Customer Reviews

The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While I thought that The Electric Church was one of the best recent science fiction works I've read, I felt that the follow-up book, The Digital Plague, was less than fulfilling. Jeff Somers has returned to form, however, in the third installment of the Avery Cates series, The Eternal Prison.

Avery Cates is back in The Eternal Prison, which takes place soon after end of the digital plague from the second book. The cops and the army are fighting it out for control of society. Cates, the anti-hero hitman, gets pinched by the cops and thrown into Chengara, a prison specially developed for "people of interest" like himself. Cates has to use all of his wits to stay alive, and staying alive means breaking out.

The action moves along briskly in The Eternal Prison and avoids most of the exposition that slowed down The Digital Plague. Cates always has a new set of associates, since being a Cates associate tends to dramatically reduce life expectancy, but some old familiar faces also are in the mix. The new characters are woven into the story well and are, for the most part, more interesting than most of the new faces from The Digital Plague.

Probably the best thing about this entry in the series, apart from Somers' pacing, are the changes in Avery Cates. He's famous, he's tough, but as things continue to slide downhill, Cates begins to wonder if fighting is even worth the bother, especially if things look like they'll turn out the same way in the end. Or, if he goes on, for what purpose? Cates works through the questions in Cates fashion, simply but directly, without Somers turning him into some fountain of metaphysical mess.

It's a great installment, a return to the tight pacing of The Electric Church, and the central character is revitalized as something more than a stereotype. The Eternal Prison is definitely worth your time and money.

As the third, and most recent, addition to the continuing Avery Cates serious The Eternal Prison doesn't dissappoint. If you haven't yet read the first two novels featuring Avery Cates, The Electric Chuch and The Digital Plague, I would suggest you pick them up first before tackeling the Eternal Prison. It's not exactly necessary that you've read the first two, but it will definitely make the experience as a whole more enjoyable.

The Eternal Prison picks up where The Digital Plague left off, as we once again follow Avery in his exploits as one of the systems most feared and well known gunners. As this story picks up we find Avery struggeling to carry on in a life where he has lost nearly everything he held dear, and nothing seems to be going the way he planned it. In all honesty the only thing he seems to have going for him this time around is a large amount of yen, though it takes a mountain of it to buy anything with all the termoil. It's funny because he's not so much afraid of getting killed as he is of having an unsatisfactory death after all he's been through.

In the end the Eternal Prison is a fast-paced story that creates a perfect mix of action and even a few unexpected plot twists, though looking back there were plenty of hints. It can be a bit confusing as you first start, but just give it time and have faith in Somers writing skills. By the end of the novel all will be made clear and it's definitely a ride worth taking!

This being the 3rd installment of the Avery Cates series I was a bit worried about not having read any of the other Avery Cates books. "The Eternal Prison" stands on it's own but there are references to characters and events of the past. So reading them in order may be a good idea but not necessary.

Jeff Somers creates a future world where humans are still corrupt and violent and fighting for power, and technology has advanced with scary realism. Where people get their brains digitized and uploaded into avatars and humans get augments to became part machine.

Avery Cates is a gunner (gun for hire), he's great character that you can't help but like and pull for, he's a survivor. In a fight you would want him on your side (and he is usually in a fight).

Jeff Somers is an intelligent and entertaining writer that will keep you flipping pages. I will be reading the rest of the Cates series and I recommend that you do too.

The only note of caution would be language, there is a lot of foul language but the characters would be less real without it.

I've read the prior two books in the series and really enjoyed the first book, The Electric Church, while I felt the second, Digital Plague, seemed like a re-hashing of The EC. So I guess you could say I had a little bit riding on the third book, that is, whether or not I would continue with the series based on this book.

In all, I'm going to have to give this book a thoroughly less-than okay read. The things about the first novel, EC, that I liked so well were its originality, pace, and frankly, book-cover. This novel, unlike the second, displayed Somers' creativity again, with quirky characters, not gigantic originals, but interesting none-the-less. For example (*spoilers*): the Ruberto & Marin dynamic, the tin-can Cates, tattooed love-interest whom I think is Avery's first, and the Russian Techie (as opposed to the softer needle-nosed Americana style). These were intriguing characters, not necessarily developed, by interesting.

What this installment lacks compared to the first is pace and coherence. The novel drags at many points and where Somers excels in terse dialog, he's much less skilled with scene descriptions which he used alot both here and in digital plague. He also seems to have almost no geekish interest in the machinery, i.e. hovers etc, that he writes about, giving a lack of tech-speak to the novel's feel; a draw-back for a cyber-punk. The first half of the book is also split between "time-lines" *wink* which makes it difficult to follow, and having read the first two books quite some time before this one, I was lost on the whole SSF mythos- to be honest I'm still unclear on what the System is or the Civilian Army.

So, the novel addded some new creativity to the mix and moved the Cates-universe along. Though more background would help, now knowing that this is the ultimate point of the series; the exerpts at the end of the books for instance (though Digital Plague dragged at the end of its exerpt) are great, and offer alot of flavor to the world. Somers should add more of these, maybe spruced throughout the book. All-in-all not a great cyberpunk, but definetly some needed wind beneath Cates wings. Did it give me reason to continue with series? Yes.

The titular phrase of this review leaves the reader with a sense of foreboding, yet curiosity, about what is yet to come for Avery Cates, and for the world (and society) as a whole.

There are enough reviews about the plot that I won't repeat them here but rather add my thoughts about Avery Cates, and Jeff Somers, and the series as a whole.

Jeff Somers is not afraid to damage his character. Avery Cates, the anti-hero human, has been through his own personal hell and changes as a result. His wounds from one story aren't "magically healed" in the next. The start of each installment isn't with Somers hitting "the big reset button" for his characters but rather builds on what's transpired up to that point, while at the same time revealing layers of complexity for his characters, and not just Cates. Some of the recurring characters, like Marko (the techie) have some added depth in the latest installment (The Eternal Prison). Even some of the "bad" guys, e.g., Dick Marin, show to have some depth and elements of humanity (such as it is) as well.

The Digital Plague was set up as the a transition between The Electric Church and The Eternal Prison and as one other reviewer commented, there was a lot of exposition. But after reading The Eternal Prison it can be seen that exposition was necessary. Jeff Somers has shown no fear in destroying the world he built in The Electric Church. The Digital Plague served as first warning that the status quo will be shredded in this new world, and one can almost picture Jeff Somers doing so with a slight knowing smirk on his face - and his protagonist, the aforementioned anti-hero Avery Cates is all the better for it. Avery Cates has a tendency to do things "the hard way" and Jeff Somers sits back and rather than dictate the story, he lets the characters dictate the story.

Stephen King wrote in his book "On Writing" to (paraphrasing here) "write what you know" and "build the story, add your characters, and see how they respond to your world". Jeff Somers has done both quite well and he has demonstrated he is not afraid to take chances and we have what could have been just a good story become a great story as a result.

The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates) is the third in the Avery Cates series and it has left me salivating for more. The first two books by Jeff Somers, The Electric Church and The Digital Plague (Avery Cates), introduces us to the down on his luck Gunner Avery Cates and his stumblings through NY and various sundry locations throughout the planet. This series is not for the weak at heart, they are graphic and basically in your face kind of books. They are also the kind of books that you won't be able to put down.
Do yourself a favor and check out these books!

Last year I read a great book called The Digital Plague and this is a follow up to that great novel. It starts up shortly after the last book, and picks up the action right away. The book has a good amount of pages, and it never seems to slow down and get boring.

The story continues with the consequences that happened in the previous book, and gives you a story that you can't really guess what's happening, which makes the journey through it very entertaining. Avery Cate's is still the badass from the previous book, and he helps move the story along the way. It has equal amounts of mystery, mayhem, and murder.

The Atmosphere of this story is still the dystopia, but it has become even more run down. The story jumps around to multiple locations and they are all described in detail, and no of them are friendly places to live in.

As a standalone book, this is good story as well. Granted the story is better if you have read the books, but it introduces new people and parts so you don't need that back story to follow it (except for the few references to digital plague). I don't recommend it if your remotely interested in the other books, since this one spoils it to what has happened in those.

This would be a great purchase for people who like reading about dystopian futures, or a book that keeps you on the edge and guess. I recommend everyone to buy this.

~ Written: July, 2010

It was a decent book. The plot was not very special, though it did randomly reference things from the first book in ways I had not even considered might be how it happened. I do agree that 2 was pretty reminiscent of 1, but this one manages to stand on its own.

The biggest downside for me was that I did not appreciate the non-linear, kind of dual story telling approach. There is a story relevant reason for this approach, but I kind of disliked how that all went down. Not so much the authors style, as it made me appreciate and like the characters a little less.

Otherwise, if you were a fan of 1 or 2, go ahead and pick up this one. If you have not read either, why are you starting near the end?

I am a big fan of Jeff Somers previous books. The Eternal Prison is just as good! Avery Cates is back, a little worse for wear, but still as tough as nails. Swept up into the politics of his world Avery goes to do what he's best at kill someone. The story is told from two different perspectives which makes it a little strange, but all becomes clear in the end. Somers gritty story telling, the fast pace all out action, and colorful characters make this an entertaining read. It's a no brainer, go pick it up!

You will find the same Hard-Boiled, Bladerunner style scenario as the first two books. Also, if you have read Dan Simmons' Ilium/Olympus stories, there is an aspect of that 'faxing' tech as well. As hard as it is to believe, Cates actually takes more abuse in this one than in the others combined?! I love these books for their gritty yet cutting edge noir aspects.