Science Fiction
Choice-based survival stories can be oddly satisfying when they stay clear about the stakes. This one is doing that better than I expected.
An asteroid strike is a neat, properly old-fashioned disaster premise. No faffing about. Just the question of whether you can keep making sensible decisions while everything goes sideways. That suits me more than I’d like to admit.
At this point, I’m more interested in whether it keeps the tension tight than in the prose itself. The prose can work hard if it has to. The panic needs to stay readable.
An asteroid strike is a neat, properly old-fashioned disaster premise. No faffing about. Just the question of whether you can keep making sensible decisions while everything goes sideways. That suits me more than I’d like to admit.
At this point, I’m more interested in whether it keeps the tension tight than in the prose itself. The prose can work hard if it has to. The panic needs to stay readable.
Choice-based survival works best when the wrong decision feels understandable, not just stupid in hindsight. That’s usually where these books earn their keep.
Asteroids are a decent fit for that, because the scale is huge but the decisions are still painfully mundane. Shelter, timing, who to trust, what to risk. Much more interesting than pure spectacle, which tends to get old after the second crater.
Asteroids are a decent fit for that, because the scale is huge but the decisions are still painfully mundane. Shelter, timing, who to trust, what to risk. Much more interesting than pure spectacle, which tends to get old after the second crater.