Empty Planet: A world from which every human had long ago disappeared...

by Lynette Sloane

Empty Planet is an adventure story ...Cars sit in the road, abandoned; the hedge has grown several meters taller. Weeds, long grasses and small shrubs grow where the road should be. The whole neighbourhood stands derelict and you are alone. A pack of dogs catch your scent. They growl and race towards you. You run back into your house and slam the door… it falls off its hinges. You look around, heart pounding, knees shaking, flinching at the slightest noise. Damp, mouldy wallpaper peels off the wall, the curtain rail falls onto the rotten floorboards. Your furniture is covered by ceiling plaster and strips of wood fallen from the gaping hole above you. Outside, the ravenous hounds bark, reminding you you need a place to hide. Moments later, normality returns, and your house is once more pristine. The hole in the roof has gone, the floorboards are polished; the curtains hang in the window. This is a glimpse of what Steve encounters each time he visits his Empty Planet. Join him in his adventure and discover the origin of this time shift. What readers have ‘I found Empty Planet hard to put down’. ‘Empty Planet is written with suspense, humour and descriptive flare that makes you feel a part of the adventure’. ‘Well written, touching, and with a message mankind is even now beginning to face. ‘Enjoyable and believable’. ‘Would make a cracking television series.’ ‘The characters were real, each with their own quirks, strengths, and problems.’ ‘Sucks you in right from the beginning’. ‘I didn’t want it to end!’

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 13, 2013

Reviews

[Jeff Danhauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saw this book mentioned in an episode of 'Criminal minds'. Absolutely loved it.

[Red Tide · Rating 3 out of 5]

A relaxed human extinction tale

Lindsay Ellis would do a great job of criticism in one of her videos but I just can manage what worked and what didn't.

The timey-wimey stuff is well done and the writer avoided being dragged down into the weeds on that. The number of possible paradoxes and avoidance of same is a tough nut. She manages to identify most of the major ones and solved them. Some of the causal loops were just woven into the plot and sections of it seemed forced.

The secrecy around the Section and its counterparts around the planet made perfect sense. Their collective reluctance to end the nihilist group before they murdered hundreds of jumpers and millions of flu vaccine patients were not so much. The crazies were identified and not rounded up and/or blocked from jumping? A typical British government unwillingness to act against them (which is more a media product than reality, though unlike some governments they don't brag about their ruthlessness), was not believable. That countries like France, the U.S. and China wouldn't solve the terrorist problem, was a given and that was even harder to ignore.

The inner life of the main character hooked me from the beginning. The other major characters were flat enough that their occasional strange decisions were hard to justify to myself. The leader of the terrorist groups is insane but a government jumper doesn't end him. The government drops all the terrorists into the past but the terrorist leader and dozens of henchmen and women are assaulting the Section headquarters at the end?

The science was whacky but the writer doesn't dwell on it. It makes it easier to flow with th e story. She has fun with the science and it was kind of consistent and kind of logical.

The interpersonal relations were fine but not outstanding. All in all, this was a very British apocalypse narrowly avoided. Not bad and held my attention even with the glaring flaws, including some editing glitches.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts out good and just when you think it's about to get very interesting the book becomes flat. It's like the author just didn't know what to do next or how to move into the climax without introducing entirely new concepts. I actually got so board once things started to get explained that I stopped reading this. Had to give it a 2 star because I liked it at first but then had no desire to finish it.

[Dinochunks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written adventure story. Would recommend for teens and young adults although my retired friend said she loved it and couldn't put it down. I'd love to see it made into a film!