Causality

by Neil Shooter

A dream of desolation and death. A nightmare vision of a looming end, surrounded by hidden enemies and desperate strangers. His love taken. His hope lost. His life forfeit because of his failures, his inadequacies. How can this end be a beginning? And how can a dream seem so real?

Genres: Short Stories

5 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

I grew up in Robin Hood Country, spent some time in the sprawling metropolises (?) of London, England, and Toronto, Canada, and now I've found a quiet corner of rural Ontario to put myself out to pasture in.
I'm always in search of my serenity and my muse.
I try to read, and to write, a little bit every day, so that my gears keep turning...

Reviews

['Sabell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It's the length of a short story, only ten pages on my kindle, that disappointed me slightly, though the ending let me down a little too. It's like Chevok's THE WAGER short story, where everything builds up, up, up, and then there's a really quick, kind-of lets-you-down ending. I don't want to spoil anything because it's so short that revealing anything would reveal a big part of the plot. About half the book (a a little bit more) takes on that same, ominous tone of voice as in the blurb, which I immensely enjoyed. Overall, a great read and I'd definitely recommend it. It also has a hint of a some-thing apocalypse. I'd love to read anything else by this author.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.

[T.P. Grish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review.

Causality is a short story that starts strong, stagnates in the middle, and weakens towards the end.

The beginning is well-written and tense, hinting at a possible horror type, dystopian plot. The writing starts off evocative and tense, but flaws begin to pop up. I felt that some words were repeated too much, and although this was the kind of plot that starts you off in the middle of a scene and leaves you to guess what the larger picture is, more information about the starting area and surroundings would have helped. It seems like information (like the existence of ventilation holes in the room) are added later without much thought. There are phrases that describe the tension and antipathy that the humans have for each other in the starting situation, and then suddenly the humans are described working together in a way that is described as 'humanity at it's finest'.

Towards the middle, the author has gone on for too long without cluing us in more on the story, or at least providing more details and nuances for us to hang on to, besides the first-person narrative. There are some lines that really work, and its obvious that the author does have some writing skill 'it's a busy dark, full of flickers and smoke'. The story begins to meander, and sentences begin to become awkward, and I noticed a few cases of uneven paragraphing. It is not a big deal, as there are not that many grammatical mistakes.

The ending is a major twist, but is jarring and disjointed, and ultimately disappointing. It also is not written as well as the beginning. The last sentence of the story does give interesting closure to the story, and leaves you wondering, in a positive way.

Causality is a good first short story, and the writer demonstrates some writing ability and room for growth.

[Gabby · Rating 2 out of 5]

*WARNING: There may be spoilers in this review, but big ones will be marked.*

I got this book for free in exchange for an honest review from the Lovers of Paranormal Group on Goodreads.

For me this was a confusing story. Not a bad one, but it would have been better had it been a bit longer; in my opinion. I didn't feel there was much explaining done, but I understand that's what to expect from a short story. Other then that, Was the italics there to represent a dream or something of the sort? I don't know. I wish I could have liked it more. I'll read the second one, though, i'm curious to see what happens and if I can understand it a bit more.

EDIT I read the blurb to the second book, and I now understand what happened in the first one. I just wish I understood it without having to do that.

(More of a note for me, but I won't be adding this for my 2013 reading challenge as I have a 60+ pages rule, but i read this on the 3rd of March, 2013)

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was given this to read in exchange for a honest review. I was confused at first because it showed up as being only 7 pages on my nook, but I see from other reviews that it is a short story. I didn't like it. It started off good and had me thinking it was a story of a group of people trapped or kidnapped but then quickly changed. I then thought it was about zombies in the "middle". By the end I was totally confused. I don't know if the guy was dreaming, or if he was an author and was writing the story of the trapped people. In the end I still have no clue what this was about and was sadly disappointed :(

[pinK · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recieved this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very quick read, I only spent about fifteen minutes or so to complete it. Unfortunately, I don't think this is really for me. I'm not sure if it's the length being too short, or the way it's written, but I just couldn't get into it. I finished the book more confused than I began.

The italics were really weird, and I don't understand what they meant. Maybe it was a dream? I don't know really, to be honest.

You don't really get to know any of the characters in this story, so it's really hard to feel attached to it. This just wasn't the story for me.

[Allyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved this book thru the author for an honest review. It stared out great but then got confusing in the middle and then i was almost getting it but it wasnt explained all that great i hope the next one explains what lost me in the first one. I hate short stories because I know that if an author can right a good short story that they could make it longer even 20 or 30 pages. Thanks for letting me read your book!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-rev...

[Skaistė Girtienė · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. I've easily got immersed in it. It had tension, danger, sadness and hope. It gave me a bunch of questions and kept me wondering what is happening. I'm left eager to find out that and to get some answers after finishing reading. I would like to read what happens in the next part of the story.

I was given this book in exchange for honest review (Lovers of Paranormal).

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might only be 15 pages, but it still left me angry at the end (in a good way mind you) because I did not want it to be the end! Tease! lol

Right from the start it grips you, and doesn't want to let you go. Totally worth it, if nothing else then to introduce yourself to this author!

'We want more, we want more'

[Ariella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book free for a honest review. I love this book but it is to short.