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A Desperate Plan: A Desperate Plan
Plague casts a dire shadow across the continent. This terrible disease preserves its victims even after death. Every attempt to cure or neutralize the plague only spreads it further. Only the Inventors Guild has a plan to destroy the sickness - with science. It all begins with A Desperate Plan. They will graft mechanical enhancements onto the recently deceased and use their creations to cleanse the land of infected bodies. Desperate citizens do what they must to pick up the pieces of uprooted lives. A brave few search for solutions. Others see only opportunities to use this dread situation to their advantage. How long can the people of Eysan survive the horrors of the plague, the Automazombs, and one another?
A Desperate Plan is the first in a short story series, set in a steampunk world. This is the 2nd edition, updating the name of one of our authors and making additional small edits.
A Desperate Plan is the first in a short story series, set in a steampunk world. This is the 2nd edition, updating the name of one of our authors and making additional small edits.
188 pages, Paperback
Published June 28, 2022
3 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 5, 2022
This October I decided to ditch my original reading plans and do a whole month of spooky reads instead! Unfortunately, Tales of the Automazombs: A Desperate Plan ended up being a disappointing start.
What is pitched as a collection of short stories involving mechanized zombies in a steampunk fantasy world doesn’t quite live up to its own claims. Most of these stories solely take up the fantasy mantle, with a couple getting into some cool steampunk stuff, and the Automazombs? They only show up briefly in one story, and to be honest, their inclusion there felt really forced. Otherwise they’re just briefly mentioned in the last story, and aside from that, we only get to read about a plague that sweeps through the lands and weirdly preserves the bodies of the dead. This is an obvious set up for the Automazombs to be made from these dead.
Despite my disappointment in the subject matter here, the quality of the stories wasn’t bad at all. Three in particular stood out: Spirit Stories, A Quest Undertaken, and Body Snatchers. Each of these had a unique premise and very engaging characters that explored interesting parts of this world. The Last Peaceful Days was also quite enjoyable, though it’s ending was abrupt and anticlimactic, leaving me with a hollow cliffhanger that was upsetting with how much I had come to care for the characters.
The last two, unfortunately, were completely atrocious. The first is a super short one to start the collection, which didn’t really do much to introduce me to the world or leave me with anything of note. The other followed an insufferable character creating a boring invention that featured the aforementioned cameo from the Automazombs which made no sense with the rest of the story. Not to mention, it shooed in a Saturday morning cartoon villain who added nothing to the story and was just exasperatingly snooty and sexist so we wouldn’t feel bad for him when the main character kills him at the end.
So I’m sad to say, my time in Eysan will be coming to end with this first entry despite some promise within. I don’t usually like having a big part of my judgment for a book being how it turned out versus my expectations, but the authors here really did push this as a zombie story. The Tales of the Automazombs, title boldly printed at the front, barely featured said Automazombs in its first entry, and that’s a shame.
What is pitched as a collection of short stories involving mechanized zombies in a steampunk fantasy world doesn’t quite live up to its own claims. Most of these stories solely take up the fantasy mantle, with a couple getting into some cool steampunk stuff, and the Automazombs? They only show up briefly in one story, and to be honest, their inclusion there felt really forced. Otherwise they’re just briefly mentioned in the last story, and aside from that, we only get to read about a plague that sweeps through the lands and weirdly preserves the bodies of the dead. This is an obvious set up for the Automazombs to be made from these dead.
Despite my disappointment in the subject matter here, the quality of the stories wasn’t bad at all. Three in particular stood out: Spirit Stories, A Quest Undertaken, and Body Snatchers. Each of these had a unique premise and very engaging characters that explored interesting parts of this world. The Last Peaceful Days was also quite enjoyable, though it’s ending was abrupt and anticlimactic, leaving me with a hollow cliffhanger that was upsetting with how much I had come to care for the characters.
The last two, unfortunately, were completely atrocious. The first is a super short one to start the collection, which didn’t really do much to introduce me to the world or leave me with anything of note. The other followed an insufferable character creating a boring invention that featured the aforementioned cameo from the Automazombs which made no sense with the rest of the story. Not to mention, it shooed in a Saturday morning cartoon villain who added nothing to the story and was just exasperatingly snooty and sexist so we wouldn’t feel bad for him when the main character kills him at the end.
So I’m sad to say, my time in Eysan will be coming to end with this first entry despite some promise within. I don’t usually like having a big part of my judgment for a book being how it turned out versus my expectations, but the authors here really did push this as a zombie story. The Tales of the Automazombs, title boldly printed at the front, barely featured said Automazombs in its first entry, and that’s a shame.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2017
Steampunk. Zombies. Awesome. Need I say more? I really don't, but I will.
It's a fun collection of shorter and longer stories that each stand alone but advance a larger plot. Some fine storytelling in a variety of styles. Great hints of reveals to come, but no sense of anything being left unfinished. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
It's a fun collection of shorter and longer stories that each stand alone but advance a larger plot. Some fine storytelling in a variety of styles. Great hints of reveals to come, but no sense of anything being left unfinished. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
December 8, 2018
An interesting read. I was slow to get into it and found the break between authors to be disconcerting. I liked the historian Liridon and really enjoyed Wyniera the most! The author Victoria Bitters told the best story and look forward to more adventures from her!😀. The last story is more of a stand alone short story.😀. I will read book two
July 28, 2023
I really enjoyed all the stories inside, it just made me sad that there wasn’t any more to each one. It was a bit jarring to jump between each tale as they were all within the same universe but took a while to fully realize where/when they took place. Once I got fully invested in each of the stories they ended, which is a nice thing as I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
June 17, 2018
6 short stories that are seemingly different but all contribute to a larger story. each short story is well written and they were cunningly knit together despite each story being written by three different writers. A good read if you are into apocalypse stories or steam punk themed undertones.
January 24, 2018
I received my copy via a Goodreads giveaway. An excellent blend of steampunk and dystopia, this collection of short stories made for a quick and intriguing read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews