Catalyst

Ronos #1

by Tyler Rudd Hall

The city of Northgate has just been attacked by aliens, and Mac Narrad's family is right in the middle of it. Searching through the rubble to find them, Mac discovers an awful truth.

The alien attack was fake. Orchestrated by the earth military that Mac is a part of. Now he must search the galaxy for answers. His quest leads him to the mysterious planet of Ronos. A secret planet hidden by Earth's military. A planet full of life, beauty, and a potential that could alter everything. There Mac finds answers that will change himself and the rest of humanity forever…

Genres: Science Fiction

316 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2012

Reviews

[Rabid Readers Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been the person at the back of the University English class who instead of looking for symbolism in stories raised their hand and said, “Maybe the author was just bored that day?” In the case of Catalyst, I kept seeing social commentary where perhaps there wasn’t any. Citizens opted to have multi-media devices inserted in their brains known as “Imps” that could control their very view of reality. Was this a comment on social media and the way it shapes our outlook? A group of people opted to stand apart and not have those machines implanted and within the story they’re known as “Luddites.” Any student of history will remember the 19th century textile makers who were against machinery brought to their industry by the Industrial Age. They felt that machines would allow workers not as skilled to do what they did at a lower wage. In the storyline, Mac essentially looking to control the motivations of the people through fear of aliens and a far away war that may or may not have been happening.

The plot flow in Catalyst was good. We had two storylines which came together in a very logical sense. Lynn is looking for her husband, Scott, who has been institutionalized when he attempted to expose the war as fake and refused to sell the government ammunition. Mac is at home with his family and it seems, as someone able to think for themselves, he’s been kept pretty far away from the frontline. When the explosion happens, survivors are being slaughtered. Lynn manages to reconnect her Imp long enough to send a video to social media which goes viral denouncing the war and showing the carnage after the explosion. Mac escapes with a fellow soldier to find his family. The two decide that they must find Lynn and see the proof she has that the war has been faked. Mac has some things to do before he goes into custody and then the two stories merge.

Some of the action in Catalyst is a bit too easy. Mac’s initial escape and his ability to hide himself from the enemy, both a little too simple. But then, we’re led to believe that these are people who rely heavily on technology. The action propels the story in a way that makes sense but more than once I thought, “I’d like more of a challenge on that.” I suppose that doing so could make a novel last for years and it’s up to authors to make those hard choices but as a reader it would have been nice to have that choice made once or twice. Another challenge is that there’s a lot of telling instead of showing. For example:

Orange put the gun away. As much as he wanted Mac to be guilty, he knew there was nothing he could do right now. (Kindle Location 431)

We don’t know this guy’s name and we’re in his head. For me as a reader, it would have been perfectly okay for Orange to have said the quoted line and maybe had more impact because he’s showing Mac how he feels.

The end of the Catalyst is really compelling and promises quite the ride for the next novel. Catalyst is what I would call “clean sci-fi” and is suited for all ages but I’m not sure I’d give it to my 10-year-old to read as the scene in which Mac finds his family, though not terribly graphic, may be a little mature for her. Oh yes, and the junkies of the future? They are addicted to alternate reality through their Imps. Who doesn’t know someone who can’t go 10 minutes without Facebook? Food for thought.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh.
Needs a good stiff editing (not too bad from a copyediting standpoint, but the pacing and word-choice is off sometimes.). And it's... definitely not hard sci fi. There were several points of massive science fail (lasers *don't work like that*, for example...). And it was a little--whiplash-y. It felt like the reader was being jerked from one Exciting Thing to the next, without really having a chance to process any of them or whatever. And... all the deaths felt kind of like cheap dramatic tricks, to me, at least.

Has some promise, I think he may be going somewhere interesting with the aliens and all, but it just felt... jarring and disjointed. Look for the next book by this guy (or the rewrite of this one), but I'd advise giving this book a pass unless you *really* like fast-paced soft sci fi.

[Joshua Spotts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mac Narrad is just a young soldier in Earth’s Army, an army full of secrets, none of which he knows. When catastrophe strikes, Mac is determined to find out the cause and to discover the truth of the military secrets. But finding the truth, a quest that leads him to mysterious planet called Ronos, will give him a responsibility to reveal it. And chief members of the military will do anything to stop him.

