Review: Interesting Read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2014
No sooner did Ben recover from the tragic death of his sister than his wound is ripped open again. Will history repeat itself with his brother-in-law’s new wife?As soon as I read the blurb for this novella, I couldn’t wait to find out more. The science fiction themes are strong, but the character development is even more pronounced. While it took me a little while to get to know all of the characters well, I was surprised by how much I figured out about them once the plot was given a chance to simmer. This is the kind of tale that requires some investment early on, but every ounce of effort poured into understanding what is happening was richly rewarded for this reader.The first few scenes were somewhat confusing for me due to the number of characters who were being introduced at the same time that so many inexplicable things are happening. The pacing in the remainder of the plot was even, but I did find it a little too fast in the beginning due to how much the author expects his audience to figure out in an extremely short amount of time.With that being said, I am a big fan of stories like this one that require you to think. Mr. Maus knows how to strike that delicate balance between explaining what on earth just happened and giving the reader a chance use his or her own mind to pull together the most subtle clues. It is this ability of his that makes me quite curious to see what he will come up with next.Machines of the Little People is a complicated, thought-provoking, intelligent ride that I didn’t want to end. It’s long enough to cover all of the bases, but short enough to read in one sitting for dedicated science fiction fans. Either way, this is a book worth sampling.originally posted at long and short reviews