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Pilgrim
An exploratory probe is launched into space on a mission to investigate the possibility of extraterrestrial life. However, a cabal of military forces have covertly converted the probe into a weapon of mass destruction - arming it with a nuclear payload.
When the launch of the craft goes awry, the probe crashes back on Earth and begins carrying out its mission – eradicating all life. It’s up to Catherine Tennison, an intrepid NASA scientist, and Army Colonel Walt Macken to capture and disarm the probe before it brings about Armageddon.
When the launch of the craft goes awry, the probe crashes back on Earth and begins carrying out its mission – eradicating all life. It’s up to Catherine Tennison, an intrepid NASA scientist, and Army Colonel Walt Macken to capture and disarm the probe before it brings about Armageddon.
146 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2015
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 30, 2015
Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.
This is quite a short novel, and one that captures a single event and moment in time, focusing on the action and outcome rather than offer too much background detail and depth of characters and environment. It is also written in present tense which took a while to adjust to. Whether the approach was to make it feel more in the moment I’m not sure, but while I got used to it, it never felt right.
The narrative is told and presented in snippets and in paragraphs rather than a flowing narration. It jumps from scene to scene quickly, a bit like a movie cutting from one place to another, without connection sentence or any clear indication where it will go. This wasn’t a real problem overall but it did feel a bit like we were jumping all over the place with random moments put together rather than a steady story.
From a promising beginning that seemed as if it would develop and grow, it falters soon after. It remains flat even when there is danger and peril to characters, never quite creating the excitement of tension needed. The story itself is a bit hard to believe as well, even for science fiction, but if you suspend your belief and take the story as is the events aren’t the main concern.
The main issues I found were the lack of depth in the characters and surprisingly the lack of concern I had for them when this probe was hunting them all down. I couldn’t connect with them, and honestly did not care what happened to them. This was my feeling for most of the novel. I was not interested in the outcome and I found myself picking apart things than getting into the story.
Even aside from these character issues, the story needs further editing. There are jarring dialogue and bad grammar throughout, and punctuation needs improving. The sentences don’t quite flow and the language and description is a bit lacking.
But there were some good bits. I did like how Atwood has worked in the probe movements and actions, fitting them pertinently in between other scenes. Stepping back you can see what Atwood has tried to achieve, a quick action/Armageddon story of a wayward machine wiping out humanity, but it just hasn’t worked. The words are there, and scenes in the right places, but the feeling or the anticipation isn’t, and when you don’t care about the characters you can’t worry for them when they’re killed.
Overall the concept was ok but the execution was not that great or enjoyable to read. With some editing it may improve but as it is now, I’m glad it was as short as it was because it couldn’t have kept me interested for much longer.
This review was posted on my blog https://lostinagoodbk.wordpress.com/2...
This is quite a short novel, and one that captures a single event and moment in time, focusing on the action and outcome rather than offer too much background detail and depth of characters and environment. It is also written in present tense which took a while to adjust to. Whether the approach was to make it feel more in the moment I’m not sure, but while I got used to it, it never felt right.
The narrative is told and presented in snippets and in paragraphs rather than a flowing narration. It jumps from scene to scene quickly, a bit like a movie cutting from one place to another, without connection sentence or any clear indication where it will go. This wasn’t a real problem overall but it did feel a bit like we were jumping all over the place with random moments put together rather than a steady story.
From a promising beginning that seemed as if it would develop and grow, it falters soon after. It remains flat even when there is danger and peril to characters, never quite creating the excitement of tension needed. The story itself is a bit hard to believe as well, even for science fiction, but if you suspend your belief and take the story as is the events aren’t the main concern.
The main issues I found were the lack of depth in the characters and surprisingly the lack of concern I had for them when this probe was hunting them all down. I couldn’t connect with them, and honestly did not care what happened to them. This was my feeling for most of the novel. I was not interested in the outcome and I found myself picking apart things than getting into the story.
Even aside from these character issues, the story needs further editing. There are jarring dialogue and bad grammar throughout, and punctuation needs improving. The sentences don’t quite flow and the language and description is a bit lacking.
But there were some good bits. I did like how Atwood has worked in the probe movements and actions, fitting them pertinently in between other scenes. Stepping back you can see what Atwood has tried to achieve, a quick action/Armageddon story of a wayward machine wiping out humanity, but it just hasn’t worked. The words are there, and scenes in the right places, but the feeling or the anticipation isn’t, and when you don’t care about the characters you can’t worry for them when they’re killed.
