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Project
U.L.F.
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Title: Project U.L.F.
Series: Project U.L.F., 1
Author:
Stuart Clark
ISBN:
978-0-9787782-0-0
Product Code: BK0021
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 432
Release Date: February 2007
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Price: $27.95
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Reviews
Review by:
Jennifer Andrew, Book Pleasures
Entertains, thrills, and leaves you
at the edge of your seat!
This exciting science fiction novel is about
a trapper named Wyatt Dorren. Shrouded by a rocky past, he finds himself
in charge of leading a crack-pot team to a seemingly abandoned planet. He
believes the trip is a routine excursion to bring back alien lifeforms for
the city zoo. Trained in hunting and trapping creatures of unknown
planets, no amount of training could prepare some of these specialists for
what they were up against. When Wyatt realizes the type of people
included in his team, he begins to question the realism of the
expedition. As he discovers the true nature of his quest, he comes in
contact with new species that threatens their lives. Stuck on unfamiliar
territory, Wyatt must convince the team to work together to get back home
or be stranded on a dangerous planet forever.
Set in Chicago where hover vehicles abound,
Project U.L.F. brings to its pages what Alien and Predator brought to the
silver screen. Stuart Clark fabricates the Central American Jungle into a
foreign, futuristic setting and places his characters in a manner that
entertains, thrills and leaves you at the edge of your seat. The author
keeps the momentum of the story by immersing the characters from one
encounter to the next, until the reader does not know where he or she is
going to end up. Stuart Clark does not waste the reader’s time with too
much dialogue but fits in just enough to distinguish the characters and
move the story along.
The main character, Wyatt Dorren, is in
charge of the whole U.L.F. Acquirement Department at the IZP but he gets a
rude awakening when he finds out the real purpose of his involvement. He
has to learn that he cannot continue his life as a loner but must trust in
others around him while leading the group to safety. Kate Frere, a young
biologist, is believed to have been on a standard mission to retrieve
specimens but finds herself involved in an unexpected situation. Her role
in the story seems to compliment Wyatt since they are forced to work out
their differences to survive. With a collection of memorable outcasts,
conflict arises that almost tears the team apart.
Captivating
from the first page, Project U.L.F. is a story that is not bogged down by
technical literature, but filled with terminology suited for the genre.
Science fiction fans will find it easy to read and unable to put the novel
down until you reach its entirety.
Review by:
Angela Schuch, SciFi Chick
Guaranteed Non-Stop,
Heart-Pounding Thriller
Stuart Clark kindly offered an advanced copy of his new book,
Project U.L.F., for me
to review. Books like this simply validate my love of science fiction.
Not only are his characters realistic and interesting, but the storyline
is extremely engaging. From the time I first sat down to read, straight
through to the end, I was captivated.
Wyatt Dorren heads Project U.L.F. (Unidentified Life Form) for the
Interplanetary Zoological Park. In the past, he has been a trapper,
visiting various planets and collecting different species of
extraterrestrial life to bring back to the zoo. So, when he is offered to
lead another mission of the same, which he thinks will be good for
promoting the zoo, he agrees. But, unbeknownst to Wyatt, the Douglas
Mannheim has other plans for this “routine” mission. The disreputable
Mannheim is the manager of the zoo, and feels threatened by Wyatt. So, he
assembles a special team for Wyatt and sends them on a one-way
trip to a planet from which no one has returned.
Mannheim isn’t the only one with an ulterior motive. And the planet is
much more dangerous than anyone imagines. With deadly creatures around
every corner, not everyone will survive this nightmare.
Comparable to tense, science fiction movies such as Alien and
Pitch Black, Project U.L.F. is a guaranteed non-stop,
heart-pounding thriller. At the end of each chapter, I felt like I could
finally exhale in relief. Cleverly written from different points of view
(and sometimes of the aliens themselves), only added to the suspense.
Clark’s vivid depiction of the deadly planet and imaginative creatures
brought the book to life. I’ll be looking forward to more works from this
new author.
Project U.L.F. will be available February 28th from Amazon,
and is now available for preorder. It’s also available now direct from
Silver Leaf Books.
Review by:
Scott Shaffer, SF Signal Review
Excellent Sci-Fi Thriller
that offers a ride reminiscent of
Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park
REVIEW
SUMMARY: Excellent sci-fi thriller that offers a ride reminiscent of
Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park
MY RATING: 3.5
stars
BRIEF SYNOPSIS:
An ex-con turned animal hunter is thrust onto a very dangerous planet and
forced to rally his rag-tag team of misfits into a fight for their very
lives.
