SPSFC3 First Phase Mini Reviews
Drones
by Rob J Hayes
My Vote:
Solid Yes.
Note on Votes: A Yes/No vote is just my own. The other judges in the team might vote differently. Undecided usually means I think it has potential but I still have others to read before ranking them by personal preference.
Summary:
At ~20% read.
Garrick is a Drone. His job is to sell his emotions. He sets out to do a pretty big job. High risk for a high reward. But timing is terrible and between changing laws that will mean reduced income and the mysterious deaths of the “doctors” who harvest these emotions, Garrick is thrust into the unknown, still holding the emotional burdens from the failed contract with him.
I can only describe Garrack as a sort-of junky, but instead of shooting up drugs he has his emotions removed. Making him detached from his memories but also providing him with an income. And he’s good at what he does. One of the best because he goes to great lengths to have the right experience before selling it off and having it removed. It’s clearly an addiction and linked to past trauma, as any time spent holding onto too many feelings makes him very uncomfortable. He doesn’t feel right unless he feels nothing.
Overall impression & Criticisms:
One thing that popped out straight away and impressed me is that this is written in first person present tense. That’s pretty damn hard to pull off and I didn’t even realise it at first. It’s so naturally written it flows without me noticing and when I did notice I had a ‘Wait a minute’ moment and had to go back and consciously read the wording. I quite enjoy present tense but I’ve rarely seen it in novel format. So kudos to the writer.
Another thing I have to add. First night reading I fell asleep and had a Drone nightmare. I wish I had written what happened the moment I woke up (it wasn’t a long dream) because it was pretty scary. I rarely dream about current things I’ve consumed. So I don’t know if that’s just a sign of my impending exhaustion or that this book really gripped me (I think it’s both)
I love the 20 percent I read and I am super keen to keep going. I really enjoyed the character we follow and things are described so fluidly that I’m fully immersed into the story, watching it play out before me.
