Reader Reviews of A Gathering of Rebels
"The
Ben-Drom's Talon"
by C.D. Echterling |
| "Repeatedly...persistently,
the talon reached...." |
|
| Offer the scruff of your neck…it’s
about to be grabbed. This
is space opera at its finest,
with a plot geometry and style
reminiscent of Herbert’s Dune,
yet, in the best space opera
tradition, it holds a cosmic
breadth and scope not seen since Star
Wars.
“Afterward,
it reminded Celac of a giant
fist slamming into some
unsuspecting face, that fist
coming out of nowhere, no
warning….
This time, though, she had
been a finger of that fist…just
a finger.”
And Aeros has
ensured that you, reader, will
also be a finger on that very
same fist — if not the
unsuspecting face it connects
with — for this story will
take you, your mind and
imagination, to their very
limits.
Written with
precision timing, plot and
intrigue, A Gathereing of
Rebels takes us beyond
imagination to mingle with the
alien races of the Omniverse
where interracial harmony is
sought, yet hard-won. Where
godlike beings look on at the
wrangling of lesser species,
their aloofness paid for with a
price. Believing he and his
technologically-advanced fleet of
Translight ships to be in danger
from insurgence, the Ben Drom is
backed into corner upon corner by
the Cadre, an organisation that
seeks to remove corruption from
the Omniversal government.
Cards are played, shown, and
slipped from sleeves as time
after time, plans are thwarted to
be replaced by new, yet less
desirable opportuity.
Pivotal in
these twistings and turnings are
the Syrene, a race enslaved, used
to navigate the ‘not-space’
between universes. And it
is one of these beings, a Syrene
minor, that holds the key to
unlock the Cadre’s
triumph. For the Ben Drom
is sworn to free the
Syrene. Could this one
minor be the hope it promises? Or
will the tiny creature take its
place as a weapon that will
instigate the Ben Drom’s
downfall?
This is not a
lazy read, folks, this is
genius. Time to ask
yourself who’s side you’re
on. (Science Fiction)
—womblin, aka
Diane Oliver Cooper, author and
editor
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Scroll down for
more reviews by readers, authors and
editors
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"I
just finished Part I.
Holy crap! This is so good it makes me want
to read when I'm driving my car - which I did
today on the way home from work.
This is so good, I take it with me to the WC -
well, I do that with anything I'm reading, so
that's not a good example.
This is so good I fall asleep with it in my hands
at 2am - that doesn't sound good,
but I think you know what I mean.
This is so good I feel like I should hang up my
word processor, and call it a day. I do not
have anywhere near the skill this requires.
But don't worry, I'll never really
quit writing. This
just makes me see my own limitations. In a
good way, I think.
I love this book! Bravo!
Huzzah!
Why can't I buy this at B&N?
"I finished chap 94 today - the
last one I have - and I'm all wound up because
I'm left hanging with Quroc about submit to the
biotronic interrogation, and the Ben-Drom
ferreting out what's happening with his fleet,
and all these beings working against each other
who really should be working together,
and...and...ahhhh! I need more!
"Damn!
Damn!
Damn!
That was so friggin' awesome! Wow. I
couldn't put the thing down. Truly
wonderful.
And then you left me hanging, wanting more.
You bastard. 
I loved it, really.
"It
starts slow, but it sucks the reader in, and he
can't leave. It's like the proverbial frog
in the pot of water."
Don Willard,
author
|
| "When I
met Aeros, I had no idea that what he said and
what he wrote would so totally intrigue and
captivate me. When immersed within the world he
brings to life within his books, I live and
breathe that world. A window to the Greater
Cosmos? Maybe. The works are alive -- visual,
tangible, audible. Difficult reading, at first.
The language gets deep in places. But worth the
effort. And usually I don't like science
fiction."
L. Alexander,
journalist
|
| "To anyone
about to embark upon the journey that is A
Gathering of Rebels, I envy
you, for there is only one first read. You have
only one opportunity to experience Aeros'
omniverse as an innocent newcomer. After that,
you return to visit with old friends and to seek
the answers you know are hidden somewhere between
or within the written lines. Because A
Gathering of Rebels is not
strictly entertainment reading, although there is
enough breathless action to keep anyone turning
the pages. It looks at the human experience and
makes us question our comfortable conceptions. "Humans are the
unmet aliens in Aeros' sweeping saga, and yet we
find ourselves looking into a pool of rippled
reflections. We are given more than ample
opportunity for identification, self-questioning,
and hope. From the beginning, the oddities will
enwrap you like a 'Syrene's'
song, while empathy will keep you enthralled. And
when you've read the final page, questions and
images will haunt you for days. I know. I've been
there. I've marveled at Aeros's magic."
Kimberly K.
Comeau, author
|
| "Science Fiction which depicts
alien cultures, despite what it proports to do,
rarely goes beyond the next few steps in our own
technology and most often shows us characters who
are merely humans in alien guise. A
Gathering of Rebels is no
such tale. We encounter here an Omniverse
beyond human comprehension that dares us to
explore and attempt to understand. We are
faced with alien technology unlike any in
fiction, so vividly described that the reader is
transported to the decks of the Regula and still
cannot comprehend how such a ship could be.
"We meet beings more
strange than we could imagine in our fantasies
and of such great diversity that one wonders,how
they manage to work and live together as they
do. But in this, although they share the
human trait of recognizing differences, they,
unlike us, have learned to accept and celibrate
the diversity of the species around them.
Or, shall I say, in most cases. There is plenty
of good-natured ethnic joking and cultural
confusion to keep relationships between the
species quite interesting. Regardless of
their strangeness we grow to love, care for and
cheer on these brave, noble, and quite fallable
souls as they struggle to meet one another
halfway despite their own intentions to do
otherwise.
"Reading A
Gathering of Rebels left me
with two regrets: that the book ended, and
that I was only able to experience the vastness
and wonder of the Omniverse in the pages of a
book."
C.D. Echterling, author
|
| "I pity
poor humans, to live in isolation when the
magnificence of the Omniverse surrounds
you. Such strange and wonderous beings to
encounter, technologies beyond the presumption of
your science and science fiction. And such
adventure too! I am not certain of the
wisdom of writing this saga, The
Gathering of Rebels, for
reading by Tellurians. Though Aeros has
written well! Too well, perhaps. How
are they to take it, alone in their ignorance of
reality? Will the realization only add to
their misery? Let it be legend then as long
as it must--a stirring tale of passion and
greatness and bravery and miracles. So let
it be, for them, until they are ready to
know. Only then will you, Dear Aeros,
be recognized as the great historian you
are. Til then, at least on this planet, you
must remain a talented writer, profound thinker
and moral philosopher, which is perhaps honor
enough for now."
A
Friend
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The
storyline - I loved it. An intelligent and
Machiavellian plot.Wonderful!
The ACTION...raced along.
Comments by Lynn Lancaster, editor-in-chief, Weird
Visions
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