Overall the concept was ok but the execution was not that great or enjoyable to read. With some editing it may improve but as it is now, I’m glad it was as short as it was because it couldn’t have kept me interested for much longer.
This review was posted on my blog https://lostinagoodbk.wordpress.com/2...
March 22, 2015
"Pilgrim" by Terrence Atwood is a short read, weighing in at 146 pages. I enjoyed the read, but let's get the 'negative' out of the way:
> It reads like a pitch
> Grammatical errors even though it is short. Mostly orphaned.periods..
> I can't get over the line: "A roll of thunder thunders down the sky." Come on, you can do better.
Okay, so the editing SHOULD be fixed soon (I would assume). The sentence structure could use some transitional phrases and a little love to help the flow flow like flow should flow. The story itself: Fun. I really did enjoy the quick adventure and Atwood crams a lot into short scenes. He isn't afraid to kill and/or mutilate characters, which is uplifting.
I'm rating this a 4 Star vs. a 3 Star because I'm banking on grammar being fixed on the digital short, at minimum. Also, because the story is entertaining and plausible. Like "The Matrix," "Pilgrim's" underlying theme resonated with me. No, this isn't a virtual world with aliens using humans as energy. Rather, it speaks to a pragmatic assessment of Earth and identifies who the main parasites really are.
Read March 2015; Copy provided by author for review.
> It reads like a pitch
> Grammatical errors even though it is short. Mostly orphaned.periods..
> I can't get over the line: "A roll of thunder thunders down the sky." Come on, you can do better.
Okay, so the editing SHOULD be fixed soon (I would assume). The sentence structure could use some transitional phrases and a little love to help the flow flow like flow should flow. The story itself: Fun. I really did enjoy the quick adventure and Atwood crams a lot into short scenes. He isn't afraid to kill and/or mutilate characters, which is uplifting.
I'm rating this a 4 Star vs. a 3 Star because I'm banking on grammar being fixed on the digital short, at minimum. Also, because the story is entertaining and plausible. Like "The Matrix," "Pilgrim's" underlying theme resonated with me. No, this isn't a virtual world with aliens using humans as energy. Rather, it speaks to a pragmatic assessment of Earth and identifies who the main parasites really are.
Read March 2015; Copy provided by author for review.
April 26, 2015
Pilgrim
By Terrence Atwood
Pilgrim is a revolutionary Interplanetary Exploration probe that will be sent to a newly discovered planet in our solar system. Its mission is to seek out extraterrestrial life. However, after a few minutes after launch Pilgrim malfunctions and crashes down to earth as several members of the military beforehand have altered the probes mission. 10 hours in to its original mission Pilgrim carries on with its tasks to explore the planet’s surface, navigating through any terrain, cutting through any obstacle that gets in its way and most importantly trying to seek out new life, while simultaneously eradicating all life forms by dissecting them, breaking them down to atoms so it can transmit the data back to earth.
Catherine Tennison who is a planetary scientist that helped design and program Pilgrim unexpectedly loses her fiancée Chad, as Pilgrim kills him in cold blood before the launch. Catherine is unaware of the militaries secretive security device that they have installed into Pilgrim and goes in pursuit of Pilgrim along with Walt Macken, to try and stop it however, the tables soon turn as they soon become the hunted.
The military can’t shut Pilgrim down; they can’t bomb it, or even get near it in its wake of mass destruction, despite their best efforts. Catherine soon teams up with the military against her better judgement to check if there is a flaw in its design, or a glitch in its programming to save the world as she knows it from Armageddon. The biggest question is will she succeed, or will it be end of humanity as we know it?
Highly recommended reading for Sci-Fi fans. This author is clearly one to watch out for in the future and I look forward to reading more of his work. I would have personally like to have seen more character development with Catherine and Walt to add more substance to their desperate plight and hope in the next instalment this small issue will be addressed.
