Today, in association with Rachels Random Resources, I’m on the blog tour for Overstrike: Volume I of the Fixpoint Trilogy by C.M. Angus.
When Matt Howard’s grandfather told him he must alter history to protect his newborn son, Matt thought the old man was crazy…
…Then he realised it was true.
Overstrike spans 4 generations of a family haunted by the prospect of an approaching alternate reality where their child has been erased from history.
Touching on themes of retro-causality, ethics and free will, and exploring ideas of cause, effect and retribution, it follows the path of Matt Howard, whose child, Ethan, is at risk, as he, his father and grandfather attempt to use their own abilities to manipulate reality in order to discover and prevent whoever is threatening Ethan.
Overstrike is volume I of Fixpoint, a trilogy about a family who discover their inherited ability to manipulate reality. It enables them to effect changes in order to safeguard themselves and all that they hold dear. But even seemingly small changes in a timeline can have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences. Follow the stories of the Howards, on a journey exploring reality, time and our own sense of self.
My Review,
The Howard’s are a family with a secret. No surprises there, except that this isn’t an ordinary sort of secret.
With it’s jumping from time to time and from one parallel world to another, you could worry that it would be a confusing read. I must admit that I feared that it might be.
It isn’t.
Writing about cause and effect is tricky. I know because I’ve tried it. It requires a lot of thought and you almost have to write the story backwards, from a known result to a cause, in order to achieve a proper narrative. Everything has to match up.
This is a great tale; a look at the butterfly effect from a brilliant angle.
Of course, it’s complete with disbelieving relatives and psychiatric hospitals, people whose intentions might not be pure and a sense that there is always another twist coming. It’s edge-of-the-seat stuff. Yet it’s completely believable. There are little things that don’t seem to add up, then a couple of pages later, you realise that actually, they do, the skill of the writer and the effort he’s put in are plain to see.
There is a lot of science, imparted, not as information dumps, but in conversation. This makes it a lot easier to read and understand. It all works, it’s all logical.
This book takes us into the world of alternative history timelines, complete with an explanation of why things were, are and might be, initially confusing, everything becomes clearer as the story progresses.
The Howard family moves from being mere observers to active participants, due to the threat they know is there, yet can’t see. They can’t just let Ethan vanish; something must be done. In an effort to find out where the danger to him is coming from, they decide that attack is the best form of defence.
But they also discover that actions have consequences, not always the ones they expected. The further they deviate, the harder it will be to make things right. There are twists galore and I read on with haste, desperate to find out if Ethan would make it or whether all their efforts would come to nought. The ending is superbly done and draws all the threads together perfectly
The best news, there will be another book, it’s already on my list.
Four Stars.
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Overstrike-Fixpoint-Trilogy-C-Angus-ebook/dp/B0848N8P5J
US – https://www.amazon.com/Overstrike-Fixpoint-Trilogy-C-Angus-ebook/dp/B0848N8P5J
Author Bio –
CM Angus author and writer of Speculative fiction, Sci-fi and Horror grew up in the North East of England and now lives in Yorkshire with his wife and children. He is interested in all things creative & technological.
Currently working on Fixpoint, a series of books with each piece tackling different aspects of discontinuities in time and is a Speculative Fiction spanning 4 generations of a family haunted by the prospect of an approaching alternate reality where their child has been erased from history.
Overstrike, Volume 1 of Fixpoint, will be published by Elsewhen Press in early 2020.
Social Media Links –
https://facebook.com/author.cm.angus
https://amazon.com/author/cmangus
https://goodreads.com/cm_angus
https://elsewhen.press/index.php/catalogue/author/cm-angus/
Giveaway to Win 5 x Overstrike T-shirts (Open INT)
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494349/?
I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.
