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Colliding Forces
Undercover missions are one of Barry's favourite things. Getting in deep and completing a dangerous mission has always brought him a sense of pride -until this latest task. Now it's just personal.
Given the job of going undercover to bring in Mortimer is going to be difficult. The man, if he can be called that, is Barry's biological a disgusting fiend with a sketchy past.
When Barry starts to dig more into Mortimer, he learns a complicated truth. Mortimer is an alien with magic in his bloodline that is fatal to humans. Barry’s clock is ticking and the only ones who can help are the aliens who consider him an enemy. Can he convince them to help before it is too late?
Given the job of going undercover to bring in Mortimer is going to be difficult. The man, if he can be called that, is Barry's biological a disgusting fiend with a sketchy past.
When Barry starts to dig more into Mortimer, he learns a complicated truth. Mortimer is an alien with magic in his bloodline that is fatal to humans. Barry’s clock is ticking and the only ones who can help are the aliens who consider him an enemy. Can he convince them to help before it is too late?
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Published January 19, 2023
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January 21, 2024
The price of magic was what the old Blei’lol texts called it. Excruciating pain that ripped them apart for three months when their magic first manifested. It could happen at any age, but the older they got, the tougher the process was. It could be made easier by another Blei’lol with whom they shared a connection. Knowing the details of their progenitor’s powers often helped make everything easier too. Most Blei’lol parents helped their children through the phase. But they had no mother, and Mortimer had chosen to turn away as well.
I really liked the concept of this novella. It basically asks the question – how do you seek help from the person you hate the most? The story is set in a world where magical alien beings called Blei’lols have settled unhappily on Earth and learned to (kinda) co-exist amongst the humans, but not without complications and cultural clashes that have horrendous consequences.
MILD SPOILER WARNING
The short tale follows Agent Barry who, after sending his biological father Mortimer to prison for rape, learns that he might need Mortimer’s help to save his life as Mortimer isn’t human and the magic Barry inherited through his bloodline is deadly to humans.
A lot of the complications of the novella arise in the clashing of differences between the humans and the Beli’lols and ooooh, some of the remarks given to Barry by his half-siblings and others made me see red. In this case, Barry was seen as ‘out of order’ for sending his rapist father to prison because it broke ‘filial loyalty’. To the point that even his half-siblings give him grief about it and it DROVE ME UP A WALL.
“I don’t get it,” he muttered.
“Get what?” Percy asked.
“How he can hate Mortimer so much?”
“You did hear the part where he said Mortimer raped his mother, didn’t you?”
LIKE THANK YOU! Ugh, I wanted to reach into the book at this part I was so mad at Tony. I really struggled with all these characters arguing that people would be upset with Barry for jailing a rapist just because it’s his dad. And then the grandfather’s behaviour??? Ugh, I hated him. That infuriated me. I’m glad Barry persevered but ooooh, I was so mad for him and his mother.
Other than Barry himself, I really liked Barry’s friend and his mum, and Elijah was a fun romance, although I think it was a tad on the instant side for me. There’s a good (magical) reason there’s not much build up, but I also just felt like it went a little quickly in terms of just how fast they progressed from strangers to relying on each other to feeling safe with each other and everyone being cool with them saying, ‘I love you,’ after like five days. If I was his mother I would have been so freaked out, especially considering everything that happened with Mortimer. I also would have liked more of them getting to know each other and more of Barry questioning his own circumstances and his own sudden reliance on Elijah. Of course, this being a novella, it could only be so long and so in depth, but I think in the case of their relationship I was left wanting a bit more at the end. Like they had a great dynamic and chemistry in every scene, and I liked how they ended up and resolved everything, I just wanted more!
I also feel like the magic system was really fascinating, but so many terms were given that I wanted to learn more about that I think deserved more page time because I just wanted to know more.
They had shared common ancestors, in a time lost in history. Maybe there was a planet out there where they still lived in harmony.
Like I wanted to know more about this because at first I thought they were from outer space, but if they have a shared history, it hints to more alien visits maybe? Because we also get this cool hint,
The Blei’lol couldn’t afford to be exiled from this planet.
So I was really fascinated by the backstory and wanted more about how they first came to the planet, when and what happened after that. Like did they start out together, leave and come back? Did humans once live on another planet? Are there other races in the galaxy with magic? I just really wanted to know!
Overall the whole novella was such a great concept and made for fascinating and frustrating clashes between societies that have to live together but don’t get along at all, so I hope there’s a sequel that delves more into that! I’d really love to see where the story goes next and learn more about the backstory of the world and what the shared history between them was that was hinted at.
Thank you to the author for a review copy.
☆ Book Reviews | Bluesky | Twitter | Threads ☆
I really liked the concept of this novella. It basically asks the question – how do you seek help from the person you hate the most? The story is set in a world where magical alien beings called Blei’lols have settled unhappily on Earth and learned to (kinda) co-exist amongst the humans, but not without complications and cultural clashes that have horrendous consequences.
MILD SPOILER WARNING
The short tale follows Agent Barry who, after sending his biological father Mortimer to prison for rape, learns that he might need Mortimer’s help to save his life as Mortimer isn’t human and the magic Barry inherited through his bloodline is deadly to humans.
A lot of the complications of the novella arise in the clashing of differences between the humans and the Beli’lols and ooooh, some of the remarks given to Barry by his half-siblings and others made me see red. In this case, Barry was seen as ‘out of order’ for sending his rapist father to prison because it broke ‘filial loyalty’. To the point that even his half-siblings give him grief about it and it DROVE ME UP A WALL.
“I don’t get it,” he muttered.
“Get what?” Percy asked.
“How he can hate Mortimer so much?”
“You did hear the part where he said Mortimer raped his mother, didn’t you?”
LIKE THANK YOU! Ugh, I wanted to reach into the book at this part I was so mad at Tony. I really struggled with all these characters arguing that people would be upset with Barry for jailing a rapist just because it’s his dad. And then the grandfather’s behaviour??? Ugh, I hated him. That infuriated me. I’m glad Barry persevered but ooooh, I was so mad for him and his mother.
Other than Barry himself, I really liked Barry’s friend and his mum, and Elijah was a fun romance, although I think it was a tad on the instant side for me. There’s a good (magical) reason there’s not much build up, but I also just felt like it went a little quickly in terms of just how fast they progressed from strangers to relying on each other to feeling safe with each other and everyone being cool with them saying, ‘I love you,’ after like five days. If I was his mother I would have been so freaked out, especially considering everything that happened with Mortimer. I also would have liked more of them getting to know each other and more of Barry questioning his own circumstances and his own sudden reliance on Elijah. Of course, this being a novella, it could only be so long and so in depth, but I think in the case of their relationship I was left wanting a bit more at the end. Like they had a great dynamic and chemistry in every scene, and I liked how they ended up and resolved everything, I just wanted more!
I also feel like the magic system was really fascinating, but so many terms were given that I wanted to learn more about that I think deserved more page time because I just wanted to know more.
They had shared common ancestors, in a time lost in history. Maybe there was a planet out there where they still lived in harmony.
Like I wanted to know more about this because at first I thought they were from outer space, but if they have a shared history, it hints to more alien visits maybe? Because we also get this cool hint,
The Blei’lol couldn’t afford to be exiled from this planet.
So I was really fascinated by the backstory and wanted more about how they first came to the planet, when and what happened after that. Like did they start out together, leave and come back? Did humans once live on another planet? Are there other races in the galaxy with magic? I just really wanted to know!
Overall the whole novella was such a great concept and made for fascinating and frustrating clashes between societies that have to live together but don’t get along at all, so I hope there’s a sequel that delves more into that! I’d really love to see where the story goes next and learn more about the backstory of the world and what the shared history between them was that was hinted at.
Thank you to the author for a review copy.
☆ Book Reviews | Bluesky | Twitter | Threads ☆
January 19, 2023
A well written story of an undercover agent, Barry. It’s about having a strength to face the danger and most importantly fear. The author gives the glimpse of what matters the most in life. Family, relations and love being the core of it, she portrayed each and every character so very beautifully. And a little romance adds a beautiful touch.
December 2, 2024
I read a copy of this book as a judge for the Self Published Sci Fi Competition - these are my personal thoughts rather than an indication of the book's overall performance in the competition.
Colliding Forces is juggling a lot of balls. I think, if you're a really huge fan of all the balls - characters in a secret service, magic in family bloodlines, hidden identities and heritage, soulmates, and chosen family - then this book could work really well for you. I like quite a few of those things, but didn't enjoy the execution in this book.
The prose is very straightforward and made for a quick read. I had a pretty good idea of what was going on at all times, mostly because the approach was very much for telling over showing - sometimes to the extent that the most major events simply happened between chapters.
I didn't enjoy this book, however. While I understood what the plot and characters was going for, I didn't find it compelling as the characters were flat and seemed to just change to get the fastest route to the end of the book. There was no tension and everything resolved itself very easily, despite repeated insistence from every character that it was going to be nearly impossible.
This book likely has an audience, but I'm not that audience.
Colliding Forces is juggling a lot of balls. I think, if you're a really huge fan of all the balls - characters in a secret service, magic in family bloodlines, hidden identities and heritage, soulmates, and chosen family - then this book could work really well for you. I like quite a few of those things, but didn't enjoy the execution in this book.
The prose is very straightforward and made for a quick read. I had a pretty good idea of what was going on at all times, mostly because the approach was very much for telling over showing - sometimes to the extent that the most major events simply happened between chapters.
I didn't enjoy this book, however. While I understood what the plot and characters was going for, I didn't find it compelling as the characters were flat and seemed to just change to get the fastest route to the end of the book. There was no tension and everything resolved itself very easily, despite repeated insistence from every character that it was going to be nearly impossible.
This book likely has an audience, but I'm not that audience.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews