Review: Deeply entertaining
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 7, 2014
Sartison is a master of suspenseful science fiction. His ‘The Contact: Episode One’ is a clever showcase of that talent: like Michael Crichton’s ‘Sphere’, the reader is also left wondering about that strange mysterious object and what it means for the eventual fate of mankind.The book starts out almost matter-of-factly—except if you have read a lot of sci-fi like I have, you immediately sense that there’s something between the lines that are simply bubbling underneath the story’s fabric: contrasting the seemingly peaceful, even calm, environment of outer space, there’s a rising sense of urgency with the baffling things that the humans—primarily Steve—encounter, errors whose unclear provenance immediately give the readers the screaming mimies.I also like how Sartison brought down the language and kept the narrative easy to understand—the ordinary reader like myself, layfolk who only happen to love science fiction, do not have to be bombarded with scientific jargon that only get in the way of consuming a good story. That’s why I appreciate the fact that while ‘The Contac’ deals with what would otherwise be technical phenomena regarding space flight and planetary orbits, for example, we’re spared that and instead, we only get what matters most: a good, compelling story.I love ‘The Contact’ to shreds and I’m excited about further instalments in this potentially amazing series. Thumbs up and five stars—I hope the wait for the next episode won’t take too long.