Sha’Kert: End of Night by Ishmael A. Soledad
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The blurb: A Heartfelt and Mesmerizing Sci-Fi Drama
Greg and Lou learn that their daughter has a terminal illness. In their desperation, they make a deal from which there is no return. When their crimes are exposed, their world is turned upside down.
Henry wants nothing more than to leave his Amish community behind, even as their land is under threat; their traditions under fire; and their faith faces its greatest test. But his mother is his world – where she goes, so too will he.
Circumstances bring these two worlds together – a family banished to the edge of the galaxy; a community praying for a new life and the re-orientation of their destiny. But when fate abandons them to an uncharted, inhospitable planet, some struggle for survival while others embrace the opportunity to explore this strange new world. Relationships are tested, beliefs are tried and emotions are pushed to the limit.
Yet Sha’Kert has a place for all.
My review: It’s strange how things work out. A couple of months ago, I made a comment to my husband regarding wanting to read a book about the Amish people/culture, and the very next day I received a review request offering a book with an Amish theme. Of course, I had to say yes please to the offer.
Sha’Kert: End of Night drew me in and kept my interest from the very beginning. What made it more rivetting was the science fiction theme weaved in with the Amish theme. It was well done and felt natural.
Set in the future, where my imagination was free to paint my own scenes using the author’s guidelines, the main characters find themselves on another planet. The stories of how they got there are full and deep. There are difficult hurdles to overcome, life-threatening decisions to make, and a very real futuristic world that could become a reality, which was a little scary. And then what they go through once they get to the unknown planet left me wondering how I would cope in the same, or similar, situation.
The characters are well defined and can easily be identified. The world-building is excellent. I had no trouble believing and accepting what I was reading. The writing was exceptional.
The landscape was vivid in my mind and I kept returning to the book because I wanted to know what would happen next. There is more I would like to say, but I don’t want to give anything away. I guess I can say that I asked myself several times, would I survive if I were there. What would I do? Unfortunately, I cannot give the answer without giving a spoiler.
There was something deep in regards to the writing of this book. To be honest, although I’ve thought on it for a few days I am unable to verbalise it or put it into words. I don’t know what it is, but I feel as if I missed something, or didn’t understand something that should have been plain, that the deeper meaning of the storyline went over my head. Thing is, I don’t think this issue has anything to do with the way the author wrote the book. I believe my mind couldn’t grasp whatever it was because I’ve been unwell over recent months. And that saddens me.
I enjoyed the book. It held me captive for many weeks (I’m a slow reader these days). I am so happy I was given the opportunity to read this brilliant story and recommend it.
I received a review copy of this book, and this is an honest review.