Indie Author Spotlight: R. Leib
The Negative's Tale
Amazon description:
On a space station in Earth orbit, something terrible has happened to Bertie Lindermann. Normally, the investigation would be a job for station security, but this is not normally. Allon Wu might be the last person anyone would pick to unravel a high profile mystery, but circumstances have thrust that responsibility upon him. With deceit the order of the day, who is not a suspect? Is this an isolated incident, or the precursor of a maelstrom that could throw Kostya station into chaos? With an unknown deadline, uncertain resources, and a personal tale of fantastic obsession, can he navigate the currents of intrigue and curtail what may be an evolving crisis before it is too late?
I really like the science fiction sections of this
story. They have the feel and excitement
of good old-fashioned sci fi, set on spaceships and space stations and strange
planets. There are alien races, new
technologies, clone dilemmas, and interesting space-related issues. I love how the main character sells fresh,
"designer" air to people on the space station who are tired of
recycled air.
Overall, the story does fees a little unfocused. Along with the classic sci-fi elements, there
are psychic powers that feel more like fantasy.
The long flashbacks to Allon's education remind me of a boy-goes-to-school-of-magic
story. Bits read like a joke book. Then there's the murder mystery/detective
story worked in, and a romance. The narration
jumps back and forth in time a lot, sometimes awkwardly. The point of view also shifts, often in the
same scene. This used to be common in
literature, and thus maybe fits with the classic sci fi tone, but it isn't in vogue
at the moment, and risks jarring the reader.
There's nothing really wrong with any of these elements individually,
and many are very entertaining, but all together they create a story that isn't
as cohesive as it could be.
The Negative's Tale has
some errors and typos, but the writing is pretty good.
This is the first book I've actually used my Kindle
dictionary with, which is sort of cool.
Most of the unknown words are biological, shipping, or computer jargon,
and context explains most of them well enough, but it's fun to learn something.
Despite any issues, the book is enjoyable and very
creative. What's more, it doesn't repeat
and over-explain everything to death, as so many books tend to do. Great job on that, Leib!
It also earns my wholesomeness stamp of approval: not a lot of graphic or gratuitous violence, no major "adult" situations, not a lot of profanity. I love novels that prove you can have a good story without all that.
And I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the conversations with the
computer. I laughed out loud several
times.
I would definitely try future works by this author.
êêêê
*I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review*
Interview with R. Leib:
-In The Negative's Tale, some people have clones that they essentially use for spare parts. How likely do you think this is in our own future?
It depends on the ability to do mitotic rather than meiotic cloning. Current cloning technology is by meiosis. An egg manipulated by somatic cell nuclear transfer is implanted and goes through natural development. If you want the equivalent of a 20 year old human, this method will take 20 years to make one. On the other hand, cloning by mitosis (cell division) can produce adult tissue in a much shorter time. If we could take cells from a person and clone them into the parts that constitute a human body, it would give us two advantages. First, the time required would be measured in months not years. Second, we would be able to pick and chose the organs we develop and modify them where necessary. This would allow us to avoid the ethical issue of creating thinking clones.
Today medical researchers are creating individual organs using stem cells and scaffolding. Stem cells are trained to develop into the specific cell types for the organ. As medicine gets better at doing this, more complex organs may be created.
The benefit of creating a clone is that mitosis cloning still takes months. If a person needs an emergency transplant right away, cloning a single organ would not happen fast enough. Assembling organs into a living, breathing clone makes those parts available whenever needed. All that would be required is to give the clone a cerebellum but no cerebrum to make it a medical resource and not a person.
-Which characters were your favorites to write? Why?
My favorite is Mitchell Ebberhaus. He was going to be a background character, but he would have none of it. He insisted on injecting himself into the story. When a character takes a life of his own, it is advisable for the author not to get in the way. I did not write Mitchell. As far as I am concerned, he is entirely organic. He does what he wants, and I am just there to record it.
-Did you do a lot of research in order to write The Negative's Tale?
Yes. I do a lot of research for all of my stories. (I am writing a short story for an anthology called "Yuva". The story is about 25 pages long. The research I collected for it is about four times that long.) Everything in "The Negative's Tale" is based on extrapolations of existing science or scientific theory. I even corresponded by email with Dr. Ronald Mallett about his time-like wave research before including speculation based on it in "The Negative's Tale". (By the way, he was really nice and very helpful.)
-When you write, do you plan extensively beforehand, or just start writing?
Most of the time, I do a lot of planning followed by a lot of research, before I start writing. I need to know the characters. Who they are. What they look like. How they think and relate. Before I start writing about them, I write a short bio for each one.
-Which science fiction books or authors have influenced you the most?
Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. They were the companions of my youth. Whenever my mind travels to another planet or delves into the psyche of a machine, what they wrote still speaks to me.
-What are you working on now?
I had planned to use characters from "The Negative's Tale" in three other books, but only one of those novels was intended to be a sequel of sorts. Then I published "The Negative's Tale", and the first reviewer asked for a sequel. That got me thinking, and I started researching and planning the "Tourist of Infinity". It is a direct sequel to "The Negative's Tale". Allon Wu and Mitchell Ebberhaus will be dissecting another twisted mystery. I am about half way through the first draft. (Yes. I am a slow writer.) It should come out sometime next year.
Then there is the story for the "Yuva" anthology, “Planetfall”. Also, I occasionally take a break from working on the novel to write a short story.
-How can fans contact you?
Through my Goodreads page at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7221195.R_Leib
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