That's the bad news. The good news is that MOST of the writing had a nice flow to it. I think the author has some real talent, but is in need of a good writing workshop and a decent editor. There's potential there, especially when compared to most of the crap out there in this genre. Sorry if that all sounds harsh, but I bought this as a summer vacation read and really wanted to like it - to get lost in those pages.
Disappointed big time. May 15, D Dyer rated it it was amazing Shelves: horror , science-fiction , reads. I thoroughly enjoyed this book but would offer some caveats and cautions before encouraging someone else to read it. This book, which opens with Nell, botanist on a reality show looking to explore an as yet unexplored island and her crew mates on the sea life stumbling onto Henders Island 4. This book, which opens with Nell, botanist on a reality show looking to explore an as yet unexplored island and her crew mates on the sea life stumbling onto Henders Island and finding a version of what might happen if evolution had taken a very different path for the planet, and we follow as she first tries to understand and then tries to escape that island.
But watching as they mercilessly slaughter one human visitor to Henders after another is terrifying. But, this book is not all action. In fact it is mostly science and set up, and considering the world we are introduced to I actually appreciated that. It served to make a world which might have otherwise felt entirely too unbelievable one I could envision. But the book also has some indisputable flaws. The character list is long and while a couple are well-rounded many are extremely two-dimensional.
The introduction of Dr. Thatcher Redmond was a subplot I felt was completely unnecessary. And characters like the obsessive director Cynthea were single note enough that it took away from some of the impact of the novel. Finally, I want to make a quick note about the romantic subplot.
Both of the participants are a bit inexperienced and awkward and neither is suddenly cast as an action or romance hero stereotype. Jun 01, Lori rated it really liked it Shelves: arc-reviewers-copy , fiction. Won this book in the Goodreads Giveaway.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The premise is what orignally caught my attention: A reality show plans to shoot a scientific exploration of an unexplored island. Unbeknownst to them, it contains an entire exosystem that is alien to ours.
This book goes from sci-fi to campy-B-movie with a little love and rockets mixed in. Deliciously bad but in a good way that leaves you wanting more. I couldn't give it the 5th star for a couple reasons. Towards the end of the book, there is a paragraph that just does not make any sense at all.
Almost as if the author began to write it and lost his train of thought. Some missing words or wrong words, but not so horribly wrong that you couldn't follow the flow. Nothing that turned me off or made me want to stop reading, and most of it was for a future set up later in the book. Overall, I was very happy to have had the opportunity to receive a copy of this novel, and hope that those of you who love a little sci-fi, super-hybrid, chew-em-up-and-spit-em-out campy monster stories will check this one out!!
Jul 27, Tarl rated it it was ok Shelves: horror. Unimaginable and cookie cutter antagonists, enough science to choke the reader to death under pages of description, and an unimaginative ending couple to make this book the worst book I read in the last year. The premise is interesting, hell, it's unique, but half the book itself is scientific descriptions of the creatures on Hender's Island, and even at points where there is tense situations, the author spends a large amount of time explaining how the cre Thankfully I DIDN'T buy the hardcover The premise is interesting, hell, it's unique, but half the book itself is scientific descriptions of the creatures on Hender's Island, and even at points where there is tense situations, the author spends a large amount of time explaining how the creature is moving, how it looks, etc which kills all the tension he had just spent the last section building.
And the Christian, young soldier who goes all stereotypical, plus the Doctor with no redemable qualities Please, what happened to actually putting a thing called effort into coming up with those that oppose your likable heroes. And that's the one thing that Fahy did well, he created very likable 'good guys' for this story, like Nell. Save your time and imagination for something that is actually enjoyable. Sep 18, SheriC PM rated it did not like it Shelves: 0-borrowed , 6-book-club , 6-hb-past , 4-format-audio , 5-ratedstar , 1-rec-by-other , abandoned , 7-hiding-under-the-covers.
It started out well, with an interesting mock essay on the historic cycle of new species introduced into an environment that can take over, decimate the existing flora or fauna, and change that environment forever. Then we're given a delicious little episode of a ship's crew being attacked by some mysterious monster on a remote island. It appears that the whole story is going to be set with a ship full of reality show scientists and crew, who are obviously destined to explore the mo It started out well, with an interesting mock essay on the historic cycle of new species introduced into an environment that can take over, decimate the existing flora or fauna, and change that environment forever.
It appears that the whole story is going to be set with a ship full of reality show scientists and crew, who are obviously destined to explore the monster island. The momentum comes to a full stop when the narrative suddenly becomes more interested in describing every new character in full reality show terms - their appearance and clothing in excruciating detail, their Personality Type.
Sorry, can't do it. Even the anticipation of getting to see at least some of them eaten by monsters won't keep me reading. I attempted to read this for Halloween Bingo, for either the Modern Masters of Horror square or the Genre: Horror square, but I have other backup books that I will read for those instead.
I added this to my wish list a long time ago and after rereading the sample decided to buy There really aren't enough categories to classify this book and the sample really doesn't give you a lot of information. Basically there are a bunch of scientists filming a reality show about a trimaran going to remote pacific locations when a storm blows them off course they end up at a mysterious island. This book takes off like a rocket with monsters, mayhem and disaster around every corner.
I definitely enjoyed its fantastical premise and found the book a fun read. Oct 17, Twobusy rated it it was ok. Remember back when Michael Crichton was cranking out blockbuster-movie-plots-disguised-as-novels and every review was pretty much the same? Well, Cri Remember back when Michael Crichton was cranking out blockbuster-movie-plots-disguised-as-novels and every review was pretty much the same?
Well, Crichton is gone — but with Fragment, Warren Fahy makes a solid attempt to recreate the Crichton model The novel is basically built around the same initial concept as King Kong: a tiny, remote island out in the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific is discovered — and is quickly found to be inhabited by all kinds of fascinating monsters.
Boatloads of energetic scenes of people getting shredded by the aforementioned monsters inevitably ensues. Fahy's Crichton-esque take is to cast this island and its bizarre inhabitants as an ultraviolent evolutionary offshoot, where billions of years of isolation have resulted in the creation of all kinds of horrifying and efficiently bloodthirsty inhabitants, including most memorably the spiger, which basically looks like a foot long hybrid of a spider and a tiger it even has orange stripes.
The plot, as it were, follows the discovery and exploration of the island, as well as the inevitable "what do we do with it, because if any of these things gets off the island it will destroy the rest of the world" discussions that lead a lengthy countdown sequence where a bunch of scientists try to get off the island before the military does what the military is built to do.
But really, the plot exists only as a vehicle for Fahy to discuss in lengthy but actually quite interesting detail all kinds of creative evolutionary theories, and to explore how these theories might result in colorful monsters who gnash their terrible teeth, roll their terrible eyes, and kill everything in sight. That's the best part of the book. The worst? The characters, who are substantially thinner than even Crichton's paper constructs — especially one scientist whose mustache-twirling bad-guyness is expressed not only in his devious nature and willingness to sacrifice everything in the pursuit of his own success, but in the completely offhanded way he kills a kid.
Yeah, that's right: kills a kid. I honestly had to go back and re-read that section to make sure I'd understood it correctly. So what do we end up with? A beach or airplane read that does a reasonable approximation of the Crichton thing.
If Fahy can figure out how to write dialogue and develop characters half as effectively as he can talk about scientific theory, he might actually evolve see what I did there? And if not? Well, there are worse ways to kill a few hours on an airplane. May 01, Russ rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Crichton fans, those flying over the Pacific. A remote, tiny island in the Pacific teems with unique, aggressive species.
Navy takes over because of the risk that the dangerous species could leave A remote, tiny island in the Pacific teems with unique, aggressive species. Navy takes over because of the risk that the dangerous species could leave the island and destroy continental ecosystems, or hostile regimes could exploit the island to develop biological weapons. Those books all stretch science as it was understood in the era of the authors to create a compelling story. The U.
Without spoiling the ending, I will just say that I was not a fan of the solution. That is my number one complaint about the book, but it made for good drama. Aug 29, Meagan rated it really liked it Shelves: fiction , science-fiction , adventure. This was a fun book. It was chock-full of scientific discussion about evolution, environmentalism, biology, and ecosystems, but since I've always had a hidden core of inept science nerd, that's okay by me.
What I didn't understand still sounded plausible, and appealed to the part of me that researched DNA sequencing in high school. I understood enough to get the point, though, and as a result believed in the characters more. Speaking of characters: most of them are fodder for violent c This book? Speaking of characters: most of them are fodder for violent creature attacks! Not much character development for many, but plenty of new, creative, and horrifying ways to die at the hands of an alien species.
Dissolved alive, anyone? For those characters who are lucky enough to survive more than a few pages, there's still not a whole heaping lot of character development. You need a good villain in a piece like this so you can wait breathlessly for his bad end. But characters are not really the point in a book like this. The point is to imagine the possibility of new and frightening life forms who are capable of biting you in half and leaving the rest of you for the horribly creepy disc-ants.
It's like one of those beloved-but-kind-of-horrible scary movies. You get to feel the fear while also yelling at the too-stupid-to-live characters on screen and speculating who will keep their head.
In short, if you feel the need to analyze your book and discuss things like foreshadowing, and character motivation, and story arc, then I don't know why you would even bother. Just enjoy the creepy monsters and move on, people. Have some fun. Jun 29, Terry rated it it was amazing.
With sagging ratings, the ocean exploration reality show SeaLife desperately needs a boost before the network cuts their one-year voyage short. What could be better than answering a distress call on a mysterious island? Surrounded by a ft cliff wall, Henders Island is largely inaccessible and its distance from the shipping lanes means very few seafarers have even seen it.
Fortunately for readers, Henders Island is not a hoax. The two-mile wide island contains an ecosystem which has been isolated for hundreds of millions of years — with the resulting evolutionary divergence creating life which might as well be alien. Fearing that Henders Island might be weaponized, the president blockades the island and calls on an elite science team to explore it. What follows is a combination of scientific exploration and adventure which reads more like a missing Michael Crichton book than a debut novel.
Warren Fahy handles scientific debate and thrilling chase sequences equally well, while giving us a cast of interesting characters. His greatest accomplishment, though, is bringing fresh ideas to a concept which stretches back to Jules Verne.
View all 5 comments. Jul 08, Wayne rated it really liked it. I liked this book quite a bit. Fahy has created a dangerous world every bit as dense and full as Cameron's Pandora, minus any happy tree environmental saving grace.
This is a world of creatures that would likely devour any other world, imaginary or real, were it to escape that small rock called Henders Island. The creatures were surprisingly well conceived and illustrated, and the ecology was finely tuned and enthralling. There were a few sections later in the novel that stretched even a forgivi I liked this book quite a bit. There were a few sections later in the novel that stretched even a forgiving sense of fictional probability, and which pressed the cuteness and goofy humor buttons a little too hard.
Perhaps the author felt there needed to be a little levity, in light of the impending doom of the rest of the novel. Even so, it was a fun read and well worth one's time. A group of scientists from a reality TV show discover a remote island in the South Pacific. New species have evolved there that may as well be aliens. The inhabitants are very powerful and deadly, and the scientists have to decide what to do with their discovery of the island and the creatures.
This was a blast to read, based on real science not pseudo-science, so it makes the plot more plausible. It's a perfect entertaining summer read. Jul 13, Jim rated it really liked it Shelves: sci-fi. Great creatures. I can't wait to see how they look on the big-screen! You can't read this book without picturing it as a movie in your mind. The descriptions are awesome and they don't go on forever and ever - like some authors , the characters are great, the story is immersive Just go read this book.
Aug 16, Krista rated it liked it Shelves: fiction , science-fiction. I see a lot of reviewers complaining about lack of character development, but you don't read a book like this for characters. Most of them are red shirts anyway. The fanged lamprey-mouths flexed on their abdomens, ready to latch onto passing prey to suck its blood and feed their colonies. The towering hives were the nurseries of drill-worms.
These half-worms were their juvenile form. When they matured, the vampire drones would double in size by growing a new segment shaped like a drill bit with three legs and a second brain and mouth. Then they would leave the hive to hunt in the jungle, drilling through the hard sheaths of the trees. A mature drill-worm bitten in half could regenerate its other half.
Some of the techniques listed in Fragment may require a sound knowledge of Hypnosis, users are advised to either leave those sections or must have a basic understanding of the subject before practicing them. DMCA and Copyright : The book is not hosted on our servers, to remove the file please contact the source url.
If you see a Google Drive link instead of source url, means that the file witch you will get after approval is just a summary of original book or the file has been already removed. Loved each and every part of this book. I will definitely recommend this book to science fiction, thriller lovers.
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