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dantastic's review
4.0
When a bunch of clones search for the origins of human life through genetic experiments, they uncover something far older and more sinister...
Black Site is a sf horror novella with Lovecraftian overtones and one hell of a read. Alpha and his fellow clones were innocently dabbling with genetic manipulation when they accidentally unleash a life form from the dawn of the universe. Awesomeness ensues.
As impressed as I was with [b:Revolver|32055811|Revolver|Michael Patrick Hicks|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473967904s/32055811.jpg|46106816], Black Site is even better. It has that claustrophobic feeling that the Alien movies share as well as an undercurrent of insanity. MPH has crafted a brutal horror tale here. Four out of five stars.
Black Site is a sf horror novella with Lovecraftian overtones and one hell of a read. Alpha and his fellow clones were innocently dabbling with genetic manipulation when they accidentally unleash a life form from the dawn of the universe. Awesomeness ensues.
As impressed as I was with [b:Revolver|32055811|Revolver|Michael Patrick Hicks|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473967904s/32055811.jpg|46106816], Black Site is even better. It has that claustrophobic feeling that the Alien movies share as well as an undercurrent of insanity. MPH has crafted a brutal horror tale here. Four out of five stars.
errantdreams's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Michael Patrick Hicks brings us the bio-horror tale, Black Site. It’s a blend of science fiction and horror that takes place on an abandoned mining colony, in a lab. All of the characters were vat-grown from manipulated DNA taken from “Papa.” Alpha is the oldest, the most similar to Papa, and seemingly the leader. He’s worried about the latest clone, Victor. The whole point of the project is to work backwards through human DNA to find the original progenitor to all life on Earth. Whenever Alpha is near Victor, his head hurts, and Victor doesn’t look all that human. Soon he decides that it would be a very good idea to terminate Victor’s life.
I was a little unhappy with how the only female character–Echo–was treated. As the only female naturally she’s sleeping with our main character Alpha, and she has the usual soft-heartedness. However, I do like the fact that there’s an aspect of, ugh, these two are basically clones of the same person (just with a few tweaks) and yet they’re having sex. It’s one of those random things you have to wonder about when dealing with genetic experimentation.
While I love what eventually turns out to be going on, and why, it comes a little too easily. Alpha comes up with a fairly complex explanation of what Victor is with very little information to work with at first, which was just kind of, “huh?”
Luckily the setting and the plot and the events that happen are all really interesting. I’m glad I read this book.
I was a little unhappy with how the only female character–Echo–was treated. As the only female naturally she’s sleeping with our main character Alpha, and she has the usual soft-heartedness. However, I do like the fact that there’s an aspect of, ugh, these two are basically clones of the same person (just with a few tweaks) and yet they’re having sex. It’s one of those random things you have to wonder about when dealing with genetic experimentation.
While I love what eventually turns out to be going on, and why, it comes a little too easily. Alpha comes up with a fairly complex explanation of what Victor is with very little information to work with at first, which was just kind of, “huh?”
Luckily the setting and the plot and the events that happen are all really interesting. I’m glad I read this book.
lilyn_g's review
4.0
Black Site is a little hard to define. It’s a science fiction short story in which horrible things happen, and there’s a touch of horror, but I have trouble saying it’s a sci-fi horror. Instead it feels more like a thought exercise regarding the dangers inherent in looking for the answer to life’s mysteries. It also raises some questions about clone behavior and genetic tampering amongst as well.
The plot of Black Site alone was fascinating. I don’t think I’ve ever read another book or short story with a variation on this particular plot. One of those times when you just have to kind of sit back and wonder how in the world the author thought of it. He works the Lovecraft elements in well, but it’s the science fiction side of the story that is the most appealing.
I wanted to like Black Site more than I did. I feel like it was just too short, though, and that worked against the story. I wanted to get involved in what was going on. I felt like it could have been a trippy read that mentally stimulated me and kept me wondering, but it didn’t. Instead, because things moved so quickly, I didn’t have time to really get invested in what was going on. Or have time to wonder about what was happening. There was also a section regarding Victor’s ‘origins’ that didn’t sell to me because it needed spun out a bit more.
Black Site is well-written, regardless of the length issues. I would like to see this as a sci-fi video short. It has that kind of feel, where a visual representation would be fantastic to see. I have a feeling this want of mine started when I saw the cover reveal for the book. The cover for Black Site is the whole reason I got it. It made me perk up and go “Ooh”. I’m not often one of those people that will buy a book based on cover alone, but this one totally got me.
This was difficult to rate. The true rating came out to about a 3.5 (and I know from looking at Goodreads that I’m in the minority with that opinion). Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood that weekend to read Black Site. Who knows. But, since I don’t rate in halves, I rounded up to a 4 because of the fact that it looked professionally edited, was well-written even if it didn’t grab me, and had that completely awesome cover.
The plot of Black Site alone was fascinating. I don’t think I’ve ever read another book or short story with a variation on this particular plot. One of those times when you just have to kind of sit back and wonder how in the world the author thought of it. He works the Lovecraft elements in well, but it’s the science fiction side of the story that is the most appealing.
I wanted to like Black Site more than I did. I feel like it was just too short, though, and that worked against the story. I wanted to get involved in what was going on. I felt like it could have been a trippy read that mentally stimulated me and kept me wondering, but it didn’t. Instead, because things moved so quickly, I didn’t have time to really get invested in what was going on. Or have time to wonder about what was happening. There was also a section regarding Victor’s ‘origins’ that didn’t sell to me because it needed spun out a bit more.
Black Site is well-written, regardless of the length issues. I would like to see this as a sci-fi video short. It has that kind of feel, where a visual representation would be fantastic to see. I have a feeling this want of mine started when I saw the cover reveal for the book. The cover for Black Site is the whole reason I got it. It made me perk up and go “Ooh”. I’m not often one of those people that will buy a book based on cover alone, but this one totally got me.
This was difficult to rate. The true rating came out to about a 3.5 (and I know from looking at Goodreads that I’m in the minority with that opinion). Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood that weekend to read Black Site. Who knows. But, since I don’t rate in halves, I rounded up to a 4 because of the fact that it looked professionally edited, was well-written even if it didn’t grab me, and had that completely awesome cover.
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