Editorial Review: Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation by Aaron Ryan

One completely normal day, alien figures descend from the heavens and seemingly do nothing. The world is divided on what to do until they wake up and killing people. Then, the only answer is to run and stay quiet. Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation by Aaron Ryan is a dramatic and atmospheric prequel to the Dissonance series revolving around one family's role in the post-invasion war. In Volume Zero: Revelation the reader follows Andrew Shipley from normalcy, through the day of descent, to the day the aliens came alive, and beyond into the first years of human resistance to the invasion of their world. Andy is a dedicated father and firefighter who loves nothing more than his family. Before the aliens, his chief concern was keeping them laughing with daily dad jokes at dinner.After, though, he tries to keep their spirits up, he shoulders the task of keeping them safe and alive. With three small children and the love of his life to consider, every choice is critical - from the existential to the utterly mundane. Do they put their trust in God? Stay and fight?  Or should they run for the shelters being dug into the ground? Is it safe to look outside, do they dare go downstairs? Many sci-fi stories begin with a bang - alien spaceships crash land and all-out warfare breaks loose. Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation by Aaron Ryan is the opposite; Ryan opens with a world of peaceful normalcy and the invasion of the planet is almost silent except for an eerie hum. Throughout this story, the reader is enveloped by the tension and weight of responsibility felt by Andrew as he tirelessly manages his own terror to keep his family safe. The world had been plunged into an existential crisis, everything they knew had been turned to dust and the old answers just don't cut it anymore. While most readers' coming to the prequel are likely to have already devoured the extant books, there is enough plot and interest in this prequel to whet the palate while still being a satisfying read for those totally new to the story. The insights to the origin story of our future main characters is enlightening and often entertaining. The characters Ryan creates are robust and can withstand this 'seeing behind the curtain' - the antics of Rutty and Cameron as children build up the characters as readers come to know them in the full series. Fans of the Dissonance series will find insight and a line to deep world-building in Volume Zero: Revelation and readers of action, sci-fi, and action thriller genres who are new to the world will probably find a few more titles on their TBR.Atmospheric and introspective without skimping on the action, Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation by Aaron Ryan is a true exploration of the indominable human spirit and the unbreakable bonds we form with the people we love.