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Spes #1
Buried Hope
The world is dead... and for a thousand years, they've hidden.
The citizens claim they love Spes, the underground city where they evade the deadly toxins of the surface world, but the walls never end and the guards never cease to watch. There is a longing to escape, and a hope that someday the world might live again.
But how do the people know what they are told is truth? How far will they go to trust the unknown, and how much will they fight for that they cannot have?
The citizens claim they love Spes, the underground city where they evade the deadly toxins of the surface world, but the walls never end and the guards never cease to watch. There is a longing to escape, and a hope that someday the world might live again.
But how do the people know what they are told is truth? How far will they go to trust the unknown, and how much will they fight for that they cannot have?
- GenresScience Fiction
84 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 3, 2013
5 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
X.J. Selman
3 booksSelf-published writer of fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary, but unfortunately not erotica.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 26, 2013
Buried Hope is a sci-fi novella built around a dystopian society called Spes. In a very restricted environment, the people are heavily governed by the "Eye" and the 'peacekeeping' Eye's Guard, where they only have one freedom: their thoughts. The hopes and dreams of the people of Spes revolves around returning to the World Above, but to them the world is dead, and toxic to anyone but the blood of the Number, a single bloodline of those said to be immune to the dangers of the outside world. It's up to the Numbers to survey the world above, and bring word to the people when it is finally safe to emerge, but it's not that simple.
Now this plot revolves around several main characters (surprising for a book this size) who each have their own unique roles in the story, including Number Thirty-Two. I found that the characters were very well-thought-out & refreshing. They each had their own perspective on the situation, and one thing I've found about a lot of these characters is that when you think you know their place... their exact role in the story down to the fact that you can practically guess the conclusion, you're wrong. This is the first book in the series and at this point I can't guess where any of the characters will end up. That's a plus for me, because it kept the story interesting.
So you've got an pretty good plot and unique characters. Now onto the prose. Selman has a very descriptive writing style that I also find distinctive from other authors. I notice the book goes into a lot of detail, but only about informative things. Rather than go into extra detail to describe say a specific setting, the book takes the time to go further into the plot with background information, or describing the way things run in Spes, or a certain character's history. For such a small book, you get a LOT of information, and still end up with a lot of good questions. The vocabulary is advanced. Suitable for adult readers, but not so overdone as to distract YA readers either, so that's a plus as well.
Overall, after reading this short story, I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel. It's a good story with better characters, and it's well written. I feel that if you are into general sci-fi and/or dystopian fiction, then this book won't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed it and overall I give I'd a 4.5/5
Now this plot revolves around several main characters (surprising for a book this size) who each have their own unique roles in the story, including Number Thirty-Two. I found that the characters were very well-thought-out & refreshing. They each had their own perspective on the situation, and one thing I've found about a lot of these characters is that when you think you know their place... their exact role in the story down to the fact that you can practically guess the conclusion, you're wrong. This is the first book in the series and at this point I can't guess where any of the characters will end up. That's a plus for me, because it kept the story interesting.
So you've got an pretty good plot and unique characters. Now onto the prose. Selman has a very descriptive writing style that I also find distinctive from other authors. I notice the book goes into a lot of detail, but only about informative things. Rather than go into extra detail to describe say a specific setting, the book takes the time to go further into the plot with background information, or describing the way things run in Spes, or a certain character's history. For such a small book, you get a LOT of information, and still end up with a lot of good questions. The vocabulary is advanced. Suitable for adult readers, but not so overdone as to distract YA readers either, so that's a plus as well.
Overall, after reading this short story, I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel. It's a good story with better characters, and it's well written. I feel that if you are into general sci-fi and/or dystopian fiction, then this book won't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed it and overall I give I'd a 4.5/5
January 23, 2014
Just so/so. The characters were all very shallow and hard to connect to.
February 14, 2013
From my amazon review (the second ever =)
As an avid reader of cracked.com I found myself enjoying articles that XJ had written or co-written. Usually at the point that i recognize the writer's name on I'll visit their blog, see who they are and what they're all about. Low and behold he had just published a novella so i gave it a shot; an investment of a soda as he explains on his blog. I thought it was great and I'm anxious to find out more about the universe that he's creating. The story just barely scratches the surface (or so I hope), and I'm left wondering where it's going to go next. In my opinion, the cost of a soda and an hour of your time which is well spent. To be clear this feels very much like the beginning of something larger and not a stand alone piece of work, basically episode 1 of X.
As an avid reader of cracked.com I found myself enjoying articles that XJ had written or co-written. Usually at the point that i recognize the writer's name on I'll visit their blog, see who they are and what they're all about. Low and behold he had just published a novella so i gave it a shot; an investment of a soda as he explains on his blog. I thought it was great and I'm anxious to find out more about the universe that he's creating. The story just barely scratches the surface (or so I hope), and I'm left wondering where it's going to go next. In my opinion, the cost of a soda and an hour of your time which is well spent. To be clear this feels very much like the beginning of something larger and not a stand alone piece of work, basically episode 1 of X.
February 3, 2014
I liked this book... althought honestly I was VERY 'iffy' about it to begin with. I didn't appreciate the author's writing style. I had just come out of reading another science fiction book, and I immediately notice some unfavorable differences this author has.
With sci-fi or fantasy, I tend to need VERY specific descriptions of things. If you say "metal arches" I like to know if they're wide or narrow. If you say there were "multiple suspended platforms", I like to know immediately where in 3d space they are relative to each other, rather than me figuring it out over the course of the chapter. In this sense I feel the author has some work to do.
I liked the skill in which multiple characters were woven together, given the short length of the book. I feel as if I know each of them, and actually care what happens to them. The end of the book was gripping, and I'm excited to see what happens in the next edition.
With sci-fi or fantasy, I tend to need VERY specific descriptions of things. If you say "metal arches" I like to know if they're wide or narrow. If you say there were "multiple suspended platforms", I like to know immediately where in 3d space they are relative to each other, rather than me figuring it out over the course of the chapter. In this sense I feel the author has some work to do.
I liked the skill in which multiple characters were woven together, given the short length of the book. I feel as if I know each of them, and actually care what happens to them. The end of the book was gripping, and I'm excited to see what happens in the next edition.
November 20, 2014
My first thought on finishing this book was "Where's the rest?" It doesn't really seem to actually finish, it's more like the author just stopped writing at that point and gave up.
What is there is pretty good, but I can't really say much about it, because basically all you're left with at the end is questions. Maybe it's supposed to be part one of a serialised story, but the Amazon page says nothing about that, so I'm judging it as a stand-alone story.
If a part two appears I'll almost certainly read that, but until it does I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Read Wool Omnibus instead.
What is there is pretty good, but I can't really say much about it, because basically all you're left with at the end is questions. Maybe it's supposed to be part one of a serialised story, but the Amazon page says nothing about that, so I'm judging it as a stand-alone story.
If a part two appears I'll almost certainly read that, but until it does I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Read Wool Omnibus instead.
February 3, 2014
well i just happened to see this book browsing thru amazon.
The book has various chapters and each chapter is written from point of view of a character.
the books theme is good and could have been brought forward even better.
i was lost in lots of descriptions and side stuff and lost interest in between .
Book ended nicely for the sequel though
would rate it 3/5
The book has various chapters and each chapter is written from point of view of a character.
the books theme is good and could have been brought forward even better.
i was lost in lots of descriptions and side stuff and lost interest in between .
Book ended nicely for the sequel though
would rate it 3/5
January 23, 2014
This book was enjoyable but seemed to have needed more background and character development. Why was everyone underground? What does the class system mean? Interesting storyline though. Hope to learn more as the series goes on.
June 18, 2015
The more I read, the worse it got.
February 20, 2014
Very small book, kind of looked like reading JRR writing.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews