Face of a Stranger :

Rating:
Summary: A Book Primarily for the SciFi Fans
Review: Dan Roentsch writes well, as his first novel FACE OF A STRANGER suggests. Coming from a background of theater (directing and producing edgy Off Broadway works), the genre of science fiction seems a bit alien to him (!), but if you are a SciFi devotee then I think this book is for you. Short at only 126 pages, FACE OF A STRANGER manages to pull up some interesting language, very creative terminology for a story in the 24th Century, and make some observations about heroism that are actually more timely than expected.
Briefly, the story takes place on the now habited planet Mars, inhabited by both people who immigrated there from Earth as well as the ones born on Mars. A plague threatens life on Mars, a disease caused by a virus that can be eradicated only by the Earthling Doctor, Harold Sevillus, who dies before his 'secret cure' is spoken. The doctor brought his young son Maric with him to Mars , under the auspices of one Eric Sheel - the dictator of Edom, Mars, who adopts Maric and encourages Maric's bonding with his own daughter Ursina. Sheel controls the planet by keeping Edom under dome and providing donors who produce antiserum for the plague virus, making him fully in control of the existence of the population. Sheel believes Maric to have an implanted at his father's death a secret for a synthetic cure for the plague and he seeks to gain access to that secret. Maric is hounded with dreams of 20th Century Earth heroes who face death. He is studying the history of his parent planet Earth, has few friends and those he does have include Joey, a childhood friend who has joined Sheel's bodyguard, Kelby his professor, Ursina his lover and Krace, his new found love in the classroom. Maric's obsession with his dreams eventually leads to his discovery of the information planted in his brain and the results throw Sheel's master plan and Maric's choices into a climax.

Where the author succeeds best is in his creation of a dialogue that matches the 24th Century. But that same success in writing his far-reaching projections of science, of communication, and space travel and life on Mars is also one of the problems of the book. Perhaps for SciFi fans this sort of gobbledy-gook terminology goes with the territory and is expected and therefore accepted. But for the readers new to this genre, names like SDNAs, holomode, New Kasei, scansole, Earther etc act as stumbling blocks to the flow of the story. Antiquated as it may seem, perhaps offering a Glossary before or after the novel would avoid confusion. But that is a small point. Roentsch very capably creates atmosphere of places we know not and has a cast of characters who, though a bit one dimensional, populate this neverland well. The quality of heroism is thoughtfully explored and for this reader that alone justifies the writing of this entertaining book.

Rating:
Summary: Heroes and the wannabes who love them
Review: Dan Roentsch's Face of a Stranger is a strange little book. Ostensibly, it's about heroes and what it takes to be one. What's it like to do something for somebody, knowing that you won't survive to see the reaction? The book's main protagonist, Maric, has to deal with this issue both in the abstract (he's dreaming about heroes) and in real life. It's actually a very interesting take on the whole issue, but it's marred by extraneous material and some rather bland characters.

Living in a 24th century Martian colony of Edom, run by the dictatorial Eric Sheel, Maric holds a secret. A plague has infected the city ever since, and the only man with a cure was Maric's father, Harold Sevillus. Before he died, Sevillus implanted a secret message in Maric's brain, a message that Sheel is convinced is the cure. Unfortunately, it's locked up tight in Maric's memory, where even he can't access it. Sheel takes Maric in as his ward, keeping a close eye on him and trying desperately to unlock the secret. This message seems to be invading Maric's dreams, as he has continuous images of 20th century heroes in all walks of life. The book begins with Maric dreaming he's a cop who gives his life to bring down a clock-tower sniper. As Maric gets older, the dreams get worse and he has to figure out what they mean. But the message is more then either Maric or Sheel ever bargained for. In deciphering everything, Maric has to make a decision: to be a true hero, or to be forever in Sheel's clutches.

The main problem with the book is that none of the characters are exceptionally interesting. Maric's quest to discover more about himself should keep the reader enthralled, but more than once I found myself tiring of his whining and wanting him to get on with it. He's indecisive, and I just wanted to reach through the pages of the book and throttle him, telling him to get off his duff and do something. Roentsch uses Maric to discuss what a true hero is, and it's not just somebody who sacrifices his or her life for a cause. Sometimes, it comes down to making a tough choice, a choice that can force someone into a very bad situation. When Maric is mulling this over, he actually starts to become interesting. But then he starts interacting with other characters and his less interesting personality traits manifest themselves again.

None of the other characters are any better. Sheel is rather stereotypical as the villain of the piece. He threatens, he cajoles his men, and he has moves quickly from being agreeable to being harsh with Maric as the mood hits him. Ursina, Sheel's daughter and Maric's lover, is much too much like any other rich man's daughter in stories like these: flighty, demanding, pouty and, ultimately, won over (for no apparent reason in this case). Joey, Maric's childhood friend and one of Sheel's security officers, doesn't do much to enthrall either. Krace seems to be a plot device more then a character, forcing Maric to make his first real choice but ultimately not distinguishing herself otherwise. It's an interesting choice, but she doesn't bring much to it.

And then there's Kelby. He's actually not that bad, but he (and Krace) are part of a superfluous chapter that really brings the book to a screeching halt, something that's not healthy in such a short book. Kelby is one of Maric's professors, and also greatly critical of Sheel. He has some interesting exchanges with Maric, but the chapter where Maric and Krace are taking their final exams just seems completely out of place. In it, Kelby has a long internal monologue about Maric and Krace, commenting on their abilities and how they've done in his course. He then starts to think about how much he's growing infatuated with Krace, and how she appears interested in Maric. This brings on a lot of anger with Maric, but it ultimately doesn't go anywhere. I guess this was supposed to set up Krace in the reader's mind for what happens later in the book, but it doesn't really do that. Instead, it made me think this was too much of a side road to go down and I wanted to get back to the main one.

I don't want to dump on the book too much. It's apparently Roentsch's first, and it does show a lot of promise. The idea of the book is wonderful, and Maric truly is a "different" kind of hero. This is mainly due to the fact that Maric is trying to discover what a hero is and what he would do in this situation. He truly doesn't know and he's floundering. The ideas and themes discussed are interesting and I'm glad I read them. Roentsch's prose isn't too bad for a first effort, either, with only the occasional clunky bit. The same goes for his plotting and pacing. The only problems there were the above mentioned chapter and the fact that the climax of the book seemed much too sudden for what led up to it.

Still, Face of a Stranger is a worthwhile read. It's short and it's promising. I'd like to see if Roentsch can improve on it. He has his themes down pat, and if his next book is as interesting as this one was, then he should have a winner, as long as he works on the characterization issues. Improve the pacing and he'd have a home run. Give it a look if you find it.

David Roy

Rating:
Summary: Well written with nicely integrated worldbuilding
Review: Student Maric Sevillus lives as ward to dictator Eric Sheel--and does everything he can to embarass the man. Sheel is a hero, of sorts. His efforts twenty years previously headed off a dome collapse. But since then, he has become ruthless in preserving his power, taking advantage of a group of people with natural antibodies to a horrible Smart DNA disease. Sheel discovers that Maric's mind holds an encrypted message from his father--a scientist who may have discovered the cure to the SDNA disease--and will do anything to learn Maric's secret.

Maric has discovered a horrible fascination for the 20th century--and starts to suffer from frequent nightmares. Sheel believes that the fascination is more than a student interest. The dreams may hold clues to the encrypted memory--a memory that even Mars's best psychologist was unable to discover. Sheel is prepared to let Maric discover the truth in his own time, but when Maric develops an interest in a fellow student--a woman heading back to Earth--Sheel feels compelled to push harder.

Author Dan Roentsch delivers a well-crafted and interesting first novel. Both the science and society of this future Mars settlement are convincing. I was impressed by the quality of the editing--many iPublish books have editing problems but FACE OF A STRANGER was clean. People looking for a coming of age story with a young man forced to come to face with his own weaknesses and overcome them won't go wrong picking this story.