Roberta Writes – Book review: The Metempsychosis Collection by Nicholas Conley #readingcommunity #darkstories

What Amazon says

From the dystopian landscape of Knight in Paper Armor to the journey through the fading mind that is Pale Highway, Nicholas Conley’s novels have brought readers from the cosmic to the microcosmic, in tales defined by contrast — life and death, light and darkness, transcendence and limitation, strength and frailty, dreams and nightmares. Now, in the seven short stories that comprise The Metempsychosis Collection, experience a thrilling passage through closure, catharsis, and rebirth.

The Metempsychosis Collection is a puzzle of seven pieces. As metempsychosis is the transmigration of the soul after death, these snapshots of startling, wondrous, and terrifying moments show a human race perpetually weighed down by pain and loss, yet forever grasping at the stars with hope and aspiration. In each tale, lives are touched, changed, and reshaped. A woman surrounded by her loved ones is faced with a sudden crisis beyond her mortal comprehension. The dawn of real-life super-powered individuals—and the devastation they are capable of—remolds not just the shape of society, but even the most intimate of relationships. The collision of perfect cutting-edge technology against imperfect human memory brings the dead closer to us even as it pushes them further away. A trucker drives into the night with no clear destination, tormented by the mysterious, unearthly cargo that drives her. A sick man ponders his legacy as he struggles not to succumb to an ancient, incurable extraterrestrial disease. Two childhood friends, bonded by hardship, are ripped apart by the most fantastic — yet horrific — discovery of their lives. And finally, an ambitious scientist, following her passions, must escape a prehistoric miracle that threatens the life of her pregnant wife.

Every new beginning closes a book from the past, and every ending opens another. The wheel turns. The world spins. And for every death, there is an awakening.

My review

I wrote this review as a member of Rosie Amber’s book review team. You can find out more about Rosie’s reviews and review team here: https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

This is a terrific collection of seven well-written and entertaining sci-fi stories.

He Told Her the Bad News is short and not at all sweet. Instead, it is compelling and relatable in our modern world.

Powers That Be was an exciting and interesting story about a natural event that results in the creation of a handful of people with super powers. This is a tale about guilt, revenge, and grief woven into an insightful review of how individuals fail to cope with extraordinary gifts and fame as well as the impact of misunderstandings linked to strong human emotions. A most unusual take on a romance gone wrong.

Resurrecting the Torn Edge is story about the use of technology to recreate the past from memory. It highlights the imperfection of human memory and the fact that its application to a replication of the past results in a fictionalised product.

Trucker is a story of a woman caught in a time trap of repetitively. Reminiscent of Groundhog Day, Trucker has been on a repeat cycle of life and death for decades. Can she ever escape this unsatisfactory situation?

Shredded Starlight is a tale of tragedy. When an ordinary man’s work life goes horribly wrong resulting in the destruction of his health and life it impacts heavily on his mind and the lives of his love ones. Can Diego make peace with his circumstances and exit this earthly world on a positive note?

The Friend is my favourite story in this collection. A tale of a friendship based on a need for support and sense of belonging resulting in a lifetime of guilt and unfair responsibility by one party towards the other. An extraordinary discovery in childhood changes both boys life paths and wreaks havoc on peripheral figures in their lives. One friend is unable to overcome his circumstances and rise above his unfortunate homelife, while the other goes on to achievement and fulfilment which is flawed by his childhood friendship and the secret the friends share. This secret ultimately impacts heavily on both their lives as its misapplication and a lack of emotional control result in complete destruction.

Cosmosusaurs is an interesting deep dive into the what ifs of the discovery of a surviving dinosaur and its impact on a woman driven to investigate this finding. The effects of a drive to achieve self fulfilment through work and recognition and how that interplays with family responsibility are investigated in this fast paced story.

Nicholas Conway is a deep understanding of the human mind and psyche and he puts this knowledge to excellent use in these fascinating tales.

You can purchase The Metemphsychosis Collection by Nicholas Conway from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DLBRR75V