Heather’s Bookshelf: Hive
Author: Jeremiah Ukponrefe
Released: 11/12/20
Genre: Dystopian SciFi
“The group halted and threw a cascade of rubble towards the invisible wall. Additional sparks revealed themselves, paired with the emergence of more hexagons. As the debris continuously smashed against the invisible wall, brief glimpses of what lay beyond slowly revealed itself…They were of the Hive. Controlled, and unmoving. Then they advanced.”
“The Hive” introduces Alexander King, a soldier and Commander in the military unit known as The Collective. His mission is to defend the remnants of the world against the alien force that invaded and destroyed them- The Hive. When on a standard assignment, Alex happens upon a young man, Reese, with evidence that the Hive may not be as decimated as it once seemed.
Alex, his right hand man Takeo, and his new and reluctant recruit David try to work with Reese to discover how much of a presence the Hive still has on their planet. Unfortunately, their mission does not go well and they find themselves separated, captured, and in serious danger.
While in captivity, Alex and his crew must make hard decisions if they are going to save themselves, friends from their past, and new found allies. They discover the origin of the Hive, its motivation, and plan for the future. But will Alex and his crew make it through this alive?
Trigger Warning: violence (lots of it!), insinuation of rape, adult language, animal death, depictions of war
Overall, I was a little torn on this story. The tale was packed full of action and military procedure and the reveal of the origin of the Hive was interesting. However, I felt very little connection to any of the characters. I wish that there would have been some back story, flashbacks, or something related to getting me invested in who lived or died. My favorite character ended up being Reese because he was so self-motivated and disillusioned with everything going on around him (not a usual reason to like a character, but I thought that he was kind of funny in a rather serious and violent story). There were also some portions that alluded to the “Old World” that could have been really interesting like the mind meld with the weapon on the horse, but there wasn’t any further development of that tidbit. The ending was a little predictable, but open ended enough for a sequel. I thought that the author had an interesting point of view and voice and would be interested in reading future works.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
Action-packed, post-apocalyptic tale that lacked connection to its characters
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