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Fragment #2
Pandemonium
Deep beneath the Ural Mountains, in an underground city carved out by slave labor during the darkest hours of the Cold War, ancient caverns hold exotic and dangerous life-forms that have evolved in isolation for countless millennia. Cut off from the surface world, an entire ecosystem of bizarre subterranean species has survived undetected—until now.
Biologists Nell and Geoffrey Binswanger barely survived their last encounter with terrifying, invasive creatures that threatened to engulf the planet. They think the danger is over until a ruthless Russian tycoon lures them to his underground metropolis, where they find themselves confronted by a vicious menagerie of biological horrors from their past—and by entirely new breeds of voracious predators. Now they’re rising up from the bowels of the Earth to consume the world as we know it.
USA Today praised Warren Fahy's debut novel, Fragment, as “a rollicking tale [that] will enthrall readers of Jurassic Park and The Ruins.” Now Fahy sets off an even more thrilling stampede of action and suspense, bursting forth from the hellish depths of...Pandemonium.
“Warren Fahy’s Pandemonium is pure genius, an otherworldly wonder as creative as the best of Jules Verne. Here is riveting scientific speculation paired with bravado storytelling. I want more!”
—James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Bloodline
“What do you get when you cross Jurassic Park with an ancient underground city? The answer is Pandemonium, an exciting read from thriller author Warren Fahy.”
—Steve Alten, New York Times bestselling author of Meg and The Loch
“Warren Fahy's new novel Pandemonium is probably the best high-tech thriller I've read since The Mote in God’s Eye. My heart was pounding (literally) from page one. Can't wait for his next tale.
—David Hagberg, New York Times bestselling author of Castro’s Daughter
“An expertly crafted, heart-stopping tale of darkness and danger that I will not soon forget.”
—Whitley Strieber, New York Times bestselling author of The Grays
Biologists Nell and Geoffrey Binswanger barely survived their last encounter with terrifying, invasive creatures that threatened to engulf the planet. They think the danger is over until a ruthless Russian tycoon lures them to his underground metropolis, where they find themselves confronted by a vicious menagerie of biological horrors from their past—and by entirely new breeds of voracious predators. Now they’re rising up from the bowels of the Earth to consume the world as we know it.
USA Today praised Warren Fahy's debut novel, Fragment, as “a rollicking tale [that] will enthrall readers of Jurassic Park and The Ruins.” Now Fahy sets off an even more thrilling stampede of action and suspense, bursting forth from the hellish depths of...Pandemonium.
“Warren Fahy’s Pandemonium is pure genius, an otherworldly wonder as creative as the best of Jules Verne. Here is riveting scientific speculation paired with bravado storytelling. I want more!”
—James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Bloodline
“What do you get when you cross Jurassic Park with an ancient underground city? The answer is Pandemonium, an exciting read from thriller author Warren Fahy.”
—Steve Alten, New York Times bestselling author of Meg and The Loch
“Warren Fahy's new novel Pandemonium is probably the best high-tech thriller I've read since The Mote in God’s Eye. My heart was pounding (literally) from page one. Can't wait for his next tale.
—David Hagberg, New York Times bestselling author of Castro’s Daughter
“An expertly crafted, heart-stopping tale of darkness and danger that I will not soon forget.”
—Whitley Strieber, New York Times bestselling author of The Grays
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 16, 2011
113 people are currently reading
1363 people want to read
About the author
Warren Fahy
15 books237 followersNew York Times best selling author of Fragment and the sequel, Pandemonium, and his just-released thriller of ideas in a high tech future, Magenta. Warren Fahy was previously a manager of a bookstore, wrote essays for royalty attending college, designed Internet movie databases for 5 companies, lead writer on Rock Star Games' Red Dead Revolver, helped coin the word "mullet" as a hairstyle for the Beastie Boys, and wrote comedy for robots in Hong Kong. His debut novel, Fragment, was nominated for an International Thriller Award and a BSFA, and is published in 18 languages. (The final book in the Fragment trilogy, SYMBIONT, is under way.)
FANGORIA on FRAGMENT: "I haven't had this much fun reading a science/adventure thriller since Jurassic Park. For the last half I was frozen in place -- I couldn't move, couldn't talk. I even teared up a couple of times in pure joy. It took hours for the adrenaline to wear off."
JAMES ROLLINS on PANDEMONIUM: "PANDEMONIUM is pure genius, an otherworldly wonder as creative as the best of Jules Verne. Here is riveting scientific speculation paired with bravado storytelling."
Author's website (www.warrenfahy.com)
FANGORIA on FRAGMENT: "I haven't had this much fun reading a science/adventure thriller since Jurassic Park. For the last half I was frozen in place -- I couldn't move, couldn't talk. I even teared up a couple of times in pure joy. It took hours for the adrenaline to wear off."
JAMES ROLLINS on PANDEMONIUM: "PANDEMONIUM is pure genius, an otherworldly wonder as creative as the best of Jules Verne. Here is riveting scientific speculation paired with bravado storytelling."
Author's website (www.warrenfahy.com)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
January 26, 2013
Warren Fahy's new novel, PANDEMONIUM, isn’t really a “new novel” at all – Fahy released a self-published Kindle version in February of 2011, after he and his publisher came to a parting of the ways. I was one of the ones who got a chance to read the novel back in 2011, before Fahy pulled it from circulation in favor of a 2013 hard cover release through Tor books. I enjoyed FRAGMENT, so I was expecting to like PANDEMONIUM (after all, it’s the sequel!). Fahy certainly has a real knack for creating new life forms and making them come alive in his fiction. The best thing FRAGMENT had going for it was the original and fascinating ecosystem of Hender's Island. PANDEMONIUM, as a sequel to FRAGMENT, offers up a second dose of Hender's Island creatures along with a wealth of new cave-dwelling species sure to delight readers. So what’s not to like?
Well, unfortunately, PANDEMONIUM isn't a very good book. The story is wildly derivative – sections of it smack of JURASSIC PARK and ANDROMEDA STRAIN, with bits of RELIC, MIMIC, ALIENS, and other such horror tales thrown in for good measure. The central couple, newlyweds Nell and Geoffrey Binswanger, are excruciatingly cute (he calls her "wifey" and she calls him "husby") – there's actually no character development here at all, which is a shame. In FRAGMENT, Geoffrey at least had a voice as a scientist and philosopher (his debates with other characters were fascinating). Here, Geoffrey's dialogue is relegated mostly to a series of phrases like "Oh wow!," "Oh no!," and "Where are you, Darling?" The central bad-guy, super-rich Maxim Dragolovich, is an embarrassingly bad caricature of a Russian villain (think Boris Badinoff and Natasha – "Bring me moose and squirrel!"). He's got a nefarious plan to destroy the world and he needs Nell and Geoffrey (and a bunch of other scientists) to help him – it's never really clear why. He's also got an excruciatingly sweet golden-haired daughter named Sasha who's pretty much center stage for most of the story. I won't say much about Hender and Kuzu, the two hendros who become central to the new novel. Hender is unbelievably "nice" and naïve; Kuzu seems to be Fahy's attempt to show us that there are good hendros and bad hendros (just as there are good humans and bad humans). That's about as deep as this story gets.
The plot itself is interesting enough – the creatures alone make it worth reading. But there's not much more to it than that. There are a lot of chase scenes and scenes of people trying to find tunnels or hatches or switches. There's a big ALIENS-style military offensive in the final third of the story – lots of big guns and people screaming, but it never seems real; these soldiers don't talk like soldiers, they talk like comic book characters (i.e. "This is hairy, man!" "Awesome!," and "Hey, dude!"). It became tedious near the end.
I do think Fahy attempted to elevate his story a bit above the cartoon-level action that defines it. He provided more information about the hendros (actually called "sels"), and we get to read a little of Hender's journal in which he's chronicling the history of his people. Unfortunately, those sections of the novel are very few and far between, and I was left wanting much more. Additionally, Hender's reference to the ancient world of his people as "Henderica" seemed ridiculous – as clearly pointed out in FRAGMENT, Hender's Island was only so-named because of the hapless sailor who stumbled across it. The ancient world of the “sels” would never have been called “Henderica.”
I was hoping that, since two years have elapsed since the disappointing Kindle release of this novel, Fahy would have made substantive changes, making this a novel truly worth reading. Sadly, that’s not the case. I found very few differences between the “new” version of PANDEMONIUM and the original Kindle release – mainly minor editorial corrections (i.e. the addition of a few commas, or a few word changes). If you are one of the few who read the Kindle release, there’s no reason to buy this. Fans of FRAGMENT who haven’t seen the Kindle version will probably enjoy the creatures in this novel – they are absolutely the best part of PANDEMONIUM. Check out Fahy’s website for beautiful renditions of all of them – it’s worth a look even if you end up disappointed with the novel. Honestly, this should have been a great book; that it’s not is a real shame.
Well, unfortunately, PANDEMONIUM isn't a very good book. The story is wildly derivative – sections of it smack of JURASSIC PARK and ANDROMEDA STRAIN, with bits of RELIC, MIMIC, ALIENS, and other such horror tales thrown in for good measure. The central couple, newlyweds Nell and Geoffrey Binswanger, are excruciatingly cute (he calls her "wifey" and she calls him "husby") – there's actually no character development here at all, which is a shame. In FRAGMENT, Geoffrey at least had a voice as a scientist and philosopher (his debates with other characters were fascinating). Here, Geoffrey's dialogue is relegated mostly to a series of phrases like "Oh wow!," "Oh no!," and "Where are you, Darling?" The central bad-guy, super-rich Maxim Dragolovich, is an embarrassingly bad caricature of a Russian villain (think Boris Badinoff and Natasha – "Bring me moose and squirrel!"). He's got a nefarious plan to destroy the world and he needs Nell and Geoffrey (and a bunch of other scientists) to help him – it's never really clear why. He's also got an excruciatingly sweet golden-haired daughter named Sasha who's pretty much center stage for most of the story. I won't say much about Hender and Kuzu, the two hendros who become central to the new novel. Hender is unbelievably "nice" and naïve; Kuzu seems to be Fahy's attempt to show us that there are good hendros and bad hendros (just as there are good humans and bad humans). That's about as deep as this story gets.
The plot itself is interesting enough – the creatures alone make it worth reading. But there's not much more to it than that. There are a lot of chase scenes and scenes of people trying to find tunnels or hatches or switches. There's a big ALIENS-style military offensive in the final third of the story – lots of big guns and people screaming, but it never seems real; these soldiers don't talk like soldiers, they talk like comic book characters (i.e. "This is hairy, man!" "Awesome!," and "Hey, dude!"). It became tedious near the end.
I do think Fahy attempted to elevate his story a bit above the cartoon-level action that defines it. He provided more information about the hendros (actually called "sels"), and we get to read a little of Hender's journal in which he's chronicling the history of his people. Unfortunately, those sections of the novel are very few and far between, and I was left wanting much more. Additionally, Hender's reference to the ancient world of his people as "Henderica" seemed ridiculous – as clearly pointed out in FRAGMENT, Hender's Island was only so-named because of the hapless sailor who stumbled across it. The ancient world of the “sels” would never have been called “Henderica.”
I was hoping that, since two years have elapsed since the disappointing Kindle release of this novel, Fahy would have made substantive changes, making this a novel truly worth reading. Sadly, that’s not the case. I found very few differences between the “new” version of PANDEMONIUM and the original Kindle release – mainly minor editorial corrections (i.e. the addition of a few commas, or a few word changes). If you are one of the few who read the Kindle release, there’s no reason to buy this. Fans of FRAGMENT who haven’t seen the Kindle version will probably enjoy the creatures in this novel – they are absolutely the best part of PANDEMONIUM. Check out Fahy’s website for beautiful renditions of all of them – it’s worth a look even if you end up disappointed with the novel. Honestly, this should have been a great book; that it’s not is a real shame.
February 28, 2024
Had to grab this after reading and LOVING Fragment. It didn't reach the same heights, but was a pretty fantastic read nonetheless.
Fahy introduces more horrifying creatures and reintroduces some past nasties, all researched amazingly. The illustrations at the end were the perfect addition, and I'm so glad he included an illustration of the hendros. I honestly couldn't stop picturing an orangutan for some reason 😅
Some shocking losses and fantastic twists again. The twists were less predictable this time round!
If you enjoyed Fragment, you'll love this one too. If you haven't read either, I recommend reading Fragment first to get a solid background. Highly recommend!
Fahy introduces more horrifying creatures and reintroduces some past nasties, all researched amazingly. The illustrations at the end were the perfect addition, and I'm so glