Aeon Infinitum: Run For Your Life: Book One of the Post-Apocalyptic Trilogy

by E. Rachael Hardcastle

Daemon Czar has activated the Harmony Grid, and the people of Titan are panicking...

Ever since the meteor NORA struck the planet, plunging what remains of Earth into six months of darkness, the human race has survived in Titan, a purpose-built underground ark.

Eden, Elvandra and Ginny are thrust together in their fight for survival as they cross a post-apocalyptic world in search of a newer, better sanctuary.

But with the darkness comes freezing temperatures, an unexpected war with the banished, and hungry, crazed mutants who aren't quite what they seem..

#RUNFORYOURLIFE

270 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 2015

About the author

E. Rachael Hardcastle is an Amazon international no.1 bestselling author from Bradford, West Yorkshire in the UK. ​She has diplomas in Successful Self-Publishing and Journal Therapy, alongside a university Business Studies qualification and many other writing-related achievements.

Rachael is also a trained copy-editor and publishing coach, and now runs Curious Cat Books, an indie publishing house designed to help overwhelmed debut authors. She is also now the manager of the upcoming anonymous wellbeing blogger, 'Girlboss.Guru' (1st Sept 2021).
​
"As a speculative fiction author, I believe in entertaining my readers by offering a temporary escape from reality. Whilst I aspire to write fun, addictive adventures with characters my readers can relate to, I need to write meaningful and emotive stories alongside them to explore the depths of what it is be human—in doing so, I can encourage people to also look within.
​
I feel through writing we face our darkest fears, explore infinite new worlds and realise our true purpose. Creative writing helps me to understand what my purpose is."

Reviews

[Jenna Whittaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aeon Infinitum: Run for Your Life, is a very well written novel. I found that the present tense/first person perspective worked wonderfully for illustrating the main character’s thoughts and emotions, as well as her view on the world, although I would have preferred past tense.

The beginning of the novel starts with a little bit of an ‘info dump’ about the world, but this only lasts a page or two before the action starts. The world of Aeon Infinitum is certainly well thought-out and vividly unique, and I give props to the author for this, but a few less paragraphs of information about the setting would have quickened up the pace.

All in all, though, this book is masterfully written, the plot is fascinating and it, plus the world the characters are in, all draw the reader in. Descriptive writing is well-employed here, and I find this book to be a great read! I definitely want to see what the other books by E. Rachael Hardcastle have to offer.

[Peter Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can I be kind and encouraging? I fear not to have been able to finish this book and abandoned the read at the three-quarter point (70%).
There is a story there, and - although this is subjective fiction - there are some important and pertinent observations to prick our awareness into what is happening in our world today.
The author announces in her end piece that she does everything in the production of the work. And there it falls down. A second and third pair of eyes would show up the more than usual number of proof errors in the text.
The author gets to known his/her work so well, and is so close to the work when writing it that in the excitement to move on, will often miss out an essential explanation that will leave the reader confused. This also happens.
With much of the same happenings, motivations and dialogue recurring I had had enough by the point I abandoned the read.
I do wish the author well. Independent publishing is difficult- and expensive for the hire of professionals. I'm afraid her book is not for me. Best Wishes for next time.

[TaKeisha McCroskey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a post apocalyptic world it's hard to know who to trust. Below the surface is a civilization, Titan, ruled by Czar. When an untrusting young girl, Eden, attempts an assassination, she is held as an inmate and assigned a number based on her threat to the society. But as the prison begins to fill she must face banishment to the world above, Ad Infinitum, that's filled with dangerous creatures and climates. She is sent to train for her banishment, but training is cut short when the creatures above intrude into Titan killing everyone in their path. Can Eden learn to trust those inmates among her to survive? Can she learn to distinguish friend from enemy when everyone has a secret or hidden past? With so many twists through the entire book, Aeon Infinitum: Run For Your Life is impossible to put down, a real page turner, and will leave you guessing until the end.

[C.H. Clepitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as a sort of Hunger Games meets Blade Runner. Hardcastle paints a dark and gloomy post apocalyptic Earth, and throughout the story the sense of hopelessness from the characters is quite palpable.
I found the present tense quite jarring to read, and whilst I kept hoping I'd get used to it, I never quite did. The first person narrative which switched between characters also made it quite difficult to care strongly about any of them, and I feel I would rather have had one person's perspective, or have the story told in third person, but this is just my preference.
If you like gritty scifi that isn't afraid to get its hands dirty, with strong, well developed characters, then give this one a go.