Echo

by C. Scott Frank

An army of mysterious human clones ravages Earth's colonies across the solar system. Seven years into the war, Ariana's team of Orbital Drop Marines is sent on a desperate rescue mission to Midas IV. Ariana is experienced in the chaotic frenzy of battle, but this drop is different. Instead of a heated battle, she emerges into an eerie calm. Separated from their platoon, Ariana and her team need to discover why this place is untouched by the all-out war raging everywhere else on the surface. Finding the answer leads Ariana to a discovery that will change her forever—but will the cost be too high? -- Echo is the first book in the Echoes in the Black universe—the story that started it all.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

16 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2017

About the author

I like making things. I know a little bit about a lot of things, and a lot about almost nothing. I'm a writer, musician, designer, and professional dabbler.

I love the Lord and I love my family. I live in Oklahoma with my wife, Hailee and my son. We have a few animals, but mainly so we can pay people to watch them while we're out of town. It's one of our favorite pastimes.

I write things. I write fantasy things, sci-fi things, zombie things, and my wife and I write about faith, family, and fostering at afrankvoice.com.

Reviews

[Janelle Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story. I wished it was a bit longer... I feel like the concept could really be expanded on and made into a full length book. The characters were surprisingly well-done for being such a short story, too. I'm definitely going to be getting any follow-ups to this one!

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 4 out of 5]

First up I have to disclose that Mr Frank and I share a Twitter writing group, so my review is pretty positively biased. Nonetheless I enjoyed Echo, its a crisply written and well fleshed out sci-fi short story.

To be balanced I did have a couple of niggles, the introductory pages were quite info-dumpy in ways the sci-fi stories often are, which felt like the main character was somewhat on the back-burner

[J.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good writing faced paced, and I liked the premise. It was a bit predictable for me, but that is probably just because I read so much Sci-Fi. The MC was easy to connect too. The author knew just how much gore to put in to make it impactful without pushing it over the edge. And the character of Roman really made me happy. Also, I could tell from the way he wrote that the author did some research (or is at least a huge fan of the genre) which made me happy. Rare to find an author who does his homework. Even rarer to find one who does it for a short story.

[Evan Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, engaging read. Looking forward to more from Mr. Frank.

[Faye Fite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang. This is a stellar short story. The pacing was excellent, each of the named characters in the story had distinct voices, and the philosophical questions raised were excellent and thought-provoking. I was especially taken by the action sequences: They were very intelligently written, easy to follow, and felt realistic without being too gory. The twist ending was fun, and though the story was war-centered and raised some tough and relevant questions (who has the right to life?), it still had a good amount of humor to it. That balance is incredibly hard to pull off. I'm impressed, and will absolutely be reading more stories by this author.

Bonus: I love that the foul language was handled Captain America-style.

[E.B. Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast-paced military SciFi reminiscent of Starship Troopers, except this time the enemy looks a lot like us. I loved all the nods to traditional science fiction. The characters were easy to visualize. The narrative was clean and intelligent. C. Scott Frank is one of those authors who pulls you up to his level. There was a little bit of info dumping in the beginning but not enough to detract from the story. And although I saw the twist coming, it didn't lessen my enjoyment of it. The author lays the foundation for what could be a stellar series and I truly hope he fleshes it out fully.

[Michael Blaylock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, exciting read that makes you curious who is telling the truth.

[Samantha Hanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, engaging read! Looking forward to future works by this author.

[David Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well thought-out sci-fi

Very strong story, with clear and interesting characters, good pacing, an interesting universe and an engaging style. Will pick you up and bring you along for a fun ride

[Azelyn Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some more resolution might have been helpful, but wow, was the writing style good!

Full review to come soon.