Voyage Embarkation

by Zachary Bonelli, Aubry Kae Andersen (Illustrator)

At the age of twelve, Kal sprang from the starting block into the pool, his teammates cheering him on. He felt the rush of the air, the crash of the water, but he never finished the heat. He awoke two years later on a world that was Earth, but also not Earth, and discovered that he could never return home.

After four years of exile, he can finally escape into the metaxia, the unspace between universes, and realize his dream of exploring alternate realities.

Supremely advanced cultures and natural wonders of immeasurable beauty await him. However, there exist also worlds mired in social decay, and those filled with dangerous, exotic forms of life.

Armed only with defensive nanotechnology and a computer pad, Kal travels from one alternate Earth to another. Navigating the infinity of possibilities, he embarks on a new kind of voyage, a voyage along the catastrophe of notions.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

520 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2013

About the author

I grew up in a small town in northern Illinois, west of Chicago. After graduating high school, I dual majored in English Literature and German Language at a small, Midwestern liberal arts college. After undergrad, I turned my eyes towards exploration, and spent many years in Japan, Thailand and Hawaii.

Nowadays, I live with my partner near Seattle, Washington, where I work in the gaming industry.

I love stories. I’ve long been fascinated by video games as a storytelling medium, and I love exploring different cultures, discovering the different underlying stories that different groups of people tell themselves, the stories that define who they are and how they perceive the world.

Reviews

[Jeff Suwak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an exceedingly difficult book for me to rate. In my review, I attempt to interpret my feelings a little more thoroughly than a simple 'star' rating.

Firstly, I am truly impressed by the professionalism of the book's writing and I admire the author's craftsmanship. I work as an editor, and I didn't find a single typo or grammatical error. Not one. Also, the style of the writing is very reserved and economical. There are no Faulkner/McCarthy-like linguistic gymnastics. I personally enjoy such gymnastics, but can also appreciate Mr. Bonelli's style of unobtrusive writing. It flows along very nicely and keep pushing the story forward without drawing a lot of attention to itself.

The book raises numerous ethical questions, particularly about the role of technology in human life. Sometimes it came across slightly heavy handed, but I respect that the book is more than simply mindless entertainment, which seems to be in such popularity today. The author has something to say.

The book really can't be read as a regular novel. It's more of a collection of episodes. In some ways it reminded me of the first season of the first Star Trek...or like Twilight Zone and Route 66. Each episode has its own philosophical theme, and is tightly crafted around that theme.

When it comes to pure craftsmanship and professionalism, the book is top notch.

The aspects that I didn't enjoy as much had nothing to do with the quality of the book and were all my own preference.

I have never been very enthralled or interested in technology, and books that focus heavily on technology don't interest me much.

Kal's technology was so powerful that I had a hard time really identifying with him. I've always been drawn to the scrappers and the underdogs, heroes that have to get by on heart and resolve...but Kal's technology makes him godlike.

While I agreed with many of the philosophical positions it the book, some of them struck me as being a bit oversimplified.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction that incorporates both the 'hard' sci fi of tech and the 'soft' sci fi of sociological and psychological questioning.

In the end, I tend to rate books according to the ultimate effect they leave on me. I appreciated Voyage Embarkation's themes and the fact that it's essentially a sci fi book that challenges the increasingly common notion that technology is the cure all for human civilization's ills. That's a pertinent and important question for people to be asking today.

As a writer and editor, I have a lot of respect for the care and craftsmanship Mr. Bonelli put into this book. I would definitely buy more of his work, if it fit more closely to the type of stuff that I usually read.

The general quality of the book ultimately had me give it four stars. The book isn't really something that falls into my usual brand of reading, but the book achieves what it was written to do...provides fascinating technology with a story line designed to entertain but also to provoke deeper consideration (not that those two things are mutually exclusive by nature).

[ReGi Mcclain · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's GOOD:

1. WELL-WRITTEN. There are impressively few typos for a self-published book. I've read traditionally published books with more typos and grammatical errors.
2. INTERESTING CONCEPT. The main character's conflict leads him to several interesting worlds.
3. NOT TOO TECHNICAL. It doesn't feel like the author is trying to impress me with his vast knowledge of the inner-workings of some nonexistent technology he made up. Instead, he incorporates the tech as elements of the plot, avoiding most lengthy explanations.

What's NOT-so-good

1. NO ENDING. I don't mean there's a cliff-hanger. The story is just gone. It's clear the author has more planned. In the meantime, I feel like I walked out of a lush forest into a flat dessert with no warning.
2. PREACHY IN PLACES. Two of the chapters in particular are based on socio-political conflicts. In one chapter, the social conflict overshadows the main conflict to a large degree.
3. DIFFICULT TO KEEP THE SETTINGS STRAIGHT. The story wouldn't be what it is without its multiple settings, but sometimes when the author referenced an earlier setting I'd have to go look it up again.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voyage is a thought-provoking science fiction novel. With playfully energetic and intelligent writing, Bonelli proves young adult science fiction can be full of adventure yet, still serious and thoughtful. He builds intricate societies each with their own environment, government, and philosophical values as the protagonist Kal visits multiple Earths through the metaxia.
Bonelli’s style is easy to read. He slides his technical data in the plot in an easy to understand way without bogging down the story with extraneous details.
Readers should know that by design this novel is episodic. It is was originally released as episodes which have now been bound together. There is a story that weaves its way through the novel, but it is secondary to the worlds which Kal and his brother Tria are exploring.
Voyage Embarkation is a brilliant debut novel.
Finally: I love the beautiful illustrations by Aubry K. Andersen.

[Dan Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

First released as singular 'episodes', Zachary Bonelli's debut, Voyage Embarkation is the first volume in what is hopefully going to be an extensive collection of world hopping science fiction adventures. I have come to love a good sci-fi book, but they do have to have interesting concepts and thought provoking characters for it catch my attention. When I was given the chance to read and review this first volume before its release, I instantly agreed. Its blurb caught my attention with its mention of travelling from world to world, from discovering the beautiful natural wonders that may exist to social decay of others.

We begin with Kal, the teenage protagonist, who has lived in exile upon a foreign world that is populated by giant cats. With nanotechnology commonly used upon Earth, Kal has found that he is extremely allergic to the collective radiation that is produced as a result, putting him in a coma. But through his expertise in computer programming, Kal has found a way to enter the metaxia - 'an unspace between universes' as the author explains. With this, he begins his journey, exploring foreign cultures, ever in hope of discovering a cure to his allergy so he can once again return home to where he belongs. Voyage Embarkation is the first chronicle of sorts in Kal's adventures, and believe me, it is so captivating and wonderous to read.

From tropical jungles where people live in tree baubles, to clay people worshiping a not so benevolent deity; from totalitarian fascist run states where coups are hiding away, to a re-imagining of Norse mythology, this novel crosses the boundaries of science fiction and fantasy culminating in a fast-paced, thoroughly enjoyable thrill ride. The author has such an inventive and creative imagination, and describes each world in such vivid detail, you can really get a taste of what life is like for its inhabitants.

What is also so interesting about these alternate realities, is how rich in detail they are in regards to social and political elements. Some are more cultural based where others have a political hierarchy that must be adhered to at all costs. Zachary Bonelli is one clever man, as he manages to show extreme opposites in rather close proximity to one another, which as a reader gives us an insight into what our world may become. It never comes across as preachy, but rather informative, factual and although Kal may disagree with some of the worlds' habits, Bonelli never forces morals and rights and wrongs onto you, instead cleverly getting you to ask your own questions. There are some complex issues discussed within, so this may not be a light read, but it does pull you in.

I think what really makes this book is Kal. He is such an endearing main character, one with strong morals; constantly always trying to do the right thing at heart, but sometimes actually messes up. He has such a strong voice, but also the vulnerability to evoke emotion. He's just a lad who wants to return home, but knows he actually can't. At times you really feel for the guy. What Bonelli does extremely well with kal, is the subtle development as the book progresses. They aren't noticeable at first, but as Kal realises his previous mistakes, he starts to amend his behaviour, taking other characters' feelings into account before he acts. At first, he's quite a naive young man, thinking that he has the technology and expertise to help the societies he visits - make them better. But over the course of the book, he begins to realise that he isn't a god, he can't solve all the problems that face him, and sometimes the connections he makes along the way have to be severed for him to move on.

What is a real gem though, is the character of Tria, Kal's holographic brother of sorts, the one person who sticks with him along his journey. I found Tria's witty remarks and brilliant insights really engaging. Especially as we see Kal and Tria's attachment and relationship grow into something really meaningful with strong foundations. It is hard to imagine the book without Tria actually. I think he is the secret cog in the background that holds everything together - and it also adds an extra level to the novel. The story arc of searching the realms for a way to create Tria a real body is also motivation enough to read.

Voyage Embarkation is the first novel I've read that features it central character being gay. It isn't something you pick up on at first, but the little clues dotted among the pages do make you think. I do think this is a great part to the story, and why shouldn't great book have gay protagonists? Zachary Bonelli writes with such conviction and confidence in kal, that only adds to his endearment. It isn't until the chapter (book) 'Taboo' where we really get to see Kal's sexual orientation come to the fore, with most of that story as kal as the unfortunate victim of hate because of his preferences. I really do think that Bonelli found the right balance of emotion in that chapter, because it would have been too easy to trail of the path as such. The chapter shocks you into shouting at Kal to leave that world. Kal's vulnerability really does become apparent in that chapter.

I did find the technical sides of this book a little confusing at times, which sort of made things a little slow for me in the beginning. For someone who reads predominately science fiction, I doubt this would be a problem. From nanotechnology, to radiation, to programming, to computer displays and other semantic terms, I think it sometimes shows that Bonelli may have forgotten to clarify some areas, as he is probably so atuned to them already. It certainly doesn't hinder the novel, and when you do start to pick them up, you can really get into the story more.

Another slightly disadvantage the book has is, well the concept of world hopping really. Trust me, it is an original idea and presented extremely well, but you can't deny that the forever move to one world to another doesn't really give you a chance to get your teeth into some of the other characters. This is because as you move on to another world, you are introduced all over again to new characters, never returning to characters you met earlier on. There are some great side characters in here - I certainly hope we get to see some of them again.

Voyage Embarkation is a great sci-fi read, one that touches upon so many bases. It is clever, rich in detail and extremely well written; plus with some great conceptual illustrations inside too. Yes the technical terms can be a little confusing at times, but once you really get behind Kal, you begin to open your eyes that little bit wider and spur him on, enjoying his exploration along with him. Tria is a fab character, one I'm keen to read more about. If world hopping, multi-layered levels of political and cultural symbolism science fiction is your thing, then this will definitely grab your attention. I probably wouldn't describe it as young adult, more new adult (NA) with its sometimes deep messages and complicated questioning, but that's a great thing. Zachary Bonelli's debut is full of exceptional imagination that is only affirmed by his rare, fresh voice. Surely, he is the new face of conceptual science fiction?

[Awesome Indies Book Awards · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Voyage Embarkation’ by Zachary Bonelli is possibly the most imaginative book I have ever read. It’s science fiction, and occasionally a hint of metaphysics appears in gems such as, ‘Reflect on your desires, or they will rule you from the shadows of your mind and corrupt every decision you make.’
The story follows Kal, a boy exiled from his home planet, earth, because of a severe allergy to nanites, tiny machine/particles—they are never fully explained—that he, and those on this future earth, use to create whatever he wants. Nanite technology is virtually the same as magic. He can create food, furniture, armour, force fields anything.
Kal lives on a planet which is earth in an alternate universe where the only other sentient beings are huge cats. He has become their protector and uses his nanites which he programs on his pad—a tablet computer—to create food for them, but other than that, he is alone and he longs to return to earth and find a place where he belongs. He travelled to this planet, Felis through the power of the nanites, but he can’t return to earth and survive unless he finds a cure for his allergy. Early in the book he discovers a way to travel between other alternate-reality earths and sets off.
What follows is a series of visits to these alternate earths, and this is where the author gives his imagination full rein. It’s challenging enough for an author to
create one fully-rendered fantasy world, but here there are many, and they hold up well enough for the short time Kal spends in them. The copy editing in this book is pretty clean, and the prose, apart from the occasional clumsy construction, is generally very good. Kal’s characterisation varies. Sometimes it’s good but at other times, it seems that we skip areas that scream for a deeper reaction.
Plot wise there were problems. The antagonist comes in late in the book and has the feeling of something thrown in afterwards, and the main thrust of looking for a cure often gets lost in the events in some of the worlds. Also Kal’s motivations were sometimes unclear or insufficient.
The book touches on the social and ethical variations in cultures on the different earths, and Kala tries to right what he sees as wrong, often to no avail, but this theme could have been developed more fully. The structure is more like a series of scenes than a novel. It just doesn’t quite hang together.
For example, when Kal found a way to travel to other alternate earths, he set off, but we didn’t hear anything about the first place he visited. In the next scene after preparing to go, he was back in his tree house. The gap was very noticeable.
After his brain is cloned, he goes in search of some way to give his holographic doppelganger a body, but I didn’t feel that there was sufficient reason given for him to do this straight away. They needed to develop a relationship first. Tria could have experienced just being as he was before he began to lust after a body.
When Kal arrives in the murk, we learn that he has been there before. He has friends there already, so was I wrong in thinking that he hadn’t been able to travel from Félis before his discovery at the beginning? A character on one alternate earth tells us that he is so desperate to help his clone that he is prepared to give his technology to a society with questionable self-control. For a boy who seems pretty ethical up to that point, that’s a big turn around, and I didn’t feel a strong enough motivation for it or for the fact that he is prepared to put himself in danger to give his mind clone a body. The relationship and motivations for these hadn’t been well enough established beforehand.
Tria also has his own pad. Where did he get it from, and since it’s a holograph, how can it work as Kal’s does? He also activates Kala’s pad. How does he do that when he has no physical substance and the pad is programmed only to start with Kal’s thumb’s imprint?
These issues indicate a lack of editing at the developmental phase, so although there is a lot of imagination and a degree of writing skill to recommend this book, as a whole it needs further work. In terms of ideas and imagination though this an interesting read.

[J.G. Follansbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review first appeared on Joe Follansbee's blog.

Some novels demonstrate how a writer evolves over time and practice. His or her style changes over the years it takes to write a novel. Some themes are important early, and they’re supplanted by others later on. That’s the case with Zachary Bonelli’s first science-fiction novel, Voyage: Embarkation. Bonelli says the novel began in 2000 as a series of posts on a fantasy forum. Written in high school, the posts formed the early chapters of the book. Though the novel is really a series of loosely connected anecdotes, the reader can see how Bonelli’s writing becomes more confident and polished by the end of the book’s 515 pages.

The novel’s arc focuses on Kal Anders, a teenage boy with an unusual allergy that exiles him to an alternate Earth populated with giant house cats. Nanotechnology forms the core of his ability to visit Earths in other, parallel timelines via the “metaxia,” described as “the unspace between universes.” He meets Tria, a virtual brother, who tags along on the protagonist’s adventures, and he encounters worlds ranging from the uninhabitable to an update of the old TV series Fantasy Island. Much of the action takes place in and around variations of Chicago and the surrounding geography near Bonelli’s childhood home. Important themes are intolerance, sexual identity, loneliness, and the acceptance of things one cannot change.

As a first novel, Voyage: Embarkation is an imaginative experiment, with its episodic structure and unpolished narrative. A few of the episodes, such as “Benevolence,” about a world dominated by a monster made of mud, stick in your mind, while others are forgettable. “Liberty” is a transparent rant against a crazy boss and the self-repression of workers in a technology corporation. (Bonelli works a day job as a programmer.) Mature readers who have fumed at the stupidity of management will immediately recognize Kal’s experience at the hands of his supervisor. The episode comes late in the novel, and it’s something Bonelli could not have written as a teenager. It’ll be interesting to see how he matures further in his next works.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Voyage Embarkation" which I won from Goodreads Giveaways is an unusual young adult science fiction novel that begins when Kal Anders, a member of the West Chicago Swim Team, is racing in a meet and succumbs to an allergy that robs his lungs of oxygen. Resuscitated, he suddenly finds himself living on Felis, an earth-like planet looking after several enormous cats. But Kal longs to return to his home on earth and to do that he must find a cure for his genetic disorder. Armed with nanotechnology and a computer pad he begins a quest through the metaxia, the unspace between universes, that takes him to bizarre and dangerous planets as he looks for answers. What he doesn't expect in his travels is to have his mind cloned and to gain Tria, another consciousness who wants his own body. Each with his own mission in mind, they embark on a journey exploring alternate realities and forging a strong brotherly bond.

The plot is fascinating and well-written although I felt the story could have been developed into multiple adventures rather than one, and that the goal of Kal and Tria's quest seemed to be lost in the separate outcomes of their escapades. But Bonelli does provide a strong sense of realism in this novel with his use of nanotechnology, and the metaxia to cross to parallel realities. I enjoyed the fruits of Bonelli's fertile imagination which includes tales like the coming-of age of the Norsemen,the unique rehabilitation of a killer, the cloning of a mind, as well as the destructive evil a sinister persona stalking Kal leaves in his wake. He even interjects social issues into the story voicing his opinion on stereotyping, prejudice, corruption of power and violence. The illustrations in their black and white simplicity add a distinctive touch to a story that's captivating.

Because the novel is more of an episodic adventure, there are numerous characters to follow which can be overwhelming at times, but I did like Tria and Kal who were realistic and entertaining throughout the story. Kal is daring, brave and clever while Tria is pragmatic and shrewd, each one's weakness the other's strength. Zachary Bonelli is a talented writer and I expect that his writing style, storylines and characters will mature and grow with future novels.

[Nathan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other reviewers have already provided a summary of this novel, so I won’t repeat it here.

I could also wax lyrical about Zachary Bonelli’s well-rounded characters, his vivid imagination or his ability to weave contemporary issues throughout a thoroughly entertaining story. But I’m not going to do that either.

I’m simply going to give you a recommendation to buy and read this story. You will not be disappointed.

Its episodic structure (I wish I could have been the first to compare it to classic 60s sci-fi serials) might take a little getting used to, because it’s a different approach to writing a novel. Many of the chapters would stand up on their own as short stories, having their own themes and plots, but they are beautifully crafted together within the confines of the over-arching story.

And you know, you just know (as this is the first of four planned novels) that Bonelli is going to return to many of the characters and places introduced in this book, tying things together in a surprising, entertaining, mind-blowing Voyage.

[Matt Sayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voyage. Such an apt name for the tale that Zachary has spun. Journeying between worlds rich with varied cultures that are at once both alien and deeply resonant, the story of Kal is enthralling, exhilarating, and educational. From debating moral quandaries and disparate life philosophies, to exploring the consequences of over-relying on technology or shunning it completely, Voyage is verdant with thought-provoking ideas delivered within the pages of an impeccable science fiction adventure.

Diving into the vibrant, vivacious universe that Zachary has built is an experience I will never forget, and I will be following his career with rapt attention.
Simply, I cannot recommend Voyage enough; it is a powerfully polished chronicle well-worthy of pride of place on any book-lover's mantle.

[Alissa Berger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book, particularly the individual stories as the protagonist explored all the different planets. The ideas/plot were brilliant, but it definitely lent itself to more individual chapter releases than in book form - which makes sense since that was how it was first released. Overall, I liked it and its complexity.

[Michelle Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to read and has a lot of imagination

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. We've got a young man with an illness that requires him to go from alternate universe to alternate universe in search of a cure. It's a lonely life for him until he meets someone who can travel with him.

Kal is an interesting character. He's good at heart and doesn't really understand why someone would behave otherwise. That sense of self is put to the test in the various worlds he visits, made worse by an unknown enemy.

The ending was what killed me. There will never be a sequel and so no resolution.

[Jessica Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to make of Voyage Embarkation for the first few chapters, but by the time I reached the halfway point I was engrossed in the expansive universe(s) the author had created.


~


Kal is just an ordinary lad - albeit living in the future - who, due to an allergic reaction, is packed off to an alternate earth on health grounds. With nothing to occupy him but the planet's cat population and his love of programming, Kal soon finds a way to get into the metaxia, enabling him to travel to hundreds of alternate earths in the search of a cure.


So far, so sci-fi, but both the scenario and the writing felt fresh and original, and the episodic nature of the chapters allowed a wide range of sub-genres to be explored. The other great thing is that it allows for a huge range of issues to be covered - there is some great social commentary in this book, and a couple of chapters really did make me set the book down and think about the questions raised.

I'd recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in SF, and/or people who get a kick out of literature dealing with ethics and some of our wider social issues.



* I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.

[Adam Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished the first book in the Voyage series by Zachary Bonelli, and I might have a new favorite protagonist. Kal Anders is nerdy, sensitive, and determined to help others more than himself, and refreshingly, the fact that Kal is gay plays little into the plot of the story, besides the occasional lingering glance at an attractive boy. Kal’s main character idiosyncrasies come from his isolation, spending his teenage years away from his family and friends, all alone on a strange planet.

Read more at surroundedbycharacters.tumblr.com

[Lakshan]

very good book 5/5