Dr. Immortal – Scott Edwards

Dr. Immortal has the makings of a good story. Perhaps I should say a good introduction, as it turns out to be the lead-in to a yet-unwritten story.

Good: Given that it’s a lead-in, it does its job - introducing characters, introducing the setting, hinting at where the story is going.

Weak: The plot is crowded out by tropes. There are aliens and ancient civilizations, the Bermuda triangle, devils and unicorns and maybe-angels, creatures with enormous tentacles, spooky shadow creatures. This leads in turn to a structural problem: The first half of the novella passes before we get to the actual story, and another quarter happens before we get to the core of the story.

If this novella was meant to be an introduction, it was too long. If it was meant to be a sample, it was told too little story.