Customer Reviews

The Extra

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

 

 

Welcome to a horrifying vision of the future. In an overpopulated, amoral Las Angeles, life is cheap. Curtis and Japh are middleclass tough guys living in the high rise buildings known as the 'Rise. Jools, Chops and Cap are streetwise thugs living in the outside slums known as the Zoo. Kate Harlow, Val Margolean and Mark Millar are upper-class executives at Hollywood's Panoply Studios, which is involved in making live action films. The desperate poor from the 'Rise and the Zoo are hired as extras who are herded like cattle into enormous sets built to resemble cities. Today, Panoply is filming "Alien Hunger" in which giant mechanical spiders are let loose to attack the extras. Like the gladiators of the Roman coliseum, the extras must fight for their lives. Their actual deaths are filmed in what becomes a legalized snuff film where thousands die for large sums of money.

Michael Shea's "The Extra" is a tightly written, fast paced nightmare that is soon becoming reality. The differences between our modern society and that of the Roman Empire are becoming slimmer each day. At an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), crowds cheer while watching men mercilessly beat and kick each other inside a cage. There are those who attend NASCAR races in hopes of witnessing a crash. Generations of children have been raised on violent video games. Our society has a craving for violence that is becoming increasingly more difficult to satisfy.

Panoply Studios of Hollywood, California is satisfying an addiction for live action violence with its creation of vids. In a world where 60% of the human population is impoverished, Panoply can easily recruit extras willing to risk their lives for a chance at a normal, healthy existence away from the perpetual violence of the Zoo. "The Extra" consists of a wide variety of characters from all walks of life who find themselves thrown into a pot boiler of mayhem. Not only are extras fighting the giant mechanical spiders known as APPs (Anti-Personnel Properties), but they are also fighting other extras who seek vengeance and the tags that must be retrieved from destroyed APPs. Curtis is a heroic extra from the 'Rise. He assists his friend, Japh, and other extras. Much of the novel is told in first person from his point of view.

Kate Harlow is another likeable, heroic character; an assistant director for Panoply Studios, she is copiloting one of many payrafts (hovercrafts) that swoop down from the sky to pay those extras who capture tags. She sympathizes with the plight of the extras. When her payraft crashes, Kate teams up with Curtis and his friends to help them destroy APPs, retrieve tags and survive the shoot. Setting aside their differences of race, gender and social status, they must work as a team in order to survive. "The Extra" is more than just a science fiction action adventure, it is also a political and social commentary. This novel is trying to tell the reader that in order to survive the economical and environmental issues that plague this world, the races and nations must set aside their differences and unite together as one body.

"The Extra" kept me spellbound. During the filming of "Alien Hunger," the shoot involving the extras lasts for only a few hours. However, all hell breaks loose as thousands of men and women dash through the set, searching for weapons they can use for defending themselves against the hordes of mechanical spiders emerging from the buildings. Chaos and pandemonium reign as they struggle for survival. Automobiles driven by robots careen wildly through the streets. Flaming debris rains down from the sky. Buildings fall, crushing both extras and monsters. Many of the weapons that are found are useless props; only a few are genuine. The entire set is a cruel, inhuman death trap. I was kept in suspense, wondering who would live and who would die.

In a futuristic Las Angeles where novels are a rarity, citizens have become more obsessed with the visual media, especially the live action movies produced by Hollywood. Panoply, along with many other studios, is a doomsday-type device similar to the one depicted in the cult classic "Logan's Run." In "Logan's Run," Carousel offered its Last Day participants the hope of renewal; however, all of them were being exterminated with lasers. In "The Extra," Panoply Studios seduces the extras with enough money to begin new lives in the nearby mountains; unfortunately, most are killed by the APPs. The murderous rampage provide a type of Roman "bread and circuses" that can be enjoyed by the masses. This theme has been explored in such science fiction thrillers as "Roller Ball" (1975) and "Futuresport." These films involve dangerous athletic competitions where many participants risk their lives for huge sums of money.

Michael Shea is the author of the popular science fiction sword-and-sorcery series, "Nifft the Lean." Perhaps Shea suffers from arachnophobia. In his latest Nifft novel, "The A'Rak," Nifft must battle a spider god. Shea has authored several science fiction short story collections that include "Copping Squid and Other Mythos Tales" and "The Autopsy and Other Tales." "The Extra" is the first novel in a trilogy and Shea is busy at work on its next installment, "The Siege of Sunrise."


Joseph B. Hoyos

This is dead ahead, straight on SATIRE. The masses as cannon fodder for violent entertainment holo-vids....they "suck tube", "suck vids" so completely that they do not know the difference between predigested pablum lives..immersed as they are in virtual reality... and their real lives. Yeah, this sounds familiar but this is a Future Thriller and because it is Shea, the concept is on steroids. The little band of characters are tough and resourceful and choose to fight. It comes out darkly brilliant. Check out his other recent releases: Copping Squid, The Autopsy and Other Tales. Good Writing.

Intense horror stories are generally not my genre of choice since blood is the main, and usually only, event. I do read sci-fi and fantasy though, and Shea's Nifft the Lean is one of my all-time favorites.
The Extra did not disappoint me. On a movie set where the actors are food for monsters, things move fast and some of it is pretty grim, but the characters are great and make up for it. This would make an amazing movie, not your usual same old horror at all.

All in all this was a fun book. Once the plot gets going and the characters are on the movie set it's pure b-movie cheese. Giant bugs, space ships, Mad Max atmosphere. It's a very fast read, and has great action. My one qualm was the questions I was left with at the end. But really, in this kind of book it's much more about the fun gore than the themes. I do recommend it if you like films like Cloverfield, Eight Legged Freaks, The Running Man, etc.

This story manages to jab at its content and itself as it spurs modern indulgence onward toward wonderfully violent ends. Well paced and well timed, I read this book over two years ago and knew I had to come back and write a review after I found myself dreaming about it last night.

The fact that reviews on here are so scattered is a good sign. This book indeed teases the reader and sets the trap for a second half that involves some of the most heart pounding action ever written. Could something like the Roman Colosseum actually exist in the modern world? Of course this book is over the top. Of course this book employs satire, and overdone Hollywood shtick.

I can't believe this book hasn't been made into a movie... Oh wait. I guess the filming of the movie would be the movie... And more than a few animals would be harmed in the process.

Warning: sense of dark humor required.

What I didn't like about this novel was that there were what I would call reversed class stereotypes. The society is divided into Zoo meat (poor), Rise asses (struggling) and less clearly defined other groups but at least some rich. The poorer people always seem to know how to fight or exactly what to do in all the desperate situations. They all seemed to be smarter than all the rich or middle class. From growing up in Detroit I know not all poor people are street smart hustlers who know how to handle themselves in rough situations. I don't myself. What saved the book was that it was short enough that I finished it before this became too grating.

interesting twist on gladiators. Better than the "Hunger Games". Once by the set up, the reader actually roots for this band of fighters. But lots of loose ends need finishing. A quick page turner.

I agree with David Keith who's amazon review precedes mine. He keeps it short and simple by saying he --"couldn't get past the cliched hip-hop-esque gangsta tough guy dialogue that wasn't even cool 20 years ago, and this novel is set in the future! Setting is another dystopian Thunderdome ala Los Angeles that's been done plenty elsewhere."-- Too true.

I thought that the Extra sounded pretty good when I read the blurbs. So I gave it a shot. I could not get past the thick slang used here. I found myself skipping ahead again and again and never found an engaging passage to bring me back into the story.

99% of the time I dont write an amazon review for a book I have not read 100% of. However I keep seeing this one pop back up and I have to add my two cents since it was a miserable story.

I checked this out due to the video recommendation made by Patton. This story is so slow. The action doesn't start until midway through the book. I didn't even finish it, it was pretty agonizing to get thru.

Wow - thought this novel looked great and was looking forward to reading it. But couldn't get past the cliched hip-hop-esque gangsta tough guy dialogue that wasn't even cool 20 years ago, and this novel is set in the future! Setting is another dystopian Thunderdome ala Los Angeles that's been done plenty elsewhere. Save your money.