Customer Reviews

Human Trial

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read the first draft of Human Trial, and I felt the echoes of other notable science fiction novels, including "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler, "Lucifer's Hammer" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and "Manhattan Transfer" by John E. Stith. It is an alien invasion novel, but it is also a disaster novel along the lines of "The Glass Inferno" by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson and a story of man's sheer will to survive. Timothy Stelly creates a believable milieu of small-town America being turned upside down by forces beyond comprehension, and puts the reader right in the middle of the action.

I'm proud to recommend "Human Trial". Instead of merely escaping, readers will be compelled to think and reflect about humanity in a different light.

The only reason this book didn't get five stars is for numerous trivial matters.

I do not wish to begin the review on a negative note, but I think that they should be recognized.
The first is the numerous grammatical and spelling errors throughout the novel. While none of them detract from the story itself or provide anything more that a momentary distraction from a single sentence, they are so numerous! I realize no novel is perfect and errors are bound to occur, and are forgiveable, it appears that this one escaped the watchful eye of an editor one too many times. BUT, to repeat myself, these errors are small and do not deteriorate the quality or enjoyment of the novel.

The second issue I have with this are some factual inaccuracies that occur, the most glaring being that the book is set in 2008, yet relic terms from the '50s through the '80s seem to be the norm (I will not go into detail for fear of ruining some of the fun, but expect to see the term "Soviet" a lot). But, once again, these do not detract from the storyline or take any enjoyment from the novel.

The third is that characters seem to inexplicably swap positions; the author is talking about one character one second by one name, then all of a sudden referring to them by another name. I will not give away anything from the book, but it is just like this: "John turned around and looked, and as Adam did so, he saw a car." Confusing, right? It happens a few times in there, and if you don't catch it right away, it can throw you for a loop.

HOWEVER, those points aside, I truly feel it is a novel worth purchasing, or at least borrowing from the library. It is fun to read, it captures you and almost makes you feel as if you are a part of this rag-tag group of survivors; the author did what many authors can only hope to do, and that's emotionally involve the readers. There were times I almost swore I was going to either cry or yell, and at times even laughed out loud.
The characters develop very nicely and smoothly, albeit there are times it seems a bit forced, BUT, not so much that a recreational reader can't see past that and still find plenty of enjoyment.

All in all, it is definitely a great read, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good, energetic read. I can't wait for the next installment of this series. You can be sure I will be the first in line!

Human Trial by Timothy Stelly is science fiction, but it is much more. It is a study of average humans in the most desperate circumstances. Can they rise to the challenge? Can they maintain their group cohesion and their sanity in the face of the most cruel of conditions? Ultimately, what do they hold most dear, so dear that they are willing to put it ahead of self? These are the powerful questions that Stelly explores within the fast-paced action of this strongly written novel.

Set in modern California, Human Trial is based on a terrifying premise, that an alien race has taken control of the earth's weather and magnetic field. The reason for this invasion is to test the small number of earthlings who survive a storm of microwaved destruction and paralyzing heat to see if they are worthy of having a future. The novel follows one small band of survivors as they struggle to live, to relate, and even to love.

This is a book that will make you think about what you can handle and about what you value most.

Human Trial is a Sci-Fi story about humanity gone terribly wrong during an international thermal disaster, living in a ravaged terrain and learning, once again, how to survive. The characters run the gamut including all nationalities and races.

The controlling leader, Daron Turner, starts out as a vicious, tough leader that causes fear among the small group of survivors. Out of desperation to find solutions their many problems, mayhem sets in and the group becomes unstable. The raw feelings, anger and killings are not for the faint of heart.

I had difficulty with the long clinical descriptions of rebuilding their small community and feel it took away from the story. I would rather have had more flushing out of the characters that were an interesting gathering of humanity.

The story reminds me of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. Timothy N. Stelly Sr. is working on a sequel titled Human Trial II: Adam's War. It should be interesting. Timothy definitely has his own voice and it is powerful.

Alien beings begin an attack on the Earth in which microwave radiation is used. The temperature soars to over 100 degrees daily. When the microwaves are turned up full force, most humans drop dead on the spot. A small pocket of survivors band together, first in a hardware store, then as their number begins to climb they upgrade to a small motel. Together they try to create a new society.

The cast of characters was ever changing, something you would expect in a post apocalyptic environment where one could succumb to either marauding wild men or wild beasts at any moment. At the center of this tight knit group Daron Turner and his pregnant soulmate Regina attempt to keep things together through a no nonsense plan which includes strict adherence to the rules and an it's-all-about-the-group mentality. Naturally some late arrivals disagree with these methods and cause tension and rivalry within the sect. Many of the old society's problems rear their ugly heads: most notably racism.

Then the aliens reverse the attack and it gets brutally cold.

Human Trial was a well written, well thought out book with plenty of biting, satirical social, religious and racial commentary interspersed within the dialogue. The drama, and the pathos, were nonstop, and I never knew what to expect next. I kept rooting for Daron, Regina, and most of the others in the group, and I was really afraid of what the aliens had in store for them. The story ended a bit abruptly for me, though it did set up Human Trial II: Adam's War, which is the sequel.

Will I bite???

For sure...

Timothy Stelly Sr. has written a wonderful book with his Human Trial, the first in a trilogy of books that detail the adventures of earth survivors after an extra-terrestrial assault on the planet. Human Trial is at once a sci-fi story, a look at the psychology of survival, and a timely cautionary tale regarding current environmental woes; our individual and collective responsibility to one another and to the planet.
An alien race far more advanced than our own uses their technology to heat up the planet and kill off the majority of its inhabitants in one fell swoop. Renegade groups of human survivors have to band together in order to survive. Included in the alien agenda, and this is interesting in that it does not differ much from many theories expressed by modern ufology, - is a hybrid program where the visitors from afar have a plan to breed out the worst in us and maintain the best, adding much of their own mind stuff along the way. The story is told in a straightforward way, and when dealing with out-of-the-box ideas this usually bodes well for writer and reader. This is writing that the likes of Whitley Strieber, Jim Sparks, Jim Marrs and others from the alien neck of the neighborhood would surely enjoy reading.
Human Trial is not only for alien lovers, - far from it. It is an entertaining and intricate story that can be read and enjoyed along with the likes of Mitchener, King, or Peter Straub. One of the best aspects of Human Trial is the dialogue. It resonates as real and when it needs to be gritty it does not shy away. If the world as you know it had ended, you wouldn't necessarily worry about pleasantries and small talk. Stelly intuitively knows what everyday people will do to survive and how their interactions with each other will sound. As the book weaves the tale of people struggling for a future, the reader will flip the pages and take the journey with them. There is not a lot of time for reminiscing, for speculation, for hesitation in their world, and the writer has not hesitated but rather put down on the pages what is happening in the moment. The dialogue is so alive and present that someone involved in cinema would do well to make a treatment of the novel and put it to film.
But for all the action and immediate rhythm, there are inclusions of tenderness and brutality both. Stelly does not shy away from mention of rape, the brutal beheading of a character, - the cinematic violence of 1970's directing icon Sam Pekinpah came to mind. Stelly also understands the difficult nuances of the relationship between Daron, the hero, and Regina. Regina is carrying a child that comes from unorthodox beginnings to say the least, and Daron is willing to discard accepted norms and mores in order to be the man Regina and her unborn child need him to be.
Curious thought processes happen in Human Trial. Or are they curious? Thoughts can be strange things, but how strange? When a female character becomes sexually aroused at the thought of being intimate amidst the end of the world, the reader is challenged to make up one's own mind as concerns how they feel about what is happening, though it is only a character's thought process. Here is one of the places the writing in Human Trial shows that it can describe a battle for human survival, but also shift gears and look out at the world from its characters' secret and sometimes embarrassing feelings. Another way Human Trial is multidimensional is because the characters are morally ambiguous. They have to make their own rules in a post-apocalyptic world. For instance, it is decided that heavy drugs and alcohol are banned, but an alcohol restriction is lifted during one celebration.
And what of the aliens? What are they up to as the rag-tag group of survivors tries to live through a veritable Armageddon? This brings into question a third and timely aspect of the book. The extraterrestrial intelligence speaks clearly near the end of the novel. It outlines the whys and wherefores of its actions, - to a point at least. To paraphrase, we are told that we are not responsible custodians of one another or the planet; that this human trial action will be better for those involved, considering the way we treat our world and one another. It seems that they took a long look and saw that we are still involved in tribalism albeit a more sophisticated one than in times gone past, and have not come to see each other as one and the same in time to save ourselves and the planet.
Give Human Trial a try. Involved are a modern action packed adventure story, a look at human psychology, and perhaps a warning about current earth changes and environmental woes. As we continue on with our decadent and secular habits, many environmentalists, economists, spiritualists, scientists, and even ufologists agree that we are in the midst of some paradigm altering upheavals and changes. Join Tim Stelly's characters in Human Trial. They are a few chapters ahead.