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Halfkinds #1

by Andrew Vu

In the twenty fourth century, a scientific experiment gave a few species the gift of intelligence, and after much struggle, they've carved out a place in society. By the thirtieth century, humans find themselves co-existing, negotiating, and residing on Earth with these animals as equals.

Maya Lawton is a lonely prostitute living in this world. She gives birth to the first halfkinds, creatures who are half animal-kind, and half mankind. Since interspecies breeding is illegal, she is forced into seclusion and raises them alone. Then one day, without warning, she dies, and her death leads to their discovery. Abandoned and lost, this family of halfkinds plan to escape to a terraformed moon. But the law is after them. The order is to kill, sent by the highest authority, the United Species Alliance.

For more info, check out the wikia: http://halfkinds.wikia.com

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Ebooks, Amazon

362 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2012

About the author

Andrew Vu is a writer currently living in Oakland, CA. He attended UC Berkeley and has been writing since he was a teenager.

His novels are fast paced, character driven stories sure to keep you engaged and on the edge of your seat.

Email: avwrite@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/AndrewNVu
Blog: avwrite.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm more of a paranormal fan, and thought I would give this book a try even though I heard it was more Scifi. I wasn't disappointed. Plenty of POV between characters..right up to their final ending. It was very dramatic.. cold..calculating. This book is about cross species that someone was trying to have integrated into population.. yet its an abomination and against the law dealt with by death. A group is formed to hunt a family down after the mother was found dead by a local cop. There was plenty of surprises.. in the plots of this book and I admit the style is different than what I'm used to but I followed right along. I found the twins to be my favorite.. and was VERY surprised at the ending. I may just have to read the sequel. Good Job Mr. Vu.

[Jeanine Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very unique book

I loved this book. Written in the first person made it a little longer than needed. Some chapters were repeat actions from two different perspectives. Very easy to speed read through. Other than that, the descriptions of the animals, their adapted weapons etc was excellent. The feeling descriptions for all involved, especially the halfkinds was very well written. I could feel their anguish and fear. The sign of a well written book. I will be purchasing the next book. Well done. Nothing like anything I have ever read before which is what I search for daily after being a ferocious reader for fifty years.

[Heather Hartling · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I wanted to like the book, I just couldn't. The characters we're so underdeveloped I had a hard time remembering who was who. The ending is quite disappointing and doesn't leave much for a second book. I love the idea, it just needs better execution.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has an interesting premise, Animals have achieved a high level of intelligence and now are on somewhat equal footing with humans. Inter-species sex is prohibited. Someone found a way that inter-species breeding was actually successful. The story is about a few days in the life of a family of these "halfkinds". I wasn't thrilled with the speed of the book and what happens but it was interesting.

[Cloud · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the world building to be one of the more interesting points in this book. I think the author had a good foundation to start from. The concepts behind the family and all the characters is also very interesting that I wanted to know more about. The point I got bored with was the style of writing and how every chapter jumped to a different character to be told from their point of view. I felt this really let the action and suspense fall quite flat and at times almost felt as though I was reading an official report of the events than actually there with the characters. I was surprised by a few turns the story takes, but overall quite pleased with the end result.

I'll probably wait a while to pick up the second book. It has just enough of my curiosity to see what happens next that it'll stay on my radar. But like I said, the lack of feeling like I'm on the edge of my seat doesn't encourage buying the next right away. I actually took a break in the middle of this book to read something with a quicker pace.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the ideas in this book set a long way in the future where animals are intelligent and live on an equal footing with humans. However the plot is more conventional with a Family being hunted by the authorities and it is largely a tale of treachery between the family members. Some of the animals are seen as stereotypes for example the pigs being greedy and the elephant being silent. It did explore a number of moral dilemmas and how events influenced actions.
I thought the author’s style of telling the same episode from different view points rather than increasing the tension as intended slowed the action.
I did like the book but am not sure if the basic idea will sustain a series, this one works OK as a stand-alone as there are little in the way of loose ends, or “people” at the end.