Catalyst, Tyler Rudd Hall’s debut novel, is a very good work of science fiction. The immediate beginning is a little slow, but it serves well to introduce Mac and to establish the emotion behind his motivation. But past the second chapter the pace of the book really picks up.

There were very few stylistic mistakes, only some repetitive phrasing here or there. But otherwise I could not find any grammar mistakes. The characters were all beautifully fleshed out and unique. I did not connect with Mac on an emotional level, even with his family’s massacre, but I still wanted to see him succeed.

Catalyst is by far the best self-published book I have read. I enjoyed many hours of immersion in Mac’s struggle and came away wanting to read the rest of The Ronos Trilogy.

I give Catalyst five out of five stars because of its shocking quality amidst a market that, sadly, has many good books plagued by grammar errors and shallow characters.

[Cian Goggin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I thought this book was amazing!! It was really well written, with brilliant, interesting characters that is one of the reasons that will draw you in as well as a great story, that had me reading it none stop(even taking a break from Netflix which I have become addicted too). It was a great Sci fi book and a credit to its genre and I would definitely recommend this as a book to read. Looking forward to Book 2!! :)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one, good solid characters and the action starts pretty early on. Looking forward to book two.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Catalyst is a very engaging sci-fi book set in a future where we have vast technological advances and have mastered the ability to visit other planets. The story follows Mac, a man who has joined the Earths military in order to get information about an abduction that saw him lose someone dear to him. We enter the story with the city where Mac and his family are reuniting together only to become victims of an alien attack, only something about it doesn't feel right. From this the story goes full throttle into a tale of deception, conspiracies and destruction. The author is very adept at being able to describe the technology and as a result it is easy to imagine what the surroundings and futuristic devices look like. I didn't find the writing the easiest to follow at times and there were plenty of moments when I wanted to smack my head at some of the decisions that the characters made. However I did find the story engaging once it got moving and I am interested to see where it goes. Looking forward to the next installment :)

[Joseph Carano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won all three books of this trilogy in a Goodreads giveaway. I've read the first one and it is a fairly good adventure sci-fi adventure. It follows a character named Mac, who watches his hometown get blown up, and his search to uncover the truth. Was it a conspiracy ? Was it an alien invasion ? Filled with quite a few interesting characters. It has got me reading the second book.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think people have done a good job of reviewing the good aspects so far of this book, but I just want to mention a few things that I saw areas of improvement.
First, and I know this has been mentioned before, this book needs a really good thorough edit. It is hard to get passed all of the typographical errors in the book. The repeating phrases and words has already been mentioned before, but they were really a roadblock for me. (My husband and I have been reading the book out loud on various road trips.)
The second review I have to make is concerning the character development, especially that of Janelle. There really needs to be more background about her, and she needs to have a deeper connection to Mac. Since I do not know more about her except she was a one time crush of Mac, it doesn't make me care about her and as a reader I really need to care about this character for me to be engaged in the ensuing search and rescue.
I do love how the book ended. It was spot on, and I would like to see how Tyler's writing and great ideas take him into the second book. Unfortunately since this read was so obviously a "Nano" read, I give it only 3 stars. I would definitely be interested in reading it again should there be a little more time invested in the characters and a good editing done!
Cheers and thanks for your talent!

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review taken from my fuller Blog Post #386 in July 2013.

A paperback copy of this book was provided to me via the First Reads Scheme on Good Reads (part of the Amazon Family) in return for an honest review.

I have to say that not once was I bored reading this .... actually, it was a shame when it came to an end. I now need to find out what happens next - does Mac manage to get to Lynn in time, does the heinous Raymond get his comeuppance, and will Janelle ever be freed from the Alien threat, oh and just who is the only man in Passage with an Imp?

All the above, along with a nicely paced plot, just confirms, that this was a really well crafted piece of literature.

I'm not sure how long it will be before the next instalment, but I need it!

There were a few typographical errors (which will be listed in the Errors/Bug Bear section on my Blog post), which is why I've downgraded it by 1 star, but even so it still earns a worthy 4 Stars, for this great Science Fiction read. if I'd still been working in half stars, it would have been worth a 4.5 in anybody's language.

Well done to Tyler Rudd Hall for providing such a well-crafted tale, and here's hoping the next instalment will be ready soon.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The main character Mac is great and there are lots of interesting characters and settings. The story is fun and entertaining -aliens or possible military/government conspiracy with plenty of action and twists. It is a really enjoyable read. My husband and one son have been waiting for me to finish the book so they can read it and I think they will also enjoy it. Highly recommended. Thanks for sending me this book as part of a Good reads contest win. I will start the second book that I received in the trilogy now and I will definitely look forward to picking up the final book in the fall of 2014 when it is published.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Catalyst is an extremely well written book. The story itself is a futuristic yarn telling of a society full of conspiracies and an over reliance on technology during an alien war. Catalyst is a smart book but not preachy. The over reliance on technology is an interesting facet that really makes sense to me and is something that is very much reality today. In this setting in lieu of handheld devises people have Implants or, "IMPS" as they are referred to here. Catalyst is surely worth the time, money and effort. I would recommend.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very engaging and smooth flowing book. Its difficult with science fiction to come up with some original futuristic looks for the human race that are not already in some T.V. show or video game.. But this book is full of original ideas that help the plot and the book flow smoothly. Beautifully written. Great characters that are relatable. Theres a new twist in every chapter that make you want to keep reading. Excellent book. I really enjoyed it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The storyline of future Earth was captivating. The character development made me feel invested in the story. I would recommend Catalyst for anyone drawn to the science fiction genre. The only drawback, for me, were the number of grammatical errors that I found interrupted my reading flow. I won this book through the Goodreads First Reads program. Now to wait for book two...

[Kevin K · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story, once I hit about 1/4th of the way in, I didn't want to put it down. I look forward to reading the next book. The writing wasn't perfect, but the story made it easy to overlook the minor issues. Good writing takes lots of practice, and the author already has the hard part figured out.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you do when you find out there may not be a war like your military claims? What do you do if you can find out whether or not it's true? One man has lost everything in one moment and has a choice to try and save everyone else along the way. Choices right or wrong that will make him the hunted.

[Samantha]

I really liked this book. It has some unexpected things happen. It really made me chortle when they started to figure out what changes the gas did to them. It was a great first book and I really can't wait to see what happens in the next one.

[David Fox]

Well I have to say that Tyler Hall has a way of writing that keeps the reader going; "give me more".

The first chapter was a little confusing, while trying to get people in place with Mac trying to get caught back up with his family. Mac is telling his family about his IMP

[Ihatethatguy]

I have recently won this from GoodReads giveaways and am completely intrigued by this story.
Will definitely change this review once I have read the novel. I can hardly wait!

[Jazlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! I cannot wait for the next book!

[Elise Wanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me preface this by saying I generally prefer Fantasy over sci fi (though I like both), and that writing style is a huge factor in whether I like a book or not and I strongly prefer Third POV Limited or First Person. I have also only read this book and part of the second, but not the full series. I read this book a while ago and I haven't left a review on Goodreads before. So that all affected my view of this book (and this review) before getting into any of the actual content itself.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. I found Mac to be somewhat flat. I didn't really understand his motivation. Mac joined the military to seek his lost love, Janelle. Yes, he loves Janelle, he is seeking Janelle, but I didn't understand why Janelle. We get a glimpse of her kissing him and that's all. Why is she compelling? Why does Mac love her so deeply he will chase her across the universe? I felt that was missing.

The writing could be tighter. There was a fair amount of exposition that slowed down the story. There was also words written where better words would have served. "See-through" where "transparent" would have served as a more fitting term. There were characters that definitely could have been combined into one characters; there were many I felt appeared and disappeared without giving me a reason to make note of them, leaving me confused as to who they were when they reappeared later.

