My review ... "Outpost" by Mike Lees

The story revolves around Gar - an alien on a distant planet, who gets branded as a terrorist, tricked into the web of a perverted system of injustice. His autocratic superiors prevailed and banished him to a God-forsaken Outpost with the task of monitoring the Earth, humans and their culture. Whatever it is, the government has long arms! However, Gar desperately wants to retaliate. The story actually begins at a crucial moment when the space shuttle from Earth on a scientific mission lands near Gar’s Outpost; with a strange combination of astronauts with unique individualities. His chance opens up. But then..?

 

 

 

Mike with his effective writing style and sense of humour has added unusual situations. His characters with conflicts ... Mathilda, Stone, Perez, Hadley… are credible, to stimulate our interests.

Gar's characterisation as a brave and patronising guy, yet coolly causing fear in the minds of the astronauts - as cool as a cucumber - has come out nicely

 …”Hard to say mate, they (aliens) could invite you for a meal and a chat or blast you with ray guns! No idea.”

 Gar stood in front of them like a teacher telling children off in a classroom, “Well fantastic, smart, you supposed to be crack commandos and Earth’s finest and you run like kittens.”

Some actions by the space shuttle crew on the Alien’s planet, as Mike has portrayed scenically, are nice to imagine. The astronauts could not get on the same page, as everyone had a different book, and Mike has described this aspect well.

Mike has described the space-time shifts on an alien planet wonderfully:

 “Stone, how long have we been travelling from your point of view?”

My point of view? Thought Stone. “Eh, four and half minutes. And you?”

 “Two and half hours.  Are you sure we are going in the right direction?”

“Well, it seems something is playing with space time here. The nearer we get, the further is it away."

 Mike has made some good typical descriptions ... “In fact, many departments of Government were corrupt and took bribes, allowing the gangs to freewheel. A few brave journalists tried to bring the corruption to light, but were often accused of hyped up charges that would either get them killed or put in prison for many years. The entire system was working for itself, leaving the population to suffer and lose hope."

 

 Negatives

 

v  Unprofessional editing.

v  Unclear sequencing and colloquial jargon obstruct the flow.

 

 Positives

 

v  Exciting fun-filled witty prequel to a Sci-fi story, providing good entertainment value.

v  Some nice chapters, descriptions and good momentum

v  Interesting dialogues between Gar and the crew

 

 I liked:

v  Mike’s theme of the storyline with originality in character building.

v  The subtle humour with refreshing comic bits, running undercurrent, with dread factor throughout …

o    "..the Forbidden Planet, … For some it could be mild, for others, pure hell. Phobias you have; heights, spiders, sharks, tax bills etc and also any imaginative creatures like ghosts, demons, the mother-in-law or the like will become real and personified by those statues….a never-ending abyss which could engulf them into eternity."

o   "At home, I’m considered a … A mix between your Stalin and Hitler."

The book is enjoyable. How Mike plans to develop the created tempo, with a clear emphasis on the core theme compellingly, perhaps would make this Sci-fi series extraordinary.