Official Review: Shadow Eclipse Voyage by E. M. Gale

[LeDiplomatique]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Shadow Eclipse Voyage" by E. M. Gale.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Imagine sleeping one night as a human being and waking up the following day, still alive, but as a vampire. As if that is not enough, you are teleported, same day, to an alien planet. Worse, or better still, you realize that you have been thrust 200 years into the future! Ordinarily, Clarke is a promiscuous, theoretical physicist doing her PhD in London. During one of her one-night-stands, she is hypnotized and bitten by her stranger-partner, who happens to be a vampire. When she wakes up the following day, she has trouble remembering the details of the night before, but she can sense her body changing. Her perception of the surrounding becomes heightened. She can sense what people are doing beyond the walls of their homes. Gradually, she is transforming into a vampire, but a different kind of vampire, who is not undead. Her friends are oblivious to her spiritual transformation.

Rob, an experimental physicist, is part of Clarke’s circle of friends. All of them are university students in London. Rob dreams of winning the Nobel prize with his experiments, which are ever failing. He invites Clarke, Mark, Anne, and Anne’s friend, Jane, to the research laboratory to see his latest experiment. In the laboratory, Rob flips a switch on a Helium-Neon laser which is facing a Tesla coil. Consequently, the five students are relocated, both in time and space. They are flung 200 years into the future to new Kyoto on Planet Ragnarok IV. For survival on the alien planet, the five students end up working on a spaceship disguised as a smuggling ship. Clarke takes up the most unlikely job on the ship. Many unsettling discoveries are made during the voyage. Clarke gets to meet her future self, a high-profile vampire General. The group also encounters Rob’s future creations. During the voyage, the friends are kept in the dark about Clarke’s recent, vampire nature. Will they come to the realization that their friend has changed? Find this out by reading this awesome book.

Shadow Eclipse: Voyage by Ella Gale, is a well-crafted, futuristic Sci-Fi. It is written in first-person perspective, from Clarke’s point of view. It contains 39 chapters with attention-grabbing titles. The language is easy to follow. Additionally, there are three kinds of conversations in the book. Two are of the dialogue nature while the third is a monologue. They are skillfully differentiated using different fonts. Firstly, there is the main verbal dialogue of the book, which is written in the standard font. Secondly, there are Clarke’s personal thoughts or mental monologues, which are italicized. Then there is the mind-meld, the Vampire telepathic communication, which is written in the main font, but the font is slightly thinned to look different from the original font. Consequently, this makes it easy for the reader to determine whether they are reading a verbal dialogue, a monologue or a telepathic dialogue.

The book has a captivating introduction, which grips you like glue before catapulting you into a sea of vivid descriptions, all the while, keeping you in partial suspense. This is a book that evokes different kinds of emotions, from exhilaration to disgust and in between. The main themes of the book are piracy, vampirism, Science, technology, aliens, space and time travel. The conflict of the book is large-scale due to the addition of several battles and wars. Furthermore, the inter-character drama between Clarke and Jane enhances the book's conflict and helps drive the plot. Apparently, Clarke’s conflict with her changing self is the one that most drives the entire plot of the book.

The characters of the book are interesting. Just to mention a few, there are, firstly, the two aspiring Nobel Laureates, Dr. Cleckley, the spaceship doctor and Rob. In addition, there is Clarke, a warm-blooded vampire with a pulse, not of the undead kind. In her future, she is a revered General, who evokes fear in all the races of Ragnarok IV. She loves chewing her knuckles when she is nervous. Anne is Clarke’s friend, who loves giving Clarke unnecessary lectures on her promiscuous escapades. As well, there is Price, a violent, cold-blooded, undead vampire, who sets out to seek revenge for the killing of his family. His search for the culprit leads him to the most unlikely person. Clarke is in love with Price until something terrible happens.

I most love that, despite being long, the book is deep and fascinating. I was dismayed when I came to the end of the story, because it was so captivating that I was left yearning for more. Apparently, the reader may find it hard to put down. Ella Gale has done a good job in building her plot. Its expansiveness is enough to sustain the entire story line. I also love the combination of space travel and time travel, both, in one book. The world-building of the book is exceptional. Apparently, Ragnarok IV is a believable world, with unique laws of creation. It is an earth-like planet, where the Japanese habitually take their naps in public places. 1 day in Ragnarok IV is synonymous to 4 Earth-days. It is fascinating how Clarke attempts to use Quantum Mechanics to explain how vampires vanish. I do not like anything least, but the length of the book might be off-putting for some readers.

I came across eleven errors in the entire book, which is a minimal amount for such a long book. I also came across very few profanities. Besides, the erotic content of the book is mute and not of the normal human nature. Accordingly, I recommend this book to readers who do not mind long Sci-Fi books. Time and space travel enthusiasts will greatly enjoy it. It is laden with Science tidbits, which add flavor to the story. If you enjoy books with a strong female presence, this is a book you will definitely relish. I will not rate it 4 stars due to the length of the book, and the errors present because they are grammatical. If they were punctuation errors, some might have been excused as the author’s writing style. However, the grammatical nature makes the errors present to stand out as inexcusable ones. Similarly, I will not rate it 2 stars, owing to its rich conflict and the fact that the content is impressively organized. Therefore, I rate Shadow Eclipse: Voyage by Ella Gale 3 out of 4 stars.

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Shadow Eclipse Voyage
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[Ogoskino]

I really love to see how Clarke fares in her new life as a vampire. This sounds like an interesting story and I look forward to reading it. Thanks for the concise review.

[NetMassimo]

An interesting science fiction interpretation of vampirism in what seems an intriguing story, despite its length. The fact that Clarke lives many adventures and at the same time a personal transformation adds depth to the story. Thank you for your thorough review!

[Tavaiel26]

There seems to be a lot going on in this book! It's good to know that the author used formatting to make the different types of dialog clear and easier to follow! Thanks for reviewing!

[SunVixen]

A time-traveling vampire? Space pirates? This must be a very interesting book. It is especially good that it is written in vivid language.

Thanks for the great review!

[LeDiplomatique]

I really love to see how Clarke fares in her new life as a vampire. This sounds like an interesting story and I look forward to reading it. Thanks for the concise review.

You are welcome. I am glad you liked it. Thanks a lot.

[LeDiplomatique]

An interesting science fiction interpretation of vampirism in what seems an intriguing story, despite its length. The fact that Clarke lives many adventures and at the same time a personal transformation adds depth to the story. Thank you for your thorough review!

You are welcome NetMassimo. I am glad you enjoyed it.

[LeDiplomatique]

There seems to be a lot going on in this book! It's good to know that the author used formatting to make the different types of dialog clear and easier to follow! Thanks for reviewing!

You are welcome. Thanks for passing by.

[LeDiplomatique]

A time-traveling vampire? Space pirates? This must be a very interesting book. It is especially good that it is written in vivid language.

Thanks for the great review!

You are welcome. Indeed it is a book worth reading.