The Fall Is All There Is

Four of Mercies, Book 1

By: C.M. Caplan

Narrated by: Scott Fleming

Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

You never want to ruin a really good dramatic exit. When you flee home on a cyborg horse the exact second you turn 18, you don’t really expect to go back to the place you fled from, you know? But sometimes your old life hits you from behind.

Sometimes you spend years away from home, killing dangerous people who had the bad luck to get infected by a lungful of ghostfog, only to find out that your dad, the king, is dead, and now your siblings are ordering you back home for a high-stakes family reunion.

But when the heirs are quadruplets, the line of succession tends to get a wee bit murky. So in order to regain your independence, you’ve got to navigate a deadly web of intrigue, where every sibling wants your allegiance, and any decision might tear your country—and your family—apart.

Praise for The Fall Is All There Is:

"Completely different to anything I read this year." (FanFiAddict)

"This is a one-of-a-kind character driven novel...the world-building is outrageously original." (Sue Bavey, Booknest.eu)

"One of the best voices I think I’ve ever read...unlike anything I’ve seen before. A gem of a book." (L.L. MacRae, SPFBO finalist and author of The Iron Crown)

"There was never a dull moment on any page." (Tome Raider)

"One of the most original, energetic things I've read in some time." (Quenby Olson, SPFBO finalist and author of Miss Percy's Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons))

"Filled with some of the most unique and downright strange ideas I've read." (Craig Bookwyrm, Escapist Book Co.)

"Delightfully unhinged." (Krystle Matar, SPFBO finalist and author of Legacy of the Brightwash)

©2022 C.M. Caplan (P)2023 C.M. Caplan

Critic reviews

"The Fall Is All There Is is both relentlessly energetic and visceral. Caplan doesn't hold your hand as an author, he slams down the lap bar and sends the roller coaster that is Petre Mercy's story careening down the tracks." (Quenby Olson, SPFBO finalist and author of Miss Percy's Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons))

"The Fall Is All There Is was delightful...the characters are distinct and hilarious, the worldbuilding is deep and imaginative, and the pacing is solid enough to hold your interest for hundreds of pages. Throw in some cyborg horses, thyroid swords, and ghostfog, and you have a five-star read." (Kerstin Espinosa Rosero, SPFBO finalist and author of Burn Red Skies)

"This book is freaking amazing and you should absolutely read it. Now. Will I say that about all of Caplan's books? It's likely. He's fast becoming one of my all-time favorite authors ever." (Melissa Polk, author of The Trow of Duncaster)

Wow.

This book is so different. It teeters on the edge of sci fi and low fantasy.

Fantastic Prose, Unique Voice, Awesome World Building

The first thing that struck me was the prose. Not too flowery, but so well written and in such a cool voice. This is fantasy/sci-fi from a unique perspective. The difficult relationships between quadruplets makes it refreshingly different than anything else in the genre(s). The world building gave me some Dark Tower vibes in all the best ways without actually being anything like the Dark Tower. I love the ancient tech from a forgotten past being used this creatively!

The narrator was excellent. I’m kinda picky about narrators but didn’t have one complaint with him :)

Couldn't finish audiobook - might try ebook

Narration is very monotonous, I felt Peter could've been done with a bit more confidence as well. I might try the ebook sometime as the story seems highly recommended by other reviewers.
I don't usually like sci-fi post-apocalyptic books, however halfway through it feels like I could start liking this type of content.
World building is great, but rather read the book yourself.

Unique fantasy/scifi blend

Decided to get the audiobook on audible as I’ve been behind and having trouble focusing on reading. Scott Fleming did a fantastic job that I really enjoyed.

Every review I’ve ever seen for this book has talked about how unique it is. So let’s get the obvious out of the way. This is one of the most unique novels and genre blends I’ve ever read. It mixes science fiction aspects with a fantasy world, dialogue that feels more modern, and horror elements too.

The characters use gas masks while outside of the major cities to save themselves from becoming gaunt. Aka breathing in ghost-like vapor and having their bodies taken over. Think kind of zombies, or evil entities a la the Shinigami in Never Die. The masks felt very scifi, while the nature of their need was wholly fantasy. Just one of the great blendings.

The main character Petre, has a mental processing disorder, which leads him to need to get these implant injections. This kind of disability rep was something I’ve never read before, and the ‘cure’ (however temporary) was just another thing that felt so incredibly sci-fi in this fantasy world. He’s also a great example of bisexual rep as well, having desires for both men and women in a way that feels genuine.

Another aspect of this novel that really knocked it out of the park was the way the author wrote the main characters. Not only are they siblings, they are quadruplets, so not everything is always good, but the bond is still unbreakable. Even if they wish it were. So when their father, the King, dies, naturally they can’t keep it together and behave amicably. The way in which the author writes their scenes together is so good, so believable, it’s almost as if the reader is experiencing the family arguments from the inside. As one of them. Or maybe it’s just because I am one of four kids myself.

While I really enjoyed this, I was a bit surprised how the story didn’t really progress. That’s not the say that steps weren’t taken, or that there isn’t action, the plot itself just didn’t reach any kind of resolution. It almost kind of ends on the climax. Which instead of ruining it, definitely made me feel like I needed more immediately. I guess I just didn’t realize it wasn’t a standalone!

Clever, thoughtful, fun.

The pace of this story is break-neck yet somehow I became fully invested in Petre, our reluctant hero, and his family.

The world is fascinating and exposure to it is so interestingly revealed throughout that I found myself rewinding when my mind consistently went tangential on me.

Horses and autism are two things I know well but they are only launchpads for a keener understanding of how this world has evolved and where it might be going as well as discussions of ethics and epistemology.

Uncomfortable at times hilarious at others Caplan's got skills.

fantastic and relatable book

as someone that's on the spectrum I don't get many heros that I can relate to or go " I've had that same thought" but this book gave me that and it was wonderful, the story is great and I look forward to learning more of the world's history.

A very cool world with an interesting perspective.

My feelings on this are very similar to a lot of other reviews I've seen. The book has a very interesting world that is, unfortunately, hardly explained.

What's a science sword?

What were the annihilations?

What caused the ghost breath?

All hint at amazing concepts but our narrator (entirely told from Petre's perspective) never feels the need to explain any of it. In fact, most of the word count consists of siblings bickering with each other. It's not poorly written, but there's a lot of "F*&% you." "No, f*&% you." sort of dialogue.

The narrator, Petre, has a unique voice to say the least. A bit neurotic, foul mouthed, and scatter brained. The writing style does a wonderful job of putting us into his brain space.

The performance by Scott Fleming was good. It took me awhile to get used to his voice, but he was easy to understand and really gets into Petre's manic voice.

As for the plot, no complaints there. Overall it works. Perhaps a little meandering with no clear goal, but that works with Petre. A journey before the destination kind of story. In the end it sets up the next part of the Mercie siblings story, with sides chosen and a potential villain set up.

I give it a strong 3.5 that I'll round up to 4.

Good luck in the SPFBO9 Finals.

Spoiler review

Before you buy this book you should probably know that this is about bisexual/homosexual MC, and while I couldn't finish the last 4 hours and jumped to the ending, almost all of the romance was Guy on guy action. So if you're like me and have nothing against them/it but don’t want to listen to it in an audiobook then you should probably skip this book.

About the story.
we follow an MC with Autism, who ran away from home because of how his family treated him, and the fact that his mother made a injection that he takes (don’t know how many times a year/month) that is extremely painful, but gives him the ability to move and fight like anyone else, just so he wouldn't embarrass her.

He moves to Black something something and over the next 5 years he fights against people/creatures who have been infected by the ghost fog, that makes them crazed killers with no remorse or mind of their own really. So if they died of hypothermia they would come back with the single thought, to kill people to get their coats so they can feel warmth, and then just move on to the next person wearing a coat.

He then receives letters from 2 of the 3 siblings about 3 months after their father/ the king's death to come home or else they would do things to make the lives of his friends very hard. He sees no other choice but to follow his brother who has shown up to take him home.

We then follows him stumbling into the maze called family and nobility, and the apparent Civil War that is about to begin he is of course angry, confused and at every turn/explanation
from his siblings he is Deceived and even after discovering the deception he continues to believe his siblings word again and again and continues being fooled by them.

then at every fight even if it's just a “Commoner” fighting with him in a bar he almost always loses the fight even though he has the magic/sciency injection that makes his body better and faster. plus he is suppose to have fought Ghost fog “Zombies'' for 5 years yet his brother who has never been in any real fight still easily beats him.