2012; 295 pages. New Author? : Yes. Genre : Science Fiction. Overall Rating : 4½*/10.
John
Epcott is the only survivor of a devastating pandemic that swept across
Earth. Fortuitously, a Junian spaceship
has picked him up and taken him back to their home planet. It’s a pleasant place; John can breathe the
air and interact with the sentient, humanoid Junians.
But it isn’t home.
What’s To Like...
Structurally,
Dawnwind : Last Man Standing reminded me of
Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked. The storyline is segmented, with gaps in the
timeline. George R. Shirer “star-dates”
each jump, so it’s not really confusing.
Just different. The segments can
be briefly called New Arrival, Lonely, Starship Crisis, Revenge, and
Dawnwind. “Dawnwind” is the name of a
starship, BTW.
The
world-building could be better done. The
planet Juni bears a remarkable resemblance to Earth. Things and terms such as “1600 hrs.”, trains,
weddings, tattoos, bookstores, audio books, regular books, the phrase “folks
‘round here’, porcelain dolls, pillows, and snowballs are all native to
Juni. And all galactic races apparently speak English. It felt like John could’ve been plopped down
in a place like Scotland and have experienced a greater culture shock.
The
Junians are not very different from Terrestrials as well, save for their blue skin (smurfs? Na’vi?), the nerve endings in
their hair, and their penchant for painted eyes. Other sentient races are given short shrift.
There are a slew of characters, and George R. Shirer enjoys giving them
all names and different eye-painting colors for you to make note of. Don’t bother.
Most of them are limited to one-and-done roles.
There are a couple cusswords and a few
suggestive phrases, but nothing worthy of keeping this off the YA
shelves. The storytelling gets better as
the book rolls on, with the “Dawnwind” segment by far the most
interesting. That is, until. . .well, more
about that in a bit.
Excerpts...
“Ah. You’re attracted to me.”
“What? No! I
mean. . .”
She glared at
him. “You should choose your next words
very carefully.”
“It’s not my
virtue that I’m worried about.”
“Ah! So you are attracted to me.”
“Uqqex, it’s been
over six years since I’ve had sex with anyone.
At this point, trees are starting to look attractive to me.”
“I sincerely hope
that last statement was exaggeration.” (loc.
3429)
Cleric Til
drifted over to the group. Her
multicolored scarf was wound around her right arm. She swept the small group with her gaze, and
smiled. “More survivors. Thank the pantheon.”
“I’d be more
thankful, Cleric, if the gods hadn’t seen fit to blow up half the ship,” said
Sebo, blankly.
“The gods don’t
do everything, guardsman,” chided Til.
“If you think they do, then you should come to the temple more often.” (loc. 5336)
Kindle Details...
Dawnwind
: Last Man Standing sells for $2.99 at Amazon. George R. Shirer has one other full-length
novel, The Marvelous Land of Ap, also for $2.99; and seven Short Stories, each for $0.99.
”Yazat’s balls!” (loc.
3161)
The
fact that Juni and Earth are so much alike is a serious weakness. Sci-Fi readers are looking for escapism; if
we want to read a book set in our familiar world, we’ll pick up Charles Dickens or
something. But this is fixable.
What isn’t forgivable is the cliffhanger ending. Dawnwind
: Last Man Standing feels like a prequel to a whole series, giving us the
back-story for our plucky hero, whether we wanted it or not.
Okay fine. But there is no
sequel, and therefore the cliffhanger climax just means you wasted your time
reading a story that has no ending, and possibly never will. Better to have read something else. Anything else. Even (bleh) Dickens.
4½ Stars. Add ½ star if sequels are ever written and published, and this prequel becomes a free
download to get you hooked on the series.
FWIW, if you’re looking for a book that gets this genre right, try C.E. Stalbaum’s The Spider and The Fly, reviewed
here. At the time of this posting, it is available for free for the Kindle.
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