[K.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was interesting because it was written from the POV's of different characters. I found myself drawn into the unique format, and after some setup, the plot moved along rather nicely. There are a lot of twists and turns in the chase I didn't expect, especially towards the end. There's a lot to absorb within the book in terms of where the story is set. It was interesting to see how different animals interacted with each other. On the flip side, it was also pretty neat to see how the halfkinds would battle their pursuers. I noticed one or two grammatical errors though, I hope the writer fixes them, but overall, it didn't take away from the book.

Overall, if the author plans to write a series, this book sets the tone and I'm interested to see what happens next.

[Johi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel will hook you, even if you're not into sci-fi. At least it did for me. It's set in the year 3040, when animals are as smart as humans and we all try to coexist in the world (yay - no more eating cows!) There are talking dogs, cats, pigs, cows, etc. -- but this novel revolves around halfkinds, creatures that are half human, half something else. They are a subject of much controversy in this world, since they are seen as abominations. The story contains plenty of interesting characters, and most of them are well-developed. It never went the way I thought it was going to go, so I was kept constantly surprised. Great work!

[Cheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I surrender. I thought this science fiction book sounded fun, but at the halfway mark nothing has happened since the opening of the book. There are eleven halfkind siblings, which have each been described in an "FBI" style briefing. There are a bunch of animal agents sent to track them down, each of which also had to be described in detail during a meeting. I finally gave up when we got to an intimate discussion of animal weaponry and the companies that make the technology. While the idea is interesting, it is just TOO slow.

[Jerry Guarino · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the 31st century and the world has changed; but has it? There are still battles between criminals and law enforcement. Prostitution is still rampant but now there is sex between humans and animals! Greed is still around and so are other deadly sins. This novel has a chapter for many characters, some you will like and some you will find distasteful. "Halfkinds" is good science fiction, very graphic and filled with details that stir the imagination. I'm going to have to check out the sequel, volume 2.

Jerry Guarino
author of Trilogies: 18 sets of short fiction

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s a good book that would be made better though the use of an editor. The misspellings and the occasional sentence that leads nowhere are distractions in a book that has quite an interesting premise and some near gems of metaphors. It is disappointing to have to slog through unedited works. The character development is also pretty shabby. If most of the characters are intelligent animals, noting some feature of a character might help keep the reader's mind in the book.

[Huong B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting enough for a good late night read. Different characters and well plotted action made me enjoy it every time before I went to bed. More interesting was the way the animals are portrayed in society and how they interact with other species.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a decent read. It was a bit confusing and I had a hard time picturing the animal characters as described. My biggest issue was the continual shift (each chapter) between characters and PoV. Some people like that style choice, but I found it distracting

[Desiree Manning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Iffy. I don't know If reading the second book would make me feel more like the book finished? Idk I hope the second one is better but if I can't get into it right away I won't keep going. Wouldn't recommend to anyone

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok, a futuristic Animal Farm....but I really wanted more details about how the society functions, and what do they eat? also, a little disappointed that the animals were so much like people...I'd hoped they'd be more peaceful and avoid the petty conflicts of humans.

[Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent world-building and use of science. I liked how it went back and forth between character perspectives. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking to read something unique and untapped in the sci-fi genre.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it was hard to get a mental image of the world and creatures, the story was enjoyable and engaging. I liked the different points of view from the different characters and the change in some of them from beginning to end. I'd definitely read the rest of this series.

[Pat Stevenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe this one just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into it. Bad things happening to these kids because they are considered misfits. Didn't get very far.

[Jae Kight · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't believe I wasted hours of my time on this poorly written, underdeveloped book. The concept interested me. The characters were bland and unidimensional.

[Sagastory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book polarizing but good. Some will like it, some will hate it because of its content.

[Emil Girardin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. Lots of action. About 12 or so typographical errors which disrupt the careful reader.

[T.R. Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting ideas so so execution

[Matt Kelland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this, but I kept struggling with it for all sorts of reasons. I think it would have made a great comic, but as prose, it felt awkward.

[La · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, sad story.