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The Last Overseer
by Anton Troia
Genre: Sci-fi/Post-Apocalyptic Horror
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I received this book in exchange for my honest review and it's taken me a few days to put my thoughts in order on "The Last Overseer". The first thing I will say is that Anton Troia has a sharp mind and a keen skill. His grasp of sci-fi is stunning and he's used it to illustrate an earth decimated by radiation and under the heel of an unscrupulous Overseer. Add mutated people into the mix and you have a winner!
So why not a 5 star rating?
The Last Overseer is written in a peculiar (to me) way, in that there are no periods to end sentences of dialogue, and exclamation points and question marks are on the outside of the quotations. There were also commas and semi colons that sometimes showed up in places I wouldn't expect them to and a few contradictions, such as Charlie's description. He was described as lean twice on one page, but then called portly on the next page. Another instance of this was "decrepit; so bony the ribs were protruding" and then also described as "a hulking mountain of muscle". I also noticed some tense changes and some repetitive word usage, like "bright" used three times in one paragraph, as well as missing words and words that were overlooked.
Wow, ok. So why not a lower rating?
Because the issues I had were almost all things that could be easily fixed with a good, strong edit. If the author agrees and puts out a second edition, I definitely want to re-read The Last Overseer. As it is, I still give this book a high rating because the science and the story telling are there, I just feel it could be a whole lot more powerful with a little cleaning up.
And did I mention the gorgeous cover art? No? Well. It's gorgeous! And there are a couple of scenes I have to mention. One is when Major Brennan is making breakfast at the beginning of the book and the other is when Charlie is diving in a putrid sea to get into a hardware store! I read it like I was watching it on a big screen and that was simply awesome.
Have I caught your interest? Then check it out for yourself at Goodreads, amazon, and the author's website!
So why not a 5 star rating?
The Last Overseer is written in a peculiar (to me) way, in that there are no periods to end sentences of dialogue, and exclamation points and question marks are on the outside of the quotations. There were also commas and semi colons that sometimes showed up in places I wouldn't expect them to and a few contradictions, such as Charlie's description. He was described as lean twice on one page, but then called portly on the next page. Another instance of this was "decrepit; so bony the ribs were protruding" and then also described as "a hulking mountain of muscle". I also noticed some tense changes and some repetitive word usage, like "bright" used three times in one paragraph, as well as missing words and words that were overlooked.
Wow, ok. So why not a lower rating?
Because the issues I had were almost all things that could be easily fixed with a good, strong edit. If the author agrees and puts out a second edition, I definitely want to re-read The Last Overseer. As it is, I still give this book a high rating because the science and the story telling are there, I just feel it could be a whole lot more powerful with a little cleaning up.
And did I mention the gorgeous cover art? No? Well. It's gorgeous! And there are a couple of scenes I have to mention. One is when Major Brennan is making breakfast at the beginning of the book and the other is when Charlie is diving in a putrid sea to get into a hardware store! I read it like I was watching it on a big screen and that was simply awesome.
Have I caught your interest? Then check it out for yourself at Goodreads, amazon, and the author's website!
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