Giveaway and Review: Remnant by Roland Allnach

Good Morning all my sci-fi lovers!!  Do I have a treat for you!  Today we have Roland Allnach's book the Remnant.  Let's take a look at the book details:

Title:  Remnant:  An Anthology Author:  Rolnd Allnach Publisher: All Things That Matter Press (November 11, 2010) Length: 218 pges Subgenres:  Sci-Fi /Fantasy

BLURB:   A stirring, thought provoking anthology of three novellas within the speculative/science fiction genres. The stories are linked in theme by characters seeking self- truth, redemption, and their moral center.   The novellas, in order ofappearance, are: “All the Fallen Angels”, in which a convicted war criminal attempts to make peace with his past; “Enemy, I Know You Not”, in which a military officer that was captured and tortured tries to find his loyalty in an abyss of suspected betrayals; and “Remnant”, in which the survivor of a global pandemic is confronted with the prospect of making peace with hismemories when other survivors attempt to bring him back from self-imposed isolation.

EXCERPT: …there she stands, among the whispers of ruin, caught between so much anger and hurt and betrayal. So dark, that night: the whisper of the wind, the patter of the rain, the steam of humid air; it had the feel of dissolution, of tears and loss and futility. And there she stands among it all, among the whispers, dehumanized, for what is her life—any life—but the lost murmur of whispers in the dark? She was only nine. I shot her anyway. The nightmare snapped away as it always did, stunning the mind of the man that had been held in its sway. He rose up in bed—not bolting, but more a slow, steady bend at the waist to sit upright, like some undead creature of old. The comparison, he thought distantly, was not all that off the mark. He turned in the darkness to let his feet slide out from under the sheets of his bed. There was no curious glance over his shoulder to look upon his wife; he knew by now that she was a heavy enough sleeper, and that she had grown accustomed to his often troubled sleep. Yet it bothered him nonetheless, waking a petty notion in the lonely recesses of his heart, a petty notion of jealousy to sleep in apparent peace. With a sigh, he departed the bed and staggered with the stiffness of his bad leg towards the little kitchen of their captain’s cabin. He moved with familiarity, not turning on any lights, yet still able to silently gather his customary mug and the hot water to make his tea. Then he settled himself at the small table beside the portal of their cabin, one hand on his mug, the other on his com. He looked out to the cold points of starlight in the black void. He blinked. The sound of water, the soft tinkle of running water, came to him. He looked to the sink, but he had turned off the faucet. He closed his eyes. The com vibrated under his hand, startling him. His arm folded like an old mechanism to bring the little black communicator to his ear. He could hear the breathing on the other end of the call. He knew who it was, but not how she knew to call, and she always knew; she always called when he woke, but she never spoke. Too many bad things dwelled between them, he knew. Where does one start? When all that’s left is broken, which piece do you pick up first, and more important, why that particular piece?  But then something changed: she spoke his name, her voice a thin rasp in his ear. “Stohko?” He blinked. His lips parted. He put the com down and keyed it off, but stared at it for several seconds, his face settling to stone. His eyelids slid shut, and when he opened them, he was looking to his side to see his wife standing by the teapot, arms crossed on her chest, her long blue nightshirt hanging to her knees. “Nightmare?” she said through a long yawn. He stared at her. She rubbed her face before walking around the table to hug him from behind, her arms wrapping around his shoulders. Her dark hair slid forward to brush against his cheek. He barely breathed. His eyes had not moved, holding where he had seen her, as if she still stood there. He laid his hand over the com. “Stohko—” “It’s my burden, Pallia, not yours.” “But it’s here, with both of us.” She let her breath go. “You took your pill?” He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable at once, but nevertheless confessed to her. “Last two days. Something’s changed. I don’t know. I’ve been sleeping well for the last few weeks. No headaches, no nightmares, no calls—” She straightened, her dark hair trailing across his neck as she receded from him, but her hands remained on his shoulders. “Those pills are old, you know. Expired, I would think. Maybe you should see Piccolo tomorrow. At least you could sleep then.” He frowned. She said nothing. After several moments she went back to bed, the only remaining imprint of her presence the sudden chill of his skin where she had touched him. He crossed his arms over his chest to lay his fingers on his shoulders, sensing the dissipating warmth of her hands. He looked over his shoulder, but as he expected, she was gone.  Enemy, I Know You Not Book 2 The dying fires of Tropico smoldered in the night, peering like little red eyes from the darkened face of the planet. Sergeant Ellister frowned as he stood in the viewing lounge of his troopship. His gaze lingered on the planet, his mood sinking as the planet’s sun began to illuminate an arc of daylight across its rim. He blew out his breath and shook his head before thumping a fist on the bulkhead next to him. “So after everything, you’re telling me it’s a matter of trust?” He tipped his head. “All right, I trust him,” he said, his frown resuming its hold on his face. He looked to his side. “You know, this whole thing with Hovland, I thought it was Security’s business. It’s not up to me to clear him, so why bring me down here?” Training Officer Sheffield, slouched against a bulkhead across the lounge from Ellister, shrugged. “This is the only quiet place to talk. Don’t forget, it’s celebration time.” He glanced at the planet beneath them. “The campaign’s over. This insurgency—this part of the rebellion—it’s over. We won. Time to cut loose.” Ellister’s frown did not relent. “Then leave my platoon alone.” Sheffield smiled. “As it happens, I’ve got replacements for your platoon.” He looked to Ellister. “Security says everybody’s a green light.  You too, by the way—you’re officially cleared, even though the papers haven’t gone through all their channels just yet. I wanted to let you know. That was some little show you pulled down there,” he reminded the sergeant as he nodded his head to the planet. Ellister looked away. “I was justified.” Sheffield waved a hand. “We can justify anything if we try hard enough, but that’s a threat to our standards, and in those messy gray areas, that’s where questions and doubt live. Order—to maintain order— things have to be black or white. Clear lines, distinctive boundaries; it’s the only way to keep things sane. Remember that.” He leaned off the bulkhead. “I’ll go talk to Hovland. Now do yourself a favor and get drunk like everybody else.” BUY LINKS:   Autographed print copies: http://www.rolandallnach.com/Bookstore.htm Direct from publisher (All Things That Matter Press): https://www.createspace.com/3496763 Amazon print: http://www.amazon.com/Remnant-Roland-Allnach/dp/098462970X/ref=sr_1_94?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289485044&sr=1-94 Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Remnant-An-Anthology-ebook/dp/B004BSH1LI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1289766466&sr=1-1 Barnes & Noble: http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=roland+allnach&page=index&prod=univ&choice=allproducts&query=roland+allnach&flag=False&pos=-1&box=roland+allnach&box=roland%20allnach&pos=-1&ugrp=2 About the Author: Roland Allnach has been writing since his early teens, first as a hobby, but as the years passed, more as a serious creative pursuit.  He's an avid reader, with his main interests residing in history, mythology, and literary classics, along with some fantasy and science fiction in his earlier years.  By nature he has a do-it-yourself type of personality, and his creative inclinations started with art and evolved to the written word.  Since making the decision to pursue a career as an author, he's secured publication for a number of short stories, received a nomination for inclusion in the Pushcart Anthology, built his own website, and in November 2010 realized publication for an anthology of three novellas, titled Remnant, from All Things That Matter Press, followed in 2012 by his second anthology, Oddities & Entities, also from All Things That Matter Press. Both books have gone on to receive a number of national awards, including National Indie Excellence Awards, Readers Favorite Book of the Year Awards, and USA Book News Best Book Awards. His writing can best be described as depicting strange people involved in perhaps stranger situations. He prefers to let his stories follow their own path. His writing is sometimes speculative, other times supernatural, at times horror, with journeys into mainstream fiction, and even some humor- or perhaps the bizarre. Despite the category, he aims to depict characters as real on the page as they are in his head, with prose of literary quality. His literary inspirations are as eclectic as his written works - from Poe to Kate Chopin, from Homer to Tolkien, from Flaubert to William Gibson, from Shakespeare to Tolstoy, as long as a piece is true to itself, he's willing to go along for the ride. He hopes to bring the same to his own fiction.   - Social Media Links: website:  www.rolandallnach.com Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/roland.allnach Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5181360.Roland_Allnach  

There were stories grouped together in this anthology, all of them unrelated, except perhaps the theme.  Even though the stories and situations were fantastical, they were all focused on the main character finding himself, or recovering and forgiving himself for past sins.  These stories spin a relative light on the darker and brighter sides of human nature.  In our first story, we learn about a man who tried to fix a planet.  To many things were going on down there with no one doing anything about it.  This planet held its own sway over the population due to a type of euphoria caused by the vegetation there.  It made people ignore what was going on around them and stay in a constant state of...almost like numbness to goings on.  All except for one man.  He was able to escape the effects and try to better the planet.  A tragic accident unseats this mans sanity causing him to lock down the planet, as per orders.  But he goes too far and attempts to make things right by undergoing countess hours of torture.  This is his story and his return trip to the planet in an unknown effort to right all the wrongs done there. In the second story, we encounter an advanced line of soldiers.  They train through simulation, but in this instance the computer system locks up, and everything goes wrong..or does it?  This is quite a fascinating story of the soldiers taking a deeper look at themselves, and some startling discoveries. Our third story was perhaps my favorite.  Its a post-apocalyptic look at one mans journey through surviving the world as it is now, and living with the situations he was forced to react to.  We have all wondered what would happen if this situation occurred, and what would happen if the end really did occur.  This is a look at man who struggles with morality and ends up finding that he is initially a good man. This was an interesting collection of stories that aspire a deeper thought.  Its one of those books that have you questioning life and taking a deeper look inside of yourself.  I enjoyed this and recommend this book for book-lovers that like a deeper look.

There is a giveaway associated with this book!!  The author is giving away a $50 Amazon card and an autographed print copy of the book!  Just fill out the rafflecopter!! a Rafflecopter giveaway