Assessment:
Overall rating (8 votes)
Recommended by 5 members.
The Lifting of the Veil
A serialized novel, updating weekly.
As most of the world is destroyed and nothing remains to fight for, Thomas Hayward leads a group of survivors against the forces that now populate Earth. Desperately, against a toxic land and a soulless enemy, he tries to lead them toward the one location that may hold answers — the final resting place of the Roswell ’47 crash saucer and its crew.
Michael Livingston has to cross thousands of miles of land and water to find his brother Robert, but, unaware that his brother may hold the final key to the survival of the human race, his journey ends before it starts. His capture begins his true journey into despair and fear . . . and flickering hope.
Neither knows the depth of the evil that has been visited upon them — nor the futility of their quests.
The Lifting of the Veil
— contains some graphic violence and harsh language —
Tags: action adventure aliens apocalyptic online novels post-apocalyptic quest science fiction
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Editorial Reviews
Wobble
The Lifting of the Veil feels very slow because the the characters are "explained" with references to their past and internal thoughts that don’t really create conflict or drive the plot forward. In other words, the beginning just doesn’t provide a lot of impetus to continue reading. This is especially problematic because LotV has a lot of characters, all of which have their introductory chapters and internal musings/setting explained.
The many characters also made it rather difficult to get into the story, especially since each character had a "turn" and, even if something actiony happened, it wouldn’t be resolved until it was the character’s turn. This structure made it very difficult for me to immerse myself into the story.
It was also difficult to suspend my belief at some points in the story. The relatively new-on-the-scene president is elected because the citizens are voting out incumbents in droves. I know this is a story and not the real US of A (and that this is probably my Pol Sci class rearing its dry and boring head), but that just wouldn’t/doesn’t happen. It really isn’t a major point of the story, but it just really bugged me. Also, when the impending doom comes extremely nigh, the government decides not to notify its citizens. This is unbelievable to me, and I don’t feel much sympathy for a president who would not lead the country in such a time of crisis.
The writing is neither bad nor outstanding, but it becomes especially vivid and intense when the crisis strikes. At times the prose is dry and very technical, which sometimes becomes tedious. There are also some past to present tense changes which are rather off putting.
If apocalyptic fiction is the water that floats your boat, you’ll probably enjoy this story.
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Most Helpful Member Reviews
An uphill read with a beautiful view…
I visited this site using Opera 9.6 and experienced no problems. The color scheme is very nice, and the layout extremely simple and straightforward. Every chapter is accompanied with beautiful artwork, and you can find information about the artists on the main page. What I can appreciate most is the ease of navigation—some sites will have me hunting around to find chapters. Thankfully, this site is nothing like that.
The writing itself is very well-informed and descriptive. There are moments when paragraph breaks and spacing can get a little weird, but its a minor distraction. Most of the chapters are short, and at my reading speed, I was able to finish each between 5-8 minutes.
Before I get onto the topic of story, I would just like to say that I am mostly a fantasy reader. I am not a girl interested in the "how" so much as the "why" . . . basically meaning that overly intricate descriptions of process or method tend to bore me. That is perhaps why I’m not so big on military or government conspiracy stories, or hardcore science fiction. When dialogue or narration gets into "esoteric jargon mode", I tune out. This is also true for your general, heavy exposition.
So when "The Lifting of the Veil" began, a lot of the writing was lost on me. In one ear, out the other. I literally had to go back before writing this review just to remember what went on exactly . . . and really, not much went on. It feels THAT inconsequential. The first few chapters are entirely dedicated to the introduction of characters I have no reason to care about and the positions they are currently in . . . which are largely concerned with government "blahdy-blah" or science "wakka wakka".
The good thing is, this doesn’t go on forever, and things began to pick up around the fifth chapter when the first interesting and identifiable character enters the story: Alan Kelly. I took a liking to him because his introduction, unlike some of the others before him, seemed effortless and had a bit of humor mixed in. Just as Alan’s intro, the rest of the story, too, becomes effortless and interesting—roping me in with its tragedy and intense, earth shattering events.
All the previous introduced characters are like late bloomers. No longer caught under the shadow of their own histories and internal thinking, they became interesting and relevant. There are a few moments when they behave and act in a way that I find question mark worthy, but for the most part, characterization is spot on, and the drama that circles around the cast is fascinating.
The last thing I will have to point out is that despite being well written, the overall plot (so far) reminds me a lot of some of those blockbuster summer movies—like Indepedence Day, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and War of the Worlds. At the time of this review there are currently 20 live chapters of "The Lifting of the Veil". Therefor, it still has a chance to prove itself more inherently unique.
Final words: "The Lifting of the Veil" is a great story that starts off slow. Impatient readers, fantasy buffs, or anyone more concerned with the "why" vs. the "how" will have to work through the beginning to get anything out of it, but I really feel that its worth it in the end.
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Has Potential
With 19 chapters at the time of this review, the author has set the scene well for what could be a great story. The tension is building and I am looking forward to finding out what happens next.
I like most of the characters and there are a couple that could become favourites. The author has a dry sense of humour which shines through and helps to lighten the heavy subject of a post-apocalyptic world.
This review is not all sunshine and light though. There is a problem with tense changes here and there and the writing could do with tightening in places. I understand that this is something the author is working on at the moment.
A lot of thought has gone into the design and layout of the site itself and it is easy to navigate.
All in all I think this story has a lot of potential and my fingers are crossed that it delivers.
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Thomas
I’ve not been this interested in a blog serial novel since the David Wellington series. I would preferred to have discovered this after it was complete since I finish each chapter wanting more. Great start!
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Alien Invaders?
Though The Lifting of the Veil begins slowly, and has many characters that need to be remembered, it’s a worthy time investment. It soon picks up pace, and no time is wasted as many questions and mysteries are raised.
The characters themselves are well written and unique enough that you don’t get confused, and it helps that each has their own very different location and events. The President, for instance, exudes a sort of Clancy-ish feel, with the use of complex terminology and acronyms.
Unfortunately, there are a few quibbles. The tense changes a few times, and some chapters could do with better spacing between paragraphs. In the end, however, these issues are minor and will probably be dealt with soon.
In the end, the story and characters are interesting enough to warrant reading, despite some minor problems.
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