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Jade Fall
Lauren and her friends visit an amusement park, Hydro World, located in the Mojave Desert on its opening day. The park is advanced beyond anything Lauren could have imagined—state of the art in a technology that allowed its builders to create whole enclosed ecosystems, mimicking a natural world lost to environmental decay.Then the Jade Fall happens, an enormous green meteor makes landfall, exploding into blinding emerald light. When the light fades, Lauren has survived, and so has Hydro World, but as she looks around, only two of her friends, Bobby and Lisa, are there—everyone else has vanished.Lauren and her friends meet more survivors, and it seems only a fraction of parkgoers survived the Jade Fall. Lauren attempts to lead the survivors out of Hydro World, assisted by the park’s central computer, which goes by the name Leviathan. Soon they find the world around them has been altered—often in seemingly impossible ways. Hydro World has become a place where water can burn, gravity can change, and more.In the gloom of the desolate park, new life begins to assert itself. Some are benignly beautiful, but others are unspeakable abominations with too many eyes and too many mouths. Worse for Lauren, she slowly becomes aware of her own impossible changes to her body, developing frightening powers which she tries to keep hidden from her fellow survivors—at first. With extreme power the others lack, she balances on the edge of survival and becoming yet another of Hydro World’s monsters.“I’m afraid of the things I can hear, the things I can do. And most of all, I’m afraid that when I’m in the moment doing those things, I’m not afraid at all. I’m afraid that I love it.”
266 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 21, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 27, 2022
Just finished this reading and I'm going to be honest with you all, by the first look on the cover and the blurb, I was not expecting an entertaining reading but once I finished episode 3 I was totally hooked.
The story embarks you in an apocalyptic fiction with some traces of suspense and horror. If you have played the video games "Dead Space", you will sense that same kind of tension reading this book, which I loved it.
The action occurs in a water park amusement park surrounded by high technology, everything goes to hell after the fall of a jade meteor nearby the park so everything is destroyed and gone to black. This meteor not only brings destruction and horrific monsters with it into the water park, it also brought superpowers to the main character of this story.
How the story quickly develops and the awesome creativity of the author is noteworthy.
I only would give the small advice to the author: try another cover, the one he is using does not reflect the content of the book so I think many readers may run away of this awesome story before even opening it.
Despite of this, a very interesting and fun reading! Recommended
The story embarks you in an apocalyptic fiction with some traces of suspense and horror. If you have played the video games "Dead Space", you will sense that same kind of tension reading this book, which I loved it.
The action occurs in a water park amusement park surrounded by high technology, everything goes to hell after the fall of a jade meteor nearby the park so everything is destroyed and gone to black. This meteor not only brings destruction and horrific monsters with it into the water park, it also brought superpowers to the main character of this story.
How the story quickly develops and the awesome creativity of the author is noteworthy.
I only would give the small advice to the author: try another cover, the one he is using does not reflect the content of the book so I think many readers may run away of this awesome story before even opening it.
Despite of this, a very interesting and fun reading! Recommended
April 25, 2022
I mean, I wrote it, so I'm not objective.
October 12, 2021
A quick-paced adventure that takes place over a few hours, Jade Fall is a fun and fast blend of genres (post-apocalyptic sci-fi, horror, and action) that will keep you entertained.
Lauren and her friends visit an amusement park, Hydro World, located in the Mojave Desert on its opening day. The park is advanced beyond anything Lauren could have imagined—state of the art in a technology that allowed its builders to create whole enclosed ecosystems, mimicking a natural world lost to environmental decay.
Then the Jade Fall happens, an enormous green meteor makes landfall, exploding into blinding emerald light. When the light fades, Lauren has survived, and so has Hydro World, but as she looks around, only two of her friends, Bobby and Lisa, are there—everyone else has vanished.
Full disclosure - I “know” the author in that he reviewed my novel on his website Writing in Obscurity and we interact on Twitter. I hadn’t realized he was an indie author until he posted a link to his book a few months ago. It sounded interesting so I grabbed the ebook. I’m glad I did. He in no way asked me to read this or provide a review.
The characters really shine in this novel. Lauren, the main character, is young - barely an adult - but she is a mature young woman (but not overly so). Her age fits her personality and actions perfectly. Sometimes eighteen-year-olds in books act like they’re thirty or fourteen, but she is clearly a woman on the brink of self-discovery and I really liked her. She’s a bit self-contained, but she’s strong, gutsy, and determined. She has a love interest but he’s not the force driving her (as is often the case in stories about women this age).
The other side characters are memorable and well-characterized. The “good” side characters are likeable and you understand their actions, and the few “bad” characters are just unlikeable enough you can understand why the other characters don’t like them but also why the good characters don’t actively try to lose or hurt them in their escape from Hydro World.
One of the things I really liked was how the Jade Fall isn’t really explained. We are left to our own extrapolations as to what the fall did or didn’t do. That being said, a follow-up epilogue, like that of the prologue, would have helped round out the story. It ended definitively enough that it didn’t feel like a sequel was required, but in this regard, it also needed something else to finish it off.
The action scenes are fantastic. Carlson has a great grasp of pacing during fights and I could clearly envision what was going on. The story progressed at a logical pace and as more and more fantastical elements arrived the tension grew. The final battle is really cool and very fun.
The setting, while I loved that it all took place in Hydro World, needed a map. I had trouble understanding how big the place really was and why it was so hard to get everywhere. A little more backstory on the world and the domes would have also been interesting. It wasn’t required to understand the story, but I like that kind of worldbuilding. That being said, Hydro World itself is an interesting place that has many surprises.
If you like Eldrich horror, monsters, and psychic/telekinetic powers, you will enjoy this a lot.
Now, I hate bringing this up, but the book could use another edit. There are a lot of adverbs, some repeated phrases/words, and some misplaced commas. It didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book as a whole, but I found these things distracting because I noticed them. The prose could have been tightened in some areas as well. Some people won’t notice or care about this but I'd be remiss as a reviewer if I didn't say it.
That being said, I really enjoyed this novel, the cover is great, and I recommend it to those who enjoy Lovecraftian elements, action sci-fi, and X-men.
Lauren and her friends visit an amusement park, Hydro World, located in the Mojave Desert on its opening day. The park is advanced beyond anything Lauren could have imagined—state of the art in a technology that allowed its builders to create whole enclosed ecosystems, mimicking a natural world lost to environmental decay.
Then the Jade Fall happens, an enormous green meteor makes landfall, exploding into blinding emerald light. When the light fades, Lauren has survived, and so has Hydro World, but as she looks around, only two of her friends, Bobby and Lisa, are there—everyone else has vanished.
Full disclosure - I “know” the author in that he reviewed my novel on his website Writing in Obscurity and we interact on Twitter. I hadn’t realized he was an indie author until he posted a link to his book a few months ago. It sounded interesting so I grabbed the ebook. I’m glad I did. He in no way asked me to read this or provide a review.
The characters really shine in this novel. Lauren, the main character, is young - barely an adult - but she is a mature young woman (but not overly so). Her age fits her personality and actions perfectly. Sometimes eighteen-year-olds in books act like they’re thirty or fourteen, but she is clearly a woman on the brink of self-discovery and I really liked her. She’s a bit self-contained, but she’s strong, gutsy, and determined. She has a love interest but he’s not the force driving her (as is often the case in stories about women this age).
The other side characters are memorable and well-characterized. The “good” side characters are likeable and you understand their actions, and the few “bad” characters are just unlikeable enough you can understand why the other characters don’t like them but also why the good characters don’t actively try to lose or hurt them in their escape from Hydro World.
One of the things I really liked was how the Jade Fall isn’t really explained. We are left to our own extrapolations as to what the fall did or didn’t do. That being said, a follow-up epilogue, like that of the prologue, would have helped round out the story. It ended definitively enough that it didn’t feel like a sequel was required, but in this regard, it also needed something else to finish it off.
The action scenes are fantastic. Carlson has a great grasp of pacing during fights and I could clearly envision what was going on. The story progressed at a logical pace and as more and more fantastical elements arrived the tension grew. The final battle is really cool and very fun.
The setting, while I loved that it all took place in Hydro World, needed a map. I had trouble understanding how big the place really was and why it was so hard to get everywhere. A little more backstory on the world and the domes would have also been interesting. It wasn’t required to understand the story, but I like that kind of worldbuilding. That being said, Hydro World itself is an interesting place that has many surprises.
If you like Eldrich horror, monsters, and psychic/telekinetic powers, you will enjoy this a lot.
Now, I hate bringing this up, but the book could use another edit. There are a lot of adverbs, some repeated phrases/words, and some misplaced commas. It didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book as a whole, but I found these things distracting because I noticed them. The prose could have been tightened in some areas as well. Some people won’t notice or care about this but I'd be remiss as a reviewer if I didn't say it.
That being said, I really enjoyed this novel, the cover is great, and I recommend it to those who enjoy Lovecraftian elements, action sci-fi, and X-men.
January 25, 2023
A spooky experience indeed, given that I selected this book in the week before a meteor with a green tail is due to become visible to us for the first time since the ice age. It's possible therefore that you may never get to read this review, or the book it concerns.
If we're all still here though, and you're reading this, congratulations on having survived: which is what Lauren, her friends and a mixed bag of others are trying to do when a trip to the Hydro World theme park turns into a conflation of The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno and various other disaster movies, with not a little sci-fi thrown into the mix in the form of some War of the Worlds and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
There are the usual clashes developing between certain characters, and a struggle for leadership of the ill-assorted group, with arguably not the likeliest candidate coming out on top. And, although he may have been teased about it at the time, in the desperate attempt to escape they're all glad that Bobby watched and paid attention to the orientation video.
There are some original obstacles to be overcome, including water which flows upwards and the swimsuits of presumed non-survivors, who appear to have disappeared into thin air; or have they? Not to mention, what awaits this motley crew if and when they make it out of the doomed waterhole? It's probably not that important though, as it's what awaits them inside that is the more immediate horror, not the least for Lauren, who seems to be undergoing frightening changes within her own body. Who if anyone makes it out is anybody's guess.
Things get pretty gruesome before the end, not to mention complicated, and what to make of that ending? My favourite character's there, which is some consolation, and since they've no place to go, why not let it snow?
It's an imaginative story to say the least, although the writing could be improved with an edit, as the over-reliance on adverbs renders it tedious in places. A creditable piece overall though.
If we're all still here though, and you're reading this, congratulations on having survived: which is what Lauren, her friends and a mixed bag of others are trying to do when a trip to the Hydro World theme park turns into a conflation of The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno and various other disaster movies, with not a little sci-fi thrown into the mix in the form of some War of the Worlds and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
There are the usual clashes developing between certain characters, and a struggle for leadership of the ill-assorted group, with arguably not the likeliest candidate coming out on top. And, although he may have been teased about it at the time, in the desperate attempt to escape they're all glad that Bobby watched and paid attention to the orientation video.
There are some original obstacles to be overcome, including water which flows upwards and the swimsuits of presumed non-survivors, who appear to have disappeared into thin air; or have they? Not to mention, what awaits this motley crew if and when they make it out of the doomed waterhole? It's probably not that important though, as it's what awaits them inside that is the more immediate horror, not the least for Lauren, who seems to be undergoing frightening changes within her own body. Who if anyone makes it out is anybody's guess.
Things get pretty gruesome before the end, not to mention complicated, and what to make of that ending? My favourite character's there, which is some consolation, and since they've no place to go, why not let it snow?
It's an imaginative story to say the least, although the writing could be improved with an edit, as the over-reliance on adverbs renders it tedious in places. A creditable piece overall though.
