Title: To Another Abyss!| Author: Zach Bartlett| Publisher: Spaceboy Books LLC | Pub. Date: May 29, 2018| ASIN: B07D7K9KVX | Genre: Science Fiction| Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 4 | Source: I received a copy of this book from the author for review consideration.
To Another Abyss!
Greg Withers, an idle rich twentysomething, has decided to lend a philanthropic hand to the Pioneer Valley arts scene and his punk friend Decca is more than happy to help him redistribute his wealth. Unfortunately, the indie filmmaker they’re working with accidentally summons an Ancient Unspeakable Eldritch Horror on the first day of filming. And the creature seems to have artistic ambitions of its own!
As their art gallery begins to fill with monstrous fish-people who certainly aren’t going to buy anything, Greg and Decca need to figure out how to stop an Elder God with poor taste before it costs them their lives. Or (arguably) even worse, their reputations.
To Another Abyss! Review
To Another Abyss! is a wild ride into the adventurous world of fine art and fish-people. This book earns major points for creativity. At it’s heart, this is a story of the struggling artist, but add some out-of-this-world creatures, and it’s an imaginative and unique roller coaster ride of prose.
Greg made a fine protagonist, but Decca stole the show with witty dialogue, a bad-ass vibe, and antics that cracked me up. The Elder God, a funny yet pretentious snob with alternative motives, came alive in a believable and enjoyable fashion. Even the indie film director, with all his clichés, made for an excellent addition to the book. Their dialogue came off a little like purple prose in the beginning, but hit a strong stride and sense of plausibility as the story progressed. The cast worked well together, balancing each other’s strengths and weakness, and I felt Greg’s story arc to be natural and organic.
While I enjoyed this novel, I did have a few concerns. Pacing was the largest. Ever story has a starting off point, and I’d argue that this story really started with the appearance of the Elder God. Unfortunately, there was a lot of lead up to that moment. The back of the book summary promises fish-people, but it takes almost fifty pages to get to that moment. In the meantime, the set-up feels a bit long. There’s a lot more “telling” rather than “showing”, which can be fixed with practice. Background information is dumped into large chunks of text, which is a big “no-no” in the book writing world, and I worry readers won’t push through to get to the juicy bits. But please do! Once the story catches up to the back of the book promises, the pace quickens. At one point, I just started laughing and said, “This book is insane!” and got right back to reading. I refused to set the book down until I got to the end and I wasn’t disappointed. If you’re looking for a fun summer read, I recommend!
This book is available for purchase at: Barnes and Noble, Amazon
Nico Bell is a horror and science fiction writer. Her work has appeared in The Second Corona Book of Horror Stories, Drabbledark Anthology and Horror Tree’s Trembling with Fear. She joined the Coolthulhu Crew in May 2018.
