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Brotherhood of the Afflicted
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 5, 2025
Brotherhood of the Afflicted (Independently published. 2025) är skriven av videobloggaren och författaren Clif High, Clifs Substack. För er som är bekanta med Herr High´s teorier och prognoser är en hel del av bokens teman samt hans världsbygge säkerligen bekant.
Denna Science-fiction novell (som troligtvis är första delen av en serie) utspelar sig år 2030 och innehåller bland annat följande fantasieggande komponenter; teleportering, Ufon, utomjordingar, reinkarnation, en icke-korrupt del av den Amerikanska statsmakten samt att någon skulle ställas till svars för Covid-plandemin och dess konsekvenser.
I boken får vi följa piratkaptenen Charles (som är lite av en cultured thug) och hans grupp samt även hans nya kärleksintresse, den till en början känslokalla strippan Naydia (vilka för övrigt båda pryder bokens ganska intetsägande omslag). Författarens ovårdade språkbruk återspeglas tyvärr i hans verk och gör boken mer vulgär än den behövde vara.
Boken är luftig och lättläst men kunde med lätthet komprimerats från sina 300 sidor till närmare hälften om man nu ville utnyttja sidorna på ett mer optimalt sätt. Det här är en hyfsat välskriven och underhållande bok som länge håller spänningen och mystiken intakt tack vare att mycket av expositionen erbjuds nära berättelsens slut.
Denna Science-fiction novell (som troligtvis är första delen av en serie) utspelar sig år 2030 och innehåller bland annat följande fantasieggande komponenter; teleportering, Ufon, utomjordingar, reinkarnation, en icke-korrupt del av den Amerikanska statsmakten samt att någon skulle ställas till svars för Covid-plandemin och dess konsekvenser.
I boken får vi följa piratkaptenen Charles (som är lite av en cultured thug) och hans grupp samt även hans nya kärleksintresse, den till en början känslokalla strippan Naydia (vilka för övrigt båda pryder bokens ganska intetsägande omslag). Författarens ovårdade språkbruk återspeglas tyvärr i hans verk och gör boken mer vulgär än den behövde vara.
Boken är luftig och lättläst men kunde med lätthet komprimerats från sina 300 sidor till närmare hälften om man nu ville utnyttja sidorna på ett mer optimalt sätt. Det här är en hyfsat välskriven och underhållande bok som länge håller spänningen och mystiken intakt tack vare att mycket av expositionen erbjuds nära berättelsens slut.
March 1, 2025
Love it. Fast snappy read.
If you're looking for a novel that will challenge you, move you, and ultimately transform you, then "Brotherhood of the Afflicted" is an absolute must-read. Ontology is cool. Bye bye grit...ology 🤠 I will read book two. The characters are memorable.
If you're looking for a novel that will challenge you, move you, and ultimately transform you, then "Brotherhood of the Afflicted" is an absolute must-read. Ontology is cool. Bye bye grit...ology 🤠 I will read book two. The characters are memorable.
March 25, 2025
Caveat: I'm currently about halfway through (approximately) and can already tell that this is utter garbage. I had expected the author, who has done extensive work with language analysis, would be better at actually writing, but was sadly mistaken. The flaws are numerous and range from simple formatting and spelling errors, to production issues, to overall plot and character problems.
Formatting and Spelling
Where to begin? The crazy spacing (both paragraph-internal and -external) is jarring. This is made worse by the odd paragraph here and there which doesn't retain the same formatting as everything else. And that's not even considering the way there is absolutely no effort given to what seems to be standard in all professional work these days of having page-width paragraphs (with character-spacing tweaking) for all lines (other than the final one) in each paragraph.
Then, of course, there are numerous spelling and grammatical errors throughout the book – all of which serve to reduce the sense of the quality of the work.
Production
I had never before realized how much I would miss having page numbers until they weren't there any more. And the unnecessary "naming" of each chapter, repeating a line or phrase found within the chapter is largely useless and feels like it's there simply to add "bloat" to the manuscript (such as it is).
For that matter, adding a Dramatis Personae would have been helpful as many of the characters seem interchangeable – possibly even in the author's mind as there are at least a couple of times the wrong character was named within the text.
Plot and Characters
And here is where everything falls apart even worse. It is clear he is trying to convey a bunch of information and philosophical concepts. However, in that context, it is only even readable by someone who has some vague inkling of what he's talking about because they've already heard those terms from listening to his podcasts previously.
For example, having "normal" characters use the phrase "this body's Life" without ever having provided any explanation or context for things like this mean force the reader to "pretend" they've had some sort of exposition and, at best, muster onwards.
