Great Story, Missing Character Building
3.75 out of 5 stars
Imagine being at the edge of the world when the apocalypse breaks out. That’s what happened to the researchers and doctors on Antartica when they happen to accidentally bring to life an age-old organism that is bound to taking over.
I think my favorite thing about this book was the setting. I love when a book is set somewhere that feels out of the ordinary. An outbreak among researchers in Antartica is something that no one would know about unless they either brought it home with them or they all died and never made it back. That fascinates me and I thought that the setting of the book really played a character, too.
The characters weren’t explained too well and that made loving or losing them a little easier. I was a little worried since Bird didn’t go into a ton of detail about anyone that we were going to have a horror-like story where no one makes it out alive.
If I could change anything about the book I would just spend a little more time introducing some of the characters and giving the reader a reason to like them (and in turn, root for them to make it.) The only character that I found myself rooting for was the Russian and it was because he gave a lot more of his backstory than any other character.
The organism/infection/disease was pretty good and reminded me a bit of The Genius Plague that I just finished. I can’t really get into much detail about it without ruining the story but it felt unique compared to most “zombie-like” stories.
Overall, I thought that Erebus had a nice plot but was missing some character development. A solid 3.5 to 4 book that I did enjoy reading.
Book Description:
Erebus by Steven C. Bird
Narrator: Kevin Pierce
Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
Published by Self Published on October 11th, 2017
Genres: Bio-Thriller, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction
Pages: 276
Format: Audiobook
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Erebus – A science fiction, apocalyptic thrill-ride like no other.
"After lying in wait for millions of years, deep within the Earth beneath Mount Erebus on the frozen continent of Antarctica, an unforeseen threat emerges, leaving a scientific research team to face the horrors that await them at the bottom of the world -- ALONE."
Isolated on the frozen continent of Antarctica, Mount Erebus, an active volcano named after the Greek God of primordial darkness, acts as a doorway from the underworld of Earth to the hellish, lifeless world around it.
Despite the extreme conditions around the crater of Mount Erebus, life exists. Life does not travel to Erebus by way of birds or other plants or animals, but from deep within the Earth itself. Ascending from the dark world beneath Antarctica, microbial life arrives at the surface, only to find itself trapped within the volcano, confined by the icy, lifeless prison that surrounds it.
Today, on the steep and icy slopes of Mount Erebus, can be found a rugged team of scientists, researchers, and mountaineers carrying out their work in one of the harshest and most remote parts of the planet, at a facility known as the Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory, or simply MEVO. These professionals, tough enough to brave the extreme climate of Mount Erebus, include experts in the fields of gravity and magnetotellurics, volcanology, geophysics, and even astrobiology.
These doctorate-level professionals travel each year from several major universities such as Cambridge, Missouri State, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and the University of Washington to study Erebus, as well as the unique environment it has created for itself in one of the most remote places on Earth. They are assisted by a professional mountaineer, as well as graduate students from their respective institutions who study under them.
The researchers at MEVO, when not on the mountain at the research camp simply called the Lower Erebus Hut, are based out of McMurdo Station. Mac-Town, as McMurdo Station is fondly referred to by its residents, was founded by the U.S. Navy in 1956. What was initially called Naval Air Facility McMurdo is now McMurdo Station.
As the team on Mount Erebus begins their pack out at the end of their research season, starting their journey back to McMurdo Station and then to the universities from which they came, an unforeseen threat emerges, leaving them at the bottom of the world to face their horrors—ALONE.
Steven C. Bird is also the author of The New Homefront Series, as well as the Society Lost Series. His work can also be found in several Kindle Worlds novellas, including The Edge of Civility and JET: Dangerous Prey.
I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
About the Author:
Steven Bird was born in Harlan, KY in 1973, where he lived until joining the U.S. Navy in 1992. He spent the next thirteen years living in Northwest Washington state, where he served on active duty for eleven of those years. After leaving active duty, he completed twenty years of service in the Navy Reserve retiring as a Navy Chief Petty Officer. While in the reserves, he pursued a civilian flying career, serving as a flight instructor, charter pilot, turboprop first officer, jet first officer, jet airline captain, and currently flies as the captain of a super-midsize business jet based out of Knoxville, Tennessee. He has served in both military and federal law enforcement capacities and holds CFI, CFII, MEI, and ATP pilot certificates with numerous jet type ratings, as well as a bachelor’s degree in eBusiness.
In his spare time, Steven has been involved in off-road motorcycle racing, competitive shooting, hunting, fishing, hiking, and myriad other outdoors activities. He currently focuses his free time on his family as a happily married father of three. He and his wife Monica have a farm in Deer Lodge, Tennessee, where they raise their own fruits and vegetables, in addition to raising cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys, chickens, ducks, and turkeys.
Steven Bird is a self-sufficiency minded individual with a passion for independence and individual liberty. He puts this passion into his writing where he conveys the things that he feels are important in life, intertwined with action-packed adventure and the struggles of humanity.
Damn. Characters drive a story for me and if I cannot invest in them then it is never going to amount to much. Shame.
Shame, this has been on my list since it came out!! I think I’ll still get it but won’t be expecting anything major from it.
I have to say, as an author myself, I don’t think there is any such thing as a great story with poor character development. In my own experience, character and story are rather inseparable. I hope you will forgive my saying so, but I followed you on Audible for a long time, and have recently stopped due to reviews like this. You are quite obviously a nice guy, but your reviews are just too overwhelmingly positive.
When it comes to reviewing, there is being nice and then there is being honest. You say things like, “I hate leaving bad reviews,” and “I hate saying negative things about narrators.” Well, that’s what honestly is. I’m sure some of the authors you cater toward may love this sort of policy, but if you are going to say nice things about every single book you review, it makes your opinion useless to listeners. And as for me personally, I would rather have my book reviewed honestly by someone who isn’t afraid to say when something is bad than be handed a fluff piece that in the end means nothing.
You are a good writer, which is why I followed you in the first place. I hope you can learn to be a little more truthful in your feedback.
Hey Sam,
I’ve tried to figure out how to reply to this in a meaningful way. First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to read my reviews. A second thank you for coming here and leaving a real comment. I appreciate it.
I used to work at a movie rental store. I suffer from what I called “movie goggles” I let the movie and book take me places that I wouldn’t normally believe were true. I also suffer from being overly optimistic and actually caring what people think and say about me (I know, stay the HELL away from the internet!) :).
I know it’s not believable since I’m still nice in my non 4 and 5 reviews, but I’m trying to be more critical. The review that I just posted (Vision) shows that a little bit. I just hate being mean about something that someone is obviously proud of.
I actually turned away two books this year already after starting them because they would be a sub-2 book. One needed an editor SO bad and the other just didn’t suit me at all.
I hope that you stick around and call me out on my BS if I’m being overly nice on a review that shouldn’t be that way!