An OK end to an otherwise great trilogy.

Any additional comments?

One book has to be the worst of the 3. This one's it. Be warned, its painfully slow & hard to get through. The book can be edited from 20 hours to about 5 and still tell the same story - a lot of nothing happens. Also the author did not make me dislike the people who (I think) you are suppose to dislike by the end of the story. Their end seemed unfitting and I was actually still on their side... If you already read the first 2 than, of course, you have to read this... I found it a little disappointing; hopefully you like it better than I did.

58 people found this helpful

Not much of an ending

The set up for the great battle was ok, but when it came, nothing much happened. The book set up the characters but they did not get to interact before, during or after in the battle. There was no great conflict, either in the battle or between the characters. No tension at the end at all.

20 people found this helpful

This makes me question Audible

I really can't add much that the other detailed reviews has already covered. This installment was a jumbled mess that read more like a first draft outline than a finished work. The first two books were great and it made the third book that much more disappointing. But this book is getting a 4.5 star average review while most of the active reviewers are mostly negative. That makes me question Audibles star review system. Most of the people that read this book and were into this series would have acknowledged this poor offering by Moss. It makes me think that Audible is infested by bots that give good reviews to keep poor books viable to potential readers. Nobody new to the series is going to start the first book if they see that the series drops off at the end. So to sell the series they prop up a bad book.

182 people found this helpful

Is this the same series?

Would you try another book from Stephen Moss and/or R. C. Bray?

Yes

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have stuck with the main characters, and on that note, I wouldn't have written them as completely different people with minor story lines. The focus of this just got terrible.

What about R. C. Bray’s performance did you like?

That voice... He ranks up there with Roy Dotrice for me.

Did Fear the Future inspire you to do anything?

Be upset

Any additional comments?

Books 1 & 2 are really great, I'm hopeful that book 4 will recover some of that lost focus.

31 people found this helpful

Had it's potentials, but fell way short of it.

Bad character design and growth; a hard to follow timeline; and a disappointing, anti-climactic ending are among the reasons that makes this story slightly less than mediocre.

All of the characters seem to be filled with hatred and the hunger to kill. Even the children were apparently fine with all the killing, absurdly enough. Making the cast dull, feeling like nothing more than another paper cut-out. Constantly adding and removing casts didn't help much either.

We do experience some character development and growth, but only in the minimal. Characters seem to shape shift into whatever the plot demands of them. Leading to little to no affection to the characters, whatsoever.

The timing of the plot also jumps alot. being very hard to follow, especially on Audible. Listener will quickly lose the meaning of time in this story. 1 week, 5 month, 7 years, 2 decades; lost track of exactly how long the entire story took, or how long each sequence lasts.

The ending was mediocre at best. The story had now become, nothing if not predictable. Om the brinks of losing all hope when a character unleashes it's almighty-awesome power to end the plot. A rather cheap way to end things to be honest.

On the positive side, the build up and the action sequences were ok. Fight sequence that kept you listening, the plotting and conspiracy also makes the story thrilling. But that is about it.

11 people found this helpful

What a colossal waste of time Mr Moss!

Disclaimer: I loved the first two books. LOVED THEM! At some point between book two and three Stephen Moss lost his mind.

Spoilers ahead, you've been warned.

1. Protagonist Rules - Stephen, you had an excellent protagonist. You took an everyman and threw him into extraordinary circumstances. He excelled and became the hero in book two. You placed him on a pedestal for everyone to worship as the protagonist we needed to carry the story forward. Then you started slowly chipping away at his armor in book two. But that's ok, we need our protagonist to have flaws and we need to see him fall and earn redemption. But instead of allowing the audience to revel in his fall and triumph you decided to make him into a modern day Josef Mengele. What the heck? How can you destroy your protagonist like that and expect anyone to feel fulfilled by this story? You had an excellent scapegoat in Ayala and a character that I imagine most readers would not have minded losing. Why was she not written to be the mastermind behind the vivisection of the Korean children? Why did you destroy Neal? It's one thing to kill a protagonist, but you destroyed him. This is unforgivable.

Furthermore, you toyed with your readers by bringing Neal back into the story when he was asked to give his opinion on the deep space images from his prison. Then you just left him there...you left him there with no conclusion except for two sentences in the end of the book. How can you take such a strong character and reduce him to nothingness? I found myself cursing you at the conclusion....not good for your future readership.

2. Mobiliei Exposition

I don't care about the Mobiliei. You spent two books building up human characters. In the last book you decide to introduce us to the opposition. But instead of giving us a few chapters of character development you go on ad nauseam about their sexual preferences and meaningless interpersonal quirks. Nobody cares about their personal lives unless they serve to link us to the main story. You could have spent a third of the time developing their characters (or no time at all) and the story would be no worse for it.

3. Character Overload

In the first two books you had a sum total of about 15 main characters (it's a rough estimate as I don't have time to go back and count.) You spent a lot of time developing these characters and suddenly in book two you introduce an entirely new lot of people, many of which are not even given proper introductions. We're just supposed to accept these people at face value without any knowledge of their motivations or morality. You bounce back and forth between these characters as as a reader I completely lose focus and start to drift away from the story. Much of this fault lies with the Mobiliei chapters which are, as I already mentioned, a complete waste of time.

4. Deus Ex Machina

Stephen, I really really really loved your first two books. It cannot be overstated how much your story enthralled me and kept me coming back for more every day. But the last few chapters of book three felt as if you took those books and slapped me in the face. What were you thinking? Until now I was able to suspend disbelief. Body transplants, check. Brains in a jar, check. Creating an inter-dimensional god-like Birgit? What the heck man? This is the worst kind of Deus Ex Machina I have ever seen. I kept hoping that Birgit was attempting to access the core of the IST to enable some doomsday weapon that would empower our fleets to become invincible or some such nonsense. But instead we're left with something that makes me think Stephen was late for a dinner party and had to turn in the book that evening. Why oh why could you not sacrifice some of the ridiculous amount of Mobiliei exposition and give us a somewhat plausible finale instead? I want to give you the benefit of the doubt here. Did you have a personal struggle while writing this book? Did you lose someone close to you? Were you kidnapped and forced to finish the book under threat of death? Are the Mobiliei real and did they force you to substitute this fake finale for the real one? Maybe they were afraid you would give away their weaknesses in your real final chapters? I hope that's it because I would rather think you were under duress when writing those chapters than to think that you just gave up.

206 people found this helpful

More than a mere letdown...(Spoilers)

Besides maybe Lord of the Flies in junior high, I don't think I've hated a book more! I truly wish I would have heeded other reviews. If I would have know how the series would end, I never would read even the first one. I have never before returned a book (or even contemplated doing so). I did just return this one.

**Spoilers to Follow**

-->I hate what the author did to our main protagonist in this book. Neal's personality and actions take a complete 180° in this book, as he becomes essentially dictator of the planet. Casting aside his own humanity.

-->I hate how Neal was overthrown by those he most trusted. And, how they all waited years to do so, until Neal's plan was carried out. The conspirators had no trouble following Neal's plan, as they knew it was the only way for the planet to survive. Yet, they then condemn him for it. As if to say now that Neal has done everything, he is no longer needed and the conspirators can reap the benefits without any blood on their hands.

-->I hate the daux ex machina ending.

-->I hate that most of the book was needless filler that distracted from the main story rather than adding to it.

**Spoilers Completed**

The above are just a handful of things that ruined the series. The one and ONLY good thing about the book is the narration by the amazing R.C. Bray.

9 people found this helpful

Not as good as the books before it

If you could sum up Fear the Future in three words, what would they be?

Okayish. But.

What about R. C. Bray’s performance did you like?

I always enjoy R C Bray's performances, and he didn't disappoint.

Any additional comments?

Sadly the last book wasn't as good as the first two. The ending and the process towards it isn't as well developed as the other books. In fact the ending was disappointing. For 2/3rds of the book you are wondering whether you are ever getting to the point, and then the actual reason you are there is rushed through in the last 1/3rd. Sad.

18 people found this helpful

Huge letdown

The first book was good, the second book was average and the last book a huge letdown. Story goes off on weird tangents that never go anywhere. Main characters built up in the first two books become minor sidelines in the third. All the tension built up over all three books comes to a fizzling, anti-climatic ending.

61 people found this helpful

Very. technical and hard ro follow.

Too technical and hard to follow. 1st 2 books were great but I was lost in third.

15 people found this helpful