The Synchronicity War Part 1

Kindle | Paperback

I finished The Synchronicity War Part 1 by Dietmar Arthur Wehr about a week ago, and have since been (in the back of my mind) wondering just what to write about it.

I can say that it mostly kept me interested, and that I did want to find out what was going on and what would happen; I can say that the writing a fairly high standard for a free, self-published book (and I really appreciated that after some of the other self-published works that I read this Summer).  I can also say that I'm leaning toward buying the next book in the series to find out what's going on and how it turns out (only my already-extensive "to read" list is slowing me down).

The story itself is about Victor Shiloh, a commander in the United Earth Space Force, whose exploration frigate has come across signs of alien life — very hostile alien life.  It follows his, and Space Force's, preparations to meet the enemy and a few of the subsequent encounters with them.

My criticisms come down to two, primarily.  First, the characters in the book do not have a lot of development.  After finishing the book, I still know very little about them and even though I spent nearly the entire thing in the mind of Victor Shiloh and "listening" to him talk, at length, about the alien foe, I still don't know a thing about his past or what made him who he is.  Second, a very large portion of the books is "tell" rather than "show" — that is, the characters themselves talk and explain things to one another, or even offer chapter-long speeches to describe their plans.  It's almost more like a transcript at points than a novel.

I ended up feeling that Part 1 here just really set the stage for the story and more is probably coming. Probably.  I would say that the narrative it isn't typical of modern Sci-Fi, but rather harks back to writings from three or four decades ago in terms of style and pacing — and that isn't a bad thing, though it's good to be in that mindset when picking the book up.  Overall, the book's flaws certainly do not outweigh its merits, and it could end up being a very good story by the end,

This book has lending enabled on the Kindle.  If you actually know me and you'd like a loan of it, get in touch (though, as of the writing of this, the book is currently free on Kindle).