April 24, 2022
Monstrous fight for survival
At the beginning Lauren and her friends are spending the day enjoying themselves at Hydro World a massive indoor water park. That all soon changes when they see a meteorite falling to Earth and it explodes releasing a brilliant green light. After it recedes the majority of the people at the water park have disappeared apart from Lauren and two friends, Lisa and Bobby. As they search for more survivors and a way out they find a few more survivors. They soon realise that something weird is going on at Hydro World and with it flooding they have to find another way out by going up. However soon they are in a race for their lives as they encounter scary monsters and the survivors start getting picked off one by one. The mysterious, seemingly omnipotent AI, Leviathan, that is in charge for of the safety and the customers of Hydro World may not be as innocent and helpful as he first appears and what has the jade meteorite done to Lauren’s abilities? This is one suspenseful, scary crazy ride as it’s a race against time to escape Hydro World. But who will survive and what is waiting for them when they do get out? This is a great genuinely scary story. It has a slight Stephen King vibe mixed with disaster movies such as the Poseidon Adventure. It is fast paced and cleverly written. If there is a sequel I would definitely read it and I fully recommend this.
At the beginning Lauren and her friends are spending the day enjoying themselves at Hydro World a massive indoor water park. That all soon changes when they see a meteorite falling to Earth and it explodes releasing a brilliant green light. After it recedes the majority of the people at the water park have disappeared apart from Lauren and two friends, Lisa and Bobby. As they search for more survivors and a way out they find a few more survivors. They soon realise that something weird is going on at Hydro World and with it flooding they have to find another way out by going up. However soon they are in a race for their lives as they encounter scary monsters and the survivors start getting picked off one by one. The mysterious, seemingly omnipotent AI, Leviathan, that is in charge for of the safety and the customers of Hydro World may not be as innocent and helpful as he first appears and what has the jade meteorite done to Lauren’s abilities? This is one suspenseful, scary crazy ride as it’s a race against time to escape Hydro World. But who will survive and what is waiting for them when they do get out? This is a great genuinely scary story. It has a slight Stephen King vibe mixed with disaster movies such as the Poseidon Adventure. It is fast paced and cleverly written. If there is a sequel I would definitely read it and I fully recommend this.
July 24, 2022
If you like inventive, high concept science fiction, with strong straightforward characters, endless incident and an ingenious plot-line, “Jade Fall” is for you. Five teenage/young adult characters take at trip to the state of the art water-based amusement park. The world is struck by a cataclysmic disaster – the Jade Fall. One of the characters, Lauren, gains magical super-hero powers, confronts monsters and perils and saves the warmest and most attractive of those she meets. The others of the five pursue different pathways.
Lauren develops through the book and gains maturity and a greater understanding of her relationship with the others. The differences between them are neatly sketched in and their banter is realistic, although it can get repetitive at times. The wealth of incident sometimes obscure the structure of the plot.
This book could benefit from serious editing, both in plotting and also in the language: too many adverbs, too much unnecessary use of “said”, occasional rather clumsy descriptions. Some passages could be rethought and expressed more neatly and powerfully. However, the tale gallops along and keeps the reader engaged. A gripping immersive novel.
Lauren develops through the book and gains maturity and a greater understanding of her relationship with the others. The differences between them are neatly sketched in and their banter is realistic, although it can get repetitive at times. The wealth of incident sometimes obscure the structure of the plot.
This book could benefit from serious editing, both in plotting and also in the language: too many adverbs, too much unnecessary use of “said”, occasional rather clumsy descriptions. Some passages could be rethought and expressed more neatly and powerfully. However, the tale gallops along and keeps the reader engaged. A gripping immersive novel.
March 18, 2022
A hard-hitting action-adventure with a twist.
If you're into powerful women and/or fish mutants, give this one a try.
If you're into powerful women and/or fish mutants, give this one a try.
February 19, 2022
Jade Fall is a post-apocalyptic science fiction book with a twist of horror. The story begins when the main character Lauren and her four friends go to water themed amusement park called Hydro World. However, this is no ordinary water park. The entire premises is overseen by artificial intelligence and the facility is composed of ultra-high technology throughout. In this way, a complete ecosystem is created in the middle of the Mojave Desert in Nevada. In the midst of having fun, the group notices a green meteor overhead. Upon impacting the area nearby, Hydro World loses power and goes completely dark. Now, things start to get very intense because apparently numerous people have completely disappeared. The only thing left behind is their bathing suits. In the midst of this, Lauren notices that she suddenly has supernatural powers. The story takes on from there in many unpredictable ways.
