Escape from the ORDER

by Steve Nelson

Escape from the ORDER! © 2010 by Utah Author Steve Nelson
Is a fictional look into a very real possible future. The characters are fictional but the FACTS are REAL! This ebook is Action and Adventure in the Near Future!
Experience the future of the human in the New World Order through the eyes of Male2014 & his friend Male2012.
Imagine an Already Planned future where the human herd is limited in numbers & highly controlled. ***If you ever enjoyed ‘SOYLENT GREEN’ or ‘THX1138’ you will love, ‘Escape from the ORDER!’ by Utah Author Steve Nelson
Escape is over 46,000 Action Packed words + Lots of Newly added Pics! This book puts YOU into the Very Near future. Experience what life will be like in the New Order, IF nothing is done TODAY! This book is Science Fiction based on FACT. ***Read 20% of this Exciting book for FREE! at: SMASHWORDS.COM

ebook

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Steve Nelson has been Head of School at the Calhoun School, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, since 1998. Calhoun is one of America’s most notable progressive schools and serves 750 students, from pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. Calhoun is particularly well regarded for its commitment to diversity and social justice.

Since 1997 Steve has been a columnist for the Valley News, the daily newspaper in the mid-VT/NH area on both sides of the Connecticut River. He has been a regular contributor to the Huffington Post since 2010, writing about education and politics. Before assuming his current position, he worked as an administrator at Vermont Law School and Landmark College. He is an avid violinist and also served for six years as President of a performing arts school in the Midwest.

Steve has competed in many marathons, triathlons, bicycle races and XC ski races, with steadily decreasing success. He now primarily races the grim reaper.

He is married to Wendy Nelson, has two children, Jennifer and Christopher, and three perfect grandchildren – Quinn, Maddie and Jack.

Reviews

[Katie R · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, once again, I only read the first 20% of this book, which is offered on Smashwords for free. According to the author's Facebook page: "This story is Better, more accurate and a lot cheaper than Hollyweird’s new movie called, ‘The Hunger Games!’" and " My book is better than Orwells 1984!" I beg to differ.

The Hunger Games was done exceptionally well, and is one of the few movies I’ve seen that managed to stay true(ish) to the book. And while 1984 wasn't my favorite book, I still found it enjoyable and thought-provoking -- which is more than can be said for Nelson's affronts to the written word. Really, statements like these make me wonder if the author hasn't seen/read The Hunger Games or 1984, or is simply a narcissist.

But I digress; as I read the opening paragraph, it really didn't leave a bad impression. While it's true that the writing style needed far more work, the overall effect did leave me wondering what was next. Unfortunately, what we see next is characteristic of Nelson’s work --- infodump. Yes, the protagonist then goes on to tell his entire life story, beginning from the day he was born.

I don’t know if Nelson has ever read any sci-fi before (or any other books, for that matter) but he seems to think the purpose of sci-fi is to add bits of relatively uncommon modern-day technology and unnecessary “futuristic” details to an otherwise ordinary tale. Said details are hardly ever explained, and when they are, it is very poorly done. For example; while telling his exhaustively dull autobiography, the protagonist tells us about how all humans are implanted with microchips, have their heads shaved, and are given incredibly long tattoos. The microchips are, of course, tracking devices -- a common element in many modern sci-fi and dystopian novels. The shaved heads are never explained. The tattoo explanation I find uproariously unrealistic.

The tattoo explanation: the protagonist’s tattoo (name) is “Male20140414pHBSC”. This is “New Order” code for his gender, date of birth, and possible future career (breeding stock). In his facility, he is called “Male2014”. Does anyone but me see a problem with this classification system? First of all, referring to the protagonist as “Male2014” wouldn’t work unless he was the only male born in 2014 living in his barracks. This is, of course, highly improbable. This entire thing simply wouldn’t work --- if this is a world government, what about any other potential male breeders born on his birthday? Immediately we have a flaw in the system.

So, Male2014 lives in his barracks with his friend, Male2012, a potential soldier. Together, the pair engages in “wild activities” such as “Turning all their [girl’s] coveralls inside out and tying the legs together at the laundry…” Wow, such rebels… not. Except they are! That’s right, they get sent to the office for this and the “thumb tack incident” (never gone into, but surely more interesting than laundry pranks) and are threatened with being assigned to bad careers.

Because bad careers are viewed as a sort of prison, Male2014 and 2012 cease their rebellious laundry sabotage and take solace in their “Mother Earth devotionals” (which instantly remind me of King Apollyon's Club of Evil, of Maradonia fame), where they are told they are a blight upon the earth.

Alas, Male2012 gets sent to his training facility and everyone is sad. A love interest is hinted at for Male2014, and we learn that the human digestive system is now so efficient that people can live off protein shakes without suffering from horrible constipation.

This was only the first chapter, and already we can see the story isn't going anywhere interesting. Nelson has obviously never heard of world-building, and with the exception of names, there are no defining characteristics among characters. Formatting errors run rampant along with logical inconsistencies, making me question whether or not Nelson has done any research or planning before writing. Really, the book is so bad it’s funny.