2027 – Earth is in the path of a raging cosmic storm, and most people believe Hadrian’s energy web will protect the planet from the destruction of the wave. Mary Sullivan doesn't believe Hadrian is the touted savior everyone thinks he is. In her gut, she knows Hadrian is responsible for the death of her parents, and she knows with a certainty he's responsible for the side effects of the energy web. Side effects she's suffering from, and dead is dead, whether it's from the Wave or a brain blast. With the Wave only days away, she's offered a chance to survive, but will she risk the Earth for the revenge she seeks?
Award winning author TG Franklin lives in East Tennessee, and she often mines ideas from the rich and diverse cultural and scientific communities from Oak Ridge to the Smoky Mountains.
Her writing reflects the influence of the many sci-fi/paranormal television shows and movies of the 70's, such as The Man From Atlantis, The Bionic Man, the miniseries V, Logan's Run, Westworld, and the original Rollerball.
Her favorite memories are her & her Dad watching those sci-fi shows, then dissecting the characters, the plots, and the technologies over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. When she started writing in earnest, her Dad was her sounding board. The discussions always started with "How can I..." and really never ended. They always found something more to add to every conversation. Her Dad died in 2007 of cancer.
Her writing career started in 2006 with the publication of Lord Night, an urban fantasy erotic romance (writing as Jessie Verino). Heavenfall is her debut sci-fi novel.
I'm really not a scifi kinda person but I have to say that this is a great story that hooked me within a few pages. It had a lot of action and was very well written.
I received an ARC about one and a half weeks ago. It had seemed a particularly intriguing story to me, I was very happy that I obtained it. However, unfortunately, it didn't work out for me as much as I had hoped it would. As I mostly do on my blog, I will start off with the issues I didn't like so that I can finish off my review with nice things.
The main problem I noticed and take some joy away from the book was that I felt it a bit disjointed and ambiguous. For instance, at the beginning I couldn't always follow whose POV it was, however, it soon got more and more clearer.
Secondly, to me, the characters' behaviour seemed a bit unreal sometimes. For example, when they decided to send in the girl, who was ill (I don't divulge names and certain information on purpose because I don't want to spoil the book for anybody.) she was afraid but she didn't react basically at all, only in her thoughts but that was much less than a person would do, too even if she is really brave.
Furthermore, I could use a bit more information provided, right away in the beginning, because, although most of the concepts did get clarified, but for quite a few pages I couldn't enjoy the book wholly, because important explanations were missing and so I didn't understand all the occurrences.
On the other hand, I did like the plot, it was fast, nevertheless not too fast, kind of in medias res. We learned what was going on instantly, on all three threads.
Moreover, it was full of action, which I really like in a book. Fights and the harshness of a near-apocalyptic world. In this aspect it certainly was realistic.
Another positive thing is that I felt for the characters, which is really important to me in a story, I can't truly enjoy a book without characters whom I can feel for. I felt sorry for all the people suffering from brain-blast, especially for our protagonist, whom I really grew to like.
What's more it definitely was suspenseful. Especially the end, which is interesting and annoying at the same time, however not the bad kind of annoying, but the one which is annoyingly disturbingly suspenseful, basically shouting for more.
Facts that I believe are good to know are: ...that it's written in 3 person, which in my point of view was a clever choice for this story, because like this we can be easily given some crucial pieces of information, such as other peoples' feelings. ...I would not recommend it to rather sensitive young people under the age of at least fourteen or fifteen, because there are some quite obscene and dark scenes in the story. I do not claim it to be an issue since it is completely proper in such a tough world as the one in the book, nevertheless I do believe I ought to warn the mentioned group of people.
Thank you for reading it and thank you, dear author for the ARC.
Wow, I hope this doesn't happen in real life! Earth is threatened by a massive asteroid of sorts which would alter life on this planet. During the story, the characters were dealing with the effects of a protective web around the Earth. Things had already changed on Earth and it affected everyone's lifestyle. What made the story more interesting and real was the fact that it took place in the Knoxville, TN area. And the ending...well, let's just say there's more to this story. Can't wait for the sequel.