I was immediately drawn into the story since the characters were relatable and the descriptions made me feel like I was right there in the midst of everything that was taking place. This is a quick paced and highly unique book. I applaud the authors creativity and how he was able to merge numerous genres into one great highly entertaining story.
I was immediately drawn into the story since the characters were relatable and the descriptions made me feel like I was right there in the midst of everything that was taking place. This is a quick paced and highly unique book. I applaud the authors creativity and how he was able to merge numerous genres into one great highly entertaining story.
September 1, 2021
An interesting reqd
I enjoyed this story, Hydr World the characters and Leviathan. Lauren is a good MC and identifiable. I couldn't give it t stars because it is heavy with filter words and adverbs.
I enjoyed this story, Hydr World the characters and Leviathan. Lauren is a good MC and identifiable. I couldn't give it t stars because it is heavy with filter words and adverbs.
November 10, 2022
Jade Fall by Kevin Carlson is certainly a unique story!
When Lauren and her friends Lisa, Tom, John, and his little brother Bobby visit Hydro World for a fun little trip, a meteor strike nearby causes a catastrophe and cripples Hydro World's systems, causing the park to flood. As the park is a labrynthine structure with neverending artificial environments, everyone is trapped inside while the park floods. As Lauren and party find out though, the meteor brought more than just disaster to Hydro World. Those left alive have started to mutate. Can Lauren guide her friends out before Hydro World costs them their lives?
Author Kevin Carlson has done an admirable job of bringing the disparate plot threads of disaster, Lovecraftian monsters, and superhero tale together into a mostly cohesive whole. However there are a number of ups and downs to this story which seem randomly tossed in. For every good thing about this story (and there are several), there was an opposite element I thought didn't turn out quite right.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK
Let's start with the writing style. Now everyone has different preferences, so for me, the style of writing didn't pull me into the characters as much as I would have wanted. Lauren gets the most character development, as does Bobby and some of the other survivors they meet, but aside from Lauren I didn't find them all that compelling. Only towards the end does Lauren get interesting to me. Of note is her confrontation with the "River Mermaid" (I'll call her - for lack of a better term), a flash of brilliance in this scene made me realize how much more interesting Lauren could have been. Likewise for the other side characters, their arcs weren't interesting to me. Same story with the villains, who I won't reveal here -- they could have been fleshed out more.
Also the writing style was kind of hit and miss. Most of it was perfectly serviceable, occassionally there'd be a really funny line that I noted, but just as often there were jokes that were not only telegraphed, but just not funny. Either way, YMMV.
Finally I had a real hard time figuring out the structure of Hydro World. The author spends alot of time describing it, but I could never make heads of tails of it, so I had a difficult time placing the characters within the disaster. Perhaps a map might have helped.
WHAT WORKED
The plot moved at a pretty good pace and it never lacked for excitement. The highlights were far and away the creature design (particularly the Pool Creature -- you'll know it when you get there), and the action. Lauren gets the lion's share of the business here and the character makes it work. The action is sudden, explosive, and unpredictable - which kept me on edge in a good way. I was never bored by the plot and I always wanted to see what surprises Hydro World had in store for me next.
Hydro World is a great concept and the author realized it beautifully. It seems like quite the attraction and it would look pretty cool on the big screen. It would fit in well with the slick B-movie creature features, and I mean that in a good way beause I love those and would re-watch them all the time.
Leviathan the computer was also nifty. I liked the moments we had with him initially. Likewise the character of Lisa felt like she had hidden depths that weren't fully explored. Further our lead Lauren had some interesting moments where she seemed to be evolving. The action does get a little anime-y toward the end, but it was still entertaining and satisfying. By the time we get to the final chapter, I was exhausted, as one should be with this genre mix!
Oh, by far my favourite character is the one that had the least time in the story -- Lunar. His brief interaction was so cool I wanted to follow him some more.
SHOULD YOU READ IT?
That depends. Do you like disaster? How about creature stuff? Superhero stuff? If you answered yes to any of these then you will find plenty to love in Jade Fall. This author strikes me as still developing their craft, but I'd pick up another book by Kevin Carlson to see where he goes, so this one did it's job. It's worth a look!
When Lauren and her friends Lisa, Tom, John, and his little brother Bobby visit Hydro World for a fun little trip, a meteor strike nearby causes a catastrophe and cripples Hydro World's systems, causing the park to flood. As the park is a labrynthine structure with neverending artificial environments, everyone is trapped inside while the park floods. As Lauren and party find out though, the meteor brought more than just disaster to Hydro World. Those left alive have started to mutate. Can Lauren guide her friends out before Hydro World costs them their lives?
Author Kevin Carlson has done an admirable job of bringing the disparate plot threads of disaster, Lovecraftian monsters, and superhero tale together into a mostly cohesive whole. However there are a number of ups and downs to this story which seem randomly tossed in. For every good thing about this story (and there are several), there was an opposite element I thought didn't turn out quite right.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK
Let's start with the writing style. Now everyone has different preferences, so for me, the style of writing didn't pull me into the characters as much as I would have wanted. Lauren gets the most character development, as does Bobby and some of the other survivors they meet, but aside from Lauren I didn't find them all that compelling. Only towards the end does Lauren get interesting to me. Of note is her confrontation with the "River Mermaid" (I'll call her - for lack of a better term), a flash of brilliance in this scene made me realize how much more interesting Lauren could have been. Likewise for the other side characters, their arcs weren't interesting to me. Same story with the villains, who I won't reveal here -- they could have been fleshed out more.
Also the writing style was kind of hit and miss. Most of it was perfectly serviceable, occassionally there'd be a really funny line that I noted, but just as often there were jokes that were not only telegraphed, but just not funny. Either way, YMMV.
Finally I had a real hard time figuring out the structure of Hydro World. The author spends alot of time describing it, but I could never make heads of tails of it, so I had a difficult time placing the characters within the disaster. Perhaps a map might have helped.
WHAT WORKED
The plot moved at a pretty good pace and it never lacked for excitement. The highlights were far and away the creature design (particularly the Pool Creature -- you'll know it when you get there), and the action. Lauren gets the lion's share of the business here and the character makes it work. The action is sudden, explosive, and unpredictable - which kept me on edge in a good way. I was never bored by the plot and I always wanted to see what surprises Hydro World had in store for me next.
Hydro World is a great concept and the author realized it beautifully. It seems like quite the attraction and it would look pretty cool on the big screen. It would fit in well with the slick B-movie creature features, and I mean that in a good way beause I love those and would re-watch them all the time.
Leviathan the computer was also nifty. I liked the moments we had with him initially. Likewise the character of Lisa felt like she had hidden depths that weren't fully explored. Further our lead Lauren had some interesting moments where she seemed to be evolving. The action does get a little anime-y toward the end, but it was still entertaining and satisfying. By the time we get to the final chapter, I was exhausted, as one should be with this genre mix!
Oh, by far my favourite character is the one that had the least time in the story -- Lunar. His brief interaction was so cool I wanted to follow him some more.
SHOULD YOU READ IT?
That depends. Do you like disaster? How about creature stuff? Superhero stuff? If you answered yes to any of these then you will find plenty to love in Jade Fall. This author strikes me as still developing their craft, but I'd pick up another book by Kevin Carlson to see where he goes, so this one did it's job. It's worth a look!
November 3, 2021
This was a story that kept drawing me back into it time and again. It's a wonderful concept - the fact that the characters have to survive in a water park in nothing but their swimwear gives a real sense of vulnerability. The progression reminds me of a sequential adventure, a bit like the movie Labyrinth. The rising tension is sometimes a bit flat, but I always felt compelled to continue and see what came next. I really enjoyed the kind of story it began as - namely, a group of ordinary people thrust into a horrifying and unfamiliar situation - and I was a little disappointed that by the climax it had started to feel more like a superhero novel, which really isn't something that interested me.
The book is let down by the formative writing style, which needs a lot of work. The prose is bloated, the punctuation is all over the place and there are a lot of redundancies and things that just plain don't make any sense. Eg, people are described as swimming "freestyle", as though that describes an actual way of swimming rather than a class of event in swimming competitions. The author frequently and unnecessarily emphasises that features of the world are "fake", "faux" or "mock", even though the reader is fully aware that the park is a simulated environment. The POV is also extremely inconsistent: most of the time we seem to be viewing through Lauren's perspective, at other times it head-hops erratically but without the consistent narrator voice you'd expect of an omniscient 3rd person POV.
Despite the style issues, I was drawn along with the story and the characters and very genuinely enjoyed it. Overall, the sense I get from this book is that the author has a vivacious and dynamic imagination, and I expect that as he hones his writing style and masters his craft, great things will issue forth.
The book is let down by the formative writing style, which needs a lot of work. The prose is bloated, the punctuation is all over the place and there are a lot of redundancies and things that just plain don't make any sense. Eg, people are described as swimming "freestyle", as though that describes an actual way of swimming rather than a class of event in swimming competitions. The author frequently and unnecessarily emphasises that features of the world are "fake", "faux" or "mock", even though the reader is fully aware that the park is a simulated environment. The POV is also extremely inconsistent: most of the time we seem to be viewing through Lauren's perspective, at other times it head-hops erratically but without the consistent narrator voice you'd expect of an omniscient 3rd person POV.
Despite the style issues, I was drawn along with the story and the characters and very genuinely enjoyed it. Overall, the sense I get from this book is that the author has a vivacious and dynamic imagination, and I expect that as he hones his writing style and masters his craft, great things will issue forth.
August 17, 2023
Monstrous fight for survival
At the beginning Lauren and her friends are spending the day enjoying themselves at Hydro World a massive indoor water park. That all soon changes when they see a meteorite falling to Earth and it explodes releasing a brilliant green light. After it recedes the majority of the people at the water park have disappeared apart from Lauren and two friends, Lisa and Bobby. As they search for more survivors and a way out they find a few more survivors. They soon realise that something weird is going on at Hydro World and with it flooding they have to find another way out by going up. However soon they are in a race for their lives as they encounter scary monsters and the survivors start getting picked off one by one. The mysterious, seemingly omnipotent AI, Leviathan, that is in charge for of the safety and the customers of Hydro World may not be as innocent and helpful as he first appears and what has the jade meteorite done to Lauren’s abilities? This is one suspenseful, scary crazy ride as it’s a race against time to escape Hydro World. But who will survive and what is waiting for them when they do get out? This is a great genuinely scary story. It has a slight Stephen King vibe mixed with disaster movies such as the Poseidon Adventure. It is fast paced and cleverly written. If there is a sequel I would definitely read it and I fully recommend this.
At the beginning Lauren and her friends are spending the day enjoying themselves at Hydro World a massive indoor water park. That all soon changes when they see a meteorite falling to Earth and it explodes releasing a brilliant green light. After it recedes the majority of the people at the water park have disappeared apart from Lauren and two friends, Lisa and Bobby. As they search for more survivors and a way out they find a few more survivors. They soon realise that something weird is going on at Hydro World and with it flooding they have to find another way out by going up. However soon they are in a race for their lives as they encounter scary monsters and the survivors start getting picked off one by one. The mysterious, seemingly omnipotent AI, Leviathan, that is in charge for of the safety and the customers of Hydro World may not be as innocent and helpful as he first appears and what has the jade meteorite done to Lauren’s abilities? This is one suspenseful, scary crazy ride as it’s a race against time to escape Hydro World. But who will survive and what is waiting for them when they do get out? This is a great genuinely scary story. It has a slight Stephen King vibe mixed with disaster movies such as the Poseidon Adventure. It is fast paced and cleverly written. If there is a sequel I would definitely read it and I fully recommend this.
December 7, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. The world and the monsters were fresh and imaginative. Highly recommend to fans of horror/sci fi. I’m hoping for a sequel!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews