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sidewalkscienceguy · 5 months

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Draft 1: Complete.

Began writing Book 5 on December 21st 2021

Finished first draft May 7th 2023

Finished editing first draft December 10th, 2023

Book 5 of the Recovery series (my 8th book written since 2004) was, again, a book I didn't fully intend to write when I set off into this series back in 2013. I'd originally planned this series to be three books based off a short story I wrote in my Creative Writing course in college. But here we are, 5 books in of 8 now planned.

With the chopping of original ending and slicing and dicing Book 1 (Embassy, 2013) by a full 50%, it grew into a very different story, one not full of aliens and interstellar wars, but the wonders and pangs of humanity's expansion to new planets two thousand years after the desolation of Earth.

Book 2 (Resonance, 2014) was originally meant to take place 18 years after Book 1, but ended up being a continuation of the new story, all leading up to those pages I'd chopped off and held onto for two years.

Book 3 (Perihelid, 2017) was originally what Book 4 ended up becoming in some ways. A loose version of the story, at least. The Book 3 I ended up with was a direct continuation picking up mere seconds after the end of Book 2, and coming full circle for the main character's arc.

Book 4 (Belvun, 2021) was born from the scraps of original Book 3. With a fully fleshed out plot spiralling toward ultimate disruption of balance among humanity's inhabited worlds, Book 4 ended up with a vastly different tone from the first three books, written from fresh new perspectives covering both political and civilian spheres.

And now, Book 5 (due for release October 2024 or April 2025) continues and concludes the story of Book 4, setting fire to the balance humanity has maintained. This destruction will set the stage for the concluding three installments, Books 6-8, which I will write between 2024 (?) and 2040.

Come January 2024, I'll input these edits, and then it all starts again (this time, only on the computer! Every first draft I write is on paper, though).

The next step from here is a break.

To all our endeavors.

#Amwriting #Writers life #Books #Writing #Writelr #Bookish #Panera Bread #1st Draft #Scifi

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goodbadanduglybooks · 6 years

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Review: Perihelid

Book Review: Perihelid by S. Alex Martin

Overall Rating: 8/10 (4/5 stars) Plot: 8/10 Characters: 8.5/10 Writing: 8.5/10 Originality: 7/10

Genre: Science Fiction Published: 2017 Number of Pages: 330 | Paperback Edition

Summary: The Fleet is in Ruins.The Drake vanished in the chaos, and thousands are dead. A rescue crew could be weeks, even months away, and Arman Lance and the Ember’s other survivors must find a way to survive until it does – if help is coming at all.As efforts are made to determine the cause of the crash, Arman struggles against the relapse of thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, threatening to unravel the purpose he has tried to create for himself since joining the Embassy Program.In the aftermath, the survivors discover what could be the most important revelation in centuries: the crisis on Belvun may mark the beginning of an even more desperate disaster. It will force Arman to make a choice, one that will determine the course of humanity's future......at the cost of sacrificing his own.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**Possible spoilers for anyone who has not read the first two books in the series, but no spoilers for those who have not read Perihelid.**

Review: I’m just going to start off by saying that for some reason this year has been filled with books about people trapped or in quarantine for me! And I’m not complaining. Anyway, for those not familiar with S. Alex Martin’s first two books in his Recovery series, Embassy and Resonance, I believe that this is definitely the best book in the series thus far. It is still introspective and still includes some moments of slow pace, but I feel there is a really good balance of suspense, action for those who not only enjoy but expect it in science fiction, and emotional moments. Where I thought the last book was a little long, here my main complaint is how much more I wanted to see. However, Perihelid is certainly an engrossing read and is easy to move through. The stunning ending (I’m still not 100% sure what happened to be quite honest) will certainly leave readers wanting more.

I feel like each plot in the Recovery series has been incredibly different. The first book, Embassy, is a classic opener where there is a decent amount of action and description, because there is so much to show and tell. Resonance goes in a different direction that I didn’t really understand when I read it at the time. It includes a lot of description and very little action. I feel like Perihelid finally ties everything together. There has been so much foreshadowing about the environment, politics, and Arman’s psychological state and character. Readers finally get to see how it all interacts in this final book in the Arman Lance-focused part of the story. Don’t be fooled--even though this book has the best pacing of any in this series so far, it is still not a classic action-filled science fiction novel. But it would feel ingenuous if it were. The introspective aspect of this series is what makes it so unique. Often science fiction novels focus too much on plot and leave characters behind; there is no danger of that in Martin’s work.

That being said, I loved the smaller plot twists--and the big one--of Perihelid. As I previously stated, my main complaint is that I wanted more. Starting from the beginning, I truly feel at this point in the series there needed to be a better recap of what happened in the previous books or some kind of a glossary in the back. Martin has created a world which I very much appreciate, but of which I don’t remember every detail having read Resonance quite some time ago (additionally I was at college and did not have the book with me with which to refer back). I wanted more about how regular people on the ship were handling being stuck into space. I think particularly when the big plot twist occurs some flashbacks could have been really interesting. But overall, I love what Martin does here with the plot. Arman Lance has not been the hero at the forefront of all this--he was an archivist. So readers get the best of both worlds: the view of the world from someone who has some information about political happenings, but from someone who is also a regular person affected by decisions of higher-ups. This definitely contributes to the effectiveness of the plot, and if I’m interpreting the ending correctly, gives a whole new meaning to the word “sacrifice” for each of the characters. The pacing of this novel is much better than previous works, and the conclusion is absolutely stunning in the best possible way.

Now as for the characters--once again, I wanted more! I really like the side characters in Perihelid. It was fun watching them enjoy life exploring in Resonance, but I feel like serious situations are perfect for authors to truly showcase character development. Martin definitely takes advantage of this. What I think Perihelid does best is illustrating the flaws of each character, which makes them more complex and interesting to read about. And though the reader in me really wanted more interaction with the side characters and to learn more about their inner thoughts, the reviewer in me also understands that shutting other people out is a flaw of Arman’s; it’s a classic first-person narrative problem. It is addressed later in the book, which I definitely appreciated. The situation in which the characters find themselves truly lead to raw emotions that I think Martin is very effective in exploring.

Regarding Arman--Perihelid is the only book in the series where I think I as a reader have been able to connect with Arman. I know that’s kind of a back-handed compliment, but all it shows is growth on the part of the series and Arman. I feel like because in previous books Arman isn’t really connected with his feelings himself, many of his internal demons and crises are simply implied, which can definitely be lost on the reader, especially with having to learn the dynamics of a created world. In Perihelid, readers get to know nearly every one of Arman’s thoughts, through both personal reflections and dialogue with other characters. The only complaint I have here is the handling of Glacia’s assumed death. I feel like Arman didn’t explore those feelings as much as I would have liked, especially given that it appears future books will not be from his point of view. Here is an example of where flashbacks would have been extremely emotional in the best possible way. I also appreciate how Arman grows throughout this novel but not in a completely linear way. The characterization here is very well-done and realistic.

Martin’s writing has certainly improved with each book. His descriptive abilities are fantastic--I personally have a very hard time understanding science fiction novels, especially those in space, and I was able to picture everything very clearly in my head. There are still some problems with awkward dialogue, and emotional moments are not always as impactful as they could be, but the interactions in Perihelid feel the most realistic of his first three novels.

Regarding originality, there definitely is a sort of stuck-in-space trope in science fiction YA and new adult literature (however I have to add as a personal note here that it is my absolute favorite trope. Give me a trapped or quarantined group of characters in shopping malls, department stores, space--it matters not to me, I love them all). However the previously discussed introspective nature of Martin’s novels makes it an interesting twist on this common narrative. Also the plot twist near the climax of the story raises the stakes for all the characters and makes Perihelid more unique.

Overall: Perihelid by S. Alex Martin is by far the best of the first three books in his Recovery series. With a well-paced plot, introspective and three-dimensional characters, and a classic narrative being the driving force behind a unique addition to the science fiction drama, readers’ main complaint about this novel will be wanting more of everything.

Purchase here!

#books #book blogs #reading #perihelid #recovery series #s. alex martin #book reviews #embassy #resonance

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writedreamlie · 7 years

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I AM HOLDING THIS THING IN MY HANDS HOLY HECK I AM SO EXCITED Thank you @thescalexwrites this is amazing!!

#thescalexwrites #perihelid #Guys buy this book #I mean buy the first two first #and then this one

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hoseoks-soda-on-the-side · 6 years

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Perihelid by S. Alex Martin (Recovery #3)

Genre: Sci-Fi, New Adult Page #: 334 Publisher: CreateSpace Published in: 2017

I received this book as an ARC from the author, and I'm so glad that I did. After the massive cliffhanger of the last book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one and see what happens. Unfortunately, grad school reading and MA thesis writing got in the way, so I wasn't able to pick it up until just now. When I was finally able to read it, I devoured it.

Official Synopsis

The Fleet is in Ruins.

The Drake vanished in the chaos, and thousands are dead. A rescue crew could be weeks, even months away, and Arman Lance and the Ember’s other survivors must find a way to survive until it does – if help is coming at all.

As efforts are made to determine the cause of the crash, Arman struggles against the relapse of thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, threatening to unravel the purpose he has tried to create for himself since joining the Embassy Program.

In the aftermath, the survivors discover what could be the most important revelation in centuries: the crisis on Belvun may mark the beginning of an even more desperate disaster. It will force Arman to make a choice, one that will determine the course of humanity's future...

...at the cost of sacrificing his own.

My Review

The character development in this book is phenomenal. Arman has grown so much over the course of this series, and he's very reflective of that throughout the course of this book. He has a rich inner world and self-reflectiveness that I haven't seen in sci-fi. It was also really interesting to see how the side characters in the book handled the same crisis and how they interacted with each other when trapped in such close quarters after the tragedy in Resonance.

Sci-fi can sometimes be hard for me to read because I prefer character-driven stories, and often I find that sci-fi sacrifices character in favor of the plot, setting, and technology. That is not the case in this series, and especially so in Perihelid. There is a balance of character, plot, and setting that favors rich character development while still creating a believable other world and crafting a plot with an intense buildup. The last 100 pages or so were so intense, and I love the way that the author tied all the little ends together from the rest of the series in the big reveal. There are certain things, like Glacia's fate and what happens to Arman at the very end, that I wish were made more clear, but I'm hoping those questions will be answered in Book 4.

I have to say that I also loved the mental illness representation in this series. As someone who has dealt with severe anxiety and depression my whole adult life and for most of my teenage years, I have to say that I can really relate to Arman and the way he thinks. When I started reading this series, I wasn't necessarily expecting to find such accurate mental illness representation in a sci-fi book, and yet this series delivers that representation in a way I haven't seen much before, especially in genre fiction. I think we need more stories like this one, where the hero in a sci-fi book grapples with mental illness. Mental illness is not the main focus of the series or of this book, but it's an inextricable part of Arman's character. This story shows the truth of mental illness: that it is always a part of us, but it does not define our lives or stop us from doing great things.

Rating: [4/5]

#perihelid #recovery series #s. alex martin #thescalexwrites #books #book reviews #sci-fi #new adult

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