JC Hemphill

Decent Short Story

This is absolutely a competently written disaster-come-alien horror story that is performed well. It does what it says on the tin and for something in the Audible Included library that's pretty awesome. I genuinely love just how many stories the Original programme is getting produced.

Being more critical, it's not original, which absolutely isn't a problem, but when you are covering well trod ground doing so with aplomb and/ or your own added layer is necessary to elevate it. Yes, it's a heightening of the horrors of hurricanes and natural disasters, but it doesn’t really feel like it is even exploring and exposing those fears. Searching for more meaning actually raises some questions about the descriptions of the extra terrestrials and the name of the story, which could speak to a fear of the 'other' and hegemonic prejudice -- to be clear, I'm not leveling this as an accusation, but rather to point out that trying to parse a message or meaning is not fruitful.

Honestly, I only bother to overthink and pick at works that show promise, so I'm not trying to be a colossal downer, and I know that, while it is a general principle and something I really need to connect with a story, there doesn't have to be an added layer or more to it. I simply think short stories, horror, sci-fi, etc. all are far more interesting while exploring or extrapolating something meaningful. I absolutely accept that sometimes they are also just a snapshot of action and experience.

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