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A review by ericbuscemi
Phoenix Island by John Dixon
3.0
I read this after seeing it was the basis of the upcoming sci-fi thriller show Intelligence, about which Wikipedia told me:
Over the course of reading, I realized this to be a spiritual prequel to the show, which made everything make more sense, and also leads me to wonder if, like Josh Holloway's last big television show, this show will also have flashback sequences, in this case to Phoenix Island.
As for the book specifically, the island has a little bit of a [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512] feel, or for a more modern parallel, a bit of [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358275334s/2767052.jpg|2792775]. But unlike those two books, here the goal wasn't wanton violence against the children, it was just a side effect. Phoenix Island was more focused on honing the children into pseudo-soldiers, as in [b:Ender's Game|375802|Ender's Game (The Ender Quintet, #1)|Orson Scott Card|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1382758849s/375802.jpg|2422333]. Of course there is also the mad science aspect, which reads a bit [b:The Island of Dr. Moreau|29981|The Island of Dr. Moreau|H.G. Wells|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320523623s/29981.jpg|68894]. So yeah, pulling from a lot of different interesting thematic places.
One aside that may only interest me is how the cursing was handled in this young adult novel. Instead of a) pretending these rough characters would not curse, or b) making up fake curse words in place of actual bad language, the author said simply that characters cursed at one another. A simple and elegant solution.
My only other let down in reading this book, other than having the wrong expectations going in, was that despite no mention of serialization, this book leaves off on a cliffhanger, so there has to be at least one sequel coming. I prefer knowing I am not reading a stand-alone book before I get to the last pages.
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
In Intelligence, Josh Holloway stars as Gabriel Vaughn, a high-tech intelligence operative enhanced with a super-computer microchip in his brain. With this implant, Gabriel is the first human ever to be connected directly into the global information grid. He can hack into any data center and access key intel in the fight to protect the United States from its enemies. Marg Helgenberger stars as Lillian Strand, the director of the elite government cyber-security agency who supports Gabriel and oversees the unit's missions. Strand assigns Riley Neal (Meghan Ory), a Secret Service agent, to protect Gabriel from outside threats, as well as from his appetite for reckless, unpredictable behavior, and disregard for protocol.With those expectations in my mind, I was confused a bit by the book, which is about Carl Freeman, a sixteen-year-old orphan who is sent to a militaristic prison camp for teenage offenders.
Over the course of reading, I realized this to be a spiritual prequel to the show, which made everything make more sense, and also leads me to wonder if, like Josh Holloway's last big television show, this show will also have flashback sequences, in this case to Phoenix Island.
As for the book specifically, the island has a little bit of a [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512] feel, or for a more modern parallel, a bit of [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358275334s/2767052.jpg|2792775]. But unlike those two books, here the goal wasn't wanton violence against the children, it was just a side effect. Phoenix Island was more focused on honing the children into pseudo-soldiers, as in [b:Ender's Game|375802|Ender's Game (The Ender Quintet, #1)|Orson Scott Card|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1382758849s/375802.jpg|2422333]. Of course there is also the mad science aspect, which reads a bit [b:The Island of Dr. Moreau|29981|The Island of Dr. Moreau|H.G. Wells|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320523623s/29981.jpg|68894]. So yeah, pulling from a lot of different interesting thematic places.
One aside that may only interest me is how the cursing was handled in this young adult novel. Instead of a) pretending these rough characters would not curse, or b) making up fake curse words in place of actual bad language, the author said simply that characters cursed at one another. A simple and elegant solution.
My only other let down in reading this book, other than having the wrong expectations going in, was that despite no mention of serialization, this book leaves off on a cliffhanger, so there has to be at least one sequel coming. I prefer knowing I am not reading a stand-alone book before I get to the last pages.
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.