Review: Sci-fi with an espresso kick
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 10, 2013
Intelligent and gripping sci-fi from a fresh and I think exciting voice in the this genre. I thoroughly enjoyed I, the Provocateur. From page 1 you can tell you're in the hands of a writer with talent. I only wished there was more to this story!Remania is a small planet with a big problem - a seriously oppressive regime. Enter the Provocateur, the agent with a mission to stir things up and bring about regime change. Talking about regime change, that holds a mirror up to some modern history, doesn't it? Enter the bad guys too, and things get nasty. But the agent creatively and sometimes viciously pushes his mission agenda forward, to spite the regime, pop off an array of nasty guys, when suddenly - plot twist. I will not elaborate for fear of a spoiler, but it's a humdinger. Eventually, amidst the ensuing chaos there's a violent showdown.What I liked: the author brings a dry sense of humour into the narrative, despite the bleak and properly dystopian setting and events. There is tongue-in-cheek humour: "Sure, in my line of business, I was habitually sent to places that would hardly qualify as dreamlike holiday getaways, but Remania was something special altogether". There's a dash of poetry, and some really rather funny scenes juxtaposed against a Secret Police force wearing the obligatory dark faux-leather uniforms and sporting weapons that can blow the living daylights out of most living things. The story moves quickly - very quickly - and the conclusion sparks the dawn of a new day for Remania.What I didn't enjoy so much: too short. It felt rushed, so characterisation and backstory suffered as a result, and I was left feeling 'great idea, but it could have been more'. Because of this the bad guys became caricatures and were, I feel, not gripping enough. The book could benefit in my opinion from an editor to pick at sentence structure and formatting.So the end result, for me, was a bit like a double espresso with not enough aftertaste. A zippy story, great for an aeroplane read for example, but over too soon. Would I read more Vardan Partamyan? Oh yes, definitely. I'm happy to separate out in my mind the stylistic writing from the technical bits of editing and formatting. I thank Vardan for providing a copy for a non-reciprocal, honest review and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.