Book Review: Inherited Revenge by James Haddock
James Haddock has quickly become one of my favorite authors in both fantasy and sci-fi. He tends to write using the hero's journey formula, and is not shy about putting setbacks in his characters way. I mean, it's possible for one of his protagonists to have to make multiple restarts after some catastrophic failures, but it's the journey back from the bottom that is so intriguing. Whether it's an orphan teen in a dystopian war world or a young man just coming into his mage abilities, you can tell the story is going somewhere interesting.
The world building in this book is interesting in that it's a war torn dystopia, set sometime in the future, but it's kind of cagey about whether the planet is actually Earth. There are indications that it might not be, but you never really find out. I kind of like that ambiguity, because it allows for some interesting political and societal quirks, since there is no real relationship to the current governments and societies. It is much more a Mad Max type scavenger situation set in a war zone, where death can come at any second outside the protected towns. The technology levels are interesting as well, since you see some basic electronics you'd see in the world today mixed with much higher tech, such as usable EMP weapons, portable nuclear power units and much advanced drone technology. This is all mixed with bandits, scavengers, regular townspeople and corrupt politicians, and it makes for some tense situations throughout, and some great action scenes as well.
The main protagonist is Chuck, who starts the story as a 15 year old orphan, scavenging in a dystopian war zone, trying to keep from being killed by gangs and other scavengers. He seems to have streaks of bad luck, then good, and it just kind of goes in cycles for him. For every success, there seems to be a setback, until the ultimate setback for him, being at deaths doorstep after a bombing raid, and he's given a chance to live. That chance? Bonding with Tom (the only part of the name he can pronounce), an alien symbiote who is escaping from another alien race that has enslaved his, and is now going to partner with Chuck for revenge against the aliens and their human allies. They goes through an interesting character arc as Tom's memories help Chuck understand the greater universe, as well as give him new abilities, such as breathing underwater, night vision, quick healing and immunity to cold. He also gains Tom's engineering knowledge to go along with his own to form a formidable intellect, as well as a merciless urge to survive at all costs. He is utterly ruthless when it comes to betrayal, and any attack on Chuck is responded to in the most violent way possible to avoid repeat attempts. Chuck is surprisingly likable for all that he is very much a product of his environment.
The secondary characters are a mixed bunch, ranging from bandits and gang members to regular town folks, and pretty much everything in between. It's a harsh, war torn world, and pity for the weak is in short supply. That being said, there is the occasional heart of gold to go with all the black hearted scoundrels, These include a mother and son Chuck meets on his travels that become business partners with him, and some town residents when he finally finds a place to settle and call his own, These relationships are always fraught with danger though, since its such a dangerous world, and bad things do happen to some people.
The audiobook narration is performed by one of my favorite narrators, Daniel Wisniewski. He is just fantastic at infusing emotional resonance into his work. You can feel the happiness, sorrow, rage and other emotions of the characters just coming out of the speakers as you hear the story unfold. He gives each character a distinct voice, and you are never in doubt about which character is speaking. He has great narrative pacing as well, so the story never seems to drag. He was the perfect choice for this book.
This book is fairly representative of the author's writing style. A hero's journey with successes and failures throughout, with a character becoming more powerful in various ways as the story progresses, It's a fairly fast paced story, and has some dark moments, but not so much to overwhelm the reader. It's a book I'd recommend without reservations, and the audiobook is especially good.
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