The Cloud
by Elmore Hammes
Published by Kanapolis Fog Publishing Emporium
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Reviewed by Diane Snyder
Part Superman and part Stranger in a Strange Place, this sci-fi novel, The Cloud holds a place of its own. Very nicely written and an engrossing read, author Elmore Hammes has spun a yarn that is hard to put down.
A huge, mist-like cloud that can encompass thousands of miles moves about space seeking energy to feed upon and leaves only death and dry waste behind. Just before destroying a very advanced planet, a master scientist fired off a rocket containing the infant life form of his son. Cruising in space for twenty years, this life form grew and absorbed knowledge from innumerable databases being fed to it. It had one driving agenda: to find and annihilate the source of his planet’s extinction.
The cloud is now closing in on the rocket, seeking the energy it perceives there. However the cloud is unable to draw out the energy of this life form and instead, the young life form takes in some of the cloud, making it a part of the new developing being. Hurtling toward a viable planet of energy, the rocket to save and the cloud to destroy, the life form begins to change its structure to match that of the beings on this planet and takes the ship down to land–in Indiana. The now human-like being has three days to destroy the cloud and save Earth from complete destruction.
After hiding his ship on an isolated farm, the spaceman is befriended by Char Amberson and her father Larry who give him the name, Grant.
With the threat of imminent danger and an alien walking around, it is not long before all the powers that be begin to vie for control; some with altruistic goals and others more self-serving and dangerous. The first part of the novel is about love, friendship and sacrifice but the second part, entitled “The Rain,” is harsh and horrific with unexpected events.
Armchair Interviews says: Overall, Hammes has written an interesting plot with some good characters and the ending, although anticlimactic, was certainly a surprise.
Author’s Web site: http://www.ElmoreHammes.com