Stasis

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2019

Author

samberk

• Important- Moving to WordPress
  Feb 20, 2019

Reviews

Community Reviews(3)

• Hejin57Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Often times, I find myself hard-pressed to get into dystopian stories, especially if they don’t carry with them some unique premise or way of showing things. So it’s always a pleasure to find something that breaks my preconceptions, even in the simplest way possible.
  The following story, simply named Stasis, revolves around a dystopian future of sorts, where humanity has been brought to brink and their population has diminished because of it. To survive this bleak future, people lead incredibly structured and ordered lives, and adolescents are expected to go to something known as the Academy: a neo-school of sorts where they will quite literally learn their place in life.
  Our story in particular focuses on female student Randi, already familiar with the Academy and its workings, as well as newly inducted trio Peyton, Olive and Kendall. What begins as a strangely sunny trek into a new school becomes a much more sinister venture as the Academy proves to be more appropriate for the likes of V for Vendetta or 1984.
  To make things clear, a lot of of what Stasis does as a story has been seen time and time again, so some might be turned off by the mundane nature of it, especially in the earlier chapters. Its biggest strength, however, lies in the character-driven narrative and writing style. Both are clean and concise, and the author gives you a great feeling of the characters early on, from the nerve-wracked Peyton to the always optimistic Olive, and even with minor characters like Blake and Avery and Peyton’s roommate Scout. Everyone has a clear and distinct voice, and it was thus very easy to keep track of and become attached to the various players in the story.
  Not to spoil anything, but the arc centering around Ellis in particular really caught me, in terms of what it revealed about the world and just how bleak and ruined this future is.
  In terms of improvement, I think the pacing can be a little slow sometimes, but that’s really just a side-effect of the fact the sto
• TassieDkRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Stasis. It's a catchy title for a catchy novel. I am reading it while it is being written, almost, as the novel is a story in progress. I've finally caught up with the author now, and I can't wait to read more. I've read the first 33 chapters (that are available at the time of writing this), which means I'm almost halfway in Part Two.
  Stasis takes place in a dystopian future, and the main character is Peyton. I like Peyton, although he is a bit wimpy and insecure, but there's nothing wrong with being those things, especially when he's a good guy who just wants to be liked, maybe even loved.
  The novel is divided into four parts, and while the first part is introductionary, part two seems to be more "active" in the sense that the characters start doing something to change the status quo. The further I've gotten into the story, the more I like the characters. I also like the plot, of course, and I love how samberk manages to describe even the smallest details, like when the characters are eating lunch or brushing their hair, and that's a real talent, in my opinion. I think few writers can "get away with" describing daily chores like that, but samberk is one of them.
  The lead character is, as mentioned, Peyton, but Stasis is not a story about just one person. The story is told from an omnipresent narrator who follows each character in turn. Other "stars" in the story include Kendall, Olive, Randi and Ellis. Kendall and Olive are Peyton's closest friends, and lucky for him, he gets to be able to spend a lot of time with them at the Academy where they have all been sent to.
  Stasis isn't exactly an action-based novel, but that doesn't mean that the characters aren't doing stuff. The characters struggle with a lot of things, and Peyton struggles with being insecure and doubting whether his friends really want to hang out with him or not. Peyton has already gone through a personal development during part one and two, as he finds himself in a situation where he has to do some
• PloopieRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Put aside the gore and slightly disturbing descriptions, it's a really interesting short story. The story is about the main character who lives in a broken world, that wants to get out.
  Style
  The author's writing style is well paced, and I can easily understand what they've tried to say. I really like the descriptive passages about the world and actions. The paragraphs get a little long at times, but for the most part, it's easy on your eyes.
  Grammar
  I don't see any mistakes with the grammar at all, except for the synopsis which could be altered a little...
  Character
  The main character of this story is very relatable and I can see and understand why she performs certain actions (very important in the story). Although the story doesn't go on for very long, the author has made her motives known. The other characters also have some distinct traits about them, evil especially, which is good because it's realistic.
  Story
  The story revolves around this girl, who's desperate to get out of the shithole she lives in. She has to do some... questionable and morally incorrect things to earn the money to get out. I feel like I've read something similar to this before somewhere, with the cyborg-ish world and selling organs, but the author has managed to convey it in a unique way. The girl eventually gets out of the town with the money she earns from the bad deeds. The ending is really great too.