by TPS reader shahj18
Doc Harrison and the Apocalypse by Peter Telep is an intriguing sci-fi fantasy that has clear influences from his time writing companion books to action FPS video games. The story starts with a fast pace, Doc himself is introduced and briefly introduces his father whose immediately kidnapped. Doc flees his father’s assailants with the aid of his best friend, Julie, and family friend and Marine, Tommy, before ultimately being kidnapped and transported to a strange new world, Flora. There Doc will discover incredible powers as well as dark and tragic secrets about his own family. Telep’s world building is great and the story is fascinating, however, the beginning does feel a bit weak. It feels like a lot of the beginning is fast paced to try and hurry along to the more interesting parts of the story, but in doing so the characters and the world feel somewhat underdeveloped until later on in the story when you really get to know them. When Tommy is at risk about half way into the story I found it hard to be too worried for him as we barely knew him despite being such an important figure in Doc’s life. Most of what I would have expected in the beginning, getting a clear introduction to the characters personalities and learning about life pre-story is given to the reader through flashbacks. While I appreciate the flashbacks to help give light onto Doc’s life it would’ve been nice to know a bit more about him and the people close to him before the story got into the thick of things. Overall the story is worth reading regardless of the weaker opening and I’m excited to see what happens next in Doc Harrison and the Masks of Galleon, the second book of the series as well as the TV miniseries that is apparently in the works.
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