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Dec 19, 2022 J.E. Rowney rated it liked it

A short, mostly enjoyable novella. It reminded me in a strange way of the film Source Code. I didn’t always know what was going on, but I guess that was part of the point. The author has a distinct writing style, which has an informal undertone that tries to inject humour. This seemed misaligned with the tone of the book at times and I found it jarring. I was interested in the story and wanted to keep reading, but it did fall short for me.

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Jan 17, 2023 James Blakley rated it really liked it

“Engineer of Stainless Souls” is a disguised deep dive into the profound questions of the soul, humanity, and eternity. The opening chapters are reminiscent of movies like “Source Code” and “Groundhog Day,” with the protagonist (Adam) awakening to an incomprehensible situation during a recurring, almost hallucinogenic train ride that appears to have a murderous passenger lurking about. But there is more going on than meets the eye, fulfilling the story’s “mystery” billing.

Reality and fantasy vs. “Engineer of Stainless Souls” is a disguised deep dive into the profound questions of the soul, humanity, and eternity. The opening chapters are reminiscent of movies like “Source Code” and “Groundhog Day,” with the protagonist (Adam) awakening to an incomprehensible situation during a recurring, almost hallucinogenic train ride that appears to have a murderous passenger lurking about. But there is more going on than meets the eye, fulfilling the story’s “mystery” billing.

Reality and fantasy vs. art and science are indispensable themes to the “Stainless” plot. While they will be obvious to intellectuals, and motivation to keep reading, some rank-and-file (or “soft”) sci-fi fans may find them burdensome or even contradictory to character development. For example, Adam doesn’t fit the typical child, but there’s a reason for it. His struggle to make sense of his bizarre surroundings is vividly crafted. In fact, the allegorical nature of the main characters enhances the mystery element. Are they part of someone’s research for the sake of learning or abusers of knowledge (for personal gain)? Who is psychologist, physiologist, cyberneticist, and even Guinea pig?

As the story develops, its main ideas create an undeniably unique sense of place; one that shuttles between stunning views of past, present, and future (e.g., the Victorian steampunk design of the train, “the Scarlett gash of lipstick on the Marilyn-wannabe on the screen,” and “Skyscrapers [that] score the sky with straightlines, sails and needlepoints every surface pulsates with commercial displays…”). By the climax, the landscape vibrates “Bladerunner” chic and the story twists and turns into a resolution akin to Ambrose Bierce’s touchstone short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and H.G. Wells’ lesser known “The Beautiful Suit.”

Where “Stainless” is tarnished, however, is by an odd choice of voice: That of nontraditional third person omniscient present tense. With so much imagery to soak in, symbolic undercurrents swirling, and loads of science and surrealism to unpack for precious clues, the easier third person omniscient past tense would have been a better option. And, the story should have been divided into shorter chapters, given the weight of the material covered.

As a self-described “scientist by day,” author Khira Allen still skillfully uses “Engineer of Stainless Souls” to explore humanity’s enduring quest for knowledge. While “Stainless” is a solid thinking person’s “whodunit,” full of metaphors and deep meanings, it has just enough popular elements to be of interest to most fans of filmic sci-fi.
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Aug 18, 2025 Lynn Helton rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, mystery, thought-provoking

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