The Amtrak Wars: Book Two : First Family (Bk. 2) [Hardcover]

Patrick Tilley (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Pub Ltd (December 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727812262
• ISBN-13: 978-0727812261
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,287,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book 2 of the greatest series of books of all time., August 17, 2000

By 

"cheezmaster" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Amtrak Wars: Book Two : First Family (Bk. 2) (Hardcover)

I read many SF books, many of these involve a post-apocalyptic earth. None of these books has kept me as enthralled as the Amtrak Wars series has. Patrick Tilley gives such depth and detail to his characters and locations that you find yourself rooting for Steve Brickman and his mute friends as they face the might of the Federation. I would definitely recommend this and the other books but only if you have a lot of free time on your hands because I guarantee that you will not be able to put it down and, when you have finnished it, you will want to start all over again (I did). Five stars.

4.0 out of 5 stars The plot thickens . . ., August 27, 2002

By 

kallan - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Amtrak Wars: Book Two : First Family (Bk. 2) (Hardcover)

Steven Roosevelt Brickman returns to the Amtrak Federation after five months of captivity by the Mutes. He thinks he will be a hero - a brave survivor bringing back valuable intelligence that the Mutes are a lot smarter and have a lot more resources than is believed. Instead, he is stripped of everything and consigned to the A-levels to work out his life as the lowest of the low, maintaining the environmental systems the allow the underground Federation to function. And then he is offered a way out, plus a return to the overground. Steve's loyalties are about to be put under even more pressure than before . . .
"First Family" is as good as "Cloud Warrior", though it feels more claustrophobic. That's no surprise, though, as that's exactly how Steve is feeling himself as he re-enters his old life. There's perhaps a little less action, but action is not really the point of this book. Despite the importance of the plot, "First Family" is a scene-setter: from it, we learn a lot more about the Mutes and the Amtrak Federation, and especially the manipulations that have affected Steve's life since birth. The First Family - whom we actually meet - view him as a tiny cog in a very large machine, theirs to use at will. Whether he proves to be valuable or dangerous, they'll use him as much as possible. And Steve is still too naive to realise exactly what his situation is.
"First Family" also sets up the action for the coming books. Roz and Jodi are reintroduced, and we meet two other Trackers who will be very important later, Kelso and Malone. And Steve accepts a dangerous mission from Mr Snow which is played out in the third book, "Iron-Master".
It's sad and frustrating to see how Steve is manipulated by those around him, despite his cleverness. But he is determined to find the truth and run his own life, and that has just as much impact on the plot as those manipulations.
The setting and plot of "First Family" are as intriguing as as those of "Cloud-Warrior". Just try to ignore the nastiness of the relationship between Steve and Roz.

3.0 out of 5 stars A meticulous study of high-tech tyranny., February 26, 1999

By 

OoOoOoO "OoOoOoO" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Amtrak Wars: Book Two : First Family (Bk. 2) (Hardcover)

If you are keen on exploring the tyrannical potential of high technology, you can't do worst than to start here. This is '1984' updated into the info-tech age, makes Winston Smith's life in Airstrip One seem like a totally relaxed seaside holiday in Blackpool! The definitive word in hi-tech dystopia novel, it ranks way up there with 'Brave New World', 'THX 1138', 'The Glass Tower', etc. It is also 1 of the all-time best post-Apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers ever written, IMHO. Cross Adolf Hitler with Bill Gates and Dale Carnegie, stir in Ph.D's for social-psychology and electronic engineering , and you get the 'First Family' of the book's title. A must-read!!! Anyone who knows Patrick's email address pls pls pls contact me - I've been wanting to compliment him personally for a long-while now!