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Only the Few #2
Hyde's Lament
A revelation has been made, and it will change things forever. Forced into submission, Hyde's life hangs in the balance. Can she overcome? Or will her captors succeed? It all ends here!
82 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 30, 2017
2 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
L.N. Denison
5 books199 followersWriter of things dark and disturbing..but that will soon change...watch this space!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
June 14, 2018
I have to admit I was a little wary of reading this. I had read “Oscar” in Denison's Underground series. Which was well-written but disturbing. So when I saw she went out of her way to label this as “Dark” I worried it might give me nightmares. While Hyde's Lament is very dark, it does have characters who try to hold on to their basic humanity as the horror unfolds around them.
In this novella, under the action, which there is a lot of, the real struggle is Hyde's attempt to stay human as she is in a program to literally and figuratively strip away what makes her human.
It's the deeper struggle that I liked. So while it is dark there is the ray of hope that no matter how hard the forces of apathy try, there will always be people who feel that the worth, the rights, and basic dignity of humanity is worth fighting for.
In this novella, under the action, which there is a lot of, the real struggle is Hyde's attempt to stay human as she is in a program to literally and figuratively strip away what makes her human.
It's the deeper struggle that I liked. So while it is dark there is the ray of hope that no matter how hard the forces of apathy try, there will always be people who feel that the worth, the rights, and basic dignity of humanity is worth fighting for.
June 4, 2018
Hydes's Lament-A Dark Novella is a well-written book that holds your attention from beginning to end. The pace of the story was great, and characters are strong and very interesting. I did not read the first book in this series, but it didn't matter because I found the story to be so engaging it could be a stand-alone book. Because I liked the story so much, I will go back and read the first book in the series to get a deeper understanding of the character and the background on Catherine Hyde. Great writing, strong characters, and a story that makes you want more. Highly recommend!
March 9, 2018
Cannibalism, Murder, Treachery, Secret Experiments, Plot Twists…
Hyde's Lament: A Dark Novella is a short and sweet post-apocalyptic adventure with tons of cleverly placed violence and some really powerful scenes.
Without spoiling the story, suffice to say that I enjoyed the brief trip to post-apocalyptic UK immensely. The atmosphere, the characters and the pacing were all spot-on for me. The use of passive voice was done cleverly to put emphasis on the point of view, where active voice would have weakened the narrative.
The book’s strong writing and some well-written twists make you want to read the sequel that’s sure to come.
If there’s one drawback with this book, is that it’s a bit too short, but in the author’s defense, this is written and advertised as a dark novella, and what a dark novella it is!
5/5 from me.
Hyde's Lament: A Dark Novella is a short and sweet post-apocalyptic adventure with tons of cleverly placed violence and some really powerful scenes.
Without spoiling the story, suffice to say that I enjoyed the brief trip to post-apocalyptic UK immensely. The atmosphere, the characters and the pacing were all spot-on for me. The use of passive voice was done cleverly to put emphasis on the point of view, where active voice would have weakened the narrative.
The book’s strong writing and some well-written twists make you want to read the sequel that’s sure to come.
If there’s one drawback with this book, is that it’s a bit too short, but in the author’s defense, this is written and advertised as a dark novella, and what a dark novella it is!
5/5 from me.
July 1, 2018
There’s an old riddle that goes like this: “How do you get an elephant into your refrigerator?”
While you're pondering that question, somewhere, deep in a subterranean bunker/laboratory, a mad scientist is turning Catherine Hyde into something that likes its dinner running around on two legs . . . and we ain’t talkin’ chicken. Orbiting around the transitioning Hyde are a large number of other characters. Some are scientists, some are soldiers, some are supper. They are all terrified, angry, or at the very least, irritated. They seethe and snap at each other like a whole lot of alligators in a very small alligator pit. Under the circumstances, frayed nerves are understandable, but the situation plays havoc with the dialogue. It’s not much fun being a fly on the dank wall of an underground bunker, when mostly what you get to hear are little snippets of conversation along the lines of: “Where are you taking me?”/“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The writing is generally serviceable. Nothing will be said of the occasional awkwardly worded sentence, as it doesn’t need to.
My biggest gripe about this long short story or short novella is that the protagonist’s efforts cut through the complexities of the situation like a lightsaber through the guts of a tauntaun. One expects the fog-of-war to come sneaking in on ginormous saber tooth tiger feet once the protagonist’s plan is set into motion, but not so much. To avoid spoilers, I’ll leave it at this: If I ever get a look into the protagonist’s fridge, I expect to find it well-stocked with elephants.
While you're pondering that question, somewhere, deep in a subterranean bunker/laboratory, a mad scientist is turning Catherine Hyde into something that likes its dinner running around on two legs . . . and we ain’t talkin’ chicken. Orbiting around the transitioning Hyde are a large number of other characters. Some are scientists, some are soldiers, some are supper. They are all terrified, angry, or at the very least, irritated. They seethe and snap at each other like a whole lot of alligators in a very small alligator pit. Under the circumstances, frayed nerves are understandable, but the situation plays havoc with the dialogue. It’s not much fun being a fly on the dank wall of an underground bunker, when mostly what you get to hear are little snippets of conversation along the lines of: “Where are you taking me?”/“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The writing is generally serviceable. Nothing will be said of the occasional awkwardly worded sentence, as it doesn’t need to.
My biggest gripe about this long short story or short novella is that the protagonist’s efforts cut through the complexities of the situation like a lightsaber through the guts of a tauntaun. One expects the fog-of-war to come sneaking in on ginormous saber tooth tiger feet once the protagonist’s plan is set into motion, but not so much. To avoid spoilers, I’ll leave it at this: If I ever get a look into the protagonist’s fridge, I expect to find it well-stocked with elephants.
January 17, 2020
Hyde’s Lament picks up, apparently, right where the last book left off, which left me a bit confused for a while, having not read the first book. Poor Hyde has apparently already been through a whole heap of problems, and this book doesn’t let her off the hook. It earns its label as dark dystopian. I would have liked some sort of short summary right at the first for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t read the first book, and to help such readers catch up. I have seen such in other books in a series, and while reading the books in a series in order, would be ideal, having a brief summary in the books that follow the first is nice, and helps a reader get into the story with more ease.
Poor Hyde, apparently an active and courageous heroine in the previous book, is in big trouble now, having been captured by her enemies who are trying to turn her into some sort of monster called a “caver”. She’s got friends trying to save her, but she’s basically at everybody’s mercy here. The two book story comes to its resolution here, and fans of dark dystopian, horror, and post-apocalyptic survival who don’t mind foul language and getting the snot scared out of them, would likely enjoy this story.
Poor Hyde, apparently an active and courageous heroine in the previous book, is in big trouble now, having been captured by her enemies who are trying to turn her into some sort of monster called a “caver”. She’s got friends trying to save her, but she’s basically at everybody’s mercy here. The two book story comes to its resolution here, and fans of dark dystopian, horror, and post-apocalyptic survival who don’t mind foul language and getting the snot scared out of them, would likely enjoy this story.
March 21, 2018
Hyde’s Lament ‘A Dark Novella’by LN Denison
Wow, I’ll say it’s dark! However, it’s also beautifully written and realised and I was desperate to get to the end to find out what happened to everyone. The characters are believable and well crafted, if not always likable and the world is dark, sinister and brooding. It’s a UK that we’ve destroyed, possibly ourselves and the horror we’ve released is coming back to bite us. Everyone is looking after number one, or has an agenda and nobody is telling anyone the whole truth. It’s a world wrecked by corporations at the hands of soldiers and scientists who are desperately trying to shove what they can find of the genie back into the bottle. This is the second book in a series, but I didn’t feel the need to have read the others to be gripped by this one. I’m off to find the others now to see how all this started and find out how it ends. A real page turner.
Wow, I’ll say it’s dark! However, it’s also beautifully written and realised and I was desperate to get to the end to find out what happened to everyone. The characters are believable and well crafted, if not always likable and the world is dark, sinister and brooding. It’s a UK that we’ve destroyed, possibly ourselves and the horror we’ve released is coming back to bite us. Everyone is looking after number one, or has an agenda and nobody is telling anyone the whole truth. It’s a world wrecked by corporations at the hands of soldiers and scientists who are desperately trying to shove what they can find of the genie back into the bottle. This is the second book in a series, but I didn’t feel the need to have read the others to be gripped by this one. I’m off to find the others now to see how all this started and find out how it ends. A real page turner.
July 9, 2018
If you like your reads cozy, then don’t read this. But if you want gut clenching realism and enough gore to,sink a battleship.
Honestly this is dystopian excellence
Honestly this is dystopian excellence
April 2, 2018
Hyde is a corporal in the military who is receiving injections that are changing her. Scott is undercover, determined to rescue Hyde and others from a military barrack, where experiments occur in an attempt to make stronger and faster soldiers. This story is well-written and well-paced. I was intrigued and found myself reading this quickly since I was eager to learn what was going to happen to Hyde. This is book 2 of the story and now I want to read book 1 to understand how the characters got to this point. I might even consider this horror. The grammar and punctuation errors are what kept this from a 5, but I really enjoyed the writing and suspense of the story, so this is really 4.5 stars.
January 3, 2019
The story is written in a clear crisp manner that hints a great potential. I don't normally read this sort of thing and I found the story to be rather dull because I found the distance between the character and myself too great. I wasn't able to connect with the main protagonist, and was even confused about who was the main character some times. The story reads well and does a great job of leaving the reader in suspense about what is going on. I feel that the story was rushed and could have been improved with more detail given to the emotions of the characters.
July 18, 2018
A wonderful conclusion to the Only The Few Book series.
The story picks up just after Only The Few ended, and lets us experience what happens to Catherine Hyde in distopian England.
Through twists and turns all is revealed, or is it? I felt that there were still many aspects of the world, how it got this way and what will happen that could still be explored even if things are concluded for Catherine.
An all too believable dark future.
The story picks up just after Only The Few ended, and lets us experience what happens to Catherine Hyde in distopian England.
Through twists and turns all is revealed, or is it? I felt that there were still many aspects of the world, how it got this way and what will happen that could still be explored even if things are concluded for Catherine.
An all too believable dark future.
March 29, 2018
An interesting story. Don’t miss it!
The plot will drag you in from the start and will make you turn page after page until the last one.
This is not a story for the faint-hearted. There are gore and violence, but they are always well-placed and never overused.
The plot will drag you in from the start and will make you turn page after page until the last one.
This is not a story for the faint-hearted. There are gore and violence, but they are always well-placed and never overused.
July 29, 2018
Another brilliant read from L.N. Denison. The darkness and evil permeates through her stories and this is no exception. If you enjoy dystopian stories on the darker and sinister side, this book is for you. I look forward to the next installment of Hyde's adventures.
June 6, 2018
An enjoyable, if somewhat gruelling, novella about a future 'super-soldier' experiment gone wrong.
This is the second book in Denison's Only the Few series, and in the beginning I found that rather too much was assumed from the first book. It wasn't always easy to work out what was going on. Names, for instance, were used without introduction as if the reader already knew these people; and the opening situation was clearly following on from a previous story.
Denison's writing style has a brevity and economy of words that was both attractive, keeping up the tension, and frustrating at times, with some rather cryptic descriptions of places and situations. There were also occasional spelling and word-usage errors, though these were not excessive.
But as I progressed the situation and the characters drew me in, and I found myself rooting for the good guys and wanting to see how it turned out. The ending was satisfying, despite the tag "dark" in the book's description (which initially made me fear a bad or ambivalent outcome).
All in all a story worth reading, especially, I would think, if done so in the correct order after book 1 of the series.
This is the second book in Denison's Only the Few series, and in the beginning I found that rather too much was assumed from the first book. It wasn't always easy to work out what was going on. Names, for instance, were used without introduction as if the reader already knew these people; and the opening situation was clearly following on from a previous story.
Denison's writing style has a brevity and economy of words that was both attractive, keeping up the tension, and frustrating at times, with some rather cryptic descriptions of places and situations. There were also occasional spelling and word-usage errors, though these were not excessive.
But as I progressed the situation and the characters drew me in, and I found myself rooting for the good guys and wanting to see how it turned out. The ending was satisfying, despite the tag "dark" in the book's description (which initially made me fear a bad or ambivalent outcome).
All in all a story worth reading, especially, I would think, if done so in the correct order after book 1 of the series.
February 25, 2018
I did really enjoy this, but....
I have to say I was a little disappointed it was not another novel. Still though, it did answer many questions that were left unanswered, at least in my screwy mind anyway. As soon as I picked this up and started reading I was immediately returned to the place I left off with the first book. Usually it takes a chapter or two when reading a sequel, not with this one.
Again, the writing is strong, with a few surprises, violence and the albeit short, a nice conclusion to a great story.
Recommended for sure, I just wish it was longer...
I have to say I was a little disappointed it was not another novel. Still though, it did answer many questions that were left unanswered, at least in my screwy mind anyway. As soon as I picked this up and started reading I was immediately returned to the place I left off with the first book. Usually it takes a chapter or two when reading a sequel, not with this one.
Again, the writing is strong, with a few surprises, violence and the albeit short, a nice conclusion to a great story.
Recommended for sure, I just wish it was longer...
April 10, 2018
If you like fast-paced, action-packed, military-style stories, then the sequel to Only The Few is for you. The atmosphere I got from Hyde's Lament reminded me of "The Walking Dead" or "I Am Legend". Very good writing with some graphic moments that will chill your bones. Hyde's transformation into a caver is somehow more poignant because it is experienced through the eyes of those who surround her. Because the story is fast-paced, I would get a bit confused as to who was who and would need to slow down my reading to make sure I didn't confuse the good and bad guys. Great writing!
August 30, 2018
Hyde's Lament is, as advertised clearly on the cover, a dark story. Before I launch into my review I just want to warn readers not to take the "dark" label lightly. There are some very unpleasant and gruesome things that happen to the characters.
Now moving on. This story manages to do something that is rare. Although it's the second book in a series I did not have any trouble following along and understanding the story. Near the end when some of the characters were remembering and referencing past events I started to feel that I would perhaps have enjoyed the story and connected with the characters a lot more if I had read book 1, but I was still able to keep up with events without it.
The story centers around a woman who is being kept imprisoned in a military bunker as part of some secret project. She's perhaps the only survivor of an experiment gone wrong. Super-soldiers that ended up turning into pretty scary creatures. And we see Hyde in the middle of her transformations. The people keeping her prisoner each have their own agendas and there is a lot of tension present between those who oversee her directly and the higher-ups in their offices far away who call the shots. As such each person seems to be after their own goals and many secret plots, spying, and treachery take place among their ranks. So far so good.
I found that it took one character, Scott, who was sympathetic to Hyde and apparently ha infiltrated the bunker just to get to her out way too long to make his move and act on his intentions and even when he did I found that it seemed a bit rushed and too easy. Perhaps this is because we didn't get to spend enough time with him and see what he was doing/trying or see his hesitation or whatever. Either way, at the end when things got into gear and he started to pull people and a plan together I felt that it was just too quick and easy and that if it was that easy he should have just done it right from the start!
Another disappointment for me was that in the end, when the characters started referencing past events I got the sense of this well-built post-apocalyptic world that I wasn't really given any time to see. I read the first part of the book without really realizing just how broken the characters' world was (I thought they were just in the bunker because it was secret and assume the world was close to normal outside). It would have been nice to have been able to explore that in more depth and see exactly what the characters were overcoming and what horrors (other than the pretty horrifying stuff that happened to Hyde) they had survived. Of course I could go back and read the first book and find out, but with the way it ended and the very brief allusion to the characters building a new life and planting new seeds I really, really wanted to spend more time with them and see them do that! Maybe there's another book in the works? I would certainly be interested in reading a story of the rebuilding.
3 or 3.5 stars. It may have been a 4 if there was a bit more depth to justify the horrors some of the characters committed, which I felt were just a bit too much to stomach...
Overall, a great read for lovers of military style post apocalyptic dark tales. If you're here I would highly recommend reading book 1 first to get more of the depth of the world and characters, but like I said earlier it can stand alone pretty well.
Now moving on. This story manages to do something that is rare. Although it's the second book in a series I did not have any trouble following along and understanding the story. Near the end when some of the characters were remembering and referencing past events I started to feel that I would perhaps have enjoyed the story and connected with the characters a lot more if I had read book 1, but I was still able to keep up with events without it.
The story centers around a woman who is being kept imprisoned in a military bunker as part of some secret project. She's perhaps the only survivor of an experiment gone wrong. Super-soldiers that ended up turning into pretty scary creatures. And we see Hyde in the middle of her transformations. The people keeping her prisoner each have their own agendas and there is a lot of tension present between those who oversee her directly and the higher-ups in their offices far away who call the shots. As such each person seems to be after their own goals and many secret plots, spying, and treachery take place among their ranks. So far so good.
I found that it took one character, Scott, who was sympathetic to Hyde and apparently ha infiltrated the bunker just to get to her out way too long to make his move and act on his intentions and even when he did I found that it seemed a bit rushed and too easy. Perhaps this is because we didn't get to spend enough time with him and see what he was doing/trying or see his hesitation or whatever. Either way, at the end when things got into gear and he started to pull people and a plan together I felt that it was just too quick and easy and that if it was that easy he should have just done it right from the start!
Another disappointment for me was that in the end, when the characters started referencing past events I got the sense of this well-built post-apocalyptic world that I wasn't really given any time to see. I read the first part of the book without really realizing just how broken the characters' world was (I thought they were just in the bunker because it was secret and assume the world was close to normal outside). It would have been nice to have been able to explore that in more depth and see exactly what the characters were overcoming and what horrors (other than the pretty horrifying stuff that happened to Hyde) they had survived. Of course I could go back and read the first book and find out, but with the way it ended and the very brief allusion to the characters building a new life and planting new seeds I really, really wanted to spend more time with them and see them do that! Maybe there's another book in the works? I would certainly be interested in reading a story of the rebuilding.
3 or 3.5 stars. It may have been a 4 if there was a bit more depth to justify the horrors some of the characters committed, which I felt were just a bit too much to stomach...
Overall, a great read for lovers of military style post apocalyptic dark tales. If you're here I would highly recommend reading book 1 first to get more of the depth of the world and characters, but like I said earlier it can stand alone pretty well.
April 25, 2018
This story centers around the physical and psychological torment of Corporal Catherine Hyde as she is transformed into a cannibalistic "caver" through military experiment. Allegiances are questioned as the other prisoners, and one double agent, work together to free Hyde and escape.
This book is a fun, easy read. Though I did not read the first in this series, I believe this book functions sufficiently as a stand-alone, with enough detail to keep the reader straight (though I believe my understanding of the story would have been enhanced by reading the first book so as to better understand character's motives). The plot was straightforward, with just the right amount of surprise to keep me guessing (I didn't see what happened to Miller coming at all!)
I do think this novella would be much more impactful if expanded into a novel. The style of writing was more expositional than descriptive, and I felt like I wasn't really connecting with the characters as deeply as I'd like to. Due to the length, there wasn't much opportunity to show their internal emotions/reactions and struggles. I wanted to see more of the psychological effects of Hyde's transformation. This was done beautifully some of the time, I would have loved to see more vivid images like this one:
"Hyde slowly ran her human fingers over [victim*]'s naked, blistered chest. With every stroke she could feel herself fighting the urge to rip this man apart".
*I don't want to give away which character this scene is referring to :)
There were also a couple executions committed by other characters that felt a little rushed. Spending more time on those moments would make the themes about clinging to humanity much more poignant.
If you enjoy a quick read and dark military/horror, you'll want to pick this up!
This book is a fun, easy read. Though I did not read the first in this series, I believe this book functions sufficiently as a stand-alone, with enough detail to keep the reader straight (though I believe my understanding of the story would have been enhanced by reading the first book so as to better understand character's motives). The plot was straightforward, with just the right amount of surprise to keep me guessing (I didn't see what happened to Miller coming at all!)
I do think this novella would be much more impactful if expanded into a novel. The style of writing was more expositional than descriptive, and I felt like I wasn't really connecting with the characters as deeply as I'd like to. Due to the length, there wasn't much opportunity to show their internal emotions/reactions and struggles. I wanted to see more of the psychological effects of Hyde's transformation. This was done beautifully some of the time, I would have loved to see more vivid images like this one:
"Hyde slowly ran her human fingers over [victim*]'s naked, blistered chest. With every stroke she could feel herself fighting the urge to rip this man apart".
*I don't want to give away which character this scene is referring to :)
There were also a couple executions committed by other characters that felt a little rushed. Spending more time on those moments would make the themes about clinging to humanity much more poignant.
If you enjoy a quick read and dark military/horror, you'll want to pick this up!
November 25, 2018
The title tells you this is dark, and it really is. The writing is crisp and fast-moving, the violence and cruelty unremitting. It’s perhaps best described as sci-fi military horror.
If you are a fan of humans or near-humans being kept in an underground bunkers in cages, straitjacketed, drugged, bound, dragged around gagged, tortured, and maybe even cannibalized, then this will really be up your street. It’s a deeply grim scenario not alleviated by very much at all. In a post-apocalyptic world, Corporal Catherine Hyde from Only The Few is part of some gruesome experiment to turn her into one of the physically superhuman yet mentally subhuman flesh-eating cavers (aka zombies). The other characters are all closeted with her in this dank, dark subterranean nightmare world: maybe that’s what makes them so mean. There are good guys, but they’re only slightly less brutal than the bad guys, who are singularly ghastly.
The characters are described by surnames in military style, and their motivations remain somewhat obscure as the action races along. Why is Clarke so mean? What is Judd’s problem? Well – Judd could be a psychopath, admittedly, but the others need a bit more fleshing out. The dialogue is brusque in the military way, and maybe because of that not illuminating enough.
I am not the right audience for this at all: sci fi and military –so-so, give it a whirl; horror flat no thanks. I like to think I’m eclectic and can read all sorts, but… for me, this was a fairly massive dose of lights-on-at-night-nasty without much alleviation.
I’m giving this 3 stars, but fans of the genre will almost certainly like it a whole lot more.
If you are a fan of humans or near-humans being kept in an underground bunkers in cages, straitjacketed, drugged, bound, dragged around gagged, tortured, and maybe even cannibalized, then this will really be up your street. It’s a deeply grim scenario not alleviated by very much at all. In a post-apocalyptic world, Corporal Catherine Hyde from Only The Few is part of some gruesome experiment to turn her into one of the physically superhuman yet mentally subhuman flesh-eating cavers (aka zombies). The other characters are all closeted with her in this dank, dark subterranean nightmare world: maybe that’s what makes them so mean. There are good guys, but they’re only slightly less brutal than the bad guys, who are singularly ghastly.
The characters are described by surnames in military style, and their motivations remain somewhat obscure as the action races along. Why is Clarke so mean? What is Judd’s problem? Well – Judd could be a psychopath, admittedly, but the others need a bit more fleshing out. The dialogue is brusque in the military way, and maybe because of that not illuminating enough.
I am not the right audience for this at all: sci fi and military –so-so, give it a whirl; horror flat no thanks. I like to think I’m eclectic and can read all sorts, but… for me, this was a fairly massive dose of lights-on-at-night-nasty without much alleviation.
I’m giving this 3 stars, but fans of the genre will almost certainly like it a whole lot more.
April 20, 2018
I’m not sure whether you’d actually need to read the previous novel “Only the Few” to understand the background to this post-apocalyptic novella, but it’s an outstanding and disturbing read in its own right.
It’s a grim and gripping dystopian thriller, following on from Corporal Catherine Hyde’s mission to rescue survivors from the desolate, bombed wasteland of the North of England. Far from having reached safety in London, Catherine and the survivors are now at the mercy of the military and the corrupt corporation which instigated the original experiments to manufacture the perfect soldier. Both seem to have their own twisted agenda.
As with “Only the Few”, I would have preferred to have the story told in third person subjective, as it makes it easier to identify with the characters and understand their motives. It’s not a story for the faint-hearted, as there are gruesome scenes of torture and cannibalism, but the spare and fast-paced style and need to know what happens next keeps driving the narrative forward.
Unfortunately, Catherine herself, who started off as a gutsy but naïve young soldier, doesn’t play much of a role in this sequel, as she is mainly a victim of the shocking experiments. I hope we see more of her in the future.
It’s a grim and gripping dystopian thriller, following on from Corporal Catherine Hyde’s mission to rescue survivors from the desolate, bombed wasteland of the North of England. Far from having reached safety in London, Catherine and the survivors are now at the mercy of the military and the corrupt corporation which instigated the original experiments to manufacture the perfect soldier. Both seem to have their own twisted agenda.
As with “Only the Few”, I would have preferred to have the story told in third person subjective, as it makes it easier to identify with the characters and understand their motives. It’s not a story for the faint-hearted, as there are gruesome scenes of torture and cannibalism, but the spare and fast-paced style and need to know what happens next keeps driving the narrative forward.
Unfortunately, Catherine herself, who started off as a gutsy but naïve young soldier, doesn’t play much of a role in this sequel, as she is mainly a victim of the shocking experiments. I hope we see more of her in the future.
February 24, 2020
The very first sentence tells us that Hyde "woke up to a sharp pain ... as though something were ripping her apart from the inside ... but more terrifying ... was her inability to move." A series of kaleidoscopic scenes later, we learn that she is neither protagonist nor antagonist in this tale. It is hard to see how she is the main character, for she is the victim.
A character named Judd refers to Hyde as "soldier"; another character named Quentin Miller, a "sharply dressed man," questions why Judd (who "took matters too far") was still alive, and a "major" states simply, "we need him for the transition." It appears a "caver" program that involves "dehumanizing" humans to create a creature with superhuman strength and be able to "figure things out" quicker than a human, but possibly cannibalistic ... Anyway, the program has gone awry. And there are questions, from Smithers? Marcus Dench? that "consortium idiot"?
Meanwhile, Sergeant Gregory Scott asked to be transferred to serve as Judd's assistant and the Major wonders why. The reader is told that GS had trained Hyde, that he feels obliged to rescue her (why?) as well as his brother John Cummings (oh yes, a half-brother). All GS says to Clark is, "you need someone with my capabilities ... I can get results" ... then Judd enters "radiating a sense of purpose" eager to meet the man who would be shadowing him through Hyde's transition.
In this short novella, this reader did not find a story or a set of characters, so much as a sense of incompleteness--storyline or plot, characters, scenes--are every one of them "under construction," like the mean streets of certain cities.
A character named Judd refers to Hyde as "soldier"; another character named Quentin Miller, a "sharply dressed man," questions why Judd (who "took matters too far") was still alive, and a "major" states simply, "we need him for the transition." It appears a "caver" program that involves "dehumanizing" humans to create a creature with superhuman strength and be able to "figure things out" quicker than a human, but possibly cannibalistic ... Anyway, the program has gone awry. And there are questions, from Smithers? Marcus Dench? that "consortium idiot"?
Meanwhile, Sergeant Gregory Scott asked to be transferred to serve as Judd's assistant and the Major wonders why. The reader is told that GS had trained Hyde, that he feels obliged to rescue her (why?) as well as his brother John Cummings (oh yes, a half-brother). All GS says to Clark is, "you need someone with my capabilities ... I can get results" ... then Judd enters "radiating a sense of purpose" eager to meet the man who would be shadowing him through Hyde's transition.
In this short novella, this reader did not find a story or a set of characters, so much as a sense of incompleteness--storyline or plot, characters, scenes--are every one of them "under construction," like the mean streets of certain cities.
November 12, 2018
After enjoying "Only the Few" I was excited for the opportunity to read "Hyde's Lament". I absolutely adored Catherine in "Only the Few", but was disappointed that she doesn't appear nearly as much in this novella (at least not firsthand). I was also a frustrated to see that the fierce heroine has been replaced with an animal--but I won't go into that any further to avoid spoilers.
I am always fascinated by the topic of human experimentation, and Denison's handling of the subject is superb; there's just enough information given to keep the reader intrigued, but enough withheld to keep the pages turning. As one would expect, the story has quite a lot of darkness in it and hints at things even darker. The epilogue leaves us with the prospect of a better life for these survivors, and I for one hope to see it unfold.
I am always fascinated by the topic of human experimentation, and Denison's handling of the subject is superb; there's just enough information given to keep the reader intrigued, but enough withheld to keep the pages turning. As one would expect, the story has quite a lot of darkness in it and hints at things even darker. The epilogue leaves us with the prospect of a better life for these survivors, and I for one hope to see it unfold.
April 23, 2018
“Hyde’s Lament” is a sequel novella in the “Only the Few” series, and details the main characters’ imprisonment under the sadistic Judd and his corporate masters. Judd and his bosses have a plan to transform Catherine Hyde into a “caver”: a scaly, sharp-clawed cannibal.
“Hyde’s Lament” is a mix of zombie and military thriller, set in a post apocalyptic world where bombs have destroyed most of the UK. It’s definitely a dark depiction of corporate greed, military heartlessness, and shifting loyalties, with echoes of “Alien” or “Resident Evil”.
Scenes are kept short, which helped the pacing. I did find it hard to keep track of all the characters and their motivations, having not read the first book. Military villains like Judd, Clark, and Miller blended together a little because I wasn’t sure what drove them, besides a shared disregard for human life. Why does Judd hate Hyde so much, and vice versa? Why does Scott want to save Hyde, and not just his brother? I found myself hoping for a bit more context with which to understand everyone’s relation to one another.
Overall, this is an imaginative and graphic story of post-apocalyptic survival.
“Hyde’s Lament” is a mix of zombie and military thriller, set in a post apocalyptic world where bombs have destroyed most of the UK. It’s definitely a dark depiction of corporate greed, military heartlessness, and shifting loyalties, with echoes of “Alien” or “Resident Evil”.
Scenes are kept short, which helped the pacing. I did find it hard to keep track of all the characters and their motivations, having not read the first book. Military villains like Judd, Clark, and Miller blended together a little because I wasn’t sure what drove them, besides a shared disregard for human life. Why does Judd hate Hyde so much, and vice versa? Why does Scott want to save Hyde, and not just his brother? I found myself hoping for a bit more context with which to understand everyone’s relation to one another.
Overall, this is an imaginative and graphic story of post-apocalyptic survival.
April 29, 2018
Gritty, and ultimately, Triumphant
Was unfamiliar with the background to this novella so slogged through. Author did a nice job of delineating characters and clarifying goals and motivations. The violence was succinct and nearly clinical.
Was unfamiliar with the background to this novella so slogged through. Author did a nice job of delineating characters and clarifying goals and motivations. The violence was succinct and nearly clinical.
June 10, 2018
An interesting short story.
This gave me the impression of a post apocalyptic setting and I prefer reading short stories about about such possibilities. The pacing was good but it was a bit gory for me.
However I enjoyed it.
This gave me the impression of a post apocalyptic setting and I prefer reading short stories about about such possibilities. The pacing was good but it was a bit gory for me.
However I enjoyed it.
June 23, 2018
I made the mistake of reading the novella before the first book, Only The Few, so had to go back and read that as well for background and context. Whereas Hyde had been front and center as a military corporal in Only The Few, in Hyde’s Lament she was quickly turning into a full-blown “caver”, which was characterized as some kind of cannibalistic humanoid.
The story revolves therefore less around her as a character and more about those who put her in that position—and why and how they were going to get her out of it. The first book gives more background context as to why the characters feel the way they do about each other, and how these animosities developed and played out in Hyde’s Lament.
It’s an interesting take on the post-apocalyptic world and how and why it came about. Here’s hoping for a better society to evolve for the survivors of Denison’s dystopian society. I recommend reading both books together for the complete picture.
The story revolves therefore less around her as a character and more about those who put her in that position—and why and how they were going to get her out of it. The first book gives more background context as to why the characters feel the way they do about each other, and how these animosities developed and played out in Hyde’s Lament.
It’s an interesting take on the post-apocalyptic world and how and why it came about. Here’s hoping for a better society to evolve for the survivors of Denison’s dystopian society. I recommend reading both books together for the complete picture.
March 30, 2018
Hyde's Lament by L.N. Denison is a novella, following on from the cliffhanger ending in Only the Few. Private Catherine Hyde is unexpectedly shot under the corrupt orders of the Major Clark and the mysterious consortium on her return from her mission to the north of England to rescue survivors from the cavers. (Great Britain has been devastated by countrywide bombing from an unknown power.) She is told she is really a caver and begins the terrible transformation into a monster. What is to happen to her? Will Sergeant Gregory Scott and her other friends be able to rescue her? Or will they too be destroyed?
There is a sense of horror as Hyde is restrained and begins her gut-wrenching transformation into the super-strong but amoral and cannibalistic caver. Loyalties are murky, with different powers in play. While some mysteries are cleared, others are left unanswered. Overall, a reasonable and satisfying conclusion. Still, I would have liked more from Hyde's perspective, as she is even more passive pawn in this book than the last. And while clearly Scott, Markus, Jaz, John and others are more humane and value their friends, in contrast to the despicable Judd, Clark and the CEO of the consortium --- practically everyone is brutal some of the time, and ready to deliver painful, tortured deaths without compunction in revenge for past misdeeds.
If you enjoyed Only the Few and elements of horror, Hyde's Lament brings resolution to the story.
There is a sense of horror as Hyde is restrained and begins her gut-wrenching transformation into the super-strong but amoral and cannibalistic caver. Loyalties are murky, with different powers in play. While some mysteries are cleared, others are left unanswered. Overall, a reasonable and satisfying conclusion. Still, I would have liked more from Hyde's perspective, as she is even more passive pawn in this book than the last. And while clearly Scott, Markus, Jaz, John and others are more humane and value their friends, in contrast to the despicable Judd, Clark and the CEO of the consortium --- practically everyone is brutal some of the time, and ready to deliver painful, tortured deaths without compunction in revenge for past misdeeds.
If you enjoyed Only the Few and elements of horror, Hyde's Lament brings resolution to the story.
