Scan barcode
A review by silenthillda
Catalyst by Brian Evenson, B.K. Evenson
3.0
I’m a huge Survival horror gamer fan. I’ve played many of the staples from Silent Hill to Resident Evil to Fatal Frame, you name it. Dead Space universe is in my top 5 favorite series in the genre. The remake for this 10+ year old series’ first adventure is set to release at the end of this month (January 27, 2023) and I am going down memory lane re-reading/finishing many of the franchise’s forms of media. The movies, comics, spin-off games, and books I will be devouring. So this time around it’s Dead Space Catalyst.
It’s another prequel to the first game but this time around it’s a new cast of characters not based on any figures mentioned in the games at least that I know of. We follow 2 brothers and their lives growing up in poor conditions and having all sorts of bad luck. I won’t say much but one brother ends up going to prison and the other laments their upbringing and wants to save him. Is the elusive marker or unitology behind all this?
This book was messy but kept my intrigue. The opening chapters are slow paced but it felt cozy and centered, at first I thought. I appreciated getting to know the brothers and the people in their lives. The middle is when the pacing gets wobbly. B.K. Evenson’s first outing, Martyr, was fast paced with lots of characters but still felt exciting. This one meanders. Also one of the brother’s may be schizophrenic which I guess may seem interesting against the marker which boggles the mind but you walk a fine line adding that. It can come off distasteful. Not enough questions answered why the brother is like this other than an abusive parent and maybe the poor slumps they grew up in.
The last few chapters picks up real well bringing the dead space action we come to know. I got so excited. All storylines colliding but unfortunately brings it to a whimpering crescendo end.
This one is harder to recommend, while its bookends strong it ultimately fails. While not a real hot mess, I can only suggest to hardcore fans who want to know every inch of the universe and story. I still had fun with this one but there were points I wanted to take a break. Hope this helps.
It’s another prequel to the first game but this time around it’s a new cast of characters not based on any figures mentioned in the games at least that I know of. We follow 2 brothers and their lives growing up in poor conditions and having all sorts of bad luck. I won’t say much but one brother ends up going to prison and the other laments their upbringing and wants to save him. Is the elusive marker or unitology behind all this?
This book was messy but kept my intrigue. The opening chapters are slow paced but it felt cozy and centered, at first I thought. I appreciated getting to know the brothers and the people in their lives. The middle is when the pacing gets wobbly. B.K. Evenson’s first outing, Martyr, was fast paced with lots of characters but still felt exciting. This one meanders. Also one of the brother’s may be schizophrenic which I guess may seem interesting against the marker which boggles the mind but you walk a fine line adding that. It can come off distasteful. Not enough questions answered why the brother is like this other than an abusive parent and maybe the poor slumps they grew up in.
The last few chapters picks up real well bringing the dead space action we come to know. I got so excited. All storylines colliding but unfortunately brings it to a whimpering crescendo end.
This one is harder to recommend, while its bookends strong it ultimately fails. While not a real hot mess, I can only suggest to hardcore fans who want to know every inch of the universe and story. I still had fun with this one but there were points I wanted to take a break. Hope this helps.