REVIEW: Daniel Marc Chant - Aimee Bancroft and The Singularity Storm

Genre: Sci-Fi

Publisher: The Sinister Horror Company

Publication Date: 20^th August 2016

Pages: 73

REVIEWED BY NEV

A copy of Aimee Bancroft and The Singularity Storm was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Daniel Marc Chant, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by The Sinister Horror Company.

So, Daniel Marc Chant, or Mr Posh to his friends, has a new book out. This one. He sent me a copy for my own pleasure and not necessarily for review but I couldn’t resist. I had to change reading mode for this one as it is, wait for it, NOT HORROR! How very dare he. But, on the flip side, this is a perfect excuse to get to see how he writes stuff other than the scary ones. This is a sci-fi tale. To be honest I didn’t know anything about the synopsis before I started to read it but I was intrigued from page one.

This is what I thought.

Aimee Bancroft is a lady from the privileged side of the fence. She has had numerous adventures all over the world and has got a name for herself as a great explorer.

Her latest adventure is her most gruelling yet. She is attempting to row across the Atlantic single handedly. She would be the first woman to do so. A feather in her cap that she would like to show off to many condescending men.

During a storm, she gets sucked into a maelstrom, and faces certain death. Until she wakes up at the bottom of the ocean. This is the beginning of an adventure that Aimee will never forget.

So you would think that a story about a woman rowing across the Atlantic wouldn’t have a lot of characters in it. Well you would be wrong. The problem I have is that I can’t tell about any of them, apart from Aimee herself, without giving away some of the story, which you will know I am not prepared to do.

Aimee is an upper middle class lady who speaks very posh, like the author, and I suspect hasn’t really had much hardship in her life. Yes, she is brave for what she is doing and yes she is headstrong and a few other superlatives that you would use to describe a lady with huge cojones. In the middle of this storm though, her vulnerabilities come to the fore and she genuinely fears for her life.

She is even more scared when she wakes up at the bottom of the ocean. I can tell you no more.

The story itself features a plot that, if you loved your sci-fi films when you were younger, will not be unfamiliar to you. Lady explorer gets caught up in a storm and ends up in a………..not going there. You get the picture.

It involves a mysterious lost world. A mysterious lost people. An ancient history full of legends that many believe, and many don’t. Where Aimee comes into all of this, well, you will just have to read it to find out.

So how is the writing? I was worried about this one. I love what Mr Chant writes with the scary stuff. Mr Robespierre was my favourite short of last year. Sci-fi though? You know what? He has only gone and bloody pulled it off. This is wonderful. Yeah it is sci-fi, but for me it was also full of fantasy and yes even a little bit of horror. What Aimee goes through is not for the feint hearted.

The world she ends up in sounds beautiful. The people sound weird. The legends sound fearful. This reminded me of so many of the old sci-fi shows I grew up watching with my dad when I was a little kid. There are flavours of Star Trek in there, even though it is set under water. There are flavours of any underwater adventure show you would have seen in the 70’s or 80’s. Most of all though when I read this I felt Farscape. Don’t ask me why. I think it was the colours and the atmosphere and the strange people all coming together in one big adventure.

I’m not as huge a sci-fi fan as I was when I was a kid, but this really hit the mark with me. Wonderful writing that really does take you away to another world. Daniel Marc Chant’s writing makes it very easy for you to completely lose yourself in this story and enjoy every minute of it.

To summarise: if you want to lose yourself in a story that won’t take much concentration but will provide you with a couple of hours’ fun and enjoyment, then you got to pick this up. You definitely won’t regret it.

General rating:

★★★★ took me back to my childhood!

Sci-Fi rating:

★★★★ I wanna get my Space 1999 suit out again!

If you would like to help support Confessions of a Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Aimee Bancroft and the Singularity Stormor any other books from Daniel. This not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy books after reading my reviews.

Thanks.

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Book Synopsis:

While attempting to be the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean, seasoned adventurer Aimee Bancroft is caught in a strange and otherworldly storm that opens a portal to another world.

An undersea world of warring races, ancient prophecies and wonder. Desperate to find a way back home Aimee becomes embroiled with a species’ desperate struggle for survival against an ancient menace and takes the fight to them.

CONFESSIONS REVIEWS DANIEL MARC CHANT

Mr Robespierre

Daniel Marc Chant is an up-and-coming author of Horror and strange fiction. His passion for H. P. Lovecraft genre and the films of John Carpenter inspired him to produce intense, gripping stories with a sinister edge.

Currently based in Bath -- a picturesque town in Somerset, UK -- Daniel launched his début, "Burning House," to rave reviews, and swiftly followed with the Lovecraft-inspired "Maldición," the story of a lone survivor of a desert island plane crash fighting for his life with an ancient predator.

Daniel continues to hone his craft with a number of dark titles waiting to hit shelves, including "Mr. Robespierre" and "Devil Kickers." He also created "The Black Room Manuscripts" a charity anthology featuring twenty stories from twenty experienced authors and talented newcomers.

He hopes to one day contribute to the Cthulu Mythos. Although hopefully not as a sacrifice.