Thanks to the author's newsletter, I discovered that Bradley James had
penned a prequel short story in his Aftermath universe. It is set before
his first novel, Aftermath: Lunar. I snapped it up.
The story is set on Mars during a very dense dust storm. The principal
character, Elliot Adams, has to brave seemingly impossible conditions to
re-establish blacked-out communications; a daunting task, to be sure.
Red Storm is easily read in one sitting at 57 pages. There is a lot
packed into this story and, as an avid reader of Bradley's work, I relished it.
Astronauts Elliot Adams, Franklin Lewis, and Dr. Elena Vega are conducting a
routine mission on the Red Planet. The trio is caught in an unexpected violent
dust storm and must get to shelter quickly. Elena is injured by flying debris
and needs more medical attention than Elliot and Franklin are trained to
perform. So, while Franklin does the best he can for Elena, it is up to Elliot
to find a way to restore communications to call for help. He makes a promise to
Elena that he will not fail in his task, and he is a man of his word, no matter
what it takes.
Of the many things there are to appreciate in this story, my favorite is
getting to know more about Elliot's partner, Franklin. In Bradley's first
novel, the focus is mostly on Elliot, and while we are aware that Franklin is
his partner, we don't get to know much about him.
Elliot is a man of integrity, and his resourcefulness is a key element in Red
Storm.
Once again, as in all the Aftermath novels, Bradley displays a gift for
writing characters a reader can care about. Another plot point I enjoy in the
writing is the light and often humorous dialog between characters. In this
piece, the banter between Franklin and Elena is absolutely priceless!
The most prominent theme in Red Storm for me was perseverance and the
human spirit. Stranded and alone, Elliot and Franklin put their skills to work
to resolve the overwhelming set of problems they face. They refuse to quit as
they run into one obstacle after another to try to get the job done.
My takeaway: never underestimate a person who decides to follow through. One
may not have adequate resources, but ingenuity can make up for shortfalls.
If one has not read Bradley's Aftermath series, this is a good short story
to get an idea of what to expect in the novels, of which there are three, with
a fourth one coming in the not-too-distant future. But Red Storm only
scratches the surface of a much deeper tale of survival in the most hostile
conditions. This heavily character-driven story is a great one. It fascinates
me how Bradley can put so much story and character development into such a
small space.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
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