My Ranking: 4 Stars
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Amazon
By Terrence Atwood
Pilgrim is a revolutionary Interplanetary Exploration probe that will be sent to a newly discovered planet in our solar system. Its mission is to seek out extraterrestrial life. However, after a few minutes after launch Pilgrim malfunctions and crashes down to earth as several members of the military beforehand have altered the probes mission. 10 hours in to its original mission Pilgrim carries on with its tasks to explore the planet’s surface, navigating through any terrain, cutting through any obstacle that gets in its way and most importantly trying to seek out new life, while simultaneously eradicating all life forms by dissecting them, breaking them down to atoms so it can transmit the data back to earth.
Catherine Tennison who is a planetary scientist that helped design and program Pilgrim unexpectedly loses her fiancée Chad, as Pilgrim kills him in cold blood before the launch. Catherine is unaware of the militaries secretive security device that they have installed into Pilgrim and goes in pursuit of Pilgrim along with Walt Macken, to try and stop it however, the tables soon turn as they soon become the hunted.
The military can’t shut Pilgrim down; they can’t bomb it, or even get near it in its wake of mass destruction, despite their best efforts. Catherine soon teams up with the military against her better judgement to check if there is a flaw in its design, or a glitch in its programming to save the world as she knows it from Armageddon. The biggest question is will she succeed, or will it be end of humanity as we know it?
Highly recommended reading for Sci-Fi fans. This author is clearly one to watch out for in the future and I look forward to reading more of his work. I would have personally like to have seen more character development with Catherine and Walt to add more substance to their desperate plight and hope in the next instalment this small issue will be addressed.
My Ranking: 4 Stars
http://walkerputsche.wordpress.com/
http://catherineroseputsche.webs.com/
http://t.co/G0ExZgmlwc
https://twitter.com/Putsche73
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Amazon
April 9, 2015
This review originally appeared on my blog at www.gimmethatbook.com.
Thanks to author Terrence Atwood for providing this review copy.
Weighing in at a quick 146 pages, this is a quick and easy read. The plot is promising, and the tension starts fairly quickly, when there is a failure during the launch. There is back stabbing, politics, and a murderous probe named PILGRIM, that immediately starts performing its mission as planned--except it didn't land on the new planet as expected. PILGRIM landed back on Earth, and cannot be stopped.
There are portions of awkward dialogue plus some bad punctuation (most glaring is the use of capital letters and exclamation points to force home the point that this is WILD STUFF HAPPENING HERE!!). I also had to suspend my beliefs for a bit at times, that the military would acquiese to the demands of a NASA scientist (character Catherine Tennison). There are also a few too many narrow escapes by Tennison and her companion Colonel Walt Macken, to make things ring true.
However, I did enjoy the science and implications of the story itself, even if the writing could have been a little smoother. The images of the rogue probe rampaging across bucolic areas were done well, and the juxtaposition of nature and technology was appropriately jarring. The possibility of the military doing something like this isn't that far fetched, and the conspiracy theorists would love this book. I'm sure.
I think the plot would make a good science fiction film. As I was reading, I could picture the action in my head. That alone means Atwood did his job: making the reader visualize and become one with the story.
The author had some good ideas--with a little more character development and better editing, PILGRIM would be a 5 star read. I'll give it 3 and a half.
June 9, 2015
Pilgrim was a quicky read at just 147 pages, but it sure comes with one almighty Bang! I was getting excited and scared, sometimes simultaneously, and shouting at the characters to run. Well you know me by now, I always shout at books if they get me excited! If you where chased by Pilgrim, which is hell bent on killing you, wouldn’t you get excited or should I say frightened and run??
So anyway, Pilgrim is extremely fast paced, so you feel the excitement that much more, but not so fast that you can’t follow the story. As scary as it is, the story is believable, Terrence has really portrayed the environment very well indeed.
Of the characters, my favourite has to be Catherine, not only was she believable, you are able to identify with her. She is one clever, strong woman.
Anyway’s enjoy the story, you’ll love it I’m sure.
So anyway, Pilgrim is extremely fast paced, so you feel the excitement that much more, but not so fast that you can’t follow the story. As scary as it is, the story is believable, Terrence has really portrayed the environment very well indeed.
Of the characters, my favourite has to be Catherine, not only was she believable, you are able to identify with her. She is one clever, strong woman.
Anyway’s enjoy the story, you’ll love it I’m sure.
May 20, 2015
Because of the unforgiveable grammatical errors, I hesitate to award this story a four-star read. It’s a good story! It needs some TLC. I suggest the reader obtain an editor or buy an editing book. Good story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews