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A review by nooralshanti
Black Seeds: SF Novelette by Stjepan Varesevac Cobets
5.0
Black Seeds by Stjepan Varesevac Cobets is an excellent Sci-Fi novelette that I couldn't put down. As with each of the other SF books by this author I finished the book with a feeling that THIS is how SF should be done.
The first chapter had a bit of a slower style, telling us the history of this planet and the tribe that lives on it . This part felt a little slow and I was just starting to hope that the style of the entire book wouldn't be like this when chapter one ended and chapter two switched to a much more immediate and gripping storytelling style with a human protagonist who is forced to cut his vacation short in order to go to this planet as part of a military force.
What follows is an excellent tale that digs deep into how human greed and wars are driving the destruction of Earth and many other planets as well. I really appreciate the author's thoughtful SF style and the way his stories always pose some deeper questions about human nature, conflict, industrialized progress, and whether there is a better way to structure our society or civilization.
But this story is much more than that. It's got several different and very creative life forms that I could imagine vividly and found creepy - and at the same time super exciting to read about! There's also a crazy revelation at about 42% through the story that I LOVED. I can't spoil it here - go read the story right now! - but I will say that this revelation alone made me change my mind about the star rating and up it from a 4 to a 5 without hesitation. It's just beautiful and imaginative and mind-blowing!
A must-read!
The first chapter had a bit of a slower style, telling us the history of this planet and the tribe that lives on it . This part felt a little slow and I was just starting to hope that the style of the entire book wouldn't be like this when chapter one ended and chapter two switched to a much more immediate and gripping storytelling style with a human protagonist who is forced to cut his vacation short in order to go to this planet as part of a military force.
What follows is an excellent tale that digs deep into how human greed and wars are driving the destruction of Earth and many other planets as well. I really appreciate the author's thoughtful SF style and the way his stories always pose some deeper questions about human nature, conflict, industrialized progress, and whether there is a better way to structure our society or civilization.
But this story is much more than that. It's got several different and very creative life forms that I could imagine vividly and found creepy - and at the same time super exciting to read about! There's also a crazy revelation at about 42% through the story that I LOVED. I can't spoil it here - go read the story right now! - but I will say that this revelation alone made me change my mind about the star rating and up it from a 4 to a 5 without hesitation. It's just beautiful and imaginative and mind-blowing!
A must-read!