Thursday, August 7, 2014

The Thirteenth Prophet / T. Lucas Earle


Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Noir/Mystery/Science-Fiction/Short Story

Approximate word count: 6-7,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“T. Lucas Earle is a writer and filmmaker. T. Lucas has a degree in Film Production from Emerson College and currently works as a script reader in LA. His stories have been published in Electric Spec and The Colored Lens. T. Lucas also writes two blogs and reviews television pilots for Blogcritics. His dark comedy, Abduction, was premiered in the 2013 LA Shorts Film Fest.”

Description:

“T. Lucas blends classic noir and dystopian sci-fi, exposing the strange underbelly where conformity, fashion, and religion collide.”

Appraisal:

The Thirteenth Prophet is just what the description says, a strange combination of a dystopian world where people receive personality implants and noir, with Mulligan Burke, the main character, as a hard-boiled detective who is one of the few people who have never been implanted. It’s a unique world and the mixing of genres was something I liked.

Despite liking the premise, I had some issues that can be summarized as “it feels like there’s more to the story.” We’ve all read full-length novels where it seemed like the author threw in scenes or descriptions, not because they were needed for the story, but because they had a minimum word count they had to reach. In this story, at least in my opinion, the author set out to write a short story, but built a world that deserved more. On the flip side, Burke’s solving of the mystery felt like it came too easy. I felt like there was history and context missing: How did these personality implants start and why? What problems did they cause? How did Burke avoid having to get an implant? Although what was here was good, in the end, I was left frustrated because this story idea deserves more.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.


Rating: *** Three stars

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