Echo: Approaching Shatter by Kent Wayne

So, I pride myself on trying to be very honest in my reviews.  Then people can love me or hate me, so maybe I should be brutally honest with how I even got myself into the Echo series… and then you’ll probably (read definitely) fall in the hate me category.  Sorry in advance all…

For anyone who follows DirtySciFiBuddha, you might notice that he posts A LOT about his book series Echo.  At first, I downloaded it because I’m all about supporting indie authors and expanding my book horizons.  Then he KEPT posting about it and for a reason I still can’t explain, it irked me, so I moved the book down my TBR list because I’m petty and spiteful and a lot of other awful things.  Finally, I got over myself, realizing that I tell the whole world when I read a book and then shove my obviously expert opinion on them.  That’s not even close to WRITING a book. I decided the right thing to do was return to the original plan: read and review Echo.  And I did… or am?  I’m sorry Kent Wayne (if that is your real name, and I don’t think it is, but that’s just a hunch) for being a jerk.  Now everyone knows and can much deservedly judge me for it.  Phew!  I’m glad that’s off my chest.  Now, on to what we’re all here for…

Atriya prides himself on working hard.  He follows his personal rules around training, thinking, working, and stays in his box.  Until recently.  His thoughts have been getting away from him.  His normal coping mechanisms aren’t helping, and he’s quickly Approaching Shatter, or, in other terms, losing it.  Now he has to figure out what to do with himself and how to fix it.

As always, a few things I didn’t love:

• There are maybe a few too many explanations.  Not as in descriptions… I liked those and will get to them in a minute.  Explanations… as in the main character, Atriya, almost explaining to himself.  Providing examples of what he’s thinking or providing the definition of a word.  Since the story feels very stream of consciousness, it seems unlikely our character would need examples for his own thoughts, so it pulls you out of the story a little.  Also, I don’t think the examples or definitions are necessary, so it was a double whammy in those moments.
• Atriya feels a little know-it-all-sy… it makes him a smidge unlikeable.  But he’s obviously sorting through some stuff, so maybe it’s ok that he’s not likeable.  Are any of us really? Am I after outing my own pettiness?  I guess I have no room to judge here.
• The story only covers like a day.  I don’t know that this is a true “didn’t love it.”  It’s more like intrigue at how the series will play out if we’re only covering a day at a time.  Will there be a bazillion books to get through everything?  Will it all happen in a week?  Who knows?  You, like poor old me, will have to keep reading to find out.

Ok, on to the stuff I DID love

• The term “approaching shatter.”  I have no idea if Kent Wayne (if you could just confirm or deny the name thing, it would really be great) heard it somewhere and did a “rip and reapply” for the book (no judgement; for a phrase like this it feels legit) or if it came out of his head, but either way it’s cool as hell.  I will probably awkwardly try to use it in conversation this week, totally fail, and then compound the situation by trying to describe that it’s from a book as a co-worker’s eyes glaze over.
• The descriptions.  I know nothing about weapons or fighting, but I didn’t need to in order to follow along.  The author brings so much detail to the table that you can imagine everything.  Which is super cool.  And, in the case of the fight scene, a little unnerving.  I feel like he might have some experience with hand to hand combat because the description of this made me uncomfortable in a very good way.
• There’s no love story… yet… (?) and I’m ok with it.  I’ll pause while all of you pick your jaws off of the floor that Ms. Romance Novel is reading and ok with no romance in a story.  Jury’s still out on if I’ll continue to enjoy the book without a little somethin’ somethin’, but for now, I really like that it’s about a dude working through some shit and not dragging anyone else into it… yet… (?)

In summary: I don’t like Sci Fi… or at least I thought I didn’t until I read Echo.  If they’re all like this, I might have to give more books in the genre a try.  If I were you, I’d check it out.