Character descriptions get repeated, ad infinitum, without ever adding any useful (and relevant) details. As another example, I didn't need to be reminded, in just about every chapter she's present, that the female lead is a stripper and wears heels. Really, I got it – enough already!
Final Thoughts
The book reads like it was written by someone in high school who hasn't completed any sort of literature course, but has a "Really Cool Idea™" and wants to tell all of his friends about it – and then publish it for the world so everyone can see how Awesome he is. It's little more than "word vomit" that tries to say something, but fails miserably.
Realistically, this could have been so much better with only a few simple additional steps:
a) Having a proofreader or editor (even an amateur one) would have allowed significant clean-up of the overall work;
b) Using some sort of "real" pre-publication software or tool (other than what I can only assume was a simple word processor) to produce a publication quality level which it should have;
c) Inclusion of a viewpoint character – who can be "introduced" to all of the concepts and word salad he's trying to convey.
By assuming his readers would already understand any of what he's talking about, as well as (seemingly) "force-fitting" it into the current world, it becomes a horrible mess that, as I said at the start, winds up being pretty much garbage level.
Unless you are a die-hard fan of the author, I strongly recommend not purchasing nor reading this book.
Formatting and Spelling
Where to begin? The crazy spacing (both paragraph-internal and -external) is jarring. This is made worse by the odd paragraph here and there which doesn't retain the same formatting as everything else. And that's not even considering the way there is absolutely no effort given to what seems to be standard in all professional work these days of having page-width paragraphs (with character-spacing tweaking) for all lines (other than the final one) in each paragraph.
Then, of course, there are numerous spelling and grammatical errors throughout the book – all of which serve to reduce the sense of the quality of the work.
Production
I had never before realized how much I would miss having page numbers until they weren't there any more. And the unnecessary "naming" of each chapter, repeating a line or phrase found within the chapter is largely useless and feels like it's there simply to add "bloat" to the manuscript (such as it is).
For that matter, adding a Dramatis Personae would have been helpful as many of the characters seem interchangeable – possibly even in the author's mind as there are at least a couple of times the wrong character was named within the text.
Plot and Characters
And here is where everything falls apart even worse. It is clear he is trying to convey a bunch of information and philosophical concepts. However, in that context, it is only even readable by someone who has some vague inkling of what he's talking about because they've already heard those terms from listening to his podcasts previously.
For example, having "normal" characters use the phrase "this body's Life" without ever having provided any explanation or context for things like this mean force the reader to "pretend" they've had some sort of exposition and, at best, muster onwards.
Character descriptions get repeated, ad infinitum, without ever adding any useful (and relevant) details. As another example, I didn't need to be reminded, in just about every chapter she's present, that the female lead is a stripper and wears heels. Really, I got it – enough already!
Final Thoughts
The book reads like it was written by someone in high school who hasn't completed any sort of literature course, but has a "Really Cool Idea™" and wants to tell all of his friends about it – and then publish it for the world so everyone can see how Awesome he is. It's little more than "word vomit" that tries to say something, but fails miserably.
Realistically, this could have been so much better with only a few simple additional steps:
a) Having a proofreader or editor (even an amateur one) would have allowed significant clean-up of the overall work;
b) Using some sort of "real" pre-publication software or tool (other than what I can only assume was a simple word processor) to produce a publication quality level which it should have;
c) Inclusion of a viewpoint character – who can be "introduced" to all of the concepts and word salad he's trying to convey.
By assuming his readers would already understand any of what he's talking about, as well as (seemingly) "force-fitting" it into the current world, it becomes a horrible mess that, as I said at the start, winds up being pretty much garbage level.
Unless you are a die-hard fan of the author, I strongly recommend not purchasing nor reading this book.
February 24, 2025
Great first novel for an old pirate
Surprisingly romantic adventure novel from Clif, a normally grumpy old man. Really enjoyed the inclusion of so many ontological principles. I consider it predictive science fiction, since we will probably see the realization of some of this book in the fairly near future. The emotional love scene was surprising. Shows that Clif has depths that his followers have never seen before.
Surprisingly romantic adventure novel from Clif, a normally grumpy old man. Really enjoyed the inclusion of so many ontological principles. I consider it predictive science fiction, since we will probably see the realization of some of this book in the fairly near future. The emotional love scene was surprising. Shows that Clif has depths that his followers have never seen before.
March 7, 2025
Ive been a fan of clif high for more than 15 years. In a way I wish I hadn't read this book. Clif is exemplary in the subjects he discusses in his Subtack "Aether Pirates of the Matterium!". He's one smart cookie.
