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Book Review: Conspirator's Odyssey - The Evolution of the
Patron Saint by A. K. Kuykendall
I have to admit that while science fiction was a genre that I
greatly enjoyed as a teenager, it is a genre that I read only
on rare occasions these days. Conspiracy theories on the other
hand is a world I can not resist. There is something hugely
moreish about them, the wilder the better. I have no idea how
many whacked out books on the JFK story I have read!
Author Kuykendall joins together Sci-Fi and New World Order
ideas in Conspirator's Odyssey. From UFO's to Roswell and area
51, the Kennedy assassinations, Watergate, Ronald Reagan's
slide into dementia, Vietnam, even the Bay of Pigs fiasco gets
a mention in this novel. These seemingly unrelated events were
all connected to one common theme, a shadow government, all
along manipulating events to their own ends. This multi decade
black government operation is known as the Aneman Project.
Simply put, the quest is produce a super army, men, who through
genetic manipulation are invincible. The key to this magic
elixir comes from the use of alien DNA recovered from the
Roswell UFO incident in 1947.
At under 230 pages this is a lot of ground to cover, and maybe
too much ground to adequately flesh out the characters and the
real plot. I think that had I read this book at the galley
stage I would have suggested that the author narrow his scope
and spend more time on the plot development.
Print On Demand is both a blessing and a curse in the
publishing world. It was born out of frustration, authors were
frustrated by uninterested agents and uninterested publishers.
If you were not already a NYT bestselling author no one would
even talk to you, never mind publish your book. POD fixed that,
anyone can get a book published today, just submit your
manuscript, whip out the VISA card and away you go.
Unfortunately this has also created a pathway that while
removes the road blocks, also removes many of the useful checks
and balances. A good editor is worth their weight in gold.
Editors do much more that check spelling and grammar, they look
at the shape of the story and its flow.
Kuykendall has a great story line, and one that in my opinion
is very workable. It does however need some tweaks, for
example, for the first 40 pages or so, I had no clue what was
going on, who the people were, or what their goal was. All
became clear a little later, but for a book to be successful
you have to have the reader hooked in the first 20 pages or
they will move on to other, greener pastures..
Conspirator's Odyssey is a good first attempt, and I suspect
that Kuykendall has probably found it to be a very worthwhile
learning experience. I look forward to seeing what his next
book is like.
You can pick up your own copy from Amazon.
by Simon Barrett - 19th October 2008
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Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With
the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is
also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net
and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com
Article Source:
http://www.creativewriter.me.uk
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