Author Greg Hickey’s debut science-fiction novel Our Dried Voices is a must-read. Published November 4, 2014, through Scribe Publishing Company, Our Dried Voices is available at Amazon for $2.99 in the Kindle store.
Hickey gives his readers an interesting look into a possible future for our world; one in which virologists become unnecessary after discovering cures from everything from AIDS to the common cold. Three centuries fly by with mankind inventing and creating, destroying, and rebuilding, until the third attempt to send a colony to a new and fertile planet is successful, but what happens afterward is where the real story begins.
Greg Hickey takes his readers on a journey alongside Samuel, a descendent of the colonists who arrived on Pearl centuries ago. Rather than telling a story, Hickey invites us to explore and learn at the pace Samuel must learn at after years of knowing nothing but waking, eating, sex, eating, playing, eating, sleeping, and repeating day after day. When the perfection of his society begins to break down, the Heroes come and everything changes.
Samuel’s story is full of new emotions, new ideas, and a slow progression of cognitive thought. Suddenly both Samuel and the reader can see the world for what it is, and by the end of this page-turner, the reader is filled with satisfaction.
The storyline is a linear progression and the preceding chronology is definitely an eye-opener. Despite being a list of man’s progression, it allows the reader to fully comprehend the staggering differences between the rise and fall of mankind. The manuscript following Samuel’s journey provides even better insight, fully explaining the few questions Samuel’s story fails to answer.
What really drew me in is the awful truth, the terrible reality of what could potentially befall mankind. As we advance technologically, we begin to take advantage and feel a sense of entitlement. What we have today was difficult, if not impossible, to achieve merely ten, twenty, or thirty years ago. What Hickey provides is a possible scenario, answers to several “what-if” questions, a horrifying reality in which man achieves all it can before allowing itself to dwindle into a poor shadow of its previous glory.
Everything about this book is amazing, however, it would have been a 5 star rating from me had there been something left to contemplate. There is little to dwell on as Hickey has already provided the answers to questions, both asked and unasked, leaving the reader entertained but not necessarily inspired or really left with anything else to truly think about. Revisiting Samuel’s colony, wondering about what could have happened on Earth, and other small questions come to mind, but at the end of the novel, I felt the firm closing of a door, a sense of finality and no real necessity for a sequel or even of further investigation into the plot. I was entertained and able to walk away pleased with the plot and the decision Samuel made, but again, leaving a few bread crumbs for the reader would have given this book that extra star.
Have you already read Our Dried Voices? Let us know what rating you give it and why in the comments below!
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