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The Eye Of The Universe -
We were fleeing the war. Thousands of us, aboard the star liner Persephone, hoping to start a new life away from the bloodshed. We didn't make it. Now, the Persephone is a wreck. The air is getting thin. Food is becoming scarce. The power is running out. In space, a great Eye watches me, unblinking, as I struggle to survive. Still, it could be worse. At least I'm not alone. My friend, Ziggy, is here with me. Only thing is, Ziggy's dead, but to his credit he's not letting that get him down. We'll get out of this, together. We will get out of this ... ... right?
389 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 2, 2020
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 14, 2022
This book is essentially like Castaway but in space. Our MC is traveling through the spaceship looking for other survivors and dragging along his made up friend, a corpse he found named Ziggy. By using a program to have Ziggy gives automated responses pulled from logs he made while he was alive, the MC keeps himself as sane as he can with the pretend companionship.
The book is good in that the MC is doing obviously ludicrous and yet you can understand why. Being surrounded by death and violence, he's taking actions to try and maintain his mental well-being, and having a 'fake companion' is a huge part of that.
We get to know about Ziggy's life based of his old data entries, although at times we see him repeating answers because it's just a computer using whatever voice data it has to make up responses.
If the premise sounds interesting to you then I think you'll enjoy this book. It kept me engaged throughout.
(Update: To note, I love the idea that the eye is the reader watching the main character go through everything like a creepy voyeur.)
The book is good in that the MC is doing obviously ludicrous and yet you can understand why. Being surrounded by death and violence, he's taking actions to try and maintain his mental well-being, and having a 'fake companion' is a huge part of that.
We get to know about Ziggy's life based of his old data entries, although at times we see him repeating answers because it's just a computer using whatever voice data it has to make up responses.
If the premise sounds interesting to you then I think you'll enjoy this book. It kept me engaged throughout.
(Update: To note, I love the idea that the eye is the reader watching the main character go through everything like a creepy voyeur.)
June 28, 2021
I didn't understand at first why the main character goes through the trouble of lugging a dead guy in a wheelchair with him everywhere he goes. If you're trying to survive on a crippled space cruiser, exploring every deck looking for food, supplies, and other survivors, it seems like it would be a lot easier if you didn't have to pull a body in a wheelchair up the maintenance shafts with ropes.
Soon enough I was rooting for both characters, and I couldn't imagine either one of them leaving the other behind. The (unnamed) main character's friendship with the dead guy is at the heart of this story, and it's pretty amazing how the author pulls it off.
There are many layers of psychology, irony, humor, and sadness to the situation. That's on top of the fact that they have to traverse a massive, damaged ship full of (other) dead bodies.
I love how the story ends. It fits perfectly with everything that came before. A very satisfying read.
Soon enough I was rooting for both characters, and I couldn't imagine either one of them leaving the other behind. The (unnamed) main character's friendship with the dead guy is at the heart of this story, and it's pretty amazing how the author pulls it off.
There are many layers of psychology, irony, humor, and sadness to the situation. That's on top of the fact that they have to traverse a massive, damaged ship full of (other) dead bodies.
I love how the story ends. It fits perfectly with everything that came before. A very satisfying read.
April 18, 2021
I loved this story. It's scary, dark, and strangely sad and beautiful in it's own grisly way.
December 24, 2022
3.5*
Recommend. This book's interesting and hunting.
Recommend. This book's interesting and hunting.
May 16, 2022
3.8 Stars
The nameless protagonist wakes up from his stasis pod aboard the Persephone, a star cruiser on a course for some outer colonies. Around him are thousands of corpses. The ship is damaged, power is in and out, and he is alone with the ever-present smell of rot. To cope with the fear and crippling loneliness, he makes up a friend; a dead man that he pushes around in a wheelchair as he searches for survivors and scavenges deck after deck for food and supplies.
This has an enjoyable balance between psychological horror and the ever-persistent battle of hope and hopelessness from start to finish. I listened to this book through the Loinstream on Youtube and binged the whole ~6-hour reading in one day. I’d been looking forwards to getting around to this book for a while, and I can happily say that it didn’t disappoint my expectations. I’m a sucker for any form of found footage, so Ziggy’s logs were by far one of my favorite aspects of the story.
While I was reading (listening, rather), I kept expecting the Eye to be linked to one of the warring religious factions mentioned and for the book to verge into more Lovecraftian horror with the Eye, but this was not the case. It made the detail of the wars and the unexplained presence of the Eye feel a little off, but it still easily works within the framework of a man simply losing his mind after months alone on a rotting spaceship. I think the ending of this book was probably the bumpiest, but it still finished on a strong note.
I look forwards to reading more from this author in the future, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a good horror about a man adrift in the vacuum of space. If you’ve ever played the video game Soma, this book is a lot like that, just in space instead of underwater.
You can find the author on Minds @mattwaterhouseauthor
The nameless protagonist wakes up from his stasis pod aboard the Persephone, a star cruiser on a course for some outer colonies. Around him are thousands of corpses. The ship is damaged, power is in and out, and he is alone with the ever-present smell of rot. To cope with the fear and crippling loneliness, he makes up a friend; a dead man that he pushes around in a wheelchair as he searches for survivors and scavenges deck after deck for food and supplies.
This has an enjoyable balance between psychological horror and the ever-persistent battle of hope and hopelessness from start to finish. I listened to this book through the Loinstream on Youtube and binged the whole ~6-hour reading in one day. I’d been looking forwards to getting around to this book for a while, and I can happily say that it didn’t disappoint my expectations. I’m a sucker for any form of found footage, so Ziggy’s logs were by far one of my favorite aspects of the story.
While I was reading (listening, rather), I kept expecting the Eye to be linked to one of the warring religious factions mentioned and for the book to verge into more Lovecraftian horror with the Eye, but this was not the case. It made the detail of the wars and the unexplained presence of the Eye feel a little off, but it still easily works within the framework of a man simply losing his mind after months alone on a rotting spaceship. I think the ending of this book was probably the bumpiest, but it still finished on a strong note.
I look forwards to reading more from this author in the future, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a good horror about a man adrift in the vacuum of space. If you’ve ever played the video game Soma, this book is a lot like that, just in space instead of underwater.
You can find the author on Minds @mattwaterhouseauthor
February 9, 2023
A pretty good Sci-fi yarn with an off-beat plot.
Just one character, but he has some strange adventures. Much of it feels like reading some urban exploration diary.
Just one character, but he has some strange adventures. Much of it feels like reading some urban exploration diary.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews