Review: Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes

3 stars for Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes.

I have always been on the lookout for a good science fiction story. I cannot remember where and how I came across this book but it must have been raved about by someone or many someones, such that it captured my attention enough for me to add it to my reading list.

This book is all about space travel, space disaster and space mysteries. A team of five, led by 33-year old Claire Kovalik, detects a ghost signal on an old emergency channel while on an assignment to fix the last of the commweb beacons in sector K127. Well, what happens next is rather predictable as there will be no story to tell if this small commweb maintenance team does not check it out. As it is, bulk of the story is the grisly account of their findings of the Aurora, the famous luxury space cruiser that went missing twenty years ago with five hundred passengers and a hundred and fifty crew on its maiden voyage for a tour of the solar system.

I enjoy reading this first person story even though it is revealed right from the start that there is only one survivor - the narrator. The writing is good, the world building is fascinating and the plot flows fluidly. Above all, there is much mystery surrounding the protagonist and the adventure and unchartered space territory that she is leading her team into. The protagonist, Claire, is not just a survivor in this ill-fated expedition, she is also the only survivor in a previous incident that happened at the Ferris Outpost years ago. This alone shroud the protagonist in darkness and puzzlement as she suffers constantly from terrifying hallucinations with memories and visions all jumbled up.

This novel reminds me of the 1997 science fiction horror film, Event Horizon. Though it's been more than twenty years, I still remember watching this movie in the theatre and loving the storyline much. Event Horizon is about space adventure and exploration. The crew members all take turns to hallucinate in the abandoned aircraft they found. As I read on, I am progressively affected by the uncanny similarites between the movie Event Horzion and this book Dead Silence. There was also a Claire in the movie though I cannot recall if she was a main or side character. Seriously, what's the odds of a movie character having the same name as the protagonist in this book? Perhaps this book is somewhat a tribute to that motion picture? The more I read, the less impressed I am with the story and plot developments. Of course, this could all be a coincidence but somehow, it cast the story in the shadow of the old movie and the book comes across as less original after that.

I have other gripes. One, a character that is terrible and horrible to the extreme. In reality, no one person is completely good or totally bad. Though I understand the need for such a character, one so rotten to the core does not do justice to the entire story. Two, unnecessary repetition. Three, long-winded at times. These are minor gripes, however.

On the whole, Dead Silence is a worthwhile piece of work. It is not exactly what I expected but it is good fun reading this spooky science fiction novel.

Review: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

2 stars for The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury.

I am never an enthusiast where collection of short stories is concerned. But I make an exception after reading about The Illustrated Man in another book. Though I did not finish that book, I am glad that it leads me to this book and cannot wait to start reading. Why? Because the little introduction about a man completely covered in tattoos, tattoos that come to life when the night falls, totally captivates me.

It starts with a prologue in which a homeless man, a hobo, is sitting in front of his campfire eating his dinner of pork and beans when another man comes by. The hobo narrator thinks it is odd because it is a warm summer night and yet the guy is wearing a long-sleeved wool shirt, buttoned all the way up to his neck and over his wrists. The man asks if he can spend the night by the fire with the narrator, who welcomes him. Getting ready for bed, the man takes off his shirt and reveals that he is covered in tattoos. Beautiful, vibrant, mysterious illustrations.

The man tells the narrator that he got the illustrations, as he calls them, from a woman who turned out to be a time-traveling witch. Right after getting the tats, the guy realizes they are not just simple illustrations. They are enchanted. They move and they change and they tell stories. Of the future. Creepy, scary stories. Each illustration is a little story.

The man also tells the narrator not to look at him during the night, not to watch those illustrations tell their stories. And especially, he is not supposed to look at the one empty spot on the man's back because his own story will materialize there. But, of course, the narrator will look, right? Who wouldn’t? He can’t help himself. Mostly, the book consists of the stories as told by the illustrations that come to life as the narrator looks on. Eighteen illustrations, eighteen stories.

All of the stories have a common theme about conflict between technology and humanity. Considering that this book was written more than seventy years ago, it is amazing that the author is writing stories about the dangers of virtual reality and space travelling. As a reader, I wonder "Who’s the time traveller? That witch or the author?"

As mentioned earlier, I am never really into short stories. But for this book, I find myself looking forward to the next story and the next and the next. As I read on, I realise, there is no continuity on the stories. There is much potential to be had in the stories but the author simply uses it as a platform to tell some totally unrelated short stories. Surprisingly, I am actually fine with the standalone short stories. To me, it does not really matter so long as they are good stories about glimpses into the future. Some are interesting. But some are boring. And some feel dated though this cannot be helped as the book was published in 1951.

My favourite is the first story about the Happylife Home. It has a virtual-reality play room where the children can let their imagination run wild. Unfortunately, this first story leads me to set my expectations high and I feel greatly disappointed when the rest of the stories fail to deliver.