When science becomes religion. “Corridor of Hell” – book review – R&R Magazine (www.randrlife.co.uk) Rest and Relax

It could be really different with the beginnings of literature: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone JK Rowling is one such example. The absolute success, which has been praised by readers and critics, has even been shown. On the other hand, let’s take two-time Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn, who decided to become a writer. His version Bob Honey who only does stuff (As the man selling septic tanks is also a government killer of the elderly), to put it mildly, it was not well received. And where on the “success scale” did Thomas Kashmarik’s independent book appear for the first time?

Quoting the great Polish poet: “He is somewhere, but he does not know where.”

The leap of faith

“Nowa Fantastyka”, “Fantastic Magazine” and “Something” – in these magazines, first of all, you should look out for Tomasz Kaczmarek’s work. Sincerely as it should be: his scripts also appeared in volumes of short stories published collectively, for example in Part Two of Tempus Fugit. So I am not exaggerating when calling Corridor of Hell Full debut. At this point, the author should be congratulated on his courage, but also on the idea of u200b u200bthe plot, because it sounds at least so encouraging. An alternate reality, a completely different path to the industrial revolution, caused by the visit of “foreigners”, secret government laboratories … As the cover says: “a complex story of redemption, revenge and ambition.”

When crime fiction mingles with excitement and horror, there is always room for the reader’s curiosity. Me too: The introductory pages turned really fast. Then it slowed down a little.

the darkness

Let’s start with the Shakespeare scene, that is, the world represented Strictly speaking. It is not a place that we might know from other books, both contemporary and historical. The first chapters already clearly define the geographic location: Exmore, a city in the USA. Its greatness is thanks to a mysterious engine with high efficiency – just one of many inventions that people of the deities have brought to people. Where did they come from? Only the conclusion sheds a ray of light on this issue. What is the new technology? It should not be investigated, so few people know. Perhaps even the author himself is not aware of this on average, based on the “Inspiration Glossary” created inept at the end of the volume. I also put it in the language of the story, but more on that later. In short: poverty, hunger and high crime for the majority and wealth and luxury for a few businessmen. So the world is absolutely unbelievable. Yes, I am aware of the existence of states in our reality that have a huge social divide, as well as in terms of the wealth of the groups involved. But the close mixing and daily communication between them is a recipe for a revolution. Has anyone read about France at the end of the eighteenth century? Or about the fall of Tsarist Russia? The city is “corrupt” as described in v Corridor of Hell, You will use newly acquired technologies to unleash a civil war. Or under the weight of murder and robbery collapse under the weight of its weight. The same author mentions more than two years of calming down, just a few days after the main power cut. If the scale of the rebellion was so great, how was it contained?

President

Especially since no one mentioned any advanced weapons anywhere. Knives and guns: This is what the “street” and the police use. Only after twelve seasons or so can we conclude the time of the event: the middle of the nineteenth century. This explains the weapons issue, but again: the townspeople were able to do without machine guns. Although “conclusion” is a very strong term. Instead, it was necessary to “search the Internet for Frederick Engels’ birthdate.”

But it reminded me of the need to raise the issue of the language used by the author. It seems (statistically speaking) that most people consider themselves above average. Probably Thomas Cosmaryk also suited this trend: with each subsequent page I was sure that he wanted to prove something with his writing style. Intelligence? knowledge? Knowing the history? Dialogues of characters can go on endlessly, repeat the same information over and over again, and the details of the gods’ inventions quickly turn into a pseudo-technological mash.

I should also mention the Poles who are completely forced into history. I know: Although the novel is set in the United States, not all heroes have to be American. Especially in a multicultural melting pot like Exmore. But the hospital inmate is such a fringe character that he didn’t even have a first name. He utters a total of three sentences – but Kowalski has become “miserable.” And naming a young gang of thieves (which of course includes names like Janusz, Tadeus and Gusto) “Eagles” might fall under some form of treatment for the white and red complexes.

Three areas

I don’t have a lot of comments about the actors in our theater – the main characters -. Maybe I didn’t fully believe their motives and understood theirs, but I don’t have to. Real people are also not easy to ‘spot’. Kathleen, who is looking for her brother, expects no help, but she gets it. For the aforementioned Janusz, a seemingly simple break-in ends in a fight for his life, and Professor Milton, who will remain mentally ill until his death, gets a second chance. I accept all of these strands in terms of plot, they are well drawn: I just don’t understand their structure.

Splitting plot paths, and then joining them as the story unfolds, is a literary procedure as old as the world. Corridor of Hell However, it turns this mechanism on its head. The reader learns about the adventures of the three characters: alternating, in short chapters. I don’t remember how many times I turned the pages to see what happened recently with Kathleen, for example – it’s so inconsistent, it keeps me from plunging into the story. The following sentence will contain a spoiler, although reading it you will quickly deduce the truth for yourself. Note: Champions charts have different timelines so they don’t actually converge. They are only disturbed by their constant hops. From these stories it was possible to create separate books!

heads or tails

In the last few paragraphs, I’ve been whining like my grandmother when I didn’t want to eat vegetable soup. Now I’m going to write that in total Corridor of Hell Attracted me well. surprised? I also. I can’t explain to you what made me burn a night for this story (the fact that the ending disappointed me is another matter altogether) Maybe it’s expressive humanity and the characters are unpredictable? A world full of brutality and still hoping for a better tomorrow? Certainly some points should be given to the author for his inspiration from the work of Dmitry Glukovsky. Overall, however, the story’s pluses make up for the content negatives. If you can’t decide if you want to make the debut of Tomasz Kaczmarek, then toss a coin.