With the recent hype around the movie
Jurrasic World it seemed fitting to recently run again, as part of Friday’s Forgotten Books, my review
of Fragment
by Warren Fahy. The author came up with this sequel that I thought was much better
than the original book. Why neither book has been made into a movie is beyond
me.
It's been a few months since the
events depicted in Fragment and the survivors who escaped from Henders Island as
well as the human race in general are struggling to adjust. It hasn’t been easy
for anyone. The “Hendros” are quarantined in Area 51 for their protection while
the world argues as to their status. What it now means to be human is just one
of the many issues facing mankind on the wake of the discovery of this
separated evolutionary tangent. Henders Island no longer exists, but for
Biologist Hell Binswanger the nightmares of what happened there have not gone
away as she is troubled by post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her new husband and fellow Biologist
Geoffrey Binswanger is doing his best to help her adjust back to the real world
and put the trauma behind her. Their plans for a honeymoon away from the
constant Secret Service protection and the prying eyes of the media go astray
when they meet a wealthy Russian by the name of Maxim Dragolovich. A legendary
Russian Oligarch, he wants their help and will pay 2 million dollars-- each --
for their expertise for several weeks work. He wants them to take a look at
some possibly previously undiscovered species somewhere in Kaziristan. When the
money proves not to be enough of an enticement, he shows them a sample jar
containing a living specimen unlike anything they have ever seen before.
Nell and Geoffrey agree and before
long they are far from home and outside contact as they are deep underground in
a vast subterranean city in the former Soviet Republic. They are certainly not
alone as the promised creatures are there along with fellow scientists that
were involved with Henders Island. So too are the creatures from Henders Island
as some managed to escape and have been deliberately brought alive to this
underground city first constructed during Stalin's time. As the aging city
systems begin to collapse and outside forces move against them, the battle
begins again to save the planet from a future where mankind is overrun and
eliminated as the weakest link in the food chain.
While the first book was weakened by
stereotypes and two laughable plot twists at the end such is not the case here.
A fitting sequel that is stronger than the original, Fragment is a good book
could be read as a stand-alone though it would be better to have read the first
book. Certain relationships between various characters continue to evolve here
as do some of the dynamics first seen in the previous book. Things are set into
motion there that are ultimately resolved here in a book that gets wilder and
wilder as it chews and kills its way to the end.
This is primarily a science fiction
thriller and as such character development remains very limited. Most of the
characters returning from the last book are not developed further- with a
couple notable exceptions that can't be mentioned without ruining the read. The
primary character development in this novel is with Maxim and his precocious
daughter, Sasha, who becomes a major character by the end of this read.
Building on Fragment author Warren Fahy takes readers deep underground into
a biological hell in Pandemonium. The result is an
intense thriller that works on every level and proves the accuracy of the blurb
on the front of the book from the Wall Street Journal- “’Think Jurassic
Park but scarier.’”
Indeed.
Pandemonium
Warren Fahy
Tor (Tom Doherty Associates)
2013
ISBN# 978-0-7653-3329-2
Hardback (also available in
paperback and e-book)
$24.99
320 Pages
Material supplied by the good folks
of the Plano Texas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013, 2015
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