THIS
is a strange one but a very good read. It fits as science fiction but
has a strong fantasy tone. The eponymous perambulating crisis is a
Golem-like monstrosity which turns up in Coventry (yeah, why not?) on
a mission that destroys anything in its way.
Indestructible and uncaring, it strides off through the Midlands
with significant loss of life to harvest body parts from an already
alerted and terrified human being. And then it does it all again,
although by this time it has an entourage of despairing humans.
Our hero – loosely – is Andy, a freelance hack who sees the
arrival and dreams of glory without much thought for anyone else.
Smitherd explains his slightly bizarre attitudes by having him
confess to an undiagnosed Asperger's condition. That provides a neat
twist to his character development.
He trails the alien/beast/Golem, develops an ability to track it,
gets recruited by a scarey but winsome Brigadier Straub (latterly
feminised more completely with the name Laura), frighteningly fettled
by the secret service and finally recruits his own opposite – Paul,
a man with a conscience and similar Stan Man tracking abilities.
This conflict and the fact that Smitherd decided specifically on
casting the senior officer as a woman of exceptional rank provides a
highly enjoyable range of situations.
The story is strong on character study, perhaps less so on plot but
that is part of its charm. Smitherd avoids any pat answers to the why
or where of the Stone Man and leaves us only with the feeling that
this lump of pedestrianised clay is actually beyond our ken in every
sense. Its monstrous but bizarre construction – literally walking
concrete but with technological advantages – ensures plenty of
drama.In fact if this is not eventually a movie then there is no
justice. Though whether Hollywood could avoid making it a B-movie
style The Blob is uncertain.
It would have been easy for Smitherd to decide it was from planet Zog,
or the the star HumptyDumpty or even some transfer from a multiverse
we wish we never knew about. Instead he concentrates on the nightmare
lives into which his various characters and especially the main duo
are plunged.
He has worked hard on his military and secret service crediblity and
it is pretty convincing. I would love him to edit out all of the
'gottens' and some at least of the fucks. His dislike (or realitsm?)
about hacks is palpable and probably fair enough in this century.
He
even admits to re-writing his ending to provide a more convincing
result which I forbear to spoil.
Smitherd is a self-publisher which says a lot about the general lack
of imagination and wit in the world of publishing. He must be
grateful (if probably conflicted) to Amazon. I am into another of his
works and am already feeling hooked. Except for all those gottens....
RapW Dec, 2015
Find this HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment