SHARP ENDS: Stories from the World of the First Law, by Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by Steven Pacey

     Truth in Advertising      

Many of the most interesting characters from the First Law trilogy reprise their roles here in this collection of short stories. In them Joe Abercrombie proves to have a deft hand at leaving the listener with a sense of the ironic in his parting shot. The stories with the young Glokta and the old Bloody Nine are my favorites. All the stories are replete with Abercrombie’s characteristic unexpected sense of macabre humor.

Steven Pacey is the my favorite narrator of Abercrombie’s works. He does not disappoint. All the familiar voices are back.

P.S. — Several Joe Abercrombie books have been reissued by a new publisher and the reviews for the older versions are no longer available unless you already own the title. There are literally thousands of ratings and hundreds of fine reviews on the original audio versions of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy. If you are new to his writings, these are now inaccessible to you. This is unfortunate, since it was the opinions of my fellow reviewers that convinced me to try Abercrombie’s books in the first place. If you wish to know what I thought about Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy, and Best Served Cold, you can find them on my reviews page. 

THE EXTINCTION CYCLE 1-5 by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Narrated by Bronson Pinchot

Human Potential on Display; Good and Bad.

I am writing this after listening to the first five books in the series:

Yes this is a zombie apocalypse series but it is not just another zombie apocalypse series. If you have read my reviews you will know that no fan of zombie books am I; but a fan of Bronson Pinchot I am. Having recently finished listening to The Anubis Gates I was hungering for more Pinchot. This series had many good reviews, so many that I felt it might be worth a chance. From the start the story pulled me in with its realistic characters and Sci-Fi based verisimilitude. The epigenetic justification for humans becoming hungry monsters is at least in the realm of science and not unexplainable magic. The battle scenes are well done, reminiscent of the best military science fiction scenes I have heard. Zombie novel fans may find that the character development and plot development sequences get in the way of the non-stop action they are used to, but fans of military science fiction will find familiar ground here.

Each volume in the series escalates the development of the infected and the desperation of the remaining humans to the point where the survival of the race is in serious question—hence the title: Extinction Cycle. Desperate times are ahead for the listener if you decide to take on the variants in this series. The writing is terse and tight with little opportunity for humor. This is the end of the world as we know it, that’s no laughing matter you know!

Just a little mention of the so-called science behind this piece of science fiction: The zombie-like creatures in this piece of fiction are deliberately created in a military lab as a weapon of war. The designers tapped into the hidden capabilities locked in the DNA of humans and unleashed them through means of epigenetic triggers. When the infected manifest these hidden characteristics it is explained in the novels as evolution. This is typical of the thinking of neo-Darwinians, that any change is evolutionary change. Actual epigenetic change requires the capabilities waiting to be manifested be already present in the DNA sequence of the organism; a preexisting condition. When these capabilities are switched on new capabilities are manifested in the organism, and may even be preserved in the offspring. But these new capabilities are not new as in, never have been seen before; they are only new to the organism. The fact that the DNA stored this information, that the DNA had retained these hidden capabilities in its database, means that these capabilities were already there waiting to be triggered. Epigenetic DNA expression is the evidence of prior planning—dare I say design—and not the evidence for evolution.

Need I mention that Bronson Pinchot delivers a wonderful performance? Okay then, Bronson Pinchot is amazing! His voice is always clear and precise. Every character voice rings true. You always know immediately who is talking. This is such an advantage to understanding a book that it makes any book whole degrees better since the listener is able to engage with the story so easily when the narrator gives the proper queues. Pinchot does everything perfect. His pacing is just right; escalating when things get moving and slowing when things are tense. This is just the Pinchot fix I was hoping for.

The Extinction Cycle:

ENTINCTION HORIZON

EXTINCTION EDGE

EXTINCTION AGE

EXTINCTION EVOLUTION

EXTINCTION END

EXTINCTION AFTERMATH is due to be published October 13, 2016. If Bronson Pinchot narrates watch this space.