Publishers: N. H. Brown
Pages: 40
Main Characters:
Mackay, Hayley Drasic,
Donald Mathews-Vartini
Dead Eyes is a
collection of three short sci-fi stories by author N. H. Brown. For fans of
historical fiction, Nick also writes the amazing Agent of Rome series that I have reviewed here. The three stories
are called: Dead Eyes, Four Numbers and
Afflict. The stories are based on
different characters whom seem to all co-exist in the same universe.
Dead Eyes tells
the tale of Captain Mackay, a down on his luck Captain looking for his big
break. Mackay and his crew are somewhat like bounty hunters but instead of
hunting people, the crew look for rare resources on distant planets in the
universe. Mackay finds his break on
the planet of Chasseur-Malcom where a huge deposit of crude oil has been
discovered. Mackay and his crew must race to the newly surveyed planet before
his competitors can lay claim to the lucrative crude oil. However, what Mackay
and the small crew of the Great White discover
there is far more dangerous than their competitors.
Hayley Drasic is a soldier serving on Cygna 8, a small human
colony on the far reaches of space. With a population of around 600, most
people believed that the planet should have been abandoned when ruthlessly
invaded by a mysterious alien race. However, orders are orders and the defence
force fought valiantly against the ‘Sticks’(as the bionic aliens have become
known). Nevertheless, the humans have been pushed back into a canyon and the
future looks bleak for Hayley Drasic.
The final story is very short and I think the most
intriguing. Donald Mathews-Vartini is met by a mysterious figure in his office.
The strange looking man offers to take all of Earth’s most evil people and
wrong doers and make them disappear. Though the offer seems too good to turn
down, the stranger’s plan for the wrong doers are never revealed. Could they come back to haunt Donald in the
future?
I really enjoyed these short stories and it was very interesting
to see Brown turn his hand to Sci-Fi. Each story teased me enough to want to
know more about the characters and read more about them.
I also thought the stories were unique in their sci-fi
setting because they weren’t too heavily focused on futuristic science.
Different cultural identities still exist from Earth in Brown’s universe and
their goals still feel human. What I mean by this is that Earth is still
looking for oil on far off planets and still has problems that affect humanity
today. In some respects, I found this limited the stories because I like
my Sci-Fi to be epic and be withdrawn from the plights of humanity today.
Nevertheless, I did like the stories and would be interested to read more about
these characters, especially Mackay and the crew of The Great White.
Dead Eyes is priced
at £0.99 on Amazon at the minute and is a steal at that price so go and get it!
If you like Sci-Fi definitely check it out and let me know what you think of
the short stories!
For author’s official website click here.
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