Official Review: Judas Priest by Eric Stephen Booth

[AvidBibliophile]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Judas Priest" by Eric Stephen Booth.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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In the year 2052, the ongoing war between Earth inhabitants and Mars colonies has intensified. When retribution is sought between warring factions of hermaphrodites, androids, and humanistic hybrid species, violent outbursts ensue. Judas Priest is a sci-fi short story inspired by several of the author’s previous works. Written by Eric Stephen Booth, this eclectic tale is but a small offshoot of an ongoing storyline. While it is a standalone grouping of scenes, the complete backstory of characters, motives, previous battles, and relationships can be found throughout other books in Booth’s Nemesis Horizon Project series.

Near the end of WWII, genetic experiments were secretly done on U.S. Army POWs. A reptilian virus was injected into these prisoners. It successfully produced a human/reptile hybrid. One of the genetically modified, mutant offspring was sent to colonize Mars with an army of Reptilian androids. Some of the other mutant offspring were trained by humans to fight in the futuristic wars against those very same Reptilians. The character of Judas Priest, a recently deceased rebel from the Pleb’s colony on Phobos, recently met his end at the hand of assassins. This story thrusts the reader into the revenge riots in the aftermath of that killing.

In a red spandex suit, there is a hermaphrodite named Ira – a towering ebony man with a forked tongue that can detect pheromones. His on-page nemesis is Parker – a tall, but incredibly slim, ivory CPU-powered woman who has the ability to spit green slime secretions that eat through flesh. They both loved Judas, but Parker gave him a “mercy killing” to allegedly save him from assured torture and humiliation. These two find themselves face to face in the Shanty Town section of Hauptstadt, at the graffiti-covered memorial wall where he was slain.

Hauptstadt citizens are protected by enforcers, who are described as being seven-foot-tall, muscular, fish-skinned, furry people. Gravity pulsator vehicles and hologram communicator devices are at their disposal, and city dwellers of Hauptstadt can enter a domed biosphere that allows them recreation outside of their cave-like conditions. Readers will also envision “consciousness” springing forth from crude nervous systems fashioned from fiber optic wires.

The grammatical errors are numerous, so this short story would benefit greatly from another round of thorough editing. Homophone errors, plurality mistakes, capitalization inconsistencies, missing words and letters, and some issues with verb tenses appear. There are a few minor references to things like “Die Sonne” that are challenging to fully grasp true comprehension and clarity of, without having read the previous novels. These are the only aspects I disliked. Including the one-page prologue, the entire story is 12 pages long. I did enjoy the descriptive prose, intentional character development, and otherworldly sci-fi setting. This tale would effectively entice interested readers into actively seeking out the other books in the related series.

I award Judas Priest a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I feel this book would be appropriate for most mature audiences, as the scenes depicting violence and murder can be a bit graphic. There are themes of betrayal, sacrifice, organ harvest, humiliation, and love, but there are also bio-electromagnetic fields, proton rays, and anti-gravity cycles. This is the author’s 5th published work.

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Judas Priest
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[RetiredOBNurse]

WOW! A lot of intense drama in just 12 pages for sure. Let’s hope our world is absolutely nothing like this in the year 2052 but nothing wrong with pretending for a brief moment in time it is! Different kind of book than I would read but an outstanding review regardless. Thanks!

[AvidBibliophile]

WOW! A lot of intense drama in just 12 pages for sure. Let’s hope our world is absolutely nothing like this in the year 2052 but nothing wrong with pretending for a brief moment in time it is! Different kind of book than I would read but an outstanding review regardless. Thanks!

Appreciate you checking out my review, thanks so much! This one was far outside the sort of books I typically read, but I was thoroughly invested and entertained throughout. Hope others will check it out too!

[NetMassimo]

The author seems to have mixed some conspiracy elements with other science fiction elements. I'm not totally sure about it, but I'm curious about this series. Thank you for your thorough review!

[Prisallen]

This definitely seems to be setting the stage for the other books but also is rather interesting itself. This sounds like a series that I would enjoy. Thanks for your wonderful review!

[Rayasaurus]

It sounds like a very action-packed 12 pages, that's for sure. I might have to go check out some of this author's other works if I see some good reviews for those. Thank you for the review!

[AvidBibliophile]

The author seems to have mixed some conspiracy elements with other science fiction elements. I'm not totally sure about it, but I'm curious about this series. Thank you for your thorough review!

The author has truly done a worthwhile job building up an otherworldly existence, with some conspiratorial motives and characters! Thanks

[AvidBibliophile]

This definitely seems to be setting the stage for the other books but also is rather interesting itself. This sounds like a series that I would enjoy. Thanks for your wonderful review!

Amazing that it could both standalone as a short snippet, but also invest you entirely into the bigger picture of this future world and the people in it! Thank you for the feedback

[AvidBibliophile]

It sounds like a very action-packed 12 pages, that's for sure. I might have to go check out some of this author's other works if I see some good reviews for those. Thank you for the review!

To be completely honest, I never read things in the sci-fi genre, but something about this one piqued my interest and felt approachable enough. And I was pleasantly surprised by what I encountered!

[Laura Lee]

Wow! That's a lot to pack in to just 12 pages. The title caught my eye as "Judas Priest" was the name of one of the hard rock groups the wilder guys at boarding school would sneak into the boys' dorm to listen to. LOL Thanks for your review. I enjoyed it but will probably take a pass. Do you think this would have been better done had it been worked into a full-length novel?

[AvidBibliophile]

Wow! That's a lot to pack in to just 12 pages. The title caught my eye as "Judas Priest" was the name of one of the hard rock groups the wilder guys at boarding school would sneak into the boys' dorm to listen to. LOL Thanks for your review. I enjoyed it but will probably take a pass. Do you think this would have been better done had it been worked into a full-length novel?

Haha, it was a significant amount to pack into just a dozen pages, and the combination of title and cover art definitely caught my eye too!! I have a feeling that the other 4 books in his novel series are much more lengthy and conclusive, but this tiny tale was almost like a separately-plated appetizer that gave just a pinch of a taste of what could be expected in the the full course of his other works!

[Miller56]

Thanks for the review. This sounds like a lot of story packed into twelve pages. It seems like it might provide a taste of his writing style to draw readers in. It may be worth checking out.

[AvidBibliophile]

Thanks for the review. This sounds like a lot of story packed into twelve pages. It seems like it might provide a taste of his writing style to draw readers in. It may be worth checking out.

So much story!! But thoroughly captivating, and I completely agree with you that it serves to effectively give a sample of Booth’s prose. Hope prospective readers will check it out!

[Gabriel Merêncio]

Science fiction novels, especially complex ones, can be quite lengthy, so I'm definitely surprised to know this one takes only twelve pages. I might as well check it out. After all, in the worst case scenario, it's not like I would waste much time. Thanks for the review!

[AvidBibliophile]

Science fiction novels, especially complex ones, can be quite lengthy, so I'm definitely surprised to know this one takes only twelve pages. I might as well check it out. After all, in the worst case scenario, it's not like I would waste much time. Thanks for the review!

Haha, perfect point!! And it’s a quick and enthralling read. I’ll be the first to admit that I usually never read sci-fi literature because it’s hard for my mind to fully grasp otherworldly storylines and places and plots, but something about this tale intrigued me, and I was genuinely able to follow along and enjoy it!