Permanence

by Tom C. Underhill, Nick Wisseman

They’re stranded on an island. They don’t have any food or water. Their captain’s all but lost his mind.

Things could be better.

But they could also be worse. While the rest of humanity continues to fight World War III, the six members of the Citizen’s Brigade gradually learn to coexist with their remote environment and each other.

“Permanence” first appeared in Perpetual Magazine, February 2009, under the pen name Tom C. Underhill.

ebook

First published October 7, 2011

About the author

Tom C. Underhill (real name: Nick Wisseman) lives in Bear Lake, Michigan with his wife, daughter, fifty cats, twenty horses, and ten dogs. (Okay, so there are actually ten times less pets than that, but most days it feels like more). He's not quite sure why he loves writing twisted fiction, but there's no stopping the weirdness once he's in front of a computer. Eventually he hopes to merge this stubborn surrealism more fully with his academic training to produce something in the historical fantasy line. But for now, he's content with the purely speculative fiction he's published in magazines like Allegory, Battered Suitcase, Bewildering Stories, The Cynic Online Magazine, and Mysterical-E.

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

What?

I don’t know what happened to the review I wrote for this book.

And I no longer remember what the book is about. So all I know is that I gave it a rating of…

Four stars. ✨✨✨✨

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic

Permanense will give you a sense of peaceful tranquility that roams through your body like the wind blowing through your hair.

[Heather Boustead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Permanence
By Tom Underhill

A small group of people are stranded on a deserted island with plenty of available resources leaving too much free time on their hands. As their captain seems to go crazy the crew begins to find conflicts amongst their selves.

Another short story masterfully brought to life by Tom Underhill. Instead of this one having a supernatural or sinister angle it is simply the human mind and what we are capable of which is sometimes more intriguing. I wish the author would take this story and expound on it into a full novel I would love to be able to have more details for this one.

As always if you have any requests or recommendations email me at:
Reflections.of.a.BookWorm@gmail.com
Be sure to visit my blogs at:
http://reflectionsofabookworm.wordpre...
http://bookwormrflects8.blogspot.com/
You can even follow me on Twitter
@BookWormRflect

[Infinite · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Permanence several people, during a war are crashed on a desert island. The questions of what war they were involved in or where there are are not answered. Instead the author focuses on how they act as they believe that no one will arrive to rescue them and the story is told through a combo of diary entries and through the point of view of one of the castaways who was injured. The author uses the interpersonal aspects of the group and the oddly distorted point of view of their injured group member for the focus of this story. Permanence is slightly confusing, and somewhat chaotic but it manages to fit together nicely into a cohesive work.
Disclaimer: PDF was obtained from author for review.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the appeal of the post-apocalyptic genre is that it helps us believe that no matter how dire, human spirit and ingenuity can and will prevail. (Of course, that requires not thinking too hard about what got the world to that point in the first place.) Permanence tells such a story, does it well, and in very few words. That last point is what stood out for me. Like the best and most meaningful song lyrics, Wisseman’s words manage to say a lot in a short space by allowing us to read between the lines, giving us just what we need to understand, and nothing more. It’s a rare talent.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An especially well-contained short story. I cared enough to wonder about the characters and what happens at the end (if they really make the right decision), but it stood so well on its own that I didn't need it. This was a very satisfying read. Underhill has a very deft hand at demonstrating rather than telling, and this just left me very satisfied--not awestruck, but solid and complete.