The Speed of Winter (Four Seasons quintet) [Kindle Edition]

B. Morris Allen (Author)

Book Description

Seeds need water, sun, ... and soil.

Elyse was a forbidden child. Her parents gave up their youth for the dream of a new start for humanity. They broke the rules to give their daughter a head start. But when their colony ship arrives, the target planet is a ball of ice, and Elyse is left to watch the adults around her cope with devastating failure, and try to make something out of her own life at the same time.

The Speed of Winter is the first in the Four Seasons quintet, which explores the voyages of four arkships and the fate of those left on Earth.  Winter will be followed by A Heading for Fall, The Loss of Summer, A Commitment to Spring, and Salted the Earth.

Not suitable for children.

This is a 19,000 word NOVELLA.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Kate Onyett at The Future Fire

This is a daring piece of social writing, as it covers years of events and heavy themes with great skill. ... As a novella, it can be enjoyed as an action-packed charting of a dying civilisation, or as a text over which can be mapped those wider questions about the nature of humanity.  ... This novella grabs and engages on many levels. ... This is a well-written, always-interesting and clearly expressed thought experiment in a laboratory of a narrative form.


Dread Central

I found myself not able to turn the pages of The Speed of Winter quickly enough. ... It's a short read (my electronic copy was only 75 pages), but this is only Part One of Allen's Four Seasons Quintet. I can honestly say that I'm excited to read the other three! If sci-fi with a smattering of horror is your forte, pick up a copy of The Speed of Winter!

Papyrus

The Speed of Winter is a short, brutal, but worthwhile look into the darker aspects of science fiction.

Twisted Sci-Fi

... quite compelling, and I literally had a hard time putting the book down.

About the Author

B. Morris Allen grew up in a house full of books that traveled the world, and was initially a fan of Gogol and Dickens. Then, one cool night, he saw the light of Barsoom...

He's been a biochemist, an activist, and a lawyer. He pauses from time to time on the Oregon coast to recharge, but now he's back on the move, and the books are multiplying like mad. When he can, he works on his own contributions to speculative fiction.

 www .BMorrisAllen.com

Product Details

• File Size: 322 KB
• Print Length: 75 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1477428178
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Metaphorosis Books; 1.02 edition (May 5, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0080Y1HR8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,123 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The speed of dark May 17, 2012

By Michael

Format:Kindle Edition

Mr. Allen has written a promising beginning of a forthcoming quintet. "The Speed of Winter" is short, sharp and dark. Mr. Allen writes with an engaging voice with clear, well crafted scenes and fully drawn characters. The story moves with purpose passing through a difficult crucible for the protagonist that leads, if not to a resolution, at least a completion of her character and story. Like "Ender's Game" (and although the stories are entirely dissimilar, there are echoes of Card's masterpiece here), Mr. would do well to expand the work: to give us more characters, and let us revel in intricately brought to life psyche's.
Well worth reading, for adults. I look forward to the rest.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Trapped on board an Arkship with little hope... May 16, 2012

By Heidi_g

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

THE SPEED OF WINTER is a deftly rendered, haunting tale. It makes me think of winters where the snow never has a chance to melt, and every dusting increases the distance between the surface and the frozen ground beneath.

The mirror B. Morris Allen holds up to a broken humanity in this dark fable is relentless; it leaves you gasping for air. A worthy--if disturbing--read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An unflinching look at humanity's dark side January 23, 2013

By ETA: soon

Format:Kindle Edition

(★★★★˝) Does the mere mention of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" or Golding's "Lord of the Flies" make you whimper and want to huddle in a corner? (It's OK--I too was traumatized by having to read them when I did.) If so, then gird yourself before sitting down to read THE SPEED OF WINTER, a compelling, tightly-written sci-fi novelette by B. Morris Allen.

THE SPEED OF WINTER is an unflinching, macabre look at how human nature can devolve to baser instincts when command and other societal structures break down, as well as how disillusionment and fear can sometimes be displaced onto a wholly innocent party. It is also a story about what can happen to a child's mind and soul after being betrayed and abandoned by those closest to her. Unrest and violent acts (including sexual violence) are noted, either before or after the fact, but not in great detail and the scenes themselves are fade-to-black. Nonetheless, the reader is left in no doubt as to what happened.

For me, THE SPEED OF WINTER played out like a movie, alternating between cutaways to the narrator's video diary (my input here) and what occurs on the Arkship once the crew realizes that, after centuries of travel in cold sleep, their new home is an ice planet. The Arkship essentially becomes a dystopia-like environment as the crew grapples with being stranded with no viable alternative. The story covers a long time span so the reader only gets glimpses of critical events. Some may find the jumps in time a bit disconcerting but I thought that it mirrored how a person's mind would jump from event to event when thinking about the past.

The only reason that I didn't round up to 5 stars is that THE SPEED OF WINTER's short length limited character development and left too much unsaid. In addition, I kept wondering about certain things. [hidden spoiler removed for Amazon] But maybe this was the author's intent? After all, a person's mind, left unfettered, can imagine a multitude of scenarios.

THE SPEED OF WINTER effectively wiped away any lingering traces of my light holiday books and thoroughly cleansed my reading palette. Call me a masochist but despite its bleak storyline, Mr. Allen's excellent writing and storytelling has me impatient for the next installment in the Four Seasons quintet.

* Copy provided by the author for an objective review.

More About the Author

B. Morris Allen grew up in a house full of books that traveled the world, and was initially a fan of Gogol and Dickens. Then, one cool night, he saw the light of Barsoom...

He's been a biochemist, an activist, and a lawyer. He pauses from time to time on the Oregon coast to recharge, but now he's back on the move, and the books are multiplying like mad. When he can, he works on his own contributions to speculative fiction.

www.BMorrisAllen.com