SODIUM Harbinger

SODIUM #1

by Stephen Arseneault

In 1957, a group of wilderness adventurers are confronted with the unexpected. They are forced to defend themselves against an unworldly enemy. Will man's first encounter with aliens force them to run or will they stand and fight? Follow along in this first thriller in the SODIUM series as the unwitting group of hikers determine their own fate.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks, Amazon, Thriller, Horror, Aliens

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 19, 2011

About the author

I came to this planet sixty some odd years ago. After exiting my mother's portal, the doctor slapped me around until I started breathing the oxygen. I'll admit, at the time, I had no idea what I was doing or where I was. Being an infant Human, I was completely reliant on the responsible actions of others. It was a time that I have largely forgotten.

I reside in Central Florida with the wife and children. After thirty years in engineering, my time is now spent chronicling the adventures of fictitious heroes. They are off-world, fighting the good fight. For me? I'm stuck here on this planet in this feeble existence that we Humans are all forced to endure.

So, I ask you this... do you wish to escape the bonds of this surly planet we call Earth? Are you looking for a bit more adventure than what the grocery store has to offer? Do you worry about being enslaved by alien androids or six-eyed alien goats with lasers? Pew, pew, pew!

Yeah, that's what I thought. Asking yourself those questions and getting back an answer is the first hurdle to cross in the race to get off this world. Sounds like you are ready to venture out, to put this place behind you.

So crack open one of my books. Take to the heavens and let me shout this out to those who remain: "Watch out universe! Another Human is on the loose!"


Take care and I hope you have a great day!

Stephen

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really hate trashing anybody’s work. Who am I but a consumer of stories and an ardent reader? Especially, most importantly since I got it for free, I do not want to bite the hand. . . Sodium Harbinger is an alien invasion story kind of on the level of Predator. It is Book 1 of the SODIUM series. Sure there’s a lot of action as the protagonists, humans, fight the alien robotic creatures, but because Terminator, Predator, and Alien are so much more memorable, they make this story redundant, and a whole lot more forgettable.

The plot is not bad, but not terribly original. (Refer back to point about Predator, Alien, and Terminator.) The ending is a whole other matter, but I think you can probably get the gist of what I'm saying. The novel is OK, but just OK. Disappointing because I wanted more of a story that maybe collided with the tropes and transformed them in unique and disparate ways. That did not happen. Sad to say.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Misfit Makes Good

Our hero is a clutz. Not good at much of anything - 3 failed marriages, clumsy and a self-confessed coward. And yet, he insists on joining his sister, his lifelong friend and 2 others for a rugged 7 day trek through the wild back country of Yellowstone National Park. Equipped with just the bare essentials, off they go. The others are carrying a few guns and a bow and arrows while our hero carries only a wooden baseball bat. He suffers numerous falls and near drownings, wasp stings and even an attack by a Grizzly. But when one of their group goes missing and they are threatened by mysterious red-eyed 'demons', our hero develops a backbone and attempts to save them all. Quite the page turner. You won't want to put it down. With the odds against him, will he prevail and save the day? You must read this very enjoyable book.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was your typical alien invasion story, at least the kind where the aliens are stopped by a small group of people. It wasn't a bad story, though I wouldn't rate it as a must read or anything, still, if you're a fan of alien invasion stories, you could do worse than add this one to your reading list.

[Rollie Reid · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was free. That is the most important thing you can know about this. I found it free for Kindle. I read it. I wasn't too bored. It wasn't brilliant. The prose style was okay. In some ways, this is a coming of age book, except that the protagonist is an adult when it starts. However, he is a rather tame, little man who is tackling a wilderness adventure, until everything comes undone. When the adventure ends, he comes undone, but it is not too surprising, because he constantly describes himself as obsessive, and he isn't lying.

The book is set in 1957, and it is definitely Science Fiction. There are a few too many obvious plot elements that seem "magical" as opposed to SF, and it really should be hard SF to the core. I personally can imagine better ways to handle the same things without resorting to things that must be taken on faith.

It was okay, but the next book is 99 cents and I am not sure that I will buy even that one. Beyond that the price goes up and I am doubtful that I will buy any of them. That pretty much sums up the book.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good indie effort

Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: SODIUM:1 Harbinger (Kindle Edition)

I really enjoyed this: the 1950's, the wilderness, camping, hiking, fishing......& hostile aliens. Want more? How about people who are smart enough to carry weapons into the wild? The 1950's are a different country. I know. I used to live there. This book also has characters who act like real people instead of horror movie idiots. On top of that, it is fairly well written, paced & edited. I will read the second volume.

[Kara Prem · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - there were things that I expected to happen in this book that did not, and I guess it is because of the cover. Looking at the space ship, I expected the characters to be teleported to space, or taken prisoner on a ship and ending up in space. However, all of the action takes place right on Earth, almost exclusively in Yellowstone National Park. This isn't bad, but just worth mentioning.

The narrator is not the most likeable person, he seems to be rather self-centered and acts rather cowardly through most of the book. I don't think he's ever even called by name. He sets out on a hiking adventure through Yellowstone with his sister and her fiance as well as his best friend and his best friend's wife. The narrator is a klutz, and not at all an outdoors person, so he struggles and is often in need of rescue.

The group of explorers lose one of their own, and encounter alien creatures that seem to be a mix of organic and inorganic (robotic outer shells?). The majority of the book explains their encounters with the alien and their efforts to find and then rescue the man who was separated from the rest. This part drug on for too long, it was interesting at first but then it seemed to be the same confrontation over and over just in different areas of the park.

Once the aliens have been defeated, the narrator goes off the deep end. He is completely full of himself and can't wait to be hailed as a hero, even though there is absolutely NO physical evidence of the encounter, and everyone else realizes that their story would be ridiculed. The narrator spends most of the rest of his life trying to find away to prove that the alien encounter happened, not because he believes it will help mankind prepare for their return, but because he wants praise. He finally finds evidence, but his friends won't go along with his plans on telling the world and basking in glory once everyone sees how heroic he is.

The ending/preview of the next book did catch my attention. The narrator finally realizes that he will never be hailed as a hero, so he randomly gives the one piece of the aliens that was left on earth to a young boy. The next book seems to pick up from there. I don't think I would read another book narrated by the same person, but I liked enough of this story to try again with a new narrator.

[Susan Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars

I just finished the first book in the Sodium series and look forward to reading the second. I really enjoyed the Hadron series and hope this series is just as good. The first book is written in the first person and the character although not too interesting shows promise of developing into something better as the book evolves. Unfortunately he disintegrates into a weak selfish man striving to prove the existence of aliens. He finally finds thevproof he was looking for but his friends and family have moved on without him and that is when he realises what his obsession has cost him.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harbinger is the first book in the Sodium series. This can be read as a standalone. There is violence. This book kept my interest until the last few chapters. There was plenty of action and unknown elements. But the ending was a disappointment. I still will read the next book in the series and hope it keeps my interest all the way through it.

[richard klein · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most juvenile books I ever read

Trite,
poor character development...one dimension. Most paragraphs three sentences. Most sentences_noun verb.. Don't waste your time. I could not even finish this book....almost a first for md.

[Leonardo Dearie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still not going to gush

This anthology for lack of a large enough vocabulary Effing ,totally, kicks ass! It brings into scope the character and
Honor that can be found by a lack of mental health-care in today's word.

[Barry Edstene · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent introduction to a series, beautifully written with great characters and storyline. I loved the way it comes to a satisfying conclusion while handing off the story. Make reading the next book a must. I love Arseneault's work.

[Amber Dawn]

Sci-fi thriller

This is an interesting take on a thriller novel and a look at what obsession can do to a person. You'll keep turning the page hoping to find out what is going to happen next.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hiking

Seemed like a camping experience book more than alien invasion. I got lost in the details of the trail terrain and struggled with the group's decision making. Hopefully second book will be more in author wheelhouse.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read

[Barry Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good first story, in the series

[Rick Miell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!

[Warren W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start

I can only imagine what comes next. I look forward to finding out! I might have read this series already, but it was so good I’m doing it again.

[Jimbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written!

[✿Claire✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not bring myself to like the main character/narrator of this book at all. I found him completely obnoxious and won't be reading the rest of the series.

[Noreen Kellner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really struggled to finish this one.

The story seemed to revolve around the main character's personality disorders and ego more than anything else. For the first third of the book I kept wondering where the science fiction was and even checked to see if I was reading the book I thought I was. Self-absorbed and annoying would be my description of the main character. Very hard to like a book when you don't like the main character. Written from his viewpoint with no dialogue from the other characters just pushes it more into your face with no relief.

The story line picked up about halfway through and I started enjoying the plot; now that I knew there actually was one. Then it was over and we get to go back to the bizarre main character until the disappointing ending that really just leads to the next book in the series. This really left me feeling that this short book was just a prelude to getting you to buy the next one. After checking out the other books, and seeing that they are all about 150 something pages, I decided it just wasn't worth it to me to continue on with this series.

[Janet Arroyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

1957

Well, you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. That is exactly what I did. I was disappointed to say the least. I was expecting a space adventure. What I got is a self absorbed character. He's traveling with his friends on an extreme wilderness adventure. During their travels, the group ran across some dissected animals. They also saw red devil eyes following them. It turns out to be an alien sighting. Battling with the metal dome heads was interesting. The group was successful in these battles. Friends were saved. Alien was completely destroyed leaving no signs. The group was happy to get home and never think about it again after all they had no proof. Self absorbed guy let his search for proof consume his life. ....So yes, there were aliens. The ship looks totally different than presented on the cover. There wasn't any outer space scenes. I realize this is the first book in the series. However this was not a good read for me.

[Rob Drown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written si-fi story about a group of people who, in 1957, go back packing in the Yosemite back country. While immersed in this incredible scenery, they see some small game disected and left. not skinned and cleaned but opened up very neatly, pieces removed. Eventually they are attacked by alien robots. One of their party is captured. They must figure out who the enemy is and with their limited resources save their friend. I very much enjoyed the book. It is an exciting story, told from the view point of a loner introvert. he struggles with many issues and finally succeeds in contributing in a big way. All the characters are likable and well developed. Very good book!

[Kelvin Clements · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a bit hard work as a read, I feels different from the AMP series, I know it a prequel series and all that but with most of the authors I read, I found I'm total engrossed into the book and I have trouble putting the book down and I when I do I try to get back to it at every possible moment. But with this one I was OK when I was reading it, but wasn't bothered about trying to finish it. Its left me a bit nonplussed. It was a bit long winded to get to the action stage, and then once he was through that if faded a bit while he set up for the hand over to the next book in the series.

[Tobias Roote · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a definite 'Boys Own' book, Its based on a hiking group back in 1957 and the author successfully dates his writing to that period.

However, in today's Sci-fi world its a little naive to be writing like this, even for a young audience which this is presumably aimed at.

The hero is extremely self centred and self obsessed and I'm not sure this works today.

A well written book even if the idea of taking out an alien invasion with a baseball bat is a little optimistic.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. A simple read, five friends enjoying a hiking holiday in the Yosemite National Park and they end up facing aliens. In the end they defeat the aliens but one member wants to tell everyone what happened but they have no proof.
Twenty years later he finally finds a piece of one of the drones but none of the others wish to have the spotlight turned on them.
At the end he passes the piece to a young child and so starts the second book.

[June Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting idea to start sci-fi story in the 50's

Renault has lived out west...surely. The description of the outdoor adventures ring quite true. The self-interested main character retained my interest because of his flaws, rather than in spite of them. The build up to encountering an alien form was satisfying, and left me hoping decades of time would flesh out this intriguing tale.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun read

This first book in he series certainly shows that the author s inexperienced. His first person style with no character dialogue leaves all the other characters flat. He also writes with an odd omniscient style that is at odds with his first person style.
I see that the other books in the series get better reviews.

I titled the review a fun read because his hero is forced into situations and has many misadventures.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of synonym confusion and a way of telling, not showing, that is odd and off kilter in the beginning, but it develops into an interesting story with interesting characters. I actually did get swept up into the battle for survival.

I'm not sure I would actually pay for further books in the series, but I wouldn't mind seeing the way this turns out.

And it was still MUCH better written than the mass market garbage I'm reading now--and the mass market garbage I just finished.

[Miranda Nading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling Narrative

Although the absence of dialogue left the secondary characters feeling more like memories than active participants, the writing was solid and the story compelling. More than once I was taken back to my young days, building small forts with rocks and branches in the woods behind one house or another, to prepare for invasions. Look forward to sampling more of Arseneault's work.

[Jess Mountifield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting story in a style I've not come across before. It reads very much like someone telling a story and the contents didn't really match with the cover.

There are aliens but most of the focus is on a hiking trip in the US wilderness. From the cover I was expecting a book actually set in space, but I still really enjoyed the read.