Swimming on the Precipice

Swimming on the precipice is a short story about a family and a potential extinction event looming over the world.

The story has strong bones; throughout, I wondered what was going on and was intrigued by where the story was going next. Much of the book depicts family time between Ben, Francesca, and Margo, but I was fine reading through this because I wanted to figure out what was happening at Francesca's work. Fransica is an engineer for a company called Atlas, which, among other things, designs rockships.

Francesca's workplace is rather toxic, and there is a great degree of secrecy. The engineers are kept out of the loop as to what exactly is going on. The relationship between her and her manager is rather unhealthy, and Fransica carries skepticism for her employer as well. During family time, news reports of a shrinking ozone layer are often heard. During Franscia’s time at work, she often tries to corroborate the rumours she has heard on the news. Ben and Frasesca are under the impression that Atlas knows more than it shares with its employees.

The story is intermixed with another viewpoint as well. This other perspective is written in the present tense and seems to be a battle of different consciousnesses: “logical stimulus” battles with “emotional stimulus” as they each argue their points.

My biggest complaint with the story might be the length. The story could have just been the exposition to a great sci-fi story. Instead, there is a rather tragic twist, and the story mostly ends at that point, with just a bit of time tying up the loose ends.

Another minor complaint might be some of the dialogue, which feels a bit stilted at times. The actions surrounding the dialogue are often a bit clunky.

Overall, I found the premise interesting, and the profluence of the book compels the reader onward. I enjoyed the book so much that I'm up at 12:30 am on a weeknight writing about it.

Perspective: 3rd person

Tense: Mixed

Length: 94 pages

Kindle Unlimited: Yes

https://www.amazon.com/Swimming-at-Precipice-Brent-Matley-ebook/dp/B0DZLYJLGP