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Exploring dark alleys. Discovering new nightmares. Revisiting the masters.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Wanting More From Stories

Dark City Dark Night by Abe Evergreen is a fast-paced story about a man in a dystopian society trying to save a little girl from a deadly virus. Readers are only given a glimpse of his surroundings: an automated city, divided into sectors, populated by desperate and fearful people. Society has been ravaged by one virus strain after another and scientists are struggling to create new vaccines. Most people die from the various strains, but those who don't are extremely violent. Virtually nothing personal is revealed about the main character or his family. I would've like to find out why the man never wears a mask as everyone else does.


I don't mind having unanswered questions about a story or a character. There's no rule stating readers need to know everything about a backstory. I think leaving the history of a setting unexplained helps keep the focus on the characters, and giving the characters secrets keeps us hooked in hopes we will find the answers we are seeking. Through this process, we are more likely to feel we experienced a story versus being told what happened.

As always,
AstraDaemon

UPDATE: This is the first story in a mini trilogy. Read my review of the second story here.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Ursula!

    Thank you for your review of Dark City Dark Night.

    Please review my other Dark City stories so you can see how the trilogy ends.

    Dark City Darker Night will be available free on Amazon from 22-26 January.
    Dark City Darkest Night will be available free on Amazon from 5-9 February.
    Dark City complete will be available free on Amazon from 19-23 February.

    The stories are urban fantasy about a man trying to protect his niece and sister during a flu pandemic.

    Any criticism will be appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Abe Evergreen

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  2. Awesome! I look forward to reading all of them. I will also be sure to link all the reviews together, so people know it's a mini-series. Cheers!

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