Becoming Human by @elizagreenbooks - excellent use of foreshadowing

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Becoming Human

The Exilon 5 Trilogy, Book 1


Written by Eliza Green



Genre: Science Fiction


Book Synopsis

Two worlds. Two species. One terrifying secret.


In 2163, a polluted and overcrowded Earth forces humans to search for a new home. But the exoplanet they target, Exilon 5, is occupied. Having already begun a massive relocation programme, Bill Taggart is sent to monitor the Indigenes, the race that lives there. He is a man on the edge. He believes the Indigenes killed his wife, but he doesn’t know why. His surveillance focuses on the Indigene Stephen, who has risked his life to surface during the daytime.

Stephen has every reason to despise the humans and their attempts to colonise his planet. To protect his species from further harm, he must go against his very nature and become human. But one woman holds a secret that threatens Bill’s and Stephen’s plans, an untruth that could rip apart the lives of those on both worlds.

BECOMING HUMAN, part one in the Exilon 5 trilogy, is a science-fiction adventure that you won’t want to put down.

Mark's Rating





Mark's Review


This book demonstrates why I read Indie books and have enjoyed doing so immensely. Yes, some self-published books don't deserve to see the light of day, but this isn't one of those. Far from it. It was exciting and it had mystery. It sets up the next book while still giving you closure in this one—a difficult task for a book in a series.

But it isn't perfect, though close. If Amazon had half stars, I'd give it 4 and a half, but since I round up, it's a 5. I didn't know if it was going to be a 4 or a 5 until the very end. I was leaning toward 5 when I noticed that there was only 10% of the story left. It was then that I realized that the ending was probably going to be abrupt and it was a little bit. How abrupt it was would determine if the rating went down to a 4 or up to a 5 (from a 4.5 of course).

A 4 would have left me feeling cheated because I wouldn't have learned enough about the terrifying secret the author refers to in the synopsis. It's a 5 because I learned just about everything about the secret (though the author could always throw a curve ball in the second book). The last bit of knowledge comes in quickly during a conversation in the last 5% of the story. A little bit of an info dump, but I'm splitting hairs. The ending's fine. Ignore what I just said.

Another problem some might have is with the number of view point characters. But it's hard not to with this kind of story. There's a large cast of characters, some of them on Earth, some on Exilon 5. At least it was written in 3rd person. I don't think I would have been able to read it in multiple 1st person.

There were times that I was slightly confused and just had to keep reading, but for me that happens with any book with a large cast of characters. At that point I'm more concerned with how much I'm enjoying the story. If I am, I tend to ignore any confusion on my part. And when it was over, I immediately checked Amazon for book 2. Darn, I'll have to wait.

I want to share something but to do so fully would be to spoil the ending (and I'm not going to do that), so this won't make sense unless you read the book and pick up on what I did. I'd barely started reading when I asked myself, "Is the author lazy?" It was a minor thing, so I kept reading. When I got about half way—maybe a little more—I realized it wasn't laziness but foreshadowing (I just didn't understand the minor detail at the time), which kind of explains why I wasn't surprised by the ending or even the set up of the ending.

I saw it coming but not because I'm super sluethy or whatever. No, I saw the ending coming because I was being nit-picky and picked up on the foreshadowing before it became super obvious (which is the ending). That probably didn't make any sense. Just read the book. If you don't get it, I'll be happy to explain it to you. (This is an invitation to the author as well. If you'd like to know what I'm talking about, just ask.)

Review Disclaimer: I picked up a free copy of this book during a Kindle Select Free Day promotion on Amazon. I was not asked to review the book directly by the author. The above thoughts are my own.