MY REVIEW
PROS: Very well written action sequences, overall pacing is excellent
CONS: Some characters are openly stereotypical, dream element heavy-handed
BOTTOM LINE: Well worth the time if you enjoy a bit of thrill along with
your pulpy science fiction.
Humanity's
first reach into the stars has some very practical side-effects. While
most people won't get the chance to visit other planets, they are
interested in the life that is found there and it is natural to assume
today's zoos will want to fill that need. Wyatt Dorren is an ex-con with
a new lease on life thanks to a work-release program that has put him on
an animal hunting crew with Chicago's interplanetary zoo. He traps
animals on newly discovered planets and brings them back for exhibition in
the zoo. Wyatt is good at his job and rapidly rises through the ranks
ultimately attracting the attention of the zoo Director - who sees him as
a threat. To deal with this, Wyatt is secretly sent on a mission to
planet only just discovered - one that completely eliminated any traces of
the initial survey team.
This one-way
trip involves a group of people all intended to be lost - close friends of
Wyatt, ineffective junior employees, the elder trapper about to draw a
huge pension, and another work-release felon whose violent behavior is
proving impossible to manage. But in addition to this group, the cover-up
involving the secret destination also traps a student out on a planetary
survey sponsored by her school. Thanks to this and a few other helpful
accidents, Wyatt discovers the true situation and has to drag his team
across the dangerous ground on a trek for their survival.
Clark manages
to spin this tale into a very fun and compelling read. The plot moves
along sharply - and that is what impressed me the most. There are some
side-elements that might have been better eliminated (Wyatt has dreams
that foreshadow trouble but end up meaning little) but overall the book
moves quickly. There is political intrigue involving blackmail of a
General, the confrontations between Wyatt and the Director, and of course
the troubles on the planet itself. The team suffers setbacks, but none of
them felt contrived or designed to stall the plot or pad the book. The
trek across the planet has a great sense of foreboding - especially when
the reader knows more than the characters and sees that they are about to
walk into trouble. Finally, I really liked the fact that at the end of
the day, the planet has no sense of evil or morality to it - that is
instead left for the humans. The alien creatures that go about their
lives in the harsh environment are neither good nor bad - they are just
surviving.
The science
fiction is pretty well done, especially the parts involving the ecology of
the alien planet. The ideas on alien life forms are just Earth-like
enough to make the threats they pose seem real. Imagine finding a planet
like Earth's in the grip of the dinosaurs, for example. From carnivorous
plants to emerging sentient frog-men and to the truly dangerous beasts on
the planet they all felt realistic and believable.
Some of the
characters are a bit stereotypical (the ex-con, the kid, etc.) although I
give Clark some credit for admitting to it in the book. At one point
Wyatt, under the delusion that his team was assembled for media value,
points out how each of them fits a specific role. Hey, at least he was
honest about it. And while some characters change a little due to the
experience, most of them aren't that deep to begin with and aren't
candidates for growth. It is a thriller, after all, and not exactly
Hyperion. I didn't mind that the characters are somewhat weak - this is a
plot-driven story that is ultimately very good at what it was meant to be.
All told - I
was glad I read the book and had a good time reading it. It is a great
bit of pulp fiction that delivers a fast-paced, exciting read.
Review by:
Sabrina Williams, Front Street Reviews
Narrative is Smooth, Uncluttered,
and Edited Well
Wyatt Dorren may be an ex-con, but since
his placement as a trapper for Project Unidentified Life Form, he's made
himself into a respectable member of society. Project U.L.F. uses teams of
trappers to travel the galaxy and capture new life forms to display at the
Interplanetary Zoological Park. His stellar job performance has deemed him
a candidate for a pretigious position at the zoo. However, someone
threatened by his advancement wishes to eliminate the competition.
Wyatt is deployed on what he believes to be a routine U.L.F. mission. By
the time he begins to uncover a setup, it's too late: he and his crew are
stranded on an uncharted planet out of range of passing ships. The more he
learns of his unlikely teammates, the more evident their intended demise
becomes. Abandoning the mission he was originally charged with, he
undertakes the task of delivering his crew to safety while unimaginable
threats await.
Project U.L.F. is classic science fiction from a fresh new voice. Stuart
Clark's debut novel propels the reader into a future not incredibly unlike
the present, save for the prevalence of alien life forms. The characters
even relish in a bit of nostalgia with a Stars Wars reference to Han Solo.
With realistic creatures just alien enough to be intimidating, the reader
feels the threat the adventurers face on a moment to moment basis.
