The Milky Way: A Short Story by Nathan Harker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good writing.

This story focuses on Stefan and his exploration of the Milky Way.

Pros:

1. Nathan Harker gives Stefan a backstory.
2. The book cover is good. If you focus on it, you’ll see why.
3. It’s a short story.
4. I didn’t notice any typos as I read this book.

Cons:

1. There is profanity.
2. My reading engagement decreased partway into the story.
3. The conclusion of this tale was abrupt. I couldn’t help but want more.
4. I don’t feel motivated to re-read it.

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Moon Soul by Nathaniel Luscombe

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Not bad.

Moon Soul is a science fiction novella about August, who is half-human, half-Spyren. As part of Spyren, she can see memories in the sand. At first, August uses this gift to make a living with her parents out of the picture. Yet, she grows tired of dealing with other people’s memories all the time and seeks help from her therapist. Nathaniel Luscombe has readers follow along as August explores the Spire and Aygysi. August suffers from loneliness, and her therapist suggests she make friends. She has a habit of writing her thoughts down in her journal; she is desperate for a reprieve from reading other people’s memories. August takes a sabbatical, and things change.

I did not issue Moon Soul a five-star rating because of:

1) the slow pace. While the slow pace could be because of developmental editing, I did not enjoy reading August doing gardening work for more than one chapter (the exception is chapter fifteen).
2) Songs that August’s mother sang to her as a child. It was strange the narrative did not mention this in an earlier chapter.
3) Moon Soul would benefit from a glossary.
4) A five-star rating means the book is excellent; a four-star rating means I liked it. I chose a three-star rating because it was OK. I will not re-read this novella.

The PDF is superior to the e-book version because of the appearance of the interior. I did not enjoy reading multiple chapters of August eating food. The Planets We Become is superior to Moon Soul, which I find overrated.

I give Effie Joe Stock props on the editing, as I didn’t see any typos or grammatical errors. But there were too many redundancies in the prose. Despite the slow pace, chapter twelve was interesting. Chapter thirteen continued to exhilarate me, and it upped the pace. Then it slowed down again. The Letter to the Readers was a captivating addition to Moon Soul. The Planets We Become is Nathaniel Luscombe’s best work so far. I would disagree with any rating lower than three stars. Although I issued this novella a three-star rating, I enjoyed it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.



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