Customer Reviews

Plague War

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A fan of "Plague Year," I picked up "Plague War" last week- after a long anticipation- just before flying cross county... and I was not disappointed. It was the perfect way to escape the otherwise hectic runaround of balancing a fussy seven-month old baby girl, an inability to clear my ears, and the jerk in front of my jamming their seat as far back as possible.

I was enraptured to find out more about what has become of the world after a year suffering under a machine plague that attacks and kills any living creatures of sufficient size. It's clear Mr. Carlson did his homework on a wide variety of issues- the impact such a plague would have on the environment (such as the prevalence of insects, and how vicious they would have become- something I would never have conceived of prior), the effects of the human body above 10,000 feet, the mechanics of nanotechnology, how the rest of the world reacted to the impending doom of the machine plague.

I was vaguely disappointed in not finding out as much about other issues I considered, like what happened to the US Navy- I imagine the Fleet would have sortied, for instance, and they could have supplied themselves well enough to last a year at sea. Major US warships have excellent Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical protection, and could've sealed themselves airtight and modified the pressure inside the ships if necessary (the machine plague self destructs at atmospheric pressures above approximately 10,000 feet)- not to mention submarines. It would have played an interesting role in the war described in the book.

All that could've taken another three hundred pages to go over, though. Heh. All in all, an excellent summer read. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed!

For anyone who likes high-speed action loaded with shocks and wild ideas, the second PLAGUE book delivers. Carlson hits the ground running with PLAGUE WAR and only accelerates from there. This is one scary series! I've never seen end-of-the-world techno thrillers written this way. PLAGUE WAR is very personal but big in scope at the same time, loaded with politics and intrigue while jampacked with gunfights and other action sequences. Highly recommended.

I'm in love with this writer, or should I say his fiction. I reviewed his first novel over a year ago and gave it 4 stars. This one is even better.

This story is full of its own big ideas, which is no small accomplishment. It picks up again right after the end of Plague Year, but Carlson does a good job of making this book work as it's own story, reintroducing my favorites Cam Najarro and Ruth Goldman -- as well as a bunch of new cool dudes and new threats galore.

Most of the survivors in the world are still stuck above 10,000 feet elevation, barely hanging on after the machine plague, but Cam and Ruth have a vaccine nanotech that will allow people to walk below the barrier again, and everybody in the world wants it.

Reading Plague War is like walking through a living game of chess with the heroes and villians all crashing together around you as they fight for the vaccine.I won't write any spoilers here, but once again the whole book is loaded with amazing stuff and a few major shocks. Frighteningly real.

These books are made for the big screen. I bet a movie will come out soon.

The Hoff

This sequel to Plague Year was not a disappointment. The action was even better than the first book. I was a little annoyed by the Cam/Ruth relationship. I liked hearing Hernandez's perspective. It would have been nice to have his narration and more about his role in the action towards the end of the book.

The hell Mr. Carlson drags you through in "Plague War" begins in the first book, "Plague Year", and you really need the first installment to understand most of the character motives and to see the explanation for how the world gets so screwed up in the first place.

Be warned, this book is not a feel-good story. I've never seen an author put such good people through such tradgedy, with each page getting worse and worse for them. Mr. Carlson is like Steven King on some terribly soured steroids. There is a slight upturn towards the end of "Plague War", but I suspect that is merely so he can push his characters off a higher cliff and into an even lower abyss in the next book, due out next year.

Jeff continues his dark, post-apocalyptic tale in this second book. As with the first book, his writing style sucked me into the story and didn't let me go till I had finished. The tone of these novels is unrelentingly dark, but they entertain so thoroughly that even the nightmares they spawn are enjoyable.

This book is a worthy successor to Plague Year. It fills in many of the details about what life is like below "the barrier" and picks up many threads & elements from Plague Year and expands on them seamlessly. However while the author does an decent job of trying to make the book stand on it's own, I would really recommend starting with Plague Year first to get the full enjoyment of the plot and characters.

Plague War, a mix of sci-fi, military adventure and political intrigue, is the second book in Jeff Carlson's post apocalyptic trilogy. The nightmarish landscape presents a chilling albeit believable picture of a world devastated by a nanotech plague. The book works as a standalone but to get the complete story of how our world got so screwed up you might want to start with Plague Year.
Nanotechnology designed to fight cancer is accidentally released and has killed most of the world's population. The nano-plague, something like a flesh eating virus, freezes at elevations above 10,000 feet so the surviving population flees to the mountains.

Dr. Ruth Goldman, a researcher, has produced a vaccine that will inoculate the survivors against the plague but the government won't release it because it doesn't benefit their own agenda. The U.S. government wants to use the vaccine as a tool to decide who will live. So Ruth is on the run, searching for survivors and hoping to inoculate as many as possible. Traveling with her is Cameron Najarro, a survivor from Sierra Nevada. But the government has their own plans for the vaccine and they'll stop at nothing to get to Ruth. Not surprisingly there is also a group of rebels who are interested in finding Ruth. But another catastrophic event is coming; one that may cause a war that will change things forever.

This riveting and original tale paints a bleak picture of technology gone awry. There's plenty of action but this is essentially a character driven survival story. Carlson depicts the desperation of his heroes with great clarity. And the sexual tension between Ruth and Cam only adds to their despair. It's terrifyingly real and comes to a conclusion you won't see coming. A third book, Mind Plague, is out this month.

I was surprised to find that although this sequel was in the same style as the first, it had a different sort of tone. The relationship between the two main characters Ruth and Cam is infectious. They each have their issues and it's interesting to see how they interact with each other. The sexual tension that Plague War delivers is amazing considering all the characters are grimy, nano-bitten, unwashed, scrappers who will do anything to survive.

This book causes you to feel the desperation of a world that is in constant threat of annihilation. However, the characters have the hope to survive and the power of the human spirit to carry on, no matter what the obstacle.

Some of the untouched mountain people infuse this story with a newness, that by this time you would expect not to exist. The contrast of the beaten down warriors against these innocent, fresh-snow-like individuals is really an excellent contrast in a book that is about fighting for life.

There is a lot of war talk in this book. Military actions, governments colliding, plots foiled, plans carried out. Since I am not a fan of military stories, I was slightly distracted by this. However, the human relationships of the people in those uniforms carried me through those sections of the book. If you are a military enthusiast, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how detailed this book is.

I was happy to see the reappearance of some of the characters from book one that I did not expect. Hernandez was a pleasant returnee. His point of view was intriguing because of his lack of control over the situation that was happening to him. I felt his struggle between what he knew was right and how he was going to survive.

Ulinov, who I disliked the most after book one, was one of the most interesting characters to read about because we get to see his allegiance to his country. It may not be a very popular thing to say, but I think I was actually on his side when the bomb hit.

With the set up of possible resolution in book 2, I am expecting great things from book three.

Someone, please make this series into a movie!!!

Plague War continues the fast paced, chilling storyline of Plague Year and builds upon the characters and conditions of this near future, post apocalyptic world. It's an immensely creative and terrifying book. Jeff Carlson's story weaves through the landscape of human nature as well as the landscape of torn earth. I cared about the characters that people this bleak world. I found myself completely engaged -- urging characters on and hoping for certain outcomes.
What I really love about this book is that I found myself wondering what I'd do and how my neighbors might fare under similar conditions. I wondered about various characters even when I wasn't reading about them. It's a story that transcends the pages and makes you think. And what I'm thinking is that I can't wait for the third book!!