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Conservation
Conservation has spent the past four decades leading humanity out among the stars.In 2034, the Universal Mining Agency launched a ship full of eager potential colonists. Conservation provides its passengers with everything they need as it sets off for their new home on a distant, habitable planet.As the decades go by, the optimism and hope that surrounded its launch dissipate, and certain members of agency staff begin to have their doubts about the project. Conservation was meant to be a microcosm of humanity, minus the cruelty and ill health. Society has degraded into a violent, fascist regime built on slavery and famine, but this time things were supposed to be different.Zoologist David Kingston, who consulted on the original mission, becomes more and more anxious about the fate of the ship. A direct video call with a strange crewmember does nothing to quell his worry. Instead, David realizes that there may be something evil aboard the huge vessel.Then, suddenly, everything goes dark. Conservation stops transmitting reports. As David investigates the mysteries of the famous ship, he will discover the horrifying truth about its journey."Creepy and mystifying, Flynn's weird tales make for a disturbing late-night read."—Regina's Haunted Library"Truly chilling, Flynn's stories will stick with you long after reading."—Matthew Hutton, The Scare Room Podcast
255 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 3, 2017
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
James Flynn
14 books38 followersJames Flynn grew up in England.
His stories cross the boundaries of horror, sci-fi, and sci-fi horror. An absurdist at heart, Flynn’s tales are told through a lens of darkness, highlighting the many paradoxes and predicaments that come attached to human existence.
James Flynn’s stories have been compared to those of the hit TV series, The Twilight Zone, due to their eeriness and atmospheric nature.
Flynn's work has appeared in Black Petals Magazine, Yellow Mama Magazine, The Scare Room Podcast, Weird Mask Magazine, Literary Yard, Sugar Spice Erotica Review, Patty's Short Stax Anthology, Local Haunts Anthology, Lurking in the Dark Anthology and Alien Buddha Press.
Flynn’s latest release is the Exodus of Evil trilogy.
His stories cross the boundaries of horror, sci-fi, and sci-fi horror. An absurdist at heart, Flynn’s tales are told through a lens of darkness, highlighting the many paradoxes and predicaments that come attached to human existence.
James Flynn’s stories have been compared to those of the hit TV series, The Twilight Zone, due to their eeriness and atmospheric nature.
Flynn's work has appeared in Black Petals Magazine, Yellow Mama Magazine, The Scare Room Podcast, Weird Mask Magazine, Literary Yard, Sugar Spice Erotica Review, Patty's Short Stax Anthology, Local Haunts Anthology, Lurking in the Dark Anthology and Alien Buddha Press.
Flynn’s latest release is the Exodus of Evil trilogy.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 18, 2017
Ebook provided by the author via @BookTasters on Twitter,in exchange for an honest review.This book was well written,good editing.It is an interesting story line.I was hooked with the intrigue and plot twist.What was happening on earth what was happening on the ship.I think it had a realism to it,which I liked.This would probably happen with us humans being the way we are,sadly.I really enjoyed this book and hope to see more from this author.
January 28, 2018
All in all, this book left me pondering, asking questions, the story left me wanting more. I was intrigued by the character Dolph and I sympathized with David Kingston, not knowing what had happened to his treasured animals that he had donated all those years ago to the project of the ship Conservation. The twists and turns left me wanting more from the story.
The sudden jump from third person to first person in Chapter 19 left me shocked for a few pages but I got into the flow of the character very quickly and indeed like the change of perspective.
However the main thing that I think of when I think of this book is that it took me a while to read it, this affected my reading and enjoyable experience with the book. For me the book was a little dense, I've had a quick look at the other reviews on the site and on goodreads and no other person has mentioned this. Yes I enjoyed the story but the layout and spread of the wordings and paragraphs honestly just gave me a headache, I found myself believing I was reading an academic journal rather than a fictional novel, and this had nothing to do with any of the words used.
For me, I saw many ways in which my mind could be given a breathing space with the length and bulk of lengthy paragraphs.
However I did enjoy the story so for that I would give it three stars.
A lengthier review to follow soon.
The sudden jump from third person to first person in Chapter 19 left me shocked for a few pages but I got into the flow of the character very quickly and indeed like the change of perspective.
However the main thing that I think of when I think of this book is that it took me a while to read it, this affected my reading and enjoyable experience with the book. For me the book was a little dense, I've had a quick look at the other reviews on the site and on goodreads and no other person has mentioned this. Yes I enjoyed the story but the layout and spread of the wordings and paragraphs honestly just gave me a headache, I found myself believing I was reading an academic journal rather than a fictional novel, and this had nothing to do with any of the words used.
For me, I saw many ways in which my mind could be given a breathing space with the length and bulk of lengthy paragraphs.
However I did enjoy the story so for that I would give it three stars.
A lengthier review to follow soon.
