Terminal Event

By: Robert Vaughan

Narrated by: Wally Schrass

Length: 5 hrs

Publisher's summary

An Antarctic research team discovers a perfectly machined gold canister, 2500 feet below the surface of the ice. There are strange and unrecognizable markings on the canister. How did it get there, and where did it come from? It is sent back to a research center in the US where it is opened in an environmentally controlled room. Inside are six human embryos, and even more shocking is the discovery that the embryos are viable. Should they be brought to term? Terminal Event tells the intriguing story of who the embryos are, where they came from, and how they spent 100 million years waiting to be discovered.

©2017 Wolfpack Publishing (P)2017 Wolfpack Publishing

Good concept poorly executed.

I thought the concept was good and the story had some good turns, but the way the story was told, it made it predicable. This would be a good book for younger or less experienced readers.

One of the worst Sci Fi books...

First I would like to highlight the lack of any Science in this Science-Fiction novel and it has more reading errors from the audio-editing than any other audiobook I’ve ever purchased. I picked this book after reading the premise for the story thinking that this would be a true sci-fi thriller in the vain of Chrichton’s Jurassic Park or Timeline or films such as Contact or Arrival. An intriguing mystery wrapped around some scientific basis for time-travel or genetic manipulation or communicating with sentient interplanetary life. I was really disappointed...

The story begins interesting enough. The author does do a good job of highlighting the socio-economic and religious friction an event like the one described in the novel would create. However our protagonists are lackluster. An omniscient scientist, dashing in appearance right down to the Harry Potter-like scar on his forehead. A popular TV journalist who used to win beauty pageants. They are as vanilla and boring as Superman and I had little emotional investment in their story.
***SPOILER ALERT***
I lost interest in the story when the human embryos are mysteriously born after a 20-something day pregnancy without any scientific explanation or even reference to their surrogate mothers’ discomfort or ravenous appetite that would accompany such a gestation period. After the children’s births the story then jumps back to 100s of millions of years ago when their society roamed the earth and tells of the terminal event that destroyed this previously unknown human society. I was so bored and uninterested I skipped to the last two chapters just to see how it ended. Big surprise... the ending was equally disappointing and we don’t even get to see how these time travelers from the past get to effect our modern day society. Call me critical but I regretted this purchase. It’s pure escapism-fantasy with a poor plot and even worse characters. Audible listeners are for-warned.

Rejected TV miniseries pitch

Terminal Event by Robert Vaughan is a short story beginning with the discovery of a canister found deep in the Antarctic ice pack. Identified as containing human embryos, they are implanted into surrogate mothers resulting a rapidly growing humans with advanced skills. Once reaching maturity, the children relate their origin.

The sci-fi elements are crudely rendered with a batman utility belt quality (whenever something is needed it simply exists). There are simply too many holes and scientifically implausible scenarios as well as a total lack of familiarity with how science, politics, and human behavior operate to make this story remotely believable. For example, the notion that smart scientists go on to collect multiple PhDs in diverse disciplines (4 in this case) is ludicrous. Universities do not "trot out" celebrity scientists to obtain government grants. Seeing markings that suggest a numerical binary progression (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.) would not automatically imply biological material inside. Even if a biological material were determined, a scientist, along with the university president would not open the canister in a regular cold room (no concept of biocontainment). Looking, even under a microscope and deciding the material consists of human embryos is a stretch, but to decide to implant they embryos in women and basically interview them like for a secretary is quite far-fetched. The romantic interest was totally out of character on both sides.

The origin story is equally nonsensical with an advanced technologically race existing at the time of the dinosaurs with all indications of their existence being wiped out, but the dinosaurs somehow survived. The culture had the ability to genetically engineer humans for rapid growth, implantation of biological computers, anti-matter weapons, and a time traveling messaging system, but they were clueless on how to survive a planet wide disaster that the dinosaurs survived. The origin story was also peppered with banal personal details including restaurant menus for end of world parties.

The narration was marginal without much gender distinction or range of characters.

It was okay

Idealistic and full of tropes. Fluffy, but incomplete. The characters veer off into sexism quite a few times. It was an acceptable listen but if it had been longer I would not have finished it.

Shame about the edit!

I did enjoy the premise and the performance. However, the edit team did not seem to care a lot. There were a number of instances where the different takes of dialogue where just left in the recording.

A mediocre book made worse by poor editing.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The idea behind the story is interesting but shallow plot and character development left me irritated and impatient.

Any additional comments?

The editing of the reading was very sloppy.

More wtf than Mystery

Hope you like goofy made up names that take you totally out of the story. The bizarre choices for some character voices are jarring. I sincerly hope you enjoy this but it wasnt for me. Also... how many college football studs with masculine scars and perfect suave end up being famous scientists with gorgeous tv personality girlfriends...