A Hole In The World by Weston Ochse - Modern Military Fantasy At Its Best

 

A Hole In The World by Weston Ochse

While scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, I came across a post from Weston Ochse where he shared a review of A Hole In The World. The reviewer left no doubt that he/she didn't appreciate the book and, with much malice, virtually shredded it. First, I want to compliment Weston on sharing a harsh review of his own work; it takes guts to acknowledge what I thought was unfair and way over-the-top. I've read Weston's work in the past and enjoyed it, but when I saw that review, I knew I had to get a copy and read it. Nothing could be as bad as the description from my fellow reviewer (who I don't care to know).

I wasn't sure what I was getting when I downloaded this story. I was expecting more of a military sci-fi tale. It is a military tale, but there is very little sci-fi to this. It is pure military fantasy. 

The story is told from the point of view of a strong female character named Laurie May. She is a member of an organization that aggressively investigates (meaning sometimes fights) malicious paranormal beings. The attention of her organization, Special Unit 77, is piqued when a missing town in South Dakota. The strangest thing at the beginning is that everyone that lived in or around the town doesn't realize it is missing. As a matter of fact, it never existed as far as they are concerned. Only one person, a Native-American man calling himself Francis Scott Key Chases The Enemy, knows the place existed, and it has disappeared.

A similar incident happens in England, where Laurie is sent to investigate and offer aid wherever she can.

Paranormal mayhem ensues when she discovers she is involved in a massive war between two factions in the Fae realm. it became a brutal and bloody fight for survival to keep the fighting from spilling into the world as we know it.

Laurie May is a great character following in the tradition of many characters; one that comes to mind is Ellen Ripley. She is tough, but she cares. She knows how to take care of herself in a fight. When Laurie becomes a part of the team in England, she's more-or-less told to stay out of the way. As time passes, she earns a place in the team as they learn of her skill and ability to think on her feet and adapt to numerous situations. 

My other favorite character is Francis. With a name like his, who cannot like him. He strikes me as a kind of Native-American poet/philosopher/warrior. I was hoping to see a lot more of him in this story. He's someone I want to get to know.

As far as plot points in this tale, I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the characters and the battle scenes. As I mentioned before, the battles are brutal, and some descriptions are graphic in their detail. I don't mind this, but readers who are sensitive to this type of literature may find it unappealing. Aside from that, this book is full of characters who have a lot of fun to read interactions. Their banter is humorous, but not offensive. Oches does a fine job of bringing his characters to life, making A Hole In The World an entertaining read.

My takeaway from this story is how the classic battle between good and evil is usually won by the good side, but only as long as good is ready to get down on the same level of evil and behave as such. Really, the tactics between the two are much the same. 

While fantasy is not my favorite genre, my curiosity was sated in finding this work of fiction was not at all as described by the aforementioned reviewer. The story is solid, the characters are appealing, and the book is wholly entertaining. What more can one ask from an author? I've enjoyed Weston's stories in the past and I did not find the quality lagging, as a matter of fact, I saw growth in the writing from the earlier works I've enjoyed.

I recommend A Hole In The World for those who enjoy fantasy in a modern setting with modern technology as a tool to fight the good fight.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The American Library Association calls Weston Ochse "one of the major horror authors of the 21st Century." His work has won the Bram Stoker Award, been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and won four New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards. A Writer of more than thirty books in multiple genres, his Burning Sky Duology has been hailed as the best military horror of the generation. His military supernatural series Seal Team 666 has been optioned to be a movie starring Dwayne Johnson and his military sci-fi trilogy, which starts with Grunt Life, has been praised for its PTSD-positive depiction of soldiers at peace and at war.

Weston has also published literary fiction, poetry, comics, and non-fiction articles. His shorter work has appeared in DC Comics, IDW Comics, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Cemetary Dance and peer-reviewed literary journals. His franchise work includes The X-Files, Predator, Aliens, Hellboy, Clive Barker's Midian, and V-Wars.

Weston holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, and he teaches at Southern New Hamshire University. He lives in Arizona with his wife and fellow author, Yvonne Navarro and their Great Danes.

Well, there it is...

Qapla!

Grunt Life By Weston Ochse - Realistic, Compelling, And Disturbing Hard Sci-Fi Reading

Grunt Life by Weston Ochse

This is another one of those books that was recommended by David Gerrold, along with one I reviewed earlier on this blog, Saturn Run.

Grunt Life is the story of Benjamin Mason, a soldier in Los Angeles on leave from the war in Afghanistan. He is also suffering from PTSD and the story opens with Mason standing on a bridge contemplating jumping off. Before he can jump and end what has become a seemingly intolerable existence, he is approached by a mysterious someone who tells Mason that he is already dead; that he had died in a house fire, and that he is needed for another conflict. Mason calls the man recruiting him “Mr. Pink.”

Mr. Pink is offering Mason a chance to join another army, a far better equipped one than he is currently in, and the stakes may very well mean that he will be helping to save the human race from an alien species called the Cray. There isn’t a great deal known about the Cray other than they have the ability to control minds to the extent that they can manipulate people into doing violent acts, particularly school shootings. They also use humans as antennae to transmit signals to other Cray that are apparently enroute to earth to stage an invasion, although the purpose for the impending invasion is not known.

The entire army is being put together by a corporation, since Governments are not willing to acknowledge that there is a threat, and even if they did, all the government backed militaries are not equipped to fight the aliens. Mr. Pink is a representative of the corporation known as Ombra Andre his entire army is made up for soldiers that have contemplated or attempted suicide after fighting in wars.

Once their very unusual training is completed, the squad heads to Mt. Kilimanjaro to fight at one of the major locations that the Cray have set up bases. Several plans and attacks are made with limited results, but Mason and his squad fight on.

This is a well written story that is quite compelling on many levels. First and foremost, the author explores just how many returning vets suffer effects of fighting in war. Then there are the interactions between the people involved in the story. The characters are well developed with background enough to make the reader become invested in them. Mason himself has been through a lot, enough for him to attempt to take his own life because of what he has seen and what he sees as his future. When he is given a new direction by Ombra, he fights and becomes a hero, and example for the other soldiers that inspires them.

I should caution you though, if you are considering reading this story, there are many graphic scenes of violence against both humans and Cray. The descriptions are very detailed and could be disturbing to the unwary reader.

For me, the most appealing aspect of this book is that the characters were real to me. They were just regular people with extraordinary problems in an extraordinary situation.

Well, there it is…

Qaplah’!