Official Review: Once Humans by Massimo Marino

Fawkse · Post by **Fawkse** » 10 Nov 2013, 14:22

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Once Humans" by Massimo Marino.]

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This book, Once Humans, was a very interesting read. There were quite a number of things to be overlooked, such as grammar and vocabulary, but overall it was an enjoyable read. The author, a Mr. Massimo Marino, gives you a fairly good description of the world that we know, and how it changed upon meeting an outside species. While the author did a wonderful job, the editor seems to have greatly failed. However, the style of writing isn't something you see these days. It's almost as if the writer were there, on Eridu. While the beginning seemed to be lacking a bit in the way of explanations, the journal style of writing seems to cover it. There seems to be so much information in one shot that it does get a little confusing though.

I would rate this book at a 4, and recommend it to others. The setting and descriptions are very well done. The dialogue is true to natural speech, and the characters are believable and relatable. You can almost FEEL every emotion in the way they talk, and the words they choose. I cannot stress enough how pleased I am with this piece. The atmosphere and the environment in this book are phenomenal. Everything is given short but natural descriptions. The main character, Dan gives as much as he can in a short time span, as if he sat down every night to explain in case someone found his journal.

The plot. Always a major sticking point for me. The plot of this book is very interesting, in the sense that I'm not normally a very big "space and aliens" type of fan. What I've gotten out of this piece is that humanity had a HUGE sort-of apocalypse, all due to this race called the Moirai. This new species has come to change certain people, called Selected. They have come to "guide" humanity. This book did get me turning pages rather quickly.

The alien species have been given a feel of almost humanity, but very ethereal. Their emotions seem very human, and they can relate to their human counterparts. I enjoy the interaction between the two species, and seeing how the two different worlds interact separately as well as together.

This book would be a great read for anyone from Young Adult to Mature reader. (As long as they like Sci-fi!). It’s worth the download, and definitely worth the time to read. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.

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COKE08 · Post by **COKE08** » 05 Feb 2014, 17:12

can not go wrong with ScyFY!

Fordette89 · Post by **Fordette89** » 21 Feb 2014, 00:42

Grammar and vocab mistakes would bother me, is it really bad?

MassimoMarino · Post by **MassimoMarino** » 26 Feb 2014, 03:16

Fordette89, following the input from Fawkse, (he received the ARC edition of "Once Humans") the novel went through an additional pass of line editing with a different editor. Recent reviews on Amazon and Goodreads reflect this.

yalonde · Post by **yalonde** » 06 Mar 2014, 14:05

Sounds interesting. It is definitely in the genre I like, YA, Sci-fi, fantasy. As I read your description of the book, it reminded me of the Vampire Academy/Bloodline Series (Morai was used to name the Vampires), Lux novels by Jennifer Armentrout (the aspect about the aliens). Those are three books I actually enjoyed, so reading this book may be a good possibility for me. Was there any romance in this book?

MassimoMarino · Post by **MassimoMarino** » 06 Mar 2014, 14:37

Hello, Yalonde. Thanks for your comment, I hope being the author replying is not a 'faux-pas'. "Once Humans" is Vol.2 of the "Daimones Trilogy". Romance is present as a theme, but it is not central to the story, although the romantic relationships between the characters do influence their actions and their choices.

On amazon, Vol.1 Daimones has 108 reviews, and Once Humans (of more recent publication) has 26. Some are thoughtful reviews and might help you in your decision to give Daimones a chance.

All the best,
Massimo Marino

JenniferBoyce · Post by **JenniferBoyce** » 08 Mar 2014, 11:34

This sounds extremely interesting! I will definitely check this book out. What a wonderful review!

kismoody · Post by **kismoody** » 13 Mar 2014, 23:26

This book sounds interesting. I'll have to read it. Good job on the review.

Bookworm0266 · Post by **Bookworm0266** » 30 Mar 2014, 15:09

MassimoMarino wrote:Hello, Yalonde. Thanks for your comment, I hope being the author replying is not a 'faux-pas'. "Once Humans" is Vol.2 of the "Daimones Trilogy". Romance is present as a theme, but it is not central to the story, although the romantic relationships between the characters do influence their actions and their choices.

On amazon, Vol.1 Daimones has 108 reviews, and Once Humans (of more recent publication) has 26. Some are thoughtful reviews and might help you in your decision to give Daimones a chance.

All the best,
Massimo Marino

Hello,

I would like to review some of your books if you will allow. I want to review SciFi books like yours, but my Review Page seems to give me random things to read. How can I set my preferences to reflect my favorite genres? Any help would be appreciated.

MassimoMarino · Post by **MassimoMarino** » 31 Mar 2014, 02:02

Hello, Bookworm. Thank you for your message but I'm unsure whether I understand your question correctly. If it is how to set preferences in here to funnel books that are more interesting for you then I believe the main contact point would be Scott, the main manager of the onlinebookclub. Otherwise, do you have your own blog where you review books? I don't know whether you could ask Scott to do an additional official review for Daimones or Once Humans. I'd be glad, of course.

Bookworm0266 · Post by **Bookworm0266** » 31 Mar 2014, 17:59

I've contacted Scott with no response yet.. I'm asking whether we can funnel certain genres to the books we are able to review. The books assigned to me seem random. I can usually tell by the blurb whether or not I should review a book, but the option to reject a book for review appears too late in the process and affects my score.

gali · Post by **gali** » 31 Mar 2014, 22:36

Bookworm0266 wrote:I've contacted Scott with no response yet.. I'm asking whether we can funnel certain genres to the books we are able to review. The books assigned to me seem random. I can usually tell by the blurb whether or not I should review a book, but the option to reject a book for review appears too late in the process and affects my score.

He will answer you when he is on. However, you can't funnel the genres. The list shows books that are available for reviewing and you have the option whether to review them or not. I usually read the first chapter as well (sometimes it is available on Amazon) before deciding.

-- 31 Mar 2014, 23:37 --

Sounds good. Thank you for the review.

jamespoet · Post by **jamespoet** » 31 Mar 2014, 22:57

Great review.

MassimoMarino · Post by **MassimoMarino** » 05 Mar 2016, 11:54

The whole trilogy is now published by Booktrope LCC, Seattle and underwent noticeable rewriting and further editing and proofreading by the publisher.