Chorus

by Gavin Frankle

The world, they said, was a much smaller place back then. Back before the Divide people from opposite ends of the planet could see and talk to one another instantly. You could travel the length of it in a day. Then everything went silent. Now, decades later, fourteen-year-old Morse is searching for an Echo, the memory of sound, when he stumbles upon a discovery that will change everything.

16 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 29, 2013

Reviews

[Hákon Gunnarsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this short story free here on Goodreads. It's a quite read, 16 pages or so, and it moves briskly. The post apocalyptic world Gavin Frankle has created with it is quite interesting. I really would like to see more of it to get a better understanding of how the Echo works, and according to the authors blog he is working on a novel. Maybe this is part of that, maybe not. I'm not sure.

What I thought dragged this short story down was that the action scenes aren't strong enough. They don't have enough punch, so to speak. The way they stand, I don't feel the fear, or the adrenaline rush of the character, and to me that is a key factor is this kind of a story. I think this story could have been better if it had been a little longer, so there would have been enough time to build up the tension.

So the story is not without it's flaws, but the author is using an very interesting idea which I hope he will work into a stronger story.

[OldBird · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those strange short stories that draws you in to it's post-some-kind-of-apocalypse world without you really noticing it. The imagery is vivid, sometimes uncomfortably so (a disturbing dream sequence is particularly unsettling), but does the job of setting up a place of decay. We see it through the exploration of a teenager, Morse, who is hunting an "Echo". The concept of somehow lingering sounds being precious to people who live in a silent world is a really cool one, but I was left a little confused by what it meant for the ending. This feels like part of a bigger picture, a prequel or side-story. It works well as a sample to intrigue, and I really hope there is more.

Side note: Half the page count of the Kindle edition is a preview of another unrelated work by the author, so the story is much shorter than anticipated.

[Nazneen Rupawalla · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is very well written. I really liked the vivid imagery of the city. The characters are memorable. It kept me gripped till the very end.. The ending is a surprise..:)

[Gertie]

Nicely written., a good little story and the author is eloquent without overdoing it. There is a bit with dogs that makes me sad. :-(