Customer Reviews

The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Resistance

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For me, the only good thing about this novel was the consistent, "wake up and see what your government is doing" message. As a cautionary tale, it served its purpose, but as a novel, it left me stone cold.

My first problem with this nearly 700-page story was its hero, a man who:
........was physically perfect (massive shoulders and tree trunks for limbs)
........had a touch of metaphysical/magical ability (he had "The Sight")
........was brilliant
........had vast wealth
........turned down a career as an NFL quarterback to become a mega-rockstar
........was expert in all forms of weaponry, both modern and antique
........could get it up four times an hour and keep that up all night
In short, I'm convinced the hero was nothing less than a Marty Stu (for those unfamiliar with the term, a Marty Stu/Mary Sue is a fictional character who is portrayed in an idealized way and who is lacking any noteworthy flaws -- a character made in the image of how the author sees himself in his fantasies)

Some of my other issues with the story involved:
........A cast of supporting characters so one-dimensional and boring that I never cared a whit about any of them
........Pages and pages of weapons description
........An absurd and pointless paean to Eric Carmen as the most underrated "rocker" ever
........Many equally pointless insertions of bad song lyrics
........An obsession with babies -- This obsession was so great that not only did our hero refuse to have sex with women who didn't want children, but all the "good" female characters wanted children immediately, the more the better, and brought up the subject with great frequency (here again, I became convinced that I was seeing little more than a projection of the author's wishful thinking, bordering on desperation)

To top it all off, I was supposed to believe that assassinating a few low-level government flunkies was somehow going to wake people up, change their minds, and set them on the path to righteousness.

It was depressing, because even though the message of the novel was serious and the author had some valid points to make, they became tainted by the unbelievability of the characters and the story. Maybe it shouldn't be that way. Maybe the ideas stand on their own as incorruptible. But if I have trouble taking the messenger seriously, how much credence am I going to give to the message itself?

All in all, this book had so much less impact on me than it could have. I purchased it because I'm concerned about government abuse and because I believe in reason, individual responsibility, and self-determination. But I also like my books to be well written, with fully realized characters, interesting dialogue, and a story that goes beyond the feel of a clichéd action movie. I didn't find any of that here.

Robin Hood has been coopted to be a hero of wealth redistribution, even though he robbed from the tax collectors and gave to the tax payers. William Tell is largely unremembered except as an excellent archer. Batman and The Green Hornet are in many ways servants to the state, only going after the private criminals. The only hero one can compare The Black Arrow to is Zorro.

The first thing an observant reader will notice is that all examples of government abuse in this book are taken from real life, such as the case of Don Scott of Malibu. They are only slightly enlarged, to make things bad enough to inspire resistance and revolt.

Fast paced and easy to read, it seems shorter than it's 700 pages, but it is not light or lacking in detail for the enjoyment of the reader.

The hero is a paragon, more than human. He is a young, handsome, wealthy, ex-Rock star at the peak of physical fitness.

There is a fault with this book, but it is a fault common to most libertarian literature, in that the common criminal is missing. Some might object that the government is too strict to enable them to operate, but that is not an objection a libertarian can sustain. Others might object that they are all in government employ where it is safer for them to violate the rights of others. As sustainable as that argument is, there are always independent operators for the Zorros of the world to fight as there is never a shortage of people who want to violate the rights of others.

Be that as it may, this is a great read.

I really wanted to love this book, especially considering the theme and the fact that I haven't read fiction in years; unfortunately, I can only rate it average. In the hands of, say, Harlan Ellison, it could have been outstanding, but, as written, this novel is too long and quite self-indulgent. For example, I do like the music of The Raspberries, but I wouldn't dream of inserting their lyrics into my novel (several times!) simply because of that fact. There are also frequent references to current popular (and past) culture that I seriously doubt anyone will remember thirty years from now, and "witty" dialog that consists of lines from 60's era pop songs. The entire opus seems to be a case of "it's my party, and I'll do what I want to." (My apologizes to Lesley Gore, but this is the type of thing the author adores.)

IMHO, there's too much rumination, and an overabundance of background material on things like samurai swords in the 700-page book -- while not enough actual *events* take place. Plenty of unnecessarily- detailed gore, though. It's as if the author is writing for the teenage graphic novel crowd, at perhaps a high-school reading level. Despite what other reviewers have written, I did find that the novel bogged down about two-thirds of the way through.

Ultimately, and sadly, I found it a fairly superficial experience.

In The Black Arrow: A Tale Of The Resistance, author Vin Suprynowicz draws upon his skill and expertise as a syndicated newspaper columnist to write a provocative novel set in the near future of 2031 where America is ruled under the authority of a Patriot-Poindexter police state. This is a time of ID checks, invasive body searches, stacked juries, kangaroo courts, a corrupt political class, and a gray-suited police cadre known as the Homeland Security Special Forces. It is against this background that wealthy record company executive Andrew Fletcher decides to resist the all powerful police state by becoming a masked vigilante known as the "Black Arrow". The result is a thrilling, rapidly paced, 703-page action/adventure novel that also incorporates thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary on the power of the state run amuck, an unusual love story, and how a movement of the people can take back their liberties when pressed to far by those above them. Highly recommended reading -- especially for the libertarian inclined!

Fabulous!

Much more than just a politically-informed novel, The Black Arrow is a triumph of 21st Century story-telling. I read very few novels, but once I started The Black Arrow, I was hooked.

There's action, there's whimsy, there's romance, and there's a sense of moral urgency. The moral urgency -- the sense that terrible wrongs must be righted -- drove me relentlessly to see how the heroes and villains would play out their destinies.

Vin Suprynowicz is a journalist and columnist. His style tends to be concrete and clear, so his first novel tells a story that flows effortlessly and never baffles the reader. The Black Arrow could easily be adapted into a screenplay for a fast-paced movie.

Vin also has succeeded in getting inside the heads of the main characters -- even the villains -- in ways that give a three-dimensional perspective to the whole story. It's not just "deep and thoughtful good guy vs. cardboard bad guys." You really do come to understand what motivates the players. In addition to all of the other great characteristics of the book (as described by other reviewers), the inner views into the hearts and minds of the actors really help make the book as captivating as it is.

If you like thrillers, if you like novels that weave ideas with action, then you'll very much enjoy The Black Arrow. I loved every moment of it!

(Suitable for readers over age 18. Buy it, open it, and hang on!)

Take ATLAS SHRUGGED, then substitute the 60-page John Galt speech with digestible "sound bites," add a dash of rock 'n roll, plenty of sex, scores of commando raids, fierce samurai action, and lots of resistance strategy, and you've got THE BLACK ARROW. At 700 pages, it's a hefty book (not quite the Randian monster, though), but it never drags. It's a quick read -- and one I'm sure I'll return to several more times.

Black Arrow is a novel in the same vein as John Ross' "Unintended Consequences". It is well written, and a fast paced action story set in the future. Much like in George Orwell's 1984, the government has run amock keeping tabs on the citizens it was elected to protect. In this world, the politicians are evil, but the freedom fighters are knocking them off one by one. This was a fun read.

The Black Arrow is what every libertarian dreams of --
a story that communicates the ideals of freedom clearly, without being "preachy" or condesending, and an excellent read in its own right.
The plot moves and engages you. The climatic end battle grabs you and won't let go. The characters are surprisingly rich given the number of them and the amount of action. Vin gives you enough details, but keeps it moving forward. Even in the darkest hour, there is a note of hopefulness. The internal dialogue of the Arrow being willing to fight, but not really relishing it adds a rich element.
The one negative point is that the book is 700 pages long. Vin, what were you thinking? Way too short. I want more!
I've enjoyed Vin's non-fiction, "Send in the Waco Killers" and "The Ballad of Carl Draga," but this is a fiction-lover's dream. Now I have something else to read besides "Atlas Shrugged". I hope the next novel comes out VERY soon.

I have long been a fan of Vin Suprynowicz' columns and non-fiction. With this book he proves that he has the ability to write an engrossing and entertaining tale as well.

After finishing the book, the first thought that occurred to me was that it read like a screenplay. The action is tight, visual, and colorful, while the dialogue effectively conveys emotion as well as moving the story along. The characters are well-developed and are 'real' by the story's end. It is edgy, tight, and gripping.

The only reasons I can believe that Hollywood isn't jumping all over this for the right to make a film have to do with the subject matter. Killing 'Jack-booted Thugs' is a subject that has not yet made it's way to mainstream America's consciousness. When 'Harry's War' is seen on the shelves at Blockbuster, 'The Black Arrow' won't be far behind.

This book is now truly #1 in my collection of Libertarian and freedom oriented literature. I literally could not put it down.

What a story! What a man! The Black Arrow signifies each of our own desires to rise up against the ever encroaching power and abuses of our government. The story line, some of it taken from actual documented cases, and most taken stricly from the mind of the author, is spellbinding. It is all quite believable that this very scenario could play out in the not too distant future.

There's a little (or a lot of) something for everyone: drama, suspense, passion, love, sex, murder, weapons, heroism, oppression, and triumph. This book has it all, especially for freedom minded individuals worried about what the future might hold for us. Read it. You won't be disappointed!