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Colin Duffy has loved books for as long as he can remember. One of his first favorite books as a child was an abridged children's version of "War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells. He was fascinated by the concept of an alien invasion of Earth and its consequences on mankind and society. This fascination followed him into adulthood and led him to write the novella "The Final Conflict", his own take on the alien invasion genre. A labor of love that took four years to write, It will be his first published piece. Colin graduated from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County in 2003 with a double major in psychology and history. He is a voracious reader of military history, which helped him to shape his ideas for "The Final Conflict." He works as a cataloger at the Georgetown University Law School library, an ideal job for a quiet book lover. He lives in Silver Spring, Md., with his wife and their moody but loving pet rabbit.
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
The Final Conflict is a science fiction novella written by Colin Duffy. The story takes place in the distant future. It’s main character is a lifelong historian and scholar who has been accepted into the government’s historical research program. His task is to try to uncover the causes behind the collapse of the ancient civilization that preceded their own modern era through the examination of the preserved documents from that time. The scholar’s love of history and familiarity with ancient languages made him the perfect person for the assignment, but he soon grew tired of going through endless ancient documents about budgets and every day affairs. One day, however, his assistant brought in a folder filled with yellowing handwritten pages that promised to be more intriguing than what he had seen so far. He and his assistant marveled at the survival of such a treasure, which had been sealed up in an airtight container. As the historian settled in to read the contents of the folder, he found himself immersed in the world-changing events that took place in the early 21st century.
Colin Duffy’s science fiction novella, The Final Conflict, is a well-written and stylish homage to H.G. Wells’ epic War of the Worlds. Seeing the story through the framing eyes of the historian lends an extra touch to what is a compelling and creative retake of the classic tale. I quickly became involved in the account which is found in the folder. I appreciated the subtle nuances and commentary Duffy includes as his narrator and Robert find their evening dinner at an Iranian restaurant interrupted by an emergency broadcast that only hinted at the catastrophic events that were taking place. The evacuations and subsequent emergency drills reminded me of the measures taken by authorities and the lives of the civilians in London during the bombings in World War II. Duffy’s story kept me involved with the plight of the survivors and left me wanting more tales from this inventive science fiction writer. The Final Conflict is highly recommended.
