Known more for his work in horror, specifically on zombies, ‘Impact Earth: Symbiosis’ is Timothy W. Long’s first leap into both a new series and the realm of science fiction. Not only does he start off strong but he has developed a story that will capture your imagination as the characters are brought to life with their own unique voices right before your eyes. The premise is a great mixture of science fiction and something straight out of a comic book as the Earth suffers from a massive meteor shower. Our infrastructure is in ruins as buildings fall and the power is out. Humanity is coming to a stand still and that isn’t even the worst of it!
That is because this isn’t your run of the mill world ending event but simply an appetizer to the main course. Out of the ruins step five souls who are granted powers that no mortal should be able to wield, and yet these powers will determine the fate of the world. What we’re soon to learn is that on the tail of this meteor attack is an alien invasion that what remains of the world’s military will not be able to directly confront on its own.
That is where our unlikely heroes come in.
As the first book in the series there is action but there is a huge focus on character development as well. These five would be saviours of the world don’t even meet one another until well into the wake of the meteor destruction and with the idea of this being a series in mind I feel that it actually works out for the best.
Long is well known for bringing multiple points of view together over the course of his works and this is a formula that he has proven himself well adept at writing time and time again. This isn’t an exception and I can truly appreciate his world building.
Plot, action, and character development all being fantastic I do sadly have to say that this piece could have used another round of edits. There were a few areas where it seemed to fall short there which briefly took you out of the book. Overall though the complaint is minor and didn’t happen that often, just often enough to lose a star and go from a MUST READ to a Good Read!
Even with the errors, this appears to be Long’s most ambitious project to date and not only is the world building being put to good use here but this is quite possibly his most cinematic friendly work to date as well. Superheroes are making a killing at the box office and in the realm of Young Adult series’ such as ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘The Maze Runner’, ‘Divergent’, or ‘The Mortal Instruments’ we are given regular people who are put in extraordinary situations that they need to overcome. It just helps that they are given a bit of a boost such as mutants, inhumans, or the cast from ‘Heroes’ were able to receive.
If you love characters that come into their own, are put in world saving situations, and have to deal with new and strange powers – Long has you covered in ‘Impact Earth: Symbiosis’. A great introduction to a new saga that I know I’ll be reading the sequel of when it is released.
