This
review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained
therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to
copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions.
Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted
Permission
Title:
The Lost Years
Series: Hell Divers
#1.5
Author: Nicholas Smith
Rating: 3
of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages:
79
Words: 25K
Publish: 2024
Hell
Divers was written in 2016 and then Smith wrote a bunch more novels
in the series. Then apparently in 2024 he wrote a novella chronicling
what happened to X after the events from the first book and before
the second one. I did not pay attention until AFTER the fact and so
have read this out of publication order. I am a big fan of
publication order, because it means you are reading the series as the
author “intended” it to be.
This
felt exactly the same as Hell Divers in terms of Smith’s writing
ability. Even though 8 years had passed in the real world and Smith
had written many more books, I never would have known by the writing
that this wasn’t written two days after the first book. Smith can’t
write characterization to save his life. X is the same hunk of
plastic that he was in the first book. Now, sometimes that doesn’t
matter and to some people, it doesn’t matter at all. I have found,
and am finding, that it “can” matter to me. Most of the time I
don’t care for a plastic piece being ham handedly moved from Point
A to Point Q. In this series, I am finding that it does matter to me.
I don’t like X, at all. I don’t care if he saves a puppy at the
end, he’s still just a piece of plastic, nothing more and that
bothers me.
Now,
I like all the action and that is what is keeping this from getting
2.5stars, but I must say, I’m going to need Smith to up his writing
game in Book 2 to continue the series.
The
problem is, since Book 2 was written before this novella, and I
noticed zero improvement, I have a VERY bad feeling the next Hell
Diver book will be my last. I’m withholding judgement just to be on
the safe side. Writers have surprised me in the past, so it could
happen again.
*fingers
crossed
★★★☆☆
From
the Publisher
he
was Commander Xavier “X” Rodriguez—with ninety-six dives under
his belt, the most experienced Hell Diver on the airship known as the
Hive. Time after time, he dived through the electrical storms,
returning with parts to keep his home in the sky. Then, on a jump
into Hades, the most hostile environment in North America, he
sacrificed everything for mission and team. They returned to the
airship with the fuel cells needed to keep the Hive running, but X
was left behind.
This
is the story of how he becomes the last man on Earth. His will drives
him to keep fighting, to survive the monsters and the radiation in
the wastes, to find a way back home. But as the days pass, he feels
the things that make him human slipping away. He has become a waif, a
phantom, with little to live for. Then he stumbles upon something
that makes him feel again.
This
is the chronicle of those lost years, told for the first time ever.
