Wick Welker

Saint Elspeth is the first book by Wick Welker I've read and though some parts read a bit slow overall it was a very entertaining book. The story takes place about 20 years after the world nearly destroys itself by attempting to kill what looks to be an alien invasion though, no alien actually attacked anyone. Our main character Elspeth Darrow was a pathologist when she entered the bunkers more than twenty years ago, after emerging from the bunkers she has taken on the roll of medical doctor off of training she learned via books and video recordings.
When the body of one of the little known aliens is discovered on a salvage trip, Elspeth goes back to her pathology roots in an attempt to discover what makes these aliens tick. When she and her colleagues start having the same vision about the Hilman...(the aliens) she discovers that maybe it's not just human life she was meant to save.
The story was pretty well paced and the characters were well developed. Overall a good read for those looking for an end of the world survival type story based on an alien invasion.… (més)

Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker

Intriguing, intellectually stimulating, immersive look at what an apocalyptic world might be like. It is heavy on medical terminology and scenes as it should be since the main character is a pathologist that has had to learn new fields of medicine on the fly as she adapted and adjusted to her new situation. Her job used to be in a lab that was quiet, controlled with regular hours – twenty years on she has become a general practitioner doing her best to heal and save all she can no matter what the situation might be. She is the only trained physician in what was once San Francisco and the world she once knew is long gone.

As a retired RN, this book was much easier for me to relate to and read than the last book I read that had more to do with military equipment, terminology, and strategies. There were politics, greed, power struggles, thievery, gamesmanship, and other similarities in both books – rather surprisingly.

The plot was tight and well crafted. The characters were well developed and easy to visualize and understand. The cause of the demise of civilization was intriguing as were the theories on why the aliens arrived and what their true purpose was. I enjoyed the depth of thought that went into creating the world this book takes place in and enjoyed the fact that it managed to engage all of my senses. This story made me care, made me think, and gave me much to ponder. My reading experienced was enhanced by knowing the locations mentioned in the book as I grew up in California.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Demodocus Publishing LLC for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars… (més)

I entered the Goodreads giveaway for Refraction based on the summary, but also the fact that the author is a physician who has written science fiction. As a retired doc, I was intrigued by this. I was fortunate enough to win a copy, and I’m really glad I did. What an amazing plot. It kept me engaged and was difficult to put down. I had no idea where the story was going and how it would all fit together. Well drawn characters, and amazingly easy to understand descriptions of the physics involved. I really enjoyed Refraction.… (més)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

An accidental DNF at 50 percent! This book is LONG. It's 1,600 pages long, and as you read, you can start to feel just how long the book is. I was getting fatigued by the length of the novel even at the 20 percent mark. If I had had the time needed to slowly read it over a period, I may have enjoyed it more. From the half I did read, I did enjoy it. At first, the swapping between characters' points of view annoyed me slightly, but it smoothed out as the book went on and no longer was annoying. I think the very beginning just has those constant changes because it's setting up the story. I really was interested in the mystery of Beetro and his journey to find out his past. Beetro's origin gets ever so slowly unwound and revealed as the story progressed. It was very compelling. It was also interesting to see how Beetro, without any prior knowledge of himself, tries to slowly figure out his place in this world. Miree I also liked her as a character; it was interesting to see her reflect on her life and her past actions. There are other characters I liked, but Ribcage annoyed me. She reminds me too much of Tiny Tina from Borderlands, but instead of being hilarious like Tina is, Ribcage is just grating. There is also a mystery to Ribcage and their origin, but I guess I'll find out if I ever manage to pick this book up again somewhere. The only thing that startled me and honestly upset me a little is some of the gore. I wasn't expecting it honestly, though I suppose that's a little my fault for not checking for content warnings. I was getting a little aggravated that all this violence is being done upon only ONE of the characters, for reasons I failed to understand. There's plenty of violence in this book, I think it's considered "Grimdark" at certain parts, but why was so much brutality happening only to THIS character? Maybe it's explained in the latter half, but my God, why is only one character getting singled out?! This book is a very good hard sci-fi, and it was written very well. Its drawback is the length of it, but if you like very long books, this is a good one. I will be seeking it out in the future.… (més)