Red Flood

by Nocomus Columbus

Red Flood tells the story of a boy's journey through post-apocalyptic America.

51 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 21, 2013

Reviews

[Randy Harmelink · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I liked the book, and it's a good start to a story. However, it was labeled as a "short story". There were far too many things left hanging for it to be considered a complete story in itself. It just ends without...

[Stefano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first part of what could be a great post apocalyptic novel a la The Road (but with more action). There are many interesting themes ready to be explored more in the following parts. There is a mysterious past war, an even more mysterious present, the father/son element and much more. Cannot wait to read more.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Technically, it's poor at best: poor or no editing, very weak formatting (gobs of whitespace, and an inexplicable section that's right-justified). And I detest those "license agreements" that say "This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other peo­ple." I know US law gives the rights-holder permission to do that, but doing so doesn't make it right. And in this case, it doesn't even make any sense! Surely Columbus wants the promo distributed as widely as possible.

The situations aren't believable, and far too much is left unanswered for this to be called a stand-alone novelette.

They're in the Badlands (bad enough to be capitalized) and we know that there are no laws and extremely dangerous Raiders (also bad enough to be capitalized), and Alwan leaves his son as bait (why else would you leave him sitting beside a nice fire when you go hunting?).

And that wasn't the first time. When they're stopped at the roadblock, Alwan tells Moses to "hide" in the back of the van, and stay low. Why should he stay low? Oh, because he's bait, and they plan to be shooting in his direction.

At least seven Special Forces ops are sent to bring Moses back (for no reason we can imagine, except that he has an awesome baseball swing), and when they run into Alwan and Moses, they all concentrate on Alwan, letting a young boy run away from them.

And finally the Rebel general stabs a prisoner to death. Why? In fact, why would they ever need to even formally execute anybody from the other side? They "loyalists" have all been told that removing their chips will kill them. So, pull their chips! A few die-hards would insist it was trickery, but the vast majority of prisoners would defect almost immediately.

Just not at all believable.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the future, a young boy is being raised by his grandmother. One day, tragedy strikes and the boy must run. Then he is found by his long lost father and a trip through The Badlands commences. What is at the end of The Badlands and why is it so important that the boy reach it?

AAARGH! Really? The author really wants to do this to his readers? It’s so messed up.

Red Flood is a good story. The editing is pretty decent and the story is interesting. It’s kind of a mix of The Road, Mad Max and Revolution. Then you get to the end of the story and think you’re going to get an explanation for everything. BUT YOU DON’T! Which wouldn’t be a big deal if the story was just a teaser chapter or something. Unfortunately, I cannot find any evidence that there is a novel after this, or even more short stories.

Let’s consider this further. Have you read the free version of Wool? If not, you should. It’s the first chapter of the Omnibus. It’s phenomenal. Now imagine it was a stand-alone short story with nothing following. Creepy, right? It would be an awesome short story that leaves you with an itch that can’t be reached. That’s what Red Flood is.

Taking this into consideration, you will have to decide whether it’s a good thing or bad. Obviously I decided it was good. I wish there was more and hope the author is writing more about this story, but I will be fine if he leaves Red Flood as it is.

[September · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh. Most thoroughly disappointed. Apart from typos, poor editing, & some discrepancies in narration, generally speaking the premise and story line were growing more and more intriguing. It felt like the story was just getting rolling. It was headed for possible greatness, even. Then... dun, dun, dunnn... it ended abruptly. Like the author didn't know what to do going forward, having introduced plot points without any substance or background.

So many pieces were left unanswered. I felt like what was the point? We learned very, very little, really, in the end. And darn it, I wanted to know more!!

If it weren't for it becoming increasingly more intriguing and drawing me in deeper near the end, I'd probably give this 2* for the reasons mentioned above. But... the author caught me & kept me, later than I should have been awake. I think that's worth something.

[Joanne Farley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short story and a frustrating I one at that. There are far to mean questions left unanswered and there is really no ending. Let's hope the author makes good on his promise to fix it up.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad start, could use a good editor. Definitely is too open-ended and broad to be a short story.

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short story and would have rated it higher except that the ending was too inconclusive.

[Randall A Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story building. Fast read.

The book was great for laying the background. Good story line and action. Also a fast read. Easy to follow want to read the next one now!