Harbinger

by Stephen Christiansen

Eight scientists are sent to terraform an alien planet. It was supposed to be a routine mission. Nothing was supposed to go wrong. Everything did.

307 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2018

Reviews

[Linwood Ferguson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not the worst science fiction I have read, I actually did make it to the end. But it ranks very high in the worst category. Honestly, people who are clueless about science should simply not write "science" fiction, stick to fantasy. But while the realism was horrible, the writing was worse - it was choppy, with mediocre grammar, and such an opaque plotline that it was a chore to get to the end. When I say opaque plotline, I do not mean a mystery revealed as you move through it, but more that character motivations (though endlessly described by inner voices that narrate and switch endlessly back and forth) seemed senseless, and the overall story arc even when you get to the end seems a nebulous conspiracy without any clear underpinnings.

It was, simply, just badly done. I read to the end hoping for some grand reveal that would make it all worthwhile, and never found it. I can't even write a spoiler here, really, as well, they are not any. OK... someone will perhaps point out what happened, how it sets up for the next book. Sure, I get that. It's not nothing, but it sure was not really something either.

[Stephen Christiansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've noticed that individuals are looking for the big plot twist or big reveal at the end of the book that would explain everything. That's not going to happen, it's not meant to happen. This first book is like watching a movie half way through and then saying "I don't get it." There will be a second book that will start to pull away the curtains and reveal the whole thing, and this will be based on the clues that I've left behind in the first book. Consider this, not a whole book in itself, but rather the first half of a story.