This is definitely soft sci fi, which is fine, but sometimes it just pushed the boundaries of disbelief. The scene I hate most in the entire book is the scene where Mac and Lynn (and Raymond?) inject the "Lynn Rock" into themselves in order to survive the "Mac Gas". It just didn't make any sense biologically or scientifically (the rock not being eaten away by the gas has to do with its properties, and injecting it will not give you those properties, it just means you're injecting a foreign substance you have no knowledge of into your body), and more importantly, it killed all suspense in the novel for me, because suddenly these guys have super powers. It was a total deus ex machina. I had trouble getting through the rest of the book and quit the second because all suspense had died for me. I no longer worried if the characters would make it through.

However, what saved this book for me, was primarily 1) the world building, and 2) Lynn. The world building is very interesting. There could a few less info dumps, but overall its spread well throughout, integrated into the world, and different enough from our world it's futuristic but not so different it's unrecognisable. The imps and how people without them are called Luddites I quite liked, as it is a good connection for readers to use to understand, and absolutely something I can see people doing. All the abbreviations for ships and gadgets threw me a bit (the author should consider putting a glossary in the back), but not a big enough issue to dissuade from reading.

And Lynn. Lynn. I am absolutely in love with Lynn. She is, by far, my favourite part of the book. From the first chapter introducing her I was hooked on her story. Here is this woman, dropped into an unfamiliar world, lethal and bloodthirsty aliens at her heels, fleeing through the rubble of the city she had called home just hours ago, fighting for her life, alone and wondering if her husband is alive and if she'll even make it long enough to find out, if help is coming. I was invested. She's a scientist, not a marine, so I felt the stakes for her were higher. I wanted to know how she was going to find her way around a problem when she couldn't fight it, she'd have to out-think it. I already knew she loved Scott because he was her husband, so I wanted to know if she was going to find him, and was excited for maybe some backstory for how they came together. I was distraught when Mac had to leave her behind on Ronos with Raymond, who was also powered up, eliminating her advantage, fighting for her life and all alone. I wanted to continue the series just to figure out what had happened to her, but book two largely focuses on Mac, and I struggled to get through it, wondering where Lynn was and how she was doing. She is, I think, one of, if not the most, well written characters in the entire book. She's what saved the entire experience for me. Honestly, if the entire book had been about Lynn, I would have been a happy woman. Lynn's writing is partially why I was so disappointed with Mac, because I knew the author had it in them to write a compelling character that makes readers route for them, I just felt it wasn't the main character they intended.

Would I read it again? Probably not. Was it a total waste of my time? No, it wasn't that either.
So if you can suspend your disbelief and maybe do a but of quick editing in your head, maybe keep some notes on characters and abbreviations/technology, Catalyst could be something you quite enjoy.

[MMMTP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating : 3.5
This is good sci-fic book , fun to read and enjoy.

But the book has big flaws specially in the narration part . The majority of the book has been narrated through Mac. But yet in some places in the book this has been broken to get the prospective of other characters. Which is not a bad thing but if they are in between a characters chapter , it would be nice for some "" (Quotation marks) .

One other thing to note that is found in the language is to stiff . When a he narrator is speaking It would be nice for a bit of a flow of the language like naturally speaking . (found to many of sentences which could have been continued with nice "if's " , "else" , "but's" ,"rather".
And I am not a English major or even a good (or close) writer . Just speaking from the writing of other authors .

*Spoilers from here
An other thing I noticed was in the storyline when Mat stumbles on the new planet and is stuck in the ship , how they get the "rock" into there body transforms them into hybrids . Really .... That made it sound too "lucky" to just stumble upon and convert into a hybrid while they are pretty much dying.
An other flaw in the storyline is how Mat talks about "Humanity" , but he talks about it after his conversion into a hybrid , which sounds a bit hypocrite to me considering he is not human anymore .
But then I might be wrong about the above and my answers could be answered in the books coming next maybe?

What I do like is how the story evolves from maybe a alien attack to a military sabotage and to end in an alien attack , or perhaps still happening .
I like how the characters evolved . There story's also were quite interesting .
And the action and fun.(Although the action could have been written a tide bit better)

All in all the book was good , and has the potential to become great .
As Tyler Hall is still a considerate new writer , hopes he jut keep getting better .

Looking forward to the next book.