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Andgate
Based on the Award-Winning "Dark Science Fiction" Screenplay – Atlanta Festival 2024
After a drastic political revolution, Artem, an agent of the authoritarian regime, is confronted with the harrowing task of executing his own wife for violating the State’s laws. When he meets the revolutionary Nul, Artem is forced to grapple with guilt and doubt about his actions, revealing an internal struggle between loyalty to the system and the search for truth. In a dark setting, we explore themes such as power, control, and morality, prompting us to question the price of individual freedom in a world where nobody acknowledges that they are being governed by oppression.
After a drastic political revolution, Artem, an agent of the authoritarian regime, is confronted with the harrowing task of executing his own wife for violating the State’s laws. When he meets the revolutionary Nul, Artem is forced to grapple with guilt and doubt about his actions, revealing an internal struggle between loyalty to the system and the search for truth. In a dark setting, we explore themes such as power, control, and morality, prompting us to question the price of individual freedom in a world where nobody acknowledges that they are being governed by oppression.
324 pages, Paperback
Published July 10, 2025
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November 26, 2025I am one of the judges of team Space Girls for the SPSFC5 contest. This review is my personal opinion. Officially, it is still in the running for the contest, pending any official team announcements.
Status: Cut
Read: 29%
Even though I am sadly voting no for this book to advance in the competition, I dare say it had a lot of positives going for it. Most of the issues I found in the book could be improved without requiring excessive amounts of editing.
I found it refreshing to see a story that focuses on a dystopia rebellion from the POV of an aspiring villain. There has been discussion lately by some readers yearning to see a return of old school villains that don't get their Disney redemption story. Their evil is simply fueled by a twisted view of how they believe the world should work.
In a way, reading this book reminded me immensely of Death Note and Code Geass with the earlier chapters of Fight Club where the villain recruits disgruntled young men using a safe outlet that only bends societal rules.
Nul seemed intriguing and we get snippets he has an ulterior plan. The first 30% of the book focuses on recruiting loyal subjects and garnering sympathy from respected journalists. This phase of the story was pretty similar to the later episodes of Death Note where Light's message touches a more sophisticated audience with the help of a journalist that he dated back in college. From various angles, the dystopic rules in this world are intruiging and we get to enjoy cracks in the system. To a certain degree, I did enjoy Nul's antics as he played his subjects like pawns without revealing all his cards.
The flickers of grandiosity that melts Nul's followers brought me fine memories of Lelouch's more outlandish speeches in Code Geass. Things seem easy for Nul early on, until a masked rival has made his surprising appearance right where I cut off. This mysterious character displays some of the traits of L (Death Note) and Suzaku (Code Geass). All signs point the book will have increased stakes as both characters fight for their beliefs without caring about the ethical consequences.
Even though I didn't spot typos, I suspect some em dashes used in the text might not be applied correectly. Em dash usage is difficult for me because Spanish doesn't use them with such proclivity and I could never get the hang of how they are used. With this caveat said, some pages had well over 7 of them. Later chapters reduce their usage a lot, so it might just be a case that the book needs more proofreader eyes on it.
Another issue I noticed in the book that could benefit from editing is that some important scenes happen that would prove pivotal to the greater plot. While thrillers tend to have these 'very suspicious' murder scenes happen with a masked assailant that leaves the reader wondering 'who did it?', this book only tells in narration character such & such killed these characters for no apparent reason without displaying inner turmoil. I got the double wammy of first getting a red herring slammed in my face instead of an enticing sprinkle as a juicy carrot. In plenty of books, I believe they would benefit cutting darlings, this book has the opposite issue where important scenes are skipped. While I appreciate the lower word count to get to the point, some of these skipped scenes are important because they shape the character's worldview and what drives their decisions.
It's like seeing that 1990s film Office Space but transforming the scene where the therapist dies of a heart attack halfway through a session. Instead of the death happening right on screen, it ends up only mentioned in passing by narration after the protagonist is acting irresponsibly at work. Luckily for this book, these writing issues shouldn't be difficult to fix. I enjoy the world, the protagonist and the book's villanous rebellion focus. With quality editing that brings life to the skipped scenes that drive the book's most important characters and applying the breadcrumb method from thriller books, this book would shine.
Despite my vote, if I have enough time, I would be curious to continue reading and see what happens next because the story is quite entrancing.
Status: Cut
Read: 29%
Even though I am sadly voting no for this book to advance in the competition, I dare say it had a lot of positives going for it. Most of the issues I found in the book could be improved without requiring excessive amounts of editing.
I found it refreshing to see a story that focuses on a dystopia rebellion from the POV of an aspiring villain. There has been discussion lately by some readers yearning to see a return of old school villains that don't get their Disney redemption story. Their evil is simply fueled by a twisted view of how they believe the world should work.
In a way, reading this book reminded me immensely of Death Note and Code Geass with the earlier chapters of Fight Club where the villain recruits disgruntled young men using a safe outlet that only bends societal rules.
Nul seemed intriguing and we get snippets he has an ulterior plan. The first 30% of the book focuses on recruiting loyal subjects and garnering sympathy from respected journalists. This phase of the story was pretty similar to the later episodes of Death Note where Light's message touches a more sophisticated audience with the help of a journalist that he dated back in college. From various angles, the dystopic rules in this world are intruiging and we get to enjoy cracks in the system. To a certain degree, I did enjoy Nul's antics as he played his subjects like pawns without revealing all his cards.
The flickers of grandiosity that melts Nul's followers brought me fine memories of Lelouch's more outlandish speeches in Code Geass. Things seem easy for Nul early on, until a masked rival has made his surprising appearance right where I cut off. This mysterious character displays some of the traits of L (Death Note) and Suzaku (Code Geass). All signs point the book will have increased stakes as both characters fight for their beliefs without caring about the ethical consequences.
Even though I didn't spot typos, I suspect some em dashes used in the text might not be applied correectly. Em dash usage is difficult for me because Spanish doesn't use them with such proclivity and I could never get the hang of how they are used. With this caveat said, some pages had well over 7 of them. Later chapters reduce their usage a lot, so it might just be a case that the book needs more proofreader eyes on it.
Another issue I noticed in the book that could benefit from editing is that some important scenes happen that would prove pivotal to the greater plot. While thrillers tend to have these 'very suspicious' murder scenes happen with a masked assailant that leaves the reader wondering 'who did it?', this book only tells in narration character such & such killed these characters for no apparent reason without displaying inner turmoil. I got the double wammy of first getting a red herring slammed in my face instead of an enticing sprinkle as a juicy carrot. In plenty of books, I believe they would benefit cutting darlings, this book has the opposite issue where important scenes are skipped. While I appreciate the lower word count to get to the point, some of these skipped scenes are important because they shape the character's worldview and what drives their decisions.
It's like seeing that 1990s film Office Space but transforming the scene where the therapist dies of a heart attack halfway through a session. Instead of the death happening right on screen, it ends up only mentioned in passing by narration after the protagonist is acting irresponsibly at work. Luckily for this book, these writing issues shouldn't be difficult to fix. I enjoy the world, the protagonist and the book's villanous rebellion focus. With quality editing that brings life to the skipped scenes that drive the book's most important characters and applying the breadcrumb method from thriller books, this book would shine.
Despite my vote, if I have enough time, I would be curious to continue reading and see what happens next because the story is quite entrancing.
spsfc3-4-5
December 3, 2025Read 35% as a judge for SPSFC5 (team Space Girls). This is my initial thoughts and is not a reflection on the views of other team members.
This will be a No from me. I did like the dystopian set up with its rules supposedly forming "peace". However, there have been a couple of stronger entries with similiar ideas.
This will be a No from me. I did like the dystopian set up with its rules supposedly forming "peace". However, there have been a couple of stronger entries with similiar ideas.
July 30, 2025
Kept me on the edge of my seat. I love the way the main character gets deconstructed. Considering this is a dystopian setup, the arguments it makes about human mental pathologies and interactions in a very realistic global crisis, makes it even more gripping.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews