After the Winter (The Silent Earth, Book 1)
By Mark Healy
Publisher: Mark Healy
Published: Oct. 28, 2014
ASIN: B00P02FBPM
Amazon Synopsis:
The Earth is in ruins. Cities and nations
destroyed. Those who survive the onslaught succumb to the cold blackness of
winter. A handful of machines finally emerge into the light, lost and
directionless. They are the last remnants of civilisation.
Brant is a synthetic - a machine who has the appearance and emotions of the humans who made him. He is hunted across the wasteland by cruel scavengers known as Marauders who are intent on cannibalising his body to prolong their own lives.
Brant carries a great burden as he tries to return home: a secret that can change the world. Against the unforgiving desert, the twisted denizens of this new world and his own dark past he needs to find a way back at any cost.
The Silent Earth Trilogy
Book 1 - After the Winter: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P02FBPM
Book 2 - The Seeds of New Earth: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R6C756C
Book 3 - The Fires of Yesterday: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UPLMK2K
Brant is a synthetic - a machine who has the appearance and emotions of the humans who made him. He is hunted across the wasteland by cruel scavengers known as Marauders who are intent on cannibalising his body to prolong their own lives.
Brant carries a great burden as he tries to return home: a secret that can change the world. Against the unforgiving desert, the twisted denizens of this new world and his own dark past he needs to find a way back at any cost.
The Silent Earth Trilogy
Book 1 - After the Winter: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P02FBPM
Book 2 - The Seeds of New Earth: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R6C756C
Book 3 - The Fires of Yesterday: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UPLMK2K
Book Links
Mark’s music project ‘Hibernal’ interweaves his original
sci-fi stories with instrumental music to create an immersive experience for
the listener. Combined with a professional voice cast, the ‘audio movies’
have been hailed by critics and fans alike for their originality and creativity.
My Thoughts:
In this
post-apocalyptic novel Brant is wandering the desert on his way back to M-Corp
where his partner Arsha is stationed after having left in her order to lead the
marauders away and protect the project he and his partner were working on. At
M-Corp are stored frozen human and animal embryos, seeds of all kinds,
everything to repopulate the earth again. Brant and Arsha are the caretakers
who will begin the process once the nuclear winter is over.
At this time in the
future there are no humans left on the planet as they have all died out due to
the holocaust caused by the nuclear war that the humans rained down on each
other sending the world into a nuclear winter where every living thing died.
The only thing still “living” are the artificial life creations that man made –
synthetics. Brant is a synthetic who has had the human essence of a scientist downloaded
into him. All he wants now is to be uploaded back into his human body.
I really enjoyed the
twists and turns this story took. Whether or not the scientists of the day were
able to download the human mind into an artificial body was an interesting
concept to contemplate. One of the things that keeps Brant going is the memory
of his son Zade of whom he carries a picture in his pocket.
We discover a lot
about Brant as he travel continually west heading toward M Corp, trying to stay
out of sight of the Marauders. Through a number of plot twists he meets a few
other clanks (synthetics) who have managed to eke out a living for themselves.
Some he tries to help and some he realizes are better off if he leaves them
where they are.
Brant believes he’s
been gone from M-Corp for a year and is amazed to see the regrowth of the weeds
and plants that he has begun to notice on his journey. However, when he talks
to Arsha, he discovers he has actually been gone 10 years, not 1.
Devastating plot
twists occur sending Brant into an emotional tailspin and he runs off
desperate, devastated and depressed, contemplating suicide. While out there he
discovers one of the clanks he ran into earlier who since he saw him last has
committed suicide. Brant grieves and weeps for his friend. These events cause
Brant to understand what his human creators have done and further his
understanding into his own purpose.
There were a
moderate number of swear words in After
the Winter including the f-bomb. I deducted a star for this as I did not
feel this kind of language was really necessary or even added anything to the
book. I personally would have enjoyed the book much more had that language not
been used.
The story flowed at
a smooth and rapid pace. It was easy to follow and very enjoyable. I liked that
at the beginning the reader has no idea of who Brant is until he is slowly
revealed. The book was written from Brant’s point of view.
If you enjoy
post-apocalyptic literature, I think you will like After the Winter. I rated it three stars (it would have been 4 had
it not been for the language) out of 5.
Thank you to the
author for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest
review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.
About the Author:
Mark R. Healy is an author and musician from Brisbane,
Australia. From an early age he loved to create, and often assembled his own
illustrated books with accompanying stories - and then forced his parents to
buy them. Unfortunately this model was not scalable and Mark now seeks to
promote his works to a wider audience. Mark has also combined his storytelling
prowess with music, creating a project called ‘Hibernal’ through which he
interweaves original sci-fi stories with his own music to create an immersive
theatrical experience for the listener. Combined with a professional voice cast
and sound effects, these “audio movies” are available online through iTunes,
Bandcamp and Amazon under the name ‘Hibernal’.
Author Links
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