Artemis One-Zero-Five – Christopher Henderson

Reviewed by Steve Stred

I’ve found since becoming more involved with the online horror community that there are some talented folks out there. Some of those talented folks are sometimes hidden right in front of your eyes.

I noticed for a time on Twitter that Christopher Henderson would frequently like, retweet or promote all things horror. I personally love supporting those who support me, so finally (much too long really) I took a look and found that Mr. Henderson had released a novella called Artemis One-Zero-Five. A sci-fi/horror story that really piqued my interest.

Artemis One-Zero-Five is a fun tale with a very unique idea that it jumps off from. Nick Scott is an astronaut but not in the normal sense. A Professor has developed a robot that can be controlled through a mental connection or link between a human on earth and the robot in orbit. Nick is one of the best users and frequently is used to explore terrain looking for key samples.

During one specific trip on an asteroid, beneath a rock structure that feels familiar for an unknown reason, Nick experiences an odd sensation. We quickly find out that something has crossed over the link, has moved from the asteroid back to earth and Nick finds out that his colleagues and himself are now in danger.

Henderson creates a great framework to roll out the plot and we get the basics of how the system works and how it’s controlled. In this case, it plays to the reader’s benefit that he doesn’t get too technical or detailed with it. It wouldn’t add anything of substance.

Henderson also smartly creates a character who can aid the main group. The beauty of this character is that they went through some of the training in the linking program before being turned away. I enjoyed this feature because it allowed solutions to be brought up from outside of the box. Instead of it being a straight forward alien invasion type tale, this character was able to add some assistance and inject some variables that otherwise wouldn’t have been workable in the normal story setting.

Henderson did a deft job of developing an ongoing sense of dread and impending terror, all while making the characters and their reactions rational, which was a spot on great job.

I would have given this story 5 stars if the action had picked up a little faster, but that’s just me expecting a quicker start with a shorter page count.

Overall a really well done, character-driven sci-fi/horror story that answered the questions it laid out but also allowed a number of avenues to be explored if he decided to offer up a sequel.

Star Rating (out of 5): 4.5*

Artemis 0ne-Zero-Five

They’d said it was dead. 

A lifeless rock. Spinning in space. 

But life can take many forms. 

Out there – embodied via the Link – it was easy to let your imagination get the better of you. Fatally easy. 

All it took was a momentary lapse of concentration for Nick Scott to nearly lose his mind. 

And for something to find it…. 

Enter the Link now and discover the horrifying secret of ARTEMIS ONE-ZERO-FIVE! 

You can buy Artemis One-Zero-Five from Amazon UK & Amazon US

Steve Stred

Steve Stred is an up-and-coming Dark, Bleak Horror author.

Steve is the author of the novel Invisible, the novellas Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick, the dark poetry collection Dim the Sun and his most recent release was the coming-of-age, urban legend tale The Girl Who Hid in the Trees.

On June 1st, 2019 his second full-length novel, The Stranger will be welcomed to the world.

Steve is also a voracious reader, reviewing everything he reads and submitting the majority of his reviews to be featured on Kendall Reviews.

Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog OJ.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred

You can visit Steve’s Official website here

The Stranger

Ahhh… nothing like the annual summer family camping trip, right?

Malcolm, his wife Sam and their two kids have been staying at the same cabin, at the same campground for years now. Heck, Malcolm’s been coming to the campground since he was a kid.

Miles and miles of groomed trails, hiking, kayaking on the pristine lake. What’s not to like?

But this year… well this year’s different. You see, roof repairs have caused them to have to change their plans. Now they’re staying at the cabin at the end of season, in fact they’re the last campers before it closes for the winter.

While happy to be spending time with the family, Malcolm feels a shift.

The caretaker next door makes it known he hates him.

The trees… move and dance, as though calling him, beckoning him.

Then on a seemingly normal kayaking trip, the family makes a discovery.

YOU TAKE FROM ME

I TAKE FROM YOU

Something’s out there, just on the other side of the fence. Malcolm’s positive it’s just the caretaker trying to scare him, teach the family a lesson.

But what if it’s not…

What if there is something out there?

The Stranger is the second novel from Steve Stred and 9th release overall. The Stranger is another offering following in the footsteps of similar books Invisible, YURI and The Girl Who Hid in the Trees. As Steve describes his works; “dark, bleak horror.”

With this release, Steve has decided to look deeper into what makes humans tick. He confronts two key elements of mankind; bigotry and our environmental footprint.

Featuring stunning cover art by Chadwick St. John (www.inkshadows.com), The Stranger will be a story that will leave you feeling uneasy and have you looking at the trees differently.

Maybe it’s not the wind making the branches sway…

Maybe…

It’s…

The Stranger. 

You can buy The Stranger from Amazon UK & Amazon US