Children of the Mechanism

By: Jeffrey Miller

Narrated by: R. Paul Matty

Young slaves live and work in the bowels of a massive, mysterious factory, watched over by cruel robots. They live and die without ever seeing the world outside of their own working rooms, never understanding the nature of the factory or the purpose of their suffering. The work is endless drudgery, and life for the slaves is short and cruel and meaningless. But one day a door opens where no door should be. Some of the slaves escape from their working rooms and find themselves wandering endless corridors. As they band together, they gradually learn the truth about the factory and the world outside its walls, a truth that might throw open every door and set every slave free. But there are dangers in the corridors that are worse than anything they have ever imagined.

©2015 Jeffrey Aaron Miller (P)2015 Jeffrey Aaron Miller

The kids are not allright

Jeffrey Aaron Miller's Children of the Mechanism is a mystery tale concerning the nature of what appears to be a long standing facility that is maintained by human slaves, overseen by robots, all devoted to keeping an undefined mechanism running along with weird genetic engineering experiments. The place seems to be on autopilot and beginning to malfunction, while at the same time, a vague outside force appears to be trying to break in.

The sci-fi elements are minimal, mainly robots, but without any unique qualities. The strange biological experiments are only mentioned in passing and offer little to the main plot. The focus of the tale is an exploration of exactly what the facility is along with its origins, as a slowly growing band of bold, but intellectually and mentally challenged slaves wander about largely led by someone with an imaginary friend.

Although the narration is adequately rendered in terms of the characters with both slow speech and mental retardation, the pace of the narration coupled with the slow pace of the story itself makes for a hard listen. In addition, the chapter pauses are a bit too long which can be confused with battery drainage.

Brilliant Narration of a Powerful Book!!

What made the experience of listening to Children of the Mechanism the most enjoyable?

Although it is science fiction, it really does portray the extreme conditions of child slavery. The book is brilliantly written and the narration is exceptional with impeccable timing. Realize that I don't normally listen to Sci Fi!!! Paul Matty did an outstanding job of representing the variety of characters and their plight, good or bad. "He had me at hello" hanging onto every child wanting them to survive and living vicariously through your narration!!! It was very moving and I could so empathize with the children. There were several times I was brought to tears. Oh my, I loved this book even though it was disturbing and haunting. At times, I was sitting on the edge of my seat due to the haunting conditions, suspense and tension! It was powerful to listen to each character especially Bik, Ekir, Hen, and Kou and their interactions. I really experienced the range of emotions from happy, sad, depressed, fear, compassion, and love!

What other book might you compare Children of the Mechanism to and why?

Yes! Shadows of Tockland by Jeffrey Aaron Miller is a reamarkable crafted, dark, suspenseful and engaging exploration of the price of both running away from life and the ramifications that come with that choice. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the plot is well paced by beautiful, strong characters dealing with their demons and intense imagery filled with humor and intrigue. Children of the Mechanism is far more moving and powerful! The narrator truly does an outstanding job of bringing the characters to life.

Which scene was your favorite?

There were several memorable moments such as with Bik and all that he endures. Also, in the words of Ekir, "If you hold on, we will live. If you let go, we will go down, down, down. Do you understand how important it is for you to hold on?"

I loved how these four children Bik, Ekir, Hen and Kuo fighting the watchers and freeing other slaves as Kou is guided by a quiet, inner, pervading voice, beneath it all. Killing the master watcher was one of my favorite scenes as they survived. They worked together as a team and really made a difference in other children's lives. The ending is my favorite because of one woman as it touches my heart and soul and it is very powerful!!!. I cannot say anymore without giving the ending away!! :)

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

"He had me at hello" hanging onto every child wanting them to survive and living vicariously through Paul Matty's narration!!! It was very moving and I could so empathize with the children. There were several times I was brought to tears. Oh my, I loved this book even though it was disturbing and haunting.

Any additional comments?

In great narration all of the parts (tone, inflection, accents, ages, pronunciation, and intensity) must flow together to form the perfect narration. A great narrator can will bring the words to life, stimulate your imagination, and keep you engaged while providing a new and unique experience! I could really empathize with several of the characters and was brought to tears several times throughout the book. Paul Matty's prose is incredibly visual!! I could see myself there and feel all of the emotions of each child slave. I felt like I was in a movie living vicariously through several of the children and I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire story!!!

Paul Matty is one of the best narrators in the business!!!

Definitely worth listening to!

If you could sum up Children of the Mechanism in three words, what would they be?

Enslaved Children Story

What was one of the most memorable moments of Children of the Mechanism?

The first time I heard a Watcher's voice! It made me jump!

Which scene was your favorite?

The first time Kuo made the light come out was one, another was seeing all the green hair at the end of the book!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The thought of enslaving children and wickedly punishing them is repulsive to me. That was hard to listen to.

Any additional comments?

Nice job on the Narration of this book! I like it and am looking for more books narrated by R. Paul Matty! Getting immersed into the characters of a new book is sometimes a challenge but with Children of the Mechanism it was easy! You could feel the confusion and awfulness in the lives of the children as they went through their meager existence. I don't think I'll ever forget the voice of those Watchers. The voice of Kuo was just as crazy as I imagined the character to be! He got even crazier as the book went on. Those kids sounded so scared & confused as they went along and met new characters. I won't ruin the ending here but it's definitely worth listening to!

Painful to listen to

I can't stand the narration. I suggest listening to the preview before purchasing this, like I should have.

Truly Awesome at all levels

I really hoped to like this book: the premise sounded so interesting. But alas it didn't live up to it's promise. It felt like a first attempt at writing and just went on and on with little or not build up of tension and the characters were very one-dimensional.

The narrator didn't help. He tries to liven up using different voices for the children which sadly fails. But after 14 hours you can tell he was glad it was finished too.