Clif makes it very clear this is a work of fiction... and yet all writers of fiction draw upon their imagination and consciousness when they write.
We all know clif likes to drop "f-bombs". Par for the course in everyday communication these days. I shrug it off. Smart people are known to swear.
The issue I have with this book is that having come from the consciousness of clif, it is clear that he has a "thing" with "soft porn". Women working as pole dancers (with a focus on their body and enticing men)... women who seem to focus on "getting laid", tubes up anuses, penis envy, shriveled scrotums...
Is this REALLY Clif? Maybe it was his way to "decompress" the testosterone... dive into the fantasy.
Was it necessary to write a novel that spews the soft porn throughout the narrative? If I didn't have such respect for clif's "spirituality" I probably wouldn't be as critical.
IMHO As a "story" it has merit. The plot plausible. The characters make for a "fun" pubescent teenage read. But as far as being a really good book worthy of acclaim? I'll pass. Don't give up your day job clif (and next book get it looked over by an editor). Universe guides.
Clif makes it very clear this is a work of fiction... and yet all writers of fiction draw upon their imagination and consciousness when they write.
We all know clif likes to drop "f-bombs". Par for the course in everyday communication these days. I shrug it off. Smart people are known to swear.
The issue I have with this book is that having come from the consciousness of clif, it is clear that he has a "thing" with "soft porn". Women working as pole dancers (with a focus on their body and enticing men)... women who seem to focus on "getting laid", tubes up anuses, penis envy, shriveled scrotums...
Is this REALLY Clif? Maybe it was his way to "decompress" the testosterone... dive into the fantasy.
Was it necessary to write a novel that spews the soft porn throughout the narrative? If I didn't have such respect for clif's "spirituality" I probably wouldn't be as critical.
IMHO As a "story" it has merit. The plot plausible. The characters make for a "fun" pubescent teenage read. But as far as being a really good book worthy of acclaim? I'll pass. Don't give up your day job clif (and next book get it looked over by an editor). Universe guides.
March 2, 2025
This book is an eye opening act of "fiction" Clif High has a beautiful way with words, telling a story that is so incredible. I've been studying the Cathari race for 35 years. I am also a person that has been woo since a young child. I highly recommend Brotherhood of the Afflicted.
March 4, 2025
Intriguingly Relatable to the current tides of transition.
This is a bridge across the spanse between the socially-engineered paradigm Humanity is realising, and into the possible near future.
This is a bridge across the spanse between the socially-engineered paradigm Humanity is realising, and into the possible near future.
March 9, 2025
Really loved the story, very different from a lot of the other sci-fi/fantasy books i've been reading and it felt very fresh. This book has it all - action, romance, aliens, futuristic tech.. Can't wait for the next one to be released! Excellent work Clif!!
March 24, 2025
Enthralling read
An enjoyable story I looked forward to reading every evening. Reminds me of several adventures I have experienced whilst my body sleeps. Really looking forward to the second book 😊
An enjoyable story I looked forward to reading every evening. Reminds me of several adventures I have experienced whilst my body sleeps. Really looking forward to the second book 😊
June 21, 2025
The Ontology has arrived!
Clif says this is fiction. Most of it is.some of it isn't. I'll bet you can't guess. I can hardly wait for Universe to reveal and can't wait for the next one. Go Clif!
Clif says this is fiction. Most of it is.some of it isn't. I'll bet you can't guess. I can hardly wait for Universe to reveal and can't wait for the next one. Go Clif!
February 23, 2025
Clif High doesn’t disappoint.
Loved the story Uncle Clif! Engaging characters; plenty of action,smash ending that had me tearing up. Can’t wait for Livre Deux!
Loved the story Uncle Clif! Engaging characters; plenty of action,smash ending that had me tearing up. Can’t wait for Livre Deux!
March 25, 2025
I wound up loving it!
Didn't want to like this book. It started out too smutty for me but I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night till I finished it.
Didn't want to like this book. It started out too smutty for me but I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night till I finished it.
June 12, 2025
Interesting.
July 5, 2025
Unexpectedly good
Once I got through the first pages of the book, wondering "where is this going?", aand the main story took over, I was hooked. Can't wait for the next book.
Once I got through the first pages of the book, wondering "where is this going?", aand the main story took over, I was hooked. Can't wait for the next book.
February 24, 2025
Fun read from Clif with lots of twists and turns. If you enjoyed this book, check out The Convergence: Broken Magic by Richard French.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews