Sunfall: Season One (Episodes 1-6)

Sunfall: Season One (Episodes 1-6) - Tim   Meyer, Pete Draper, Chad Scanlon Sunfall: Season One was a pretty good read, but unfortunately my praise for the book doesn’t extend much further than that. I will say, however, that this is one of those cases where I truly can’t tell if it’s me or the book that’s the issue. See, apart from the specific apocalyptic event that happened, nothing about Sunfall: Season One felt original. From the crazy cannibals to the over-controlling good guy, it’s been there done that. I mean, seriously, anyone who has watched The Walking Dead is familiar with the basics. Mind you, there’s not zombies in Sunfall, but you get the point. Now, obviously there’s rarely anything truly new in most genre fiction anymore. However, this plot felt like one that I’ve read twenty times over. And that, needless to say, caused me to have a decided lack of enthusiasm towards finishing the book. (I did, though.)

However, I will give Sunfall: Season One a piece of praise that I hand out rather sparingly. I liked the character development. There was a lot of ‘before / during the event’ that gave us excellent glimpses into the character’s lives. They felt very believable. Especially the main protagonist, Sam. The thing that I liked most about Sam was his imperfections. For the fact that he is the head honcho of the good guys, he is not a very likable character. Sam has anger management issues. He rarely follows through on promises. He has a serious problem with not being in control of everything. Basically, he’s technically good but he’s definitely a toe rag.

Also, one of the twists on the bad guy side was explained through character reveal in such a way that it made sense. It’s one of those deals where you can nod your head and go “Yep. Yep that makes sense.” To put it simply, the villain’s origin story showed that his particular crazy was showing before everything happened. The fact that he was smart enough to twist events to his liking and get support just made it a bit scary.

The creators of Sunfall wrote it well. The more I write of this review the more I realize that. Not only in character crafting, but in other ways. They do a mini cliff-hanger in such a way that you feel like you need to read more. You need to find out how one particular event was pulled off. I think in episode form, instead of the compilation I read it in, it would definitely keep you coming back for more.

Sunfall: Season One is perfect for fans of post-apocalyptic fiction who favor development over action. Readers will find people they root for, and people they want to punch. And there is, of course, the mystery behind exactly how The Burn happened. I would really like to see an explanation on this, but I think it might be better if there is none. If the creators give us one, then it gives people something to pick apart. By not revealing it, they leave it up to our imagination.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author for review consideration.