Review: The Virus
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 30, 2013
I was vaguely reminded of "The Andromeda Strain", in that this story introduces an alien virus with the potential to eventually wipe out the human race. Unlike "The Andromeda Strain", this story is a bit less tech-heavy, more focused on character interaction. I won't (can't) comment on any of the science or whatever, but the premise as presented is not so far out to be completely unbelievable. I don't want to give away any spoilers, just to mention there are a few interesting twists in the story, especially in regards to the origin of the virus itself. There are a few untied loose ends, not in a cliff-hanger style, just more like some classic stories that ended with a "The End . . .?"Editing was OK. There are a few misused words (for instance, "peaked" vs. "piqued"); a few dropped or extra words that look like they missed an editing sweep while the author was tweaking the text; and some comma usage. But nothing that really smacks rotten. The author adopts a storytelling technique which might take a bit of getting used to (very verbose in places, almost garden-path in style), but again, nothing terrible, just a bit different.Overall, I found it a good read, and actually finished the book in two sittings.