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Macao Station eBook Mike Berry

Download As PDF : Macao Station eBook Mike Berry

Macao Station eBook Mike Berry

I would give this book six stars, if that was possible. Having just finished it, I am, obviously, still aglow with that feeling -- part sadness that it is over, part contentment and happiness for having had the experience -- you get after turning the final page of a really, really good story. I can't think of anything about this book that did not impress me.

Macao Station by Mike Berry (@XenoMike) is a science-fiction thriller that has everything I loved about the movies Alien, Aliens and Outland: a fascinating and engrossing setting, rich imagery, white-knuckle tension, plot twists, explosive action and intelligent, well-drawn characters.

Set far in the future, the titular space station is a mining outpost on the very edge of human-colonized space. Years from the nearest human settlement, Macao is surrounded by a mineral-rich asteroid belt that provides just enough income for the Farsight Corporation to keep the station in operation. In fact, to offset costs the corporation has actually turned one part of the station into a high-security prison.

To say the station is run-down and dilapidated is an understatement; the smallish maintenance section toils daily keeping the lights on and air breathable. The small ships used for mining the asteroid belt are pitted by rock strikes, worn out and prone to breakdowns, and until the annual resupply shuttle arrives the tavern only has synthetic beer to serve. But that station is also a small town, with everyone knowing everyone else, and what they're up to -- creating a close-knit community.

But the asteroid belt around the station contains more than just minerals; there is something else there, something dark and unsettling to miner Lina McLough and her mates. Nearby are several Predecessor systems, so-called because evidence of an ancient civilization has been found on planets within it. No one knows what the Predecessors are (were?) or what happened to them, but a nasty rumor has started that the devastating psychoactive drug called "fader" sweeping through human space was found on a Predecessor planet.

Unsettling things begin to happen early in the book, and the tension builds and builds. The people who live on Macao are vaguely aware something isn't quite right, but they've existed within the barely functional/duct-taped-to-keep-it-going station for so long awareness is slow in coming. The final chapters are no less intense, but feature some truly exciting action sequences, often set in air-less and zero-gravity environments.

Mr. Berry has created a wonderfully rich setting for this story. This is no sterile Star Trek station; dirt, rust and metal shavings grind under foot and the food and coffee taste as bad as you'd expect. I'm no scientist or expert on space, either, but there are so many great touches that it is obvious the author has thought long and deeply on what it would be like to live and work in space. He describes the experience of mining an asteroid belt so clearly that I can't imagine it would happen any other way.

I also appreciated how Mr. Berry subtly reminds the reader that Macao is years from the nearest human outpost; there are no "sub-space" communications channels -- broadcasts take nearly as long as a spaceship -- so calling for help is not an option. They are truly on their own in dealing with any problems that may crop up.

The characters in the story are varied, interesting and well-drawn, from heroine Lina to Halman, the station controller, and Ella, the head of security. They're a somewhat independent and self-sufficient sort -- just what I expect of people who have lived and worked on a crumbling space station -- but also vulnerable as their glass-bottle existence on Macao has lulled and shielded them. When adversity hits, the threads of the community begin to fray.

The conclusion of the story is explosive and satisfying, but also somewhat open-ended, leading me to wonder if Mr. Berry has further plans for universe of Macao Station. If he does, I'll be the first in line to buy the next installment.


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Macao Station eBook Mike Berry Reviews

Not usually my preferred genre, but pretty good, nonetheless. It was free when I got it and it did hold my attention.
I found it a bit of a slow starter with a good deal of stage-setting at the beginning. Not that it is not interesting; the setup is well constructed and it's an interesting locale of a nearly forgotten mining outpost at the edge of a human frontier so remote that their lives hang by a thread on a good day, but it does take it's time getting to the action. Had I rated it just on the opening, I probably would have given it three stars, but I found just enough mysteries seeded into the early part of the book to keep me interested until the story started picking up steam. Once things start moving, it's a pretty relentless sequence of violent mayhem that unfolds, and at some point I found that I couldn't stop reading. After at first continuing just out of curiosity on a few points, I was a bit surprised to find at the end that I wanted to read more about this world. While it is a complete story in it's own right, it does end with plenty unexplained and fertile ground remaining for the tale to go on, and I would read a sequel to this.
There are so many mediocre kindle books with a ton of 5-star ratings that it makes it difficult to find a book that is actually good. Macao Station is an excellent read in my opinion. The story will feel familiar, taking elements of the Alien movies, the 1950s sci-fi movie The Thing, and probably some others you could name. Take a mix of people and give them sufficient identity and personality that you are actually interested in what happens to them, put them in an isolated situation where they have to rely on themselves and their limited resources, and match them against an evil entity. Tell the story very well and add enough that is new so you don’t feel like you are watching a rerun, and you have Macao Station. So, if that sort of story, well-told, appeals to you, I highly recommend this book. I am not giving it 5 stars because it is not Starship Troopers, Ender’s Game, Dune, etc., and will probably not be read by our grandchildren, but it is a very good sci-fi read, and I think a fine example of what the e-book can be--low cost, high quality. I will buy the author’s other kindle book.
Part sci-fi, part horror, all awesome. That may sound like a cheesy tag-line, but that's the best way to sum-up Mike Berry's epic "Macao Station", the tale of a remote space station that runs into some serious trouble when an expected supply shuttle doesn't arrive on time. Sinister forces are at work, and as the denizens of an ancient, unseen evil make the necessary actions to secure their master's release, dealing with the missing shuttle quickly becomes the least of the crew's problems...

There's so much to like here. Berry takes a great deal of time and care building his impressive cast of characters into multi-faceted individuals, and while some may be a bit restless during the book's slow build, those who stick with the story will have their patience rewarded in an exciting, gut-wrenching climax.

But what's most impressive to me is Macao Station itself. Berry builds its geography, its reality, the rules of its operation and all of its quirks and oddities. The station becomes as much of a character as Lina, Halman, Rocko, and the others, and Berry does an excellent job of establishing his setting and then squeezing every last bit of potential out of his creation.

Fans of sci-fi and horror need to check this book out. Period.
I would give this book six stars, if that was possible. Having just finished it, I am, obviously, still aglow with that feeling -- part sadness that it is over, part contentment and happiness for having had the experience -- you get after turning the final page of a really, really good story. I can't think of anything about this book that did not impress me.

Macao Station by Mike Berry (@XenoMike) is a science-fiction thriller that has everything I loved about the movies Alien, Aliens and Outland a fascinating and engrossing setting, rich imagery, white-knuckle tension, plot twists, explosive action and intelligent, well-drawn characters.

Set far in the future, the titular space station is a mining outpost on the very edge of human-colonized space. Years from the nearest human settlement, Macao is surrounded by a mineral-rich asteroid belt that provides just enough income for the Farsight Corporation to keep the station in operation. In fact, to offset costs the corporation has actually turned one part of the station into a high-security prison.

To say the station is run-down and dilapidated is an understatement; the smallish maintenance section toils daily keeping the lights on and air breathable. The small ships used for mining the asteroid belt are pitted by rock strikes, worn out and prone to breakdowns, and until the annual resupply shuttle arrives the tavern only has synthetic beer to serve. But that station is also a small town, with everyone knowing everyone else, and what they're up to -- creating a close-knit community.

But the asteroid belt around the station contains more than just minerals; there is something else there, something dark and unsettling to miner Lina McLough and her mates. Nearby are several Predecessor systems, so-called because evidence of an ancient civilization has been found on planets within it. No one knows what the Predecessors are (were?) or what happened to them, but a nasty rumor has started that the devastating psychoactive drug called "fader" sweeping through human space was found on a Predecessor planet.

Unsettling things begin to happen early in the book, and the tension builds and builds. The people who live on Macao are vaguely aware something isn't quite right, but they've existed within the barely functional/duct-taped-to-keep-it-going station for so long awareness is slow in coming. The final chapters are no less intense, but feature some truly exciting action sequences, often set in air-less and zero-gravity environments.

Mr. Berry has created a wonderfully rich setting for this story. This is no sterile Star Trek station; dirt, rust and metal shavings grind under foot and the food and coffee taste as bad as you'd expect. I'm no scientist or expert on space, either, but there are so many great touches that it is obvious the author has thought long and deeply on what it would be like to live and work in space. He describes the experience of mining an asteroid belt so clearly that I can't imagine it would happen any other way.

I also appreciated how Mr. Berry subtly reminds the reader that Macao is years from the nearest human outpost; there are no "sub-space" communications channels -- broadcasts take nearly as long as a spaceship -- so calling for help is not an option. They are truly on their own in dealing with any problems that may crop up.

The characters in the story are varied, interesting and well-drawn, from heroine Lina to Halman, the station controller, and Ella, the head of security. They're a somewhat independent and self-sufficient sort -- just what I expect of people who have lived and worked on a crumbling space station -- but also vulnerable as their glass-bottle existence on Macao has lulled and shielded them. When adversity hits, the threads of the community begin to fray.

The conclusion of the story is explosive and satisfying, but also somewhat open-ended, leading me to wonder if Mr. Berry has further plans for universe of Macao Station. If he does, I'll be the first in line to buy the next installment.