Customer Reviews

The Brimstone Network (Brimstone Network Trilogy)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm wondering why there is a plethora of books fairly recently published with the Apocalypse as the central event. "The Brimstone Network" is another title to be added to this unsettling subject.

A well-told tale of evil spirits slipping into the land of humans through tears in the veil between worlds, this futuristic fantasy seems more now than future. One of the worst of the worst and a former human, Crowley is the special specter that stirs evil beings to life, then hate and blood thirst. In fact, in this, Book 1, he forces the turn of a Brimstone agent to do his bidding.

What is the Brimstone Network? It is a special agency of humans working ferociously and diligently in protecting the world from an invasion of evil spirits from other worlds way beyond the Pale.

Book 1 is about the the destruction of the first Brimstone Network, led by Elijah Stone, and the establishing of the New Network, which passes from father to son. A twelve-year-old, Bram has been trained to be a leader, who must use his special gifts. To set up a new network, he must find others with special gifts. How he assembles them and how they learn to work together is a major crux of the story.

The other is the malignant growth of the evil empire on Earth, so to speak, with Crowley as their leader. They do have a special weapon, the sister of the turned agent. How she is to be used is a deliberate design to destroy the world as we know it and let in ALL evil spirits with Crowley as the ultimate leader.

The book was so believable I easily suspended all disbelief as I read. Rifting? Oh, yes, I'm sure it's possible. Another point: Train up a child in the way he should go and he will go there. Bram questions his abilities to lead until action surrounds him and he very capably leads by drawing on his intense training.

This is an interesting book and promises to be a rousing series. Book 2 is "The Shroud of A'Ranka," which comes out in October.

There's a strong visual quality to The Brimstone Network. This isn't a surprise since Tom Sniegowski apparently works most often for the comic book industry as a comic scripter. Unfortunately, along with the obvious strengths that brings to his work -- to-the-point dialogue as well as the almost cinematic quality -- come weaknesses, most notably a narrative style that tends to bog down the action. This is a story that would have been far better served as a graphic novel where large, awkward narrative chunks would have been translated into a few frames of art.

The story itself is pretty standard fare for horror/fantasy/SF novels: Save the world from the bad guys. And because this is marketed as a young adult novel, the good guys are almost all adolescents. The characters are reasonably drawn, though again at about the level of a graphic novel.

There's a vague, steampunk-y quality to the story which never quite comes together in the way I'd hoped it would, and a nice homage to classic fantasy and horror in the naming of the characters. For the audience it's intended for, it will probably work very well. For older readers... well it's a reasonably engaging story, and sometimes that's all you really need.

I was intrigued by a novel by Tom Sniegoski. His name comes up in conjunction with other comics like Hell Boy so i thought this novel was worth a try. However, this novel is definitely a teenager novel. And probably an older teenager at that.

Basically, the plot in a nutshell boils down to there are a bunch of secret agents protecting the world. They're betrayed by one of their own. And only one young man can rebuild the agency back up to what it was. And stop the evil that they're trying to do to the planet. It's not that original but then again, in this genre, what is. :)

I felt that the writing was a little bit above an early teenagers vocabulary. The story is pretty dark and there are character deaths in the story. Beyond that, this doesn't really have much to offer an adult. If I were 12 again, I'd be interested in this novel and the subsequent ones however. And I'd consider offering this book to my son. At least a child reading this is reading as opposed to a graphic novel with more pictures than words.

Hi, I am a fourteen year old who happened to stumble upon your book, and surprisingly...loved it. The Brimstone Network was a very interesting book, at the least. I personally, wasn't really interested in the book when I first got it, but after I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. If you really want to know, I stayed up till 2:00am reading it. I loved everything about it. Supernatural world and real world, divided by a magickal barrier. Yes, I said magickal. I like how you formatted the Atomic Bomb into the book. Now, what interested me most was that the kid, Abraham Brimstone, was about my age. Any book that puts a teenager as the main character has to be good in some way in my opinion. I also liked the different abilities of the new Brimstone Network. I liked Bogey the most. Keep making those books! Can't wait till the 2nd book comes out in December.

First, the Brimstone Network is geared towards young adults since most of the characters are adolescents but it did make for an entertaining read. The premise behind the book is simple, young man discovers he has special gifts and must find others to join him. Since the book is part of a broader series, I encourage you to pick a set of these for your young reader. Reading for pleasure is the key to America's future and Brimstone Network is doing a great job of getting our next generation on the right track!

This is NOT the most original premise: the forces of darkness are on the rise, the adults have failed, and thus it falls to a handful of specially talented children to save the day. However, Tom Sniegoski has recombined a bunch of old cliches and literary references (with, fortunately so far, just a little dose of political correctness) into something quite interesting.

There have been humans from the dawn of time with the special talents and more importantly the courage to use them against the forces of darkness in our world, but for most of human history they have operated in secret: the Order of Brimstone, the Brotherhood of Brimstone, the Brimstone League, and now the Brimstone Network. However after atomic bomb testing accidentally weakens the "magikcal" (insert eye roll here) barriers between dimensions allowing dark creatures even greater access to Earth, the Brimstone Network came out of hiding to successfully beat back the foe.

Suddenly a surprise attack by massed evil forces wipes out the Network, and it falls to a handful of specially talented children and Deus Ex Machina Man (otherwise known as Stitch) to rebuild the Network and confront the evil mastermind of the old Network's destruction and foil his plot.

I know it sounds more than a bit hokey, (and some of the dialog and narrative IS quite hokey, especially at the end,) but Tom's a talented enough writer to make it work. I particularly liked Stitch, the Frankenstein's Monster of the story. Assembled from the bodies (and carrying the memories) of fifty fallen Brimstone Network agents and also programmed with additional memories to be of use in rebuilding the Network should just such a calamity befall it, he quite believably keeps pulling rabbits out of his hat (or his stomach.... Don't ask!) just when everything looks hopeless. As the review title says, this is the best excuse for deus ex machina I've ever seen!

In short if you are looking for hopelessly complicated situations and an intricately plotted story set in an infinitely complicated world, don't bother, but if you are looking for a quick read involving likable characters, clever recombinations of old plot devices, and a noble fight against evil, you might want to give it a try. Despite being the first book in a series (The Shroud of A'Ranka (The Brimstone Network) and Specter Rising (The Brimstone Network) are already available for pre-order), this book DOES have an ending so it can be treated as a stand-alone.

You know, with the popularity of certain series in Tween fiction, this book makes perfect sense. The Brimstone Network manages to blend quite a few things into a satisfying package.
I reminds me of an episode of Power Rangers, Avatar, and a good comic book all mashed together. The premise of the book isnt too far fetched, the characters are written in a clear and defined style, given obvious roles and outcomes.
As an adult, I have to step back and read this book as if I were the market it was targeted to. The plotting and pacing was done well, it serves as a great set-up, and I am sure we will see more complexity, less obvious foreshadowing, and even more murky motivations with future volumes.
Reading this book with the thought in mind that a 5th-6th grader would be picking this up, I am impressed with the end result. It serves as a good book that is action packed, quickly read, and well written.
I dont want to give away plot details or anything like that, but I really see this book being a series that boys will like, being something- that with the right marketing and authorship, will replace some of the series' that are ending. Its serves to be a nice entry on the shelf next to Fablehaven, the Olympians series, Artemis Fowl, and Lemony Snickett.
A good jumping off point to get younger readers interested and expanding their own likes and favorites.
Solid effort, would like to read the next one, and I am really interested in seeing how the author can help this book series grow with his readers.
One thing- I would like to have seen a few illustrations within. Perhaps we will get to see that as well with the next one.

I have to 2nd most of what the other reviewers are saying in that this is clearly written for young adults, "borrows" entire plots and creatures from other works, is not well fleshed out, is a typical "orphan goes on a quest with a best friend/father figure" type story, and just over all is really really tedious to read if you're an adult who's ever picked up a fantasy book before in your life

If this was the first book of its type that a young adult had ever read, they might really enjoy its. There's nothing objectionable in it, other than its utter mediocrity. But if your son/daughter/nephew/student or whatever has ever read The Hobbit, seen Terminator 2, or any of that kind of thing, this will probably not be that exciting for them

One of my biggest problems with it is that its horribly un-fleshed-out (is that a word?). Every couple of pages some evil thing rises up, is identified, then is killed on the same page. Every other page some good thing appears to help, is named, and then is killed on the same page. Its like a greatest hits collection of sword and sorcery or something

I think that kind of thing sets the bar pretty low, even for children, and i wouldn't be interested in purchasing anything else by this author, regardless of genre. hope that helps you come to a decision one way or the other

The first installment in The Brimstone Network series should please both its target audience, namely teens and pre-teens, and older folks who fondly remember the kinds of things they read when they were teens and preteens. Sniegoski definitely remembers, and performs marvelous riffs on the adventure novels and comic books he no doubt rabidly consumed in his youth, updating the tropes and bending genres so that younger readers can enjoy them without feeling they are reading something , god forbid, "old-fashioned."

(Note: if The Brimstone Network floats your boat, be sure to check out other series that Sniegoski has penned or contributed to, such as The Fallen, The Sleeper Conspiracy, Billy Hooten: Owlboy, and The Menagerie series, on which he collaborates with Christopher Golden. All are well worth your time, no matter what your age.)

The plot of the Brimstone Network is engaging enough: Evil monsters completely destroy the Brimstone Network, the forces of good that have been keeping them in check. Young Bram Stone's father was the leader of the monster-fighting organization, and now it falls to him to form a new Brimstone Network and defeat the monsters trying to take over the world.

Unfortunately, the first two-thirds of this book rely on nothing more than non-stop action in order to tell the story. Bram runs, monsters find him, and he fights them. Then the sequence repeats. Problems are solved through ludicrous and overly convenient plot devices. At one point, Bram is being chased through a pumpkin field by an evil magic-user. To escape, his companion happens to remember that someone has left an ancient god among the pumpkins to protect them from harm, and of course he can summon him to fight on their side without the slightest bit of trouble. The characters in the Brimstone Network don't need to rely on intelligent thinking, skills, well-thought out plans, courage, or even stubborn endurance to get out of jams. Instead, they just look around and discover an instant solution. Magic is used liberally, without rules, inconvenience, or even much concentration; magic-users simply seem to wish something to happen and it does.

Luckily, the book improves suddenly and dramatically for the final 100 pages, with the introduction of three new characters: a female teenage werewolf struggling with the beast inside her, a boy from another world who can travel across space and dimensions in seconds, and a young boy with extraordinary mental and magical powers (of course stereotypically held back by his sick, weakened body). Not only are these characters more interesting and engaging than the others in the book, but upon their arrival, Bram and friends begin to think and plan a bit, and try to rely on intelligence and abilities to fight the monsters. This is a welcome relief after the first two-thirds of the book. Characters who actually have to work to solve their problems are a good deal more interesting to read about than ones who have all their problems miraculously solved for them.

The Brimstone Network isn't going to become a classic by any stretch of the imagination, and I doubt that anyone over the age or 12 or so will enjoy it. But, kids younger than that might like it for its endless fights between good and evil, non-stop action, and for the improved status of the final third of the book.