October 2, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This is science fiction based very much in reality and in the not-so-distant future, making it accessible to even the non-science fiction reader. It’s well written and well plotted.
I think anyone who believes climate change is a reality can see how the events in this book could happen. That, perhaps, makes it even more intriguing. As someone who is wary of the motives of large corporations and wants to see them held accountable for decisions, I appreciate that this story has this concept as a backdrop.
The story is nuanced, however. In some ways it paints the picture of the agency saving humanity from itself but then the agency is the reason we end up in a state requiring Conservation, although that element is not touched on as much as I read into it. I have a higher opinion of humanity than this story portrays but it still is a good read. It has a lot to offer the reader. There is the science fiction aspect, as well as some mystery and a psychological study of those on the spaceship.
Without giving the story away, I will say that the portions about Seb and his desperation to survive and to experience human contact were especially intriguing. But all of the characters are well developed and the author portrays the human condition through all of them. And I couldn't wait to find out about the photograph - that's the mystery that kept me turning the pages.
I recommend this to all readers - not just sci-fi fans. The more I think about it after reading it, the more layered I realize it is and the more I disagree with elements of it. A good story should make you think, however, and this one certainly does.
I think anyone who believes climate change is a reality can see how the events in this book could happen. That, perhaps, makes it even more intriguing. As someone who is wary of the motives of large corporations and wants to see them held accountable for decisions, I appreciate that this story has this concept as a backdrop.
The story is nuanced, however. In some ways it paints the picture of the agency saving humanity from itself but then the agency is the reason we end up in a state requiring Conservation, although that element is not touched on as much as I read into it. I have a higher opinion of humanity than this story portrays but it still is a good read. It has a lot to offer the reader. There is the science fiction aspect, as well as some mystery and a psychological study of those on the spaceship.
Without giving the story away, I will say that the portions about Seb and his desperation to survive and to experience human contact were especially intriguing. But all of the characters are well developed and the author portrays the human condition through all of them. And I couldn't wait to find out about the photograph - that's the mystery that kept me turning the pages.
I recommend this to all readers - not just sci-fi fans. The more I think about it after reading it, the more layered I realize it is and the more I disagree with elements of it. A good story should make you think, however, and this one certainly does.
February 21, 2018
*I received a free copy of the ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review.
My video review can be found here: https://youtu.be/rs50G0cnghA
Probably this rating is actually more like a 3.7, but I'm rounding up because 3 stars doesn't exactly cover it.
Honestly, it took awhile to get into this story and the way it's told. It's mostly told in a third person perspective that follows different characters, some of which are on Earth and some are the ship. All the jumping around made it hard to keep straight who was who and what's going on at first. Somewhere around a third of the way in, I had the swing of the story. The last fourth of the book, I was really caught up in the story and characters. It just took awhile to get there.
Also this book has a rather more pessimistic view of the human race than I generally enjoy reading. This book takes place in the not too distant future and it's a future we've managed to mess up pretty badly. The Earth is being destroyed by humans and so Conservation is this shinning beacon of hope that the human race can even continue. When something goes wrong and the ship stops communicating, even that beacon is dimmed.
There were a lot of parts about this book I loved. I'm huge animal lover, and I really related to David Kingston, the zoologist who donated all the animals for the ship. I love the scientific questions of can these animals and plants even survive in space? There's also a possibility of saving endangered species by breeding some of them off world. Kingston is also one of the main characters we follow investigating the ship, which I loved. He's a fantastic character.
This book explores a lot of human nature and psychology. We're exploring a lot of what being in space and living entirely on a ship will do to people. How do you cope with that? How does the next generation, the ones that didn't have a choice, handle that? How humans behave when left to their own devices is also explored.
I really got caught up in what happened on the ship. As readers we have a better idea than people on Earth do, but it's still not the whole story (at least not until the end of the book). There's a real urgency to find out what happened that affects so many characters. There's so much drama and such a mystery in it.
My video review can be found here: https://youtu.be/rs50G0cnghA
Probably this rating is actually more like a 3.7, but I'm rounding up because 3 stars doesn't exactly cover it.
Honestly, it took awhile to get into this story and the way it's told. It's mostly told in a third person perspective that follows different characters, some of which are on Earth and some are the ship. All the jumping around made it hard to keep straight who was who and what's going on at first. Somewhere around a third of the way in, I had the swing of the story. The last fourth of the book, I was really caught up in the story and characters. It just took awhile to get there.
Also this book has a rather more pessimistic view of the human race than I generally enjoy reading. This book takes place in the not too distant future and it's a future we've managed to mess up pretty badly. The Earth is being destroyed by humans and so Conservation is this shinning beacon of hope that the human race can even continue. When something goes wrong and the ship stops communicating, even that beacon is dimmed.
There were a lot of parts about this book I loved. I'm huge animal lover, and I really related to David Kingston, the zoologist who donated all the animals for the ship. I love the scientific questions of can these animals and plants even survive in space? There's also a possibility of saving endangered species by breeding some of them off world. Kingston is also one of the main characters we follow investigating the ship, which I loved. He's a fantastic character.
This book explores a lot of human nature and psychology. We're exploring a lot of what being in space and living entirely on a ship will do to people. How do you cope with that? How does the next generation, the ones that didn't have a choice, handle that? How humans behave when left to their own devices is also explored.
I really got caught up in what happened on the ship. As readers we have a better idea than people on Earth do, but it's still not the whole story (at least not until the end of the book). There's a real urgency to find out what happened that affects so many characters. There's so much drama and such a mystery in it.
March 1, 2018
This book was an interesting mix of a Noah's ark kind of generation-ship scifi story and an earthbound conspiracy, that former part of the book focused on a period after the ship Conservation had been underway for some time and the state the crew were in, this part of the book was an interesting take on this kind of voyage.
The earthbound portion of the book focused on a number of characters including David Kingston, a zoologist who had donated most of the animals onboard the ship along with a number of people connected with the Universal Mining Agency who were responsible for launching the ship in response to the decrepit state of the planet's environment. The conspiracy side of things of the book is best learned about organically as you read the book, so I will not go into details about that part of it other than to say that some of it could have progressed a bit more logically, but it did work in general.
The narrator gave a good performance overall, the main cast all had sufficiently distinctive tones to them that nicely enhanced the overall book.
Overall, this was an enjoyable listen, both for the basic story and the performance in a book that could be part of a larger universe if the author so chose, but was perfectly self-contained as written.
[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
The earthbound portion of the book focused on a number of characters including David Kingston, a zoologist who had donated most of the animals onboard the ship along with a number of people connected with the Universal Mining Agency who were responsible for launching the ship in response to the decrepit state of the planet's environment. The conspiracy side of things of the book is best learned about organically as you read the book, so I will not go into details about that part of it other than to say that some of it could have progressed a bit more logically, but it did work in general.
The narrator gave a good performance overall, the main cast all had sufficiently distinctive tones to them that nicely enhanced the overall book.
Overall, this was an enjoyable listen, both for the basic story and the performance in a book that could be part of a larger universe if the author so chose, but was perfectly self-contained as written.
[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
June 4, 2018
The year is 2034. Climate change has ravaged Earth, food and shelter are even scarcer than before, and the world is descending into chaos. As Earth is slowly becoming more inhabitable, a plan to launch a spaceship to find suitainable planets is the one of the best and only options available. The giant ship Conservation, built by the Universal Mining Agency, housing plantlife, animals, and people, is launched. The people onboard will never themselves see their new, future home, but the generations following them will.
Great read! A mix between Sci-Fi, thriller, and mystery, that had me turning page after page. Loved it! It's original, surprising, and captivating. Recommended.
Great read! A mix between Sci-Fi, thriller, and mystery, that had me turning page after page. Loved it! It's original, surprising, and captivating. Recommended.
February 13, 2018
This is a well crafted story, with lots of suspense... and unfortunately, I didn't really care for it... It's not that I wasn't driven to get to the end and find out what was going on, because I was (obviously good writing)! It's just that, even though I read a lot of dark fiction, I'm less of a Shakespearean writing style fan and more of an HEA kinda girl.
I loved Simon Wright's narration and he read it with all the nuance that this fine prose called for.
If a dark ending doesn't distress you, this one's for you!
I loved Simon Wright's narration and he read it with all the nuance that this fine prose called for.
If a dark ending doesn't distress you, this one's for you!
September 21, 2017
Given book by the author via @BookTasters on Twitter,in exchange for an honest review.
It was a nice read that helped me get through my touch of pneumonia.A good suspense scifi novel.The twist and turns kept me guessing till the end.I wasn't sure I was going to like it but really did.I would recommend this to my friends,and will be waiting for more books from Mr Flynn.
It was a nice read that helped me get through my touch of pneumonia.A good suspense scifi novel.The twist and turns kept me guessing till the end.I wasn't sure I was going to like it but really did.I would recommend this to my friends,and will be waiting for more books from Mr Flynn.
November 20, 2017
Ebook provided by the author via Twitter, in exchange for an honest review.
”Conservation” pulled me fluently through kind of an naive thought of Noah’s Ark like solution mixed with primitively cruel human behavior. Scifi and realism nicely combined. This well written and well plotted! story went forward in several layers. Looking forward next books from this author.
”Conservation” pulled me fluently through kind of an naive thought of Noah’s Ark like solution mixed with primitively cruel human behavior. Scifi and realism nicely combined. This well written and well plotted! story went forward in several layers. Looking forward next books from this author.
January 22, 2018
A ship sets off for the stars, but when it stops transmitting messages, that's when David worries something horrible has happened. An entertaining sci-fi tale. I would recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews