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Aetna Adrift #1
Aetna Adrift: Part 1
What do you do when every aspect of life is regulated by a soul-sucking bureaucracy and constant surveillance is the norm?
You run. You find the out-of-the-way places no one watches. You make sure no one depends upon you, and you beat the system. That's what Jack did, and it worked...until now.
It starts to go wrong when Jack breaks his rule and takes Anna home more than once. Then, Administrator Timothy Randall arrives and turns Jack's backwater moon upside down. On a mission from the central government which no one understands, Randall and his staff do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals. When the killing starts, Jack finds himself blackmailed, tortured, and enslaved to a ruthless political faction. Now he must figure out who to trust, how to escape, and decide between Anna and his freedom.
Aetna Adrift is a full length high octane thriller in Erik Wecks' PAX Imperium universe.
You run. You find the out-of-the-way places no one watches. You make sure no one depends upon you, and you beat the system. That's what Jack did, and it worked...until now.
It starts to go wrong when Jack breaks his rule and takes Anna home more than once. Then, Administrator Timothy Randall arrives and turns Jack's backwater moon upside down. On a mission from the central government which no one understands, Randall and his staff do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals. When the killing starts, Jack finds himself blackmailed, tortured, and enslaved to a ruthless political faction. Now he must figure out who to trust, how to escape, and decide between Anna and his freedom.
Aetna Adrift is a full length high octane thriller in Erik Wecks' PAX Imperium universe.
- GenresScience Fiction
333 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 27, 2012
8 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Erik Wecks
23 books44 followersI am a full time writer and blogger living in Vancouver, Washington. I am an author of both non-fiction and fiction, as well as a contributor to the GeekDad blog on Wired.com. I write on a wide range of topics. When not waxing poetic on various aspects of fiscal responsibility, I tend toward the geeky.
When not poised over the keyboard, I love to spend time with my family. I am married to an angel, Jaylene, who has taught me more than anyone else about true mercy and compassion. We are the parents of three wonderful girls. As a group we like swimming at the local pool, gardening, reading aloud, playing piano, and beating each other soundly at whatever table top game is handy.
I love to hear from my readers. You can contact me at erikwecks@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @erikwecks or read more about my work at www.erikwecks.com. If you are interested in finding out when my next book will be published you can sign up for my monthly newsletter there. The link is in the upper right corner.
When not poised over the keyboard, I love to spend time with my family. I am married to an angel, Jaylene, who has taught me more than anyone else about true mercy and compassion. We are the parents of three wonderful girls. As a group we like swimming at the local pool, gardening, reading aloud, playing piano, and beating each other soundly at whatever table top game is handy.
I love to hear from my readers. You can contact me at erikwecks@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @erikwecks or read more about my work at www.erikwecks.com. If you are interested in finding out when my next book will be published you can sign up for my monthly newsletter there. The link is in the upper right corner.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 3, 2012
I'm not sure how long the sequel (Aetna Adrift) will turn out to be, but considering how quickly I burned through this one, I'm not thrilled about having to wait for the rest of the story. Yes, that means I enjoyed it. I think you will too.
The blandly named Jack is a connected and subdued character whose need for control sits behind a great deal of competence and people skills. And i do mean, people skills, not "charm". He understands the value of other people but not the value of meaningful relationship with them. He's too independent for that, which made it difficult for me to like him, as i generally frown on my own autonomous streak. But luckily for the reader and the future of this story, Jack's character develops. Circumstances (which i won't spoil) surprise him with his own compassion and both literal and emotional need for others.
And just as it this is becoming clear to him and circumstances come to a head, the book ends. So, now i will eagerly await the remainder.
Oh yeah, and this has some nice sci fi elements. Some of which are very well used in the story. A few appear to be mere backdrop, but i suspect/hope those will play a more important role down the line. Or at least in other stories set in this universe. As with all well done sci fi, the tech/nerd parts in here that are great are those that uniquely bend the path of the story and shape the lives of the characters. The moon (Aetna) itself is probably my favorite of those features.
In any case, it was definitely worth the $3.99, and i'll happily plunk down a few more bucks when the conclusion comes out. :)
The blandly named Jack is a connected and subdued character whose need for control sits behind a great deal of competence and people skills. And i do mean, people skills, not "charm". He understands the value of other people but not the value of meaningful relationship with them. He's too independent for that, which made it difficult for me to like him, as i generally frown on my own autonomous streak. But luckily for the reader and the future of this story, Jack's character develops. Circumstances (which i won't spoil) surprise him with his own compassion and both literal and emotional need for others.
And just as it this is becoming clear to him and circumstances come to a head, the book ends. So, now i will eagerly await the remainder.
Oh yeah, and this has some nice sci fi elements. Some of which are very well used in the story. A few appear to be mere backdrop, but i suspect/hope those will play a more important role down the line. Or at least in other stories set in this universe. As with all well done sci fi, the tech/nerd parts in here that are great are those that uniquely bend the path of the story and shape the lives of the characters. The moon (Aetna) itself is probably my favorite of those features.
In any case, it was definitely worth the $3.99, and i'll happily plunk down a few more bucks when the conclusion comes out. :)
June 20, 2013
Would have been 5 stars but...it is unfinished! I really enjoyed it despite this fact. It is more a novella than a novel. I would highly suggest that he combine the two parts into one book once complete. The universe Wecks creates is compelling, but his characters make the story. What good is a life or death situation if you don't care who dies? Great characters make great stories, and Wecks shows great promise here. I would definitely recommend this one for scifi fans. I look forward to the conclusion.
January 9, 2013
I was a nice lite read. if you like characters on the TV show firefly then you will most likely like this book.
January 13, 2013
Good solid sci-fi, but I wish I had noticed it was a serial when I started it :) now I'm left on a cliffhanger
January 26, 2013
A very good premise. Characters are engaging and full of depth. I am looking forward to the next chapter.
November 3, 2017
Jack Holloway, orbital station manager over the isolated moon, Aetna, has a relatively good life. Under the control of Unity, a soul-sucking bureaucracy that controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives, Jack supplements his income with a little smuggling that helps citizens maintain a semblance of individuality. Then, Tim Randall, a senior Unity executive, is sent to take control of Aetna, and the killing begins. Jack is dragooned into Randall’s plans—which he does not understand—and is forced to decide just where his loyalties lie.
Aetna Adrift by Erik Wecks is a thrilling space epic that portrays the individual against the bureaucracy, with stunning action scenes and deep-dives into the human psyche. With a hero who is far from perfect, arrayed against faceless, soulless bureaucrats, it is as visionary as it is contemporary. But, most of all, it is entertaining. Hard to put down once you start reading.
Aetna Adrift by Erik Wecks is a thrilling space epic that portrays the individual against the bureaucracy, with stunning action scenes and deep-dives into the human psyche. With a hero who is far from perfect, arrayed against faceless, soulless bureaucrats, it is as visionary as it is contemporary. But, most of all, it is entertaining. Hard to put down once you start reading.
December 8, 2016
I liked this book; it was decent light entertainment. However, I don't think I'd read anymore in this series as the writing lacked nuance and the characters didn't have emotional maturity.
The author does creates an interesting distopian future for mankind with a number of factions engaged in an interstellar cold war of sorts, but doesn't really explore the history or setting very much. I think this is the most promising aspect of the book -- If the author hit the reset button and started with a new cast in this same setting it could really go far...
My main criticism of this story is that it felt like the author had certain events in mind, and was propelling his characters through these in an almost forced way. The actions of the characters seemed contrived to make the scenarios work, rather than being natural extensions of the characters he was describing. Overall the supporting cast don't get much depth added to them, especially the female characters, and the "good vs bad" aspect of the universe is very black & white, without much nuance.
The strongest female character from a depth and motivation point-of-view was, for me, Dr. Musgrave. I felt they were interesting and could have stood to hear a lot more about them . However I suspect the character was originally written as male and later changed to female in editing, because a number of gender pronouns in my edition had not been updated properly -- in several places the character changes gender from start to finish of a sentence.
The author does creates an interesting distopian future for mankind with a number of factions engaged in an interstellar cold war of sorts, but doesn't really explore the history or setting very much. I think this is the most promising aspect of the book -- If the author hit the reset button and started with a new cast in this same setting it could really go far...
My main criticism of this story is that it felt like the author had certain events in mind, and was propelling his characters through these in an almost forced way. The actions of the characters seemed contrived to make the scenarios work, rather than being natural extensions of the characters he was describing. Overall the supporting cast don't get much depth added to them, especially the female characters, and the "good vs bad" aspect of the universe is very black & white, without much nuance.
The strongest female character from a depth and motivation point-of-view was, for me, Dr. Musgrave. I felt they were interesting and could have stood to hear a lot more about them . However I suspect the character was originally written as male and later changed to female in editing, because a number of gender pronouns in my edition had not been updated properly -- in several places the character changes gender from start to finish of a sentence.
July 29, 2013
This one of those books that get better the further along you read. I admit it was slow starting for me, but I am very glad I stuck with it because the book is actually pretty good. It leaves us with a cliff-hanger, but there is another book which will probably give us more answers! I felt like this was a movie or TV show I was watching rather than a book I was reading. Who to trust is the biggest mystery of them all.
January 6, 2013
I was very disappointed to find this is only the first installment of a two-part story. Had a TV-like cliff-hanger ending which I have to wait until "early to mid 2013" to find out the resolution to. I have enjoyed what I read, but feel cheated. I might have had a different reaction if I had known the story was to be continued from the outset.
February 21, 2013
Be warned - This book is a serial, so the ending is not an ending at all. It just stops.
The world is neat, the ideas are neat, I just found myself struggling to finish chapters. I would probably gave this book a 3 star rating, but I didn't like that the ending was really nothing more than a chapter break.
The world is neat, the ideas are neat, I just found myself struggling to finish chapters. I would probably gave this book a 3 star rating, but I didn't like that the ending was really nothing more than a chapter break.
January 13, 2013
An enjoyable sci-fi romp, and a great free read, but not quite compelling enough to make me buy the next one, at least not right away. It's a good set-up, though, with an interesting world and likable, if disreputable characters.
January 28, 2013
Good world building and excellent characterization, but the end felt like it came in the middle of a chapter, and the request to buy more of this author's books includes a spoiler about what was left unwritten in this incomplete novel.
March 11, 2014
Simply not worth your time
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews