Book Review – DIEROCK 88 by S.A. Oliver

The first thing I want to do is talk about the beauty of the cover. Initially, this is what drew me to the book. It’s style is like that of Tom Jung’s Star Wars posters or John Harris’s Ender’s Game cover. The greens and blues with the light sources puts me in the mood to read sci-fi ever time I picked up the book.

This is my first read of indiepub author S.A. Oliver. The prose Oliver has in this book are well crafted and she takes the time to let characters breath. Some of the best prose comes in the quiet moments of Atlas strolling through a garden or characters between pauses. There were a number of lines I went back to read where Oliver’s talent shines.

What I had the biggest problem with was the overall plot of tying character development to the plot unfolding. Atlas goes from young, petulant child to the need to grow on his prison planet. Those moments are there and take the span of the book. Where I got lost was in the major plot points of the book. I didn’t understand how the corporate prison company could essentially just kidnap people from all over the galaxy and how control of that operated through the rest of the galaxy. Atlas is essentially a political prisoner but there seemed to be a limitation imposed by the prison corporation that could grant freedom based on work output. Without a communist overarching government or a straight-up totalitarian overlord, there seemed like no justice could exist in the galaxay. I didn’t understand Atlas’ father as a terrorist leader or to what extent revelations through the story held weight to what was happening to Atlas. Atlas goes from a scared newbie to somehow being able to fight in prison riots and being held up as a savior leader because of who is father is. I wasn’t sure how people knew about him or his father’s exploits because Atlas didn’t seem to know either.

The choice to stay entirely on Dierock 88 for the entirety of the book made for repetative storypoints while banking on readers seeing and caring more about the growth of Atlas and the unvieling of convaluated revelations and almost deus ex big picture revelations. While the story needs these points to keep the interest of the reader and to progress the bigger story elements, I’m not sure they’re earned. Atlas as a type of chosen one who just happens to find all he needs on this random space rock prison colony has to happen or there’s no story. The side characters of the found family trope were interesting and fun with a few unexpectantly growing on me.  However, again, certain revelations happen where the reveal feels so far out of left field that it seems either a gaint stroke of luck or an unearned big shock in the reveal. 

I usually have the opposite problem where authors want to take their characters and exposition dump or develop them to the detriment of halting the plot. Here, just the opposite, as I wanted more connection to why Atlas was seeing what he was seeing happen to him in the greater plot but enjoying his character growth. While I didn’t hate or even not enjoy the book, I felt slightly decombobulated in my reading experience. While I probably won’t continue the series, I would check out other books by S.A. Oliver as I tended to like her character writing and like the futuristic, sci-fi world she crafted here. Hopefully, there is enough information in this review to inform readers who may be looking for exactly a book like this in their reading experience.