Customer Reviews

The Armageddon Machine

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NOTE: This review was first published on "Red Adept Reviews" on March 17, 2011.

Overall: 3 3/4 stars

Plot/Storyline: 3 3/4 stars

Discovering science fiction while I was in elementary school was the beginning of my long love affair with books, and I still enjoy sci-fi very much. "The Armageddon Machine" is my latest sci-fi read. The novelette had great promise, beginning with the first sentence: Mackenzie watched the universe end. Indeed, the continued existence of the universe was at stake, and if Mackenzie failed to deactivate or destroy the Draconian's Armageddon Machine, the machine could trigger a collapse of space-time that would destroy the universe in a few nanoseconds. (Think of the Doomsday Device in the film "Dr. Strangelove," but on an infinitely bigger scale.) The Draconians didn't mind dying with the rest of the universe's inhabitants, as they believed their sole purpose was to destroy all life in the universe.

Would the Armageddon Machine detonate if Mackenzie's fleet attacked it? The members of the Million Star Council couldn't decide what to do. Time was running out when Metarion, a female of the ancient Xin race, appeared on Mackenzie's spacecraft with some answers that sent Mackenzie on a dangerous mission to save the universe.

Mackenzie's dream had always been to go into space and meet the Xin, an almost extinct race whose knowledge and wisdom were legendary. Mackenzie's interaction with Metarion as she revealed the secrets of the Armageddon Machine and the relationship of the Xin to the Draconians was the most interesting part of the story, as Mackenzie had to decide if he could trust Metarion or if he should rely on his own instincts.

The premise of the story drew me in immediately, and the story was suspenseful enough that I read it through in one sitting. Unfortunately, there were several plot holes or inconsistencies in the story. For example, Metarion told Mackenzie that she would protect him from the Draconian prisoner, but when Mackenzie was attacked by the Draconian, she was powerless to help. To mention other inconsistencies would give away too much of the story. None of these inconsistencies kept me from enjoying the story, but they were annoying, and they could have been easily corrected.


Characters: 4 stars

The characters were from several planets from around the galaxy. None of them were from Earth, but all had a generally humanoid form, and the characters could communicate with each other. The story was primarily plot-driven, and with the novelette length, most characters were not developed in detail. The two exceptions were Mackenzie and Metarion. Both were described in some detail, but their conversations were the key to understanding their background and outlook.


Writing style: 4 stars

The story was narrated from the third-person point-of-view. The author's writing was sometimes quite lyrical, as when Mackenzie dreamed of the universe collapsing into a singularity. Dialogues sounded natural enough, considering that the characters were from different parts of the galaxy and did not fully trust each other. The story involved some advanced physics, including relativity effects, but the author wrote at a level easily understood by non-scientists.


Editing: 3.5 stars

There were too many grammatical and spelling errors that should have been found and corrected before the book was published. The author is British, and British punctuation and grammar occasionally differ from American, but most of the errors that I noticed would have been errors on both sides of the Atlantic. The most annoying error was the failure to use commas when addressing someone, as in "You must trust me Mackenzie."

Encompassing time, space, the philosophy of immortal ancients and the moral uncertainties of short-lived man, The Armageddon Machine is itself a compact particle of extraordinary mass. Kewin takes us from the dreams of a child to the foundations of creation in a tightly controlled arc, finding time for space battles and terrifying alien beings on the way. Highly recommended for SF fans who like to think.