know the written order of his stories. Whatever the case is, its use here works.

There are a couple of slight twists and turns but they don’t over power the story. They make sense and are explained, so there’s no twist for twist sake. My favorite aspect is the relationship of the two main characters of the piece. Reading its development and watching it slowly turn into what it is in the “present” portion of the story is riveting. While the story is too short to account for all their interactions, we see all the pivotal turning points and are given enough context clues to understand what’s happened in between. Everything leads to the inevitable climax that is at once satisfying and bitter sweet because it’s over.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't a bad book by any means, but it seemed to jump around in time/scene so wildly that it was hard to follow? I think that if Christian fleshed out the book, it would be pretty amazing in the end. As it stands, the book is a short story and is based in the universe of another of the author's novels, Human Legacy Project. Despite this, I did feel a disconnect - Venom didn't feel like any sort of epilogue, and so I feel that it warrants a longer novel for it to feel right.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent short story that took a little over an hour to read. I found this author on kindle and have read all of his stories because I really enjoy his work. It's kind of sci-fi, dystopian future type stuff.

[Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the same universe as the HLP tale, Human Legacy Project,
this explains a little of how the world, or at least some states of the US :),
reached that totalitarianism.
I found it very interesting and was waiting for that final moment right till the end.
Expected but nice :)

[Alexandru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I prefer more tech/sci sided stories this one was a pretty good continuation of the HLP. Thanks Chris for releasing this under CC.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars actually. I might've given it 5 if it had been a little longer. Whoever thought that 46 pages could be so good? Really excellent short story.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short read, but I wish he'd write another novel.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. Took a while to get flowing. Interesting concept