February 6, 2020
Hyde’s Lament is a sequel to Only the Few, which I haven’t read. Given the fact that this is not a stand-alone and depends heavily on what has gone before, as well as the fact that the author, I think, held a few things back to try to create suspense, as well as the general ineptitude of the writing, I found it difficult to follow a lot of what was going on. Given the shortness of this book, the author might have been better served to write one long novel, instead of breaking it out into two installments. However, that is far from being the main problem with this book. The big problem is that the author has presented us with her rough draft. There is a lot of work yet to be done before this is in shape to be presented to a reader.
I got no sense of the layout of the underground setting. The atmosphere could be heightened, to create a mood of fear and unease: just a few words describing the mysterious, darkened tunnels, or the awful stench of the rooms where prisoners are kept in cages, or something of that sort would have gone a long way. It would also be nice to get a little of the interior lives of the characters. Also the dialogue should be sharpened up and made to sound a bit more like people actually talking to one another. That would help make them feel more like individuals with whom one could perhaps empathize. These are just a few suggestions. Once a rough draft is taken in hand, one improvement leads to another, as change in one place points out the inadequacies in others.
Reading this book was an unpleasant, though mercifully brief, experience. It is evident that the unpleasantness, the overall nastiness of the setting and the people, was part of the author’s intention. I am not really certain what audience this is intended for, although a brief glance at the fiction shelves of my local bookstore is enough to tell me that a readership exists. However, they will be better served once this book has undergone a thorough revision.
I got no sense of the layout of the underground setting. The atmosphere could be heightened, to create a mood of fear and unease: just a few words describing the mysterious, darkened tunnels, or the awful stench of the rooms where prisoners are kept in cages, or something of that sort would have gone a long way. It would also be nice to get a little of the interior lives of the characters. Also the dialogue should be sharpened up and made to sound a bit more like people actually talking to one another. That would help make them feel more like individuals with whom one could perhaps empathize. These are just a few suggestions. Once a rough draft is taken in hand, one improvement leads to another, as change in one place points out the inadequacies in others.
Reading this book was an unpleasant, though mercifully brief, experience. It is evident that the unpleasantness, the overall nastiness of the setting and the people, was part of the author’s intention. I am not really certain what audience this is intended for, although a brief glance at the fiction shelves of my local bookstore is enough to tell me that a readership exists. However, they will be better served once this book has undergone a thorough revision.
January 23, 2019
Our hero Kathrin Hyde is turning Caver! The ickey baddies she fought and evaded in our first novella become the protagonist, Katherine takes the back seat in this second installment. Government d-bags have declared that her blood is the only thing that can resurrect their failed Caver program. Will she turn completely? Will anyone rescue her?
There is an ensemble of POV characters in this short read. I was hoping to continue Hyde’s narrative. The story did persist, but through other characters’ point of view.
I got a review copy from the author. I’m not obligated to review. I just personally feel a compulsion to talk about books. That’s why I run Science Fantasy Hub, after all!
If you’re looking for short and a bit gory, this could work for you. Don’t forget to read Only the Few first!
There is an ensemble of POV characters in this short read. I was hoping to continue Hyde’s narrative. The story did persist, but through other characters’ point of view.
I got a review copy from the author. I’m not obligated to review. I just personally feel a compulsion to talk about books. That’s why I run Science Fantasy Hub, after all!
If you’re looking for short and a bit gory, this could work for you. Don’t forget to read Only the Few first!
June 29, 2018
An Unyielding Torture
Hyde’s Lament is the saga of a cruel military experiment spurred by corporate greed. Catherine Hyde, a corporal in the military, is captured along with survivors of a bomb attack she helped rescue. Unknown to her, she’s the target of a secretive caver program. When she begins to exhibit symptoms of cannibalism, she resigns herself to fate. What she doesn’t know is that one undercover agent is about to embark on a near impossible mission to save her.
The unfolding drama which leaves violence in its wake soon becomes a race against time. An interesting, well-paced read.
Hyde’s Lament is the saga of a cruel military experiment spurred by corporate greed. Catherine Hyde, a corporal in the military, is captured along with survivors of a bomb attack she helped rescue. Unknown to her, she’s the target of a secretive caver program. When she begins to exhibit symptoms of cannibalism, she resigns herself to fate. What she doesn’t know is that one undercover agent is about to embark on a near impossible mission to save her.
The unfolding drama which leaves violence in its wake soon becomes a race against time. An interesting, well-paced read.
February 27, 2020
The story centres around Hyde, a corporal in the military who is being kept imprisoned in a military bunker as part of some secret project receiving injections of the caver virus that are changing her. Her friends are determined to rescue her and the others from the experiments that are trying to make stronger and faster soldiers.
I was a little confused at first, but that was because I hadn’t read book one. A reviewer did state this could be read as a standalone, but I would recommend reading book 1 first. That way I am sure you will have a better understanding of Hyde, the plot and who her friends really are.
Well written and well worth a read.
I was a little confused at first, but that was because I hadn’t read book one. A reviewer did state this could be read as a standalone, but I would recommend reading book 1 first. That way I am sure you will have a better understanding of Hyde, the plot and who her friends really are.
Well written and well worth a read.
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