Clark's narrative is smooth, uncluttered and edited well. It seems silly
to have to mention the editing quality, but with current inconsistent
publishing standards, it is rare to find a book with minimal errors.
Project U.L.F. reflects positively on both Clark and Silver Leaf Books.
The story keeps the reader focused with few lulls in the action. The
ending lacks closure, but this is something that can be easily remedied in
the future and the possibility of a sequel appears evident in the final
paragraphs. Stuart Clark is likely to become a familiar name in science
fiction.
Review by:
Janie Franz, MyShelf.com
Project U.L.F. is a Flat Out Winner!
Attention all science-fiction
fans, there is a new writing talent on the horizon. Stuart Clark is
proving to be the next Michael Crichton or maybe a new Robert Heinlein.
Clark has written a remarkable off-world adventure, Project U.L.F.
Within its pages, Clark reveals a world of the future where zoo personnel
travel to distant worlds to find exotic species to supply humanity's
educational and recreational curiosity. The fearless trappers who bag
these off-world beasties are a remarkable breed themselves. For Wyatt
Dorren, becoming a trapper had been a choice he made to cut his prison
sentence short, a decision that could easily have resulted in an early
death on a hostile planet. As he learned his trade, however, he found he
was quite adept. Nevertheless, as the story unfolds, Dorren and an unusual
crew find themselves on a mission that is doomed from its start. They
begin gathering specimens but soon that task takes the back seat to
survival and trying to formulate a plan to return home.
Clark has created a remarkable world filled with unusual and dangerous
flora and fauna in a future that still hasn't learned the evil of power
and greed. The adventure is fast-paced, the characters are authentic and
multi-dimensional, and the alien lifeforms are creatively drawn and very
surprising.
Project U.L.F. is a flat out winner! I haven't read such pure
science-fiction adventure in a long time. The book has the feel of early
classic sci-fi (adventure and horror in the unknown) combined with the
hard science and sophistication of today. Adding reality to the narrative
is Clark's background in science. Though he has degrees in microbiology
and science writing, he deals with broad biological factors in the book,
painting a landscape, climate, and creatures that are definitely not
microbial.
Stuart Clark recently announced that he has finished writing a second
book about exotic off-world trappers, which means that he may be launching
a series.
Review by:
Daniel Eskridge, Galactium
The Style is Clear, the
Characters well Defined, and the Story Engrossing
Project U.L.F., by first time novelist Stuart Clark, tells the tale
of Wyatt Dorren and his team of interplanetary animal trappers as they
strive to escape a dangerous untamed planet on which they have been
purposely marooned. Project U.L.F. is a special division of Chicago's
Interplanetary Zoological Park. Its goal is to find new animals on
uncharted worlds and to bring them back to the zoo. It's such a dangerous
job that its members are recruited from the ranks of dangerous criminals.
Wyatt Dorren was once such a criminal, but at the beginning of the
novel has risen through the ranks to become the division head of Project
ULF. He is so popular that the IZP Director Douglass Mannheim has decided
that Dorren is a threat. He concocts a plot to send Wyatt and a team of
under equipped misfits to a highly dangerous world with inadequate means
of return. Through an unfortunate series of events, Kate Frere, a starry
eyed recent college graduate, finds herself along for the ride. What
follows is a pretty straight forward man versus nature story as Wyatt's
team must overcome their internal strife while they struggle to survive
and escape back to earth.
For a first novel, Project U.L.F is quite good. The style is clear, the
characters well defined, and the story engrossing. As far as science
fiction goes, it definitely favors fiction over science, with the focus on
action and drama rather than speculation and technology. This story could
easily have taken place in the early 20th century Amazon jungle rather
than an alien world. In fact, I felt a little like I was reading a Pulp
era science fiction novel written in the vein of Arthur Conan Doyle's
The Lost World. Though I wouldn't really classify it as a YA novel,
with only slight adult language and one adult themed scene this novel
would be safe for teens.
The villain's motives are a tad weak. Also, one of the subplots that
bothered me involves Wyatt's criminal past. It is mentioned prominently in
the story, but in the end has no real effect on the plot, except as the
basis for some of Wyatt's emotional responses. I would like to have seen
it more tied to the plot, say perhaps a victim from Wyatt's past playing a
hand in the plot against him. Otherwise, I don't think that the novel
would have suffered if that thread had been trimmed down significantly.
But, those are minor points. Overall, I enjoyed this novel and recommend
it to anyone looking for a good story of survival and adventure.
Review by:
Mel Jacob, SF Revu
Stuart Clark's debut novel Project U.L.F. throws his hero Wyatt
Dorren into a hush-hush mission to capture new life forms from a planet
beyond the edge of inhabited space. However, neither Wyatt nor his crew
know they are not expected to return.
Wyatt has
worked his way up from an ex-criminal and Unidentified Life Forms (U.L.F.)
team member to an executive position for the Interplanetary Zoological
Park (I.Z.P.) Head of the U.L.F. Department, he manages the expeditions
sent to newly discovered worlds to capture new specimens for the Park. His
boss, the head of the I.Z.P, asks him to lead a secret mission to acquire
new animals for an anniversary celebration of the Park. Surprised, Wyatt
at first says no. He hasn't done field work for several years, but he
finally agrees.
Added to the
crew at the last minute, Kate Frere expects to participate in a routine
mission to a known planet. When the man who arranged her assignment learns
the ship's real destination, he strives to find a means to enable her and
his friend Wyatt a chance for survival. Unable to prevent the survey
ship's launch only minutes away, he hides a ship locator beacon aboard.
The ship's
destination beyond charted space has already claimed two ships and their
crews. The planet has been declared off-limits. No reports indicate what
killed the crew of the first ship or that of the rescue vessel sent to
help.
Kate, a
recent graduate, finds herself marooned with the U.L.F. team with no
apparent escape and must fight along with them to survive in a hostile
environment. Adding to her problems, one troublesome team member has plans
for her.
Wyatt's
initial puzzlement over the mission and the crew assigned turns to horror
when he discovers they have neither the supplies nor sufficient power to
leave the planet. Finding the ship beacon gives a brief ray of hope, but
the other two ships lie more 1500 miles away and their ship hasn't enough
power to make it that far. Surrounded by difficult terrain and hostile
predators, they lose one team member.
Dwindling
supplies force them to consider desperate measures. Hoping the other ships
hold supplies and may have power to at least signal for help, Wyatt
calculates they might get to within seventy or so miles of one of the
ships. In a desperate gamble, they take off.
A crash
landing in a swamp causes injuries to one team member and exposes them to
hungry creatures hiding in the area. Last to leave the sinking vessel,
Wyatt swims for his life. Once ashore, they still must locate one of the
ships. Food and shelter become urgent needs.
When they
reach the first of the ships, it is 40 feet off the ground in a huge tree.
They find a dead crew. Getting the ship down intact poses more challenges.
They do it, but in the process damage the hyperdrive they must have to
return home.
Clark offers
the reader an exciting story told from the point-of-view of different
characters. Some may argue with various story
aspects, especially the romance, but the strange creatures he describes
and the conflicts among the team members keep the pages turning. He also
introduces an intelligent alien who befriends a team member and helps them
get the spares they need to fix one ship.
For some
unexplained reason, Clark shifts between measurement systems sometimes
using miles, feet, and yards, and other times using kilometers. He has a
number of characters smoking cigarettes in the far distant future, which
dates the story somewhat. One would think other vices might predominate by
then. In any event, with this novel behind him, others are sure to follow.
Review by:
Kevin Lucia, Press & Sun-Bulletin
"Project U.L.F." doesn't concern itself with being anything more than
what it is: action-adventure fun. Clark utilizes standard science fiction
elements well, crafting a story reminiscent of "Aliens," though it's less
politically inclined than Heinlein's "Starship Troopers." In a narrative
that bounds, Clark creates worlds that are rough and gritty, populated by
extraterrestrials not interested in universal peace.
Wyatt Dorren is a rehabilitated ex-convict and team leader of U.L.F.,
(Unidentified Life Forms), a department of the Interplanetary Zoo. Though
Wyatt's forged a successful career tackling the most dangerous alien life
forms, recent events haven't been kind. His lover, Tanya, has dumped him,
leaving him alone in a cold, empty apartment full of regret.
When he's offered an U.L.F. mission as field commander, Wyatt takes the
assignment, glad for the distraction. Things, however, quickly go awry.
Saddled with inexperienced rookies and a young, untrained biologist,
Wyatt's team becomes stranded on a hostile world in what appears to be
sabotage.
Light-years from Earth with no working ship, Wyatt must ferret out a
traitor and get his team working together, as the hunters become the
hunted.
Readers looking for insightful commentary on future society won't find
it in "U.L.F," and that's fine, because this is a novel with pulp flavor
and flair. Though "U.L.F." could be considered a standard "bug hunt,"
Clark charts the science fiction waters well, crafting an enjoyable tale.
"U.LF" offers honest escapist fun, something needed to counter "serious"
novels about future societal trends.
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