My Fatal Futility Shellshock by N J M Hemfrey is positively one the THE BEST Sci-fi books I’ve EVER read in my life, and certainly THE BEST Sci-fi book I’ll read this year.
It’s big, it’s intriguing, it has humour, sarcasm and tech with a suitable narrative and an approach to futuristic materials that actually makes you envision the future, and you will not have to wait much until the first battle takes place with all its might and imagery! It’s VERY COOL.
Although the book is packed with words, the simple narrative does help us forget about those 500+ pages and actually read and enjoy the story through it, as it steadily and smoothly develops.
This is an indie book that feels like it was published by a top tier literary house!
There are several elements when it comes to imagery here that we must take notice. First, it’s the animalistic fusion of beasty and human figures, which evoke many things and as intended, give that Asian-like, more accurately, Japanese-like atmosphere, especially after the combo with words written how they would be pronounced in Japanese, which is always a nice touch indeed. The second thing that we notice, or have to notice is how these same images make us understand each character that has it, given that it will mark some of their personalities and roles. It’s something well-put by Neil J M Hemfrey.
Violence is a common theme here, and it seems like it will be constant as the book progresses, escalating with it as the pages turn, which is a nice sensation on itself to us readers, because we know, and we have learned on the prologue that the author knows how to make some great action scenes.
One thing that we LOVED in this book is that it catches you off-guard and throws you moral questions and dilemmas that take you aback and make you think and engage with yourself or the book. It’s super cool, and rather impressive how well Neil, the author can weave conflicts, strains and thoughts so well in the dialogue and the lucid narrative while showing that “Kage”, our main character, doesn’t have memories of his past whatsoever and it’s constantly fighting to have a grip on who he is, spilling unnerving reactions towards it while trying to keep his cool and comply with the dictorial mandates of the Corporation he is in, all of this having a preaching chip implant on his head he is powerless to control.
There is a slight Orwellian atmosphere on the background, due to the implications of the society they are put under and what happens between corporations.
This book is also about how out main character grows up, which is a complex and deeply constructed ride and takes most part of the story itself because there is lots to explain about his upbringing, his motivations and what makes him, him, but the author is skilled enough to make this long ride interesting, enjoyable, full of humour, action and sarcasm. It’s something I didn’t expect really and it’s a very nice surprise.
A GREAT thing about this book, besides Kirei-san and Sepi, of course, is that it actually teaches you a lot about violence, rage, anxiety, morality, the flaws of oneself, how to control and how to experience life itself. It’s quite a value-packed book.
This book has everything you can imagine for a top tier science fiction, cyberpunk, time-travel book. Great, well developed characters, a consistent, incredibly well-thought out and planned plot, sarcastic humour, witty remarks, proper futuristic and scientific-like descriptions, imagery and explanations that make sense, interlacing timelines that don’t leave you confused, plot twists, emotional drama, action packed scenes sprinkled here and there, romance, conspiracy theories and above all, chaos and violence! EXCELLENTLY DONE!
Before we kick out this review, we should tell you that “My Fatal Futility Shellshock” has one of the most vicious, hateful villains of all of our books reviewed so far, probably second to only one, and the one that gives the most stomach-punching plot-twist of all. Like, you will feel sick after it starts making sense, and it will leave with a bitter-sweet taste on your mouth. Damn, I don’t think I can wait to read the other two books on this trilogy to find out why the villain said what it said in the end, or how it react the way it reacted.
This is brain food. High quality brain food. You WILL become smarter, and more sarcastic, after you read “My Fatal Futility Shellshock”. If you like physics, quantum physics, time travel, science, fighting and a great and complex story with LOTS of humour, punches, swords, robots and blood, well, you HAVE to read My Fatal Futility Shellshock. Cannot give a better recommendation when it comes to the genre.
Pros:
- Amazing, diverse and strong characters, that are built VERY well in terms of emotions and motives. Amazing job there.
- AN EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!! EXCELLENT VILLAIN!!!!! TOP TIER villain. Relentless.
- I love it that the main character is somewhat dumb, yet tries his best to grow and actually makes quite the progress through sheer effort. It’s VERY nice. Kage is not “apt” at all in any shape or form, and CLEARLY needs all the help he can get, yet he works hard. It’s SUPER COOL to read something like this.
- LOTS of Sarcasm and humour
- Excellent narrative
- Excellently kept plot, which was kind of challenging because it has SO many things to keep in track, specially the implications of the physics of time travel and the constitution of the universe, casual chains, the laws of relativity, that it could go wrong even if a single thing was miscalculated, BUT the author kept it tight, and it is in agreement with the logics of physics and quantum physics. VERY WELL DONE!
- IMPRESSIVE EDITING ! Given that this is a self-published book, I wasn’t expecting THIS much quality of editing. It’s almost FLAWLESS. GREAT JOB on the editing. I was REALLY impressed by it.
- LOTS of concepts that enlighten you and give you wisdom, both about life, violence, pacifism, enemies, wars, the self, physics, time travel, relationships. This book is PACKED with GREAT content, insights, EXCELLENT quotes and observations. It’s fascinating, to say the least.
- Nice descriptions and imagery.
- This book and author makes justice to the sci-fi genre. VERY WELL WRITTEN BOOK!
- The book ends with a punch in the stomach and then a pat on the back that leaves you wishing for more and leaving you tired at the same time.
Cons:
- The book is packed in formatting style, which slowed the reading progress and affected the overall visual experience.
- Many of the awesome and pivotal characters die. You won’t accept it, at least we didn’t. It’s too painful to know they won’t be with us on the next books, damn.
Scribble's Worth 