Progenitor

by Christopher John Chater

After sarcastic lower-level crewman Tim Carr sees a light outside the ship, he tries to convince Comm Officer Hanna Merrick that there’s something out there besides a dying star. Tim's asked to keep quiet about his discovery, however, because Hanna has a plan of her own, which she’ll set in motion after the government causes the star to prematurely supernova. Tim’s feelings for Hanna, and his life, are put on the line when he realizes her plan could cause the elimination of an alien species.

31 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Christopher John Chater is the author of the novels The Traveler's Companion, Omegasphere, Aquarius Rising, Out of Body, and the award winning series, Dating in the Apocalypse. He was born in Burbank, California, but has lived all over, the East Coast, the West Coast, and the South. He's worked in several industries, a production assistant in the film industry, a song plugger in the music industry, and a bartender and server in the hospitality industry. He now lives in San Diego and writes full time.

Reviews

[Maxine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Progenitor is a very fast, very funny short science fiction story by author Christopher John Carter. More than once, I found my self laughing out loud as I explored the universe with Tim Carr, janitor cum space explorer. My only problem with this book was that, when I finished reading it, I wanted more.

If you like your science fiction laced with humour, this is the story for you. For myself, I am looking forward to reading more of Mr. Chater's writings.

[Cate (The Professional Fangirl) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a Reading Good Books review.

I honestly didn’t get it. It’s true that futuristic sci-fi stuff is not my cup of tea yet I can still follow a story. I tried but I just wasn’t relating to this. I didn’t even see the sarcasm that the main character, Tim Carr, was supposed to have.

The author had an interesting premise of a future world — space/time travel, other worldly beings, and the existence of classes even in that future world. Tim Carr was one of the Lower Level Citizens, LLC, serving as a janitor in a space ship. And then, he sees orbs or balls of light and gas, trying to communicate with him. Okay, I got that much. That’s when the story goes all over the place. It goes on and on about other things that by the time it got back to the orbs, I’ve forgotten what they were about. The conclusion fell short and I felt that there was so much filler, for a short story, and not enough development.

It could have been a great serious sci-fi novel. If Tim’s “sarcasm” is a device to put a bit of humor into this, it didn’t work that well.

Rating: 2/5.

Recommendation: Again, it’s one of those e-books that you can finish in one sitting.

[Avry15 · Rating 4 out of 5]

originally appeared on:Bookshelf Confessions

*I won a free copy of this e-book in a LibraryThing Member Giveaway*

a well-written and fun story...the storyline and theme is really good..another addition to sci-fi fans with a lil bit of humor added..
a really good book..i enjoyed reading the mystery and of course- well really the fascinating traits of Tim Carr and its consequences....the author has shown that he could really develop a story..given a small setting..nice work!

After sarcastic lower level crewman Tim Carr sees a light outside the ship, he tries to convince Comm Officer Hanna Merrick that there's something out there besides a dying star. Tim is asked to keep quiet about his discovery, however, because Hanna has a plan of her own, which she'll set in motion after the government causes the star to prematurely supernova. Tim’s feelings for Hanna, and his life, are put on the line when he realizes her plan could cause the elimination of an alien species.

[Birgit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story proved to be a fun page turner from page one. With its science fiction plot, narrated in a truely witty (not to say quirky) way by Tim Carr, a simpel janitor on board the Progenitor, all the right ingredience for a great story are there, but then it does get a bit too weird towards the end. I liked the idea of the alien light outside the ship and the alien conscience being able to overtake human bodies, but (without giving everything away) the conclusion felt a wee bit rushed (I know it's a short story, but still) and dipped too deep into comedy for my taste.
Christopher John Chater certainly devised a fascinating plot here, but there is room for improvement in my opinion. I could well imagine the basic idea, plus the wonderful characters, to find new life in a full length novel. I'd definitely want to read that!
In short: A hilarious sci-fi story that ends with a ... bang!

[Brenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very quick little science fiction short story, but unfortunately I didn't relate well to it.

The way it was written felt to me more like I was having a one-sided conversation with someone I don't like, who won't let me get a word in. They just keep talking and rambling on about things I don't care about; and that's what Tim's story felt like to me. He seemed to go off on these little tangents that didn't really have anything to do with the actual plot. In my opinion, this is harmful to a short story since you only have so many pages to read and it's so simple to detract from the actual story.

The story just seemed too busy, as it headed off in too many directions to fully develop even one idea.

There are some clever lines that I thought were funny, and it also wasn't too "science-y" to understand which are both positives about this.

I won an e-book copy of this in a Library Thing giveaway from the author.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, fast paced sci-fi story about a janitor on a spaceship that is about to detonate a dying star into a super nova. Funny characters pepper throughout. Follow Waste disposal extroidinaire, Tim Carr and Communications Officer Hannah Merrick as they race to make sure they can save the ship and possible intelligent life form.