Terminus by Paul Melhuish

Terminus Reviews

• 
  David King

  “Terminus” by Paul Melhuish is a rather interesting blend of Science Fiction and horror that I found thoroughly entertaining although there were a few minor issues. The plot itself is based around Sii Terminus, a man whose past with scarred by an encounter with a strange alien species. Now though, he is captain of a space craft that has been tasked with the simple sounding task of taking an important bureaucrat out to another planet named Thanatos One. However, upon arrival it becomes obvious that the task is not that simple and soon Sii and his crew encounter horrors and danger they could never have imagined in their darkest dreams.
  
  The first thing I noted about the book is that it does start of quite slowly, which isn’t helped by the use of specialised slang which I will discuss later on. However, upon arrival at Thanatos One itself the pace really does pick up with various twists and turns keeping the reader on their toes. I really found myself desperate to turn each page and discover what was coming next. The overall feel of the novel is quite dark as the horror scenes themselves can be quite graphic and there is a pervasive level of corruption and decadence within the society that Melhuish has created. Yet, the novel does also have some rather amusing elements of dark humour which cleverly ensures that it doesn’t become subsumed by the more depressing and morose elements.
  
  The writing was clever and descriptive which really helps the reader envision both the characters and the world they inhabit. Melhuish has also tried to show the evolution of his society by including a form of slang that has resulted from the slow corruption of English. Whilst I found this quite interesting and clever, I did think it could detract from the novel as the reader tried to understand what the words actually meant. Basically, I found myself getting bogged down early on in the novel as I tried to both understand the new slang and put up with the slow initial pacing.
  
  In regards to the characters, the majority of them fit in with their rather decaying society very well with various flaws and issue visible for all to see. Despite this however, I couldn’t help but find myself liking most of them with Sii Terminus himself being the ultimate anti-hero. The fact that I found myself caring about the characters really helped to enhance the power of the horror elements. This was nice to see as I find that too many horror stories rely on gore alone to thrill the readers.
  
  Overall, this was an exciting and interesting horror story that uses its futuristic setting incredibly well. I think I would recommend the book to lovers of several genres as fans of post-apocalyptic fiction, dystopian, horror and even space-opera should find something in the book that appeals.
  
• 
  Sarah-Jayne Briggs

  (I received this book for free as part of Greyhart Press' 'read...review...repeat' offer).
  
  (This review may contain spoilers).
  
  It took me a little while to really get into this book. There were a lot of words that I didn't understand and had to pause to try and decipher the meanings. I think there were still a few words I couldn't quite understand.
  
  The character of Terminus grew on me. I didn't like him at first. He was still a bit irritating by the end of the book, but I liked him a lot better. He was quite a realistic character - more like a reluctant hero, which is a type of character I do like.
  
  I like horror films - the slasher types are... entertaining. When the characters reached Thanatos One the first time, that's what the story came across as.
  
  The creatures that populated Thanatos One were scary. It was like the whole planet was an enormous death trap. The Virgins were particularly creepy, as were the zombie-type women in the forest. Of course, the characters didn't do the sensible thing and not go into the scary place, which is fairly typical for characters in horror settings.
  
  The descriptions of the violence and horror were quite in various places, but there were also times when much of it was left to the imagination, which was even scarier. The creatures were done quite well in that they were recognisable from horror films, but with quite a few differences. I also liked the fact that there was nothing romantic or 'good' about the beings - they were completely evil, not dark, brooding heroes.
  
  I'm not sure what to make of the Creator thing. It seems similar to Christianity, but not quite the same as that, either. At least most of the religious characters didn't seem to come across as fanatical freaks.
  
  I thought the differences between the different planets came through quite well, both in attitudes and the way they talked. Seeing Terminus interact with Naomi and her family was fairly interesting in many ways.
  
  I did notice a few grammatical and punctuation errors, but nothing too major. I'd be interested in reading more books set in this universe at some point.
• 
  Armand

  Paul Melhuish's "Terminus" is a blend of modern horror, old fashioned space adventure, and liberal dashes of very dark humor. The story pulled me in with strong and surprising plot twists, huge stakes, heinous villains, and -of course- Sii Terminus himself, an anti-hero worth rooting for (as stated on the book's website: “the fate of all humanity rests on the actions of an anti-hero with a hangover.”) I do have to admit that there were a couple of times where I questioned the complex narrative and a few passages that were a bit too graphic for my tastes (although, interestingly, not quite as terribly graphic as some of the stuff I've read in books by Larry McMurtry, including the much-celebrated “Lonesome Dove” which contains brutal rape and torture). On the whole, I admire the taut narrative and I recommend this book to genre fans with the sole caveat that you shouldn't read it if you are not a fan of fairly intense violence. Oh, and did I mention that it has some great moments of comedy too? You can get it for cheap on Kindle or Nook. Check it out!
• 
  Alan

  From the very first page I was captured in this futuristic universe where utter evil seeks to destroy everything good and pure. This book is gripping sci-fi horror with many twists to keep the story moving at a fast pace. What I really appreciated is Paul Melhuish's style of allowing the reader to encounter a world that has fallen into debauchery but yet not turning the book into vulgar smut. Melhuish is cleverly able to capture the hardcore lifestyle (with language to match) without using foul and explicit language. How does he do that? By imagining how language (and most especially foul language) would have evolved which clearly conveys explicit expressions without using words that actually offends. The end result is a book that doesn't shy away from a society that has fallen into decay, and while some violent scenes are quite graphic, I wasn't ever at the point of thinking that Melhuish had pushed the boundaries into the crude and obscene. The "new language" adds to the feeling that the reader is journeying in a changed universe. Well done.