Buy Book "New Dark Ages. Book 1: The Colony" in Ukrainian

My first impression when I got this book in my hands was “WOW”. This is a really huge volume. And this, in my opinion, is a disadvantage. It is simply inconvenient to read. In my opinion, it would be better to make 2 volumes, or even a digital format. As for the text, it’s a kind of hybrid of science fiction and fiction. I don’t even know how to feel about it: on the one hand, it’s informative, on the other hand, too many explanations distract from the plot. To me, there are too many storylines, I had to wade through the first half of the book. It feels like reading several books whose chapters are mixed up. It all doesn’t add up to a whole picture. The author’s vision of Ukrainian realities 120 years later is just darkness. And it is not clear at all why it is here.

My subjective summary is that the book is 900 pages of continuous tie-ups.

I am familiar with several of Max Kidruk’s works: the novels Where There Is No God and Cruel Sky and the collection of short stories For the Future. Looking back at them, I recognize the author’s handwriting. I read this work in 18 evenings. And although it was personally the most anticipated in the science fiction genre, I found both pros and cons in it. Let’s talk about it further.

PROS.

1. Dynamic narrative style. Most of the chapters look like an action-packed blockbuster. You won’t get bored for sure.

2. A successful combination of genres. Drama, thriller, action, comedy, even a little horror – everything is in its place.

3. Really science fiction. The scale of preparation for writing (70 books read) is impressive. Astronautics, the development of colonies on Mars (and there is everything there), climate change, molecular biology, medicine, society, politics (and here are questions) – almost everything is thoroughly researched.

4. Improvement of the author’s previous ideas. Some interesting ideas and concepts from the stories “DNA. Story Seven” and “For the Sake of the Future”. But if they were secondary there, here they are taken as a basis and finalized.

5. Character development. The formation and development of heroes/anti-heroes from and to, with their motivation, history, and background. For me, the most striking in this regard are: Kenton, Mervyn, Elandon.

6. Additional materials. Maps and renders of settlements on Mars, detailed concepts of space, air, and ground vehicles, stylish character illustrations, applications: timing, orbits, trajectories, chronology – all this is admirable and allows you to dive even deeper into the universe of the New Dark Ages.

CONS.

1. The storyline of Felix and Nera. From the very beginning, it looks like a parody. Only in the finale did some light of hope shine through…

1.1. Captain Ed Rusol reminded me of Captain Harris from Police Academy and similar dumbasses. The conversations on the parade ground are typical of “Police Academy”.

1.2. Felix Kutoray is even worse. A clichéd pumped-up and brainless soldier who, having served in a UN peacekeeping operation in Africa and in the Armed Forces, cannot distinguish women with young children and the elderly from armed copperheads in a crowd. The story about the tests is about the intelligence level of kindergarten children, not the military. The scene in the hospital is Deckard Shaw from Furious 7. I have no complaints about Nera Frankiv – she is a well-written character.

1.3. [ATTENTION!!! SPOILER! IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK, DON’T!]

Military operations in Ukraine. In 120 years, humanity has leaped forward rapidly: colonized Mars (more than 100 thousand people), developed in medicine, military affairs, cybernetics, the creation of artificial food, destroyed the environment, survived more than one pandemic, and brought antibiotic resistance to its final stage. It even fought for independence in certain regions of Russia, and some of them won it… Russia, damn it! And Ukraine has been losing territories as before, and has continued to do so. It turns out that, according to the author’s logic, Russians are more freedom-loving than Ukrainians…. Because the only thing the latter have managed to do is to build a “Wall” from Mariupol to Lysychansk and a fence further into the Kharkiv region. Kharkiv is destroyed, Kharkiv residents are naked, barefoot, faceless beggars

“For me, Kolonia became a bridge between the dockside world and the present. It seems like an eternity ago that we were at the #dokisvitlo presentation, without masks, without sirens, and heard that the next book would be released in a few years.

All of Kidruk’s previous books (Don’t Look Back and Be Silent, Look into My Dreams, Stronghold, Bot…) were somehow related to the popularization of science. But The Colony is a completely new level.

The author creates his own universe, where he thinks through not only the characters but also the entire ecosystem to the smallest detail. Maps of the settlements, the life of the colonizers, transportation, food, water, the reasons why people created a colony on Mars and continue to live there.

There is nothing to dig into at all… As a reader, you fully understand how and why everything described in the book happens.

And the coolest thing is that it’s not just fiction, it’s our future. All the technologies described are potentially possible and will most likely appear in the near future.

The author draws you in, makes you google scientific terms, deepen your knowledge of physics, biology, astronomy, etc.

The book also projects current events in Ukraine and the world into the future and the past. It shows the “eternity” of the confrontation between good and evil through the prism of the struggle of Ukrainians against the Russians (although perhaps I just wanted to see this in the text).

900 pages are read in one breath, you will ask the author for more)

The master has reached new heights! And it’s not about the size of the book 🙂 Are you ready to travel to a new reality – the Max Kidruck Universe? 100% immersion!

An incredibly exciting story that does not let go for a moment.

Careful attention to the smallest details, which, however, does not strain the reader, but only stirs up curiosity. The convincing and cinematic nature of the image (what a movie it would be!).

Full-blooded, “living” characters, each with their own cockroaches. A deep disclosure of psychology and a lot of problems raised – modern, future, eternal.

This is only the first book in the universe. And where to get the strength to wait for the sequel?

The only drawback of the book is the capitalization of the word Hosea.