Robert Friedrich's Seed of Evil: An Ancient Evil Rises was published in February 2014.
Infomation about Robert Friedrich:
Robert Friedrich is an author who writes in a multitude of styles which include Novella's, Short Stories, Poetry and even Screenplays. His books are famous for taking an unconventional route through the darkest of places and emotions, and are generally driven by fast paced action and direct-from-heart dialogue. His current releases include: The Darkness Within: A Novella, Enlightened by Darkness Anthologies, The Book of Metal Lyrics and Seed of Evil, which is the first part of an entire up-coming Saga. Robert surprises his audience by how different, each of his book's tone, message is and how they are visually descriptive. He also designs his own book covers and trailers.
"A fictional Dystopia is better than a fake Utopia." - Robert Friedrich
Click here to visit the author's official website.
Information about Seed of Evil: An Ancient Evil Rises:
THE SAGA OF EVIL BEGINS...
From a distant galaxy far beyond our time, the most ancient of all EVIL awoke before descending upon our unsuspecting galaxy. The planet it reached never faced such a threat, but didn't submit to it, either. In a final attempt to survive, a prison between dimensions was built, the last hope to hold the DARK POWER for an eternity. The planet withered and died, and its people found a new refuge among the stars. That planet is now known as: Mars.
But even eternity doesn't last forever. Ignorance and an infantile arrogance of a nation leads to its release. And once again, it only leaves death in its wake.
Read the fast-paced Sci-Fi/Horror, where the elements of OCCULT meet with an advanced MILITARY thriller, wrapped in a colossal battle between good and evil.
The first part of a new, long-awaited Saga, from the internationally renowned author of "The Darkness Within" will give you a gulp of a SMASH HIT and will leave you wanting more...
A REVIEW OF ROBERT FRIEDRICH'S SEED OF EVIL: AN ANCIENT EVIL RISES
Robert Friedrich's Seed of Evil: An Ancient Evil Rises is the first part of the Saga of Evil series. This short novel was a nice surprise for me, because it's one of the few fast-paced science fiction horror novels that are genuinely entertaining and thrilling. I normally read literary horror fiction and weird fiction, so reading this short novel was interesting for me. In my opinion Seed of Evil: An Ancient Evil Rises is a good example of how entertaining and exciting stories independent authors are capable of writing. (It's possible that Seed of Evil: An Ancient Evil Rises may not be to everybody's liking due to its action-packed story, but it will please readers who like fast-paced stories.)
Seed of Evil: An Ancient Evil Rises is a combination of military science fiction and horror. I have to mention that I've never been a big fan of military science fiction (I'm very difficult to please when it comes to military science fiction), but this novel was of interest to me. Robert Friedrich is one of those rare authors who have been able to make me read military SF. Normally I try to avoid military SF as much as I can, because I've read quite a lot of flat military SF that repeats the genre's worst clichés over and over again without any kind of excitement and style, so it was nice to read a good story for a change.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
At the beginning of this novel Corey wakes up in a hospital room. He's been badly hurt, but he's alive. He is asked what has happened and he begins to tell his story. He and the other members of the Marine Squad were sent to investigate what had happened with the colony on Mars, because all communications and satellite links went dark, and the mining team found a temple of unknown origin in the cave...
Robert Friedrich has an interesting approach to sci-fi horror and cosmic horror. His cosmic horror differs greatly from the visions of the old and well known masters of cosmic horror, because he writes modern cosmic horror and infuses it with furious and fast-paced action, but it's easy to see that the old masters may have been a source of inspiration to him. There were a few elements in this novel that reminded me a bit of certain elements that can be found in some of the stories written by H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith.
I think it's also possible that certain computer games (Doom, Quake etc) and sci-fi horror films (Alien, The Thing etc) may have been a source of inspiration to him and have influenced his writing style. Certain scenes were reminiscent of the action scenes found in computer games.
Robert Friedrich writes clear and stark prose. I personally prefer a bit more literary and poetic prose with lush descriptions of the characters, happenings and places, but I have nothing bad to say about the author's prose, because it fits the fast-moving story perfectly.
The author has an interesting way of introducing the characters to the readers. At the beginning of the story the Lieutenant circles behind the Marines and places files before each Marine and a short description of the Marine is given to the readers.
Robert Friedrich keeps the action going strong from start to finish and knows how to keep up suspense. He writes fluently about what happens to the Marines and how they face an enemy that's beyond anything they have ever encountered before. The Marines have to fight against dead and uncontrollable bodies and bizarre creatures, so there's quite a lot of action, gore and violence in this novel.
In my opinion the author writes about Corey and his attempts to stay alive in an exciting and entertaining way. By focusing on Corey he manages to keep the story interesting, because the action scenes are described from his point of view. One of the highlights of this novel is the scene in which Corey finds a report summary and learns new things about Mars and the force of evil.
I like the way the author writes about the creatures and the Evil, because he effectively shocks his readers with new surprises. He managed to describe the creatures in an interesting way that reminded a bit of the way the monsters were introduced and seen in Ridley Scott's Alien, James Cameron's Aliens and John Carpenter's The Thing.
I give Seed of Evil: An Ancient Evil Rises four stars for its entertainment and excitement values. I can recommend this short novel to fans of fast-paced military science fiction. It will also be of interest to readers who are interested in horror stories, because it's an entertaining combination of science fiction, horror and action.
My final words are: This short novel is good and fast-paced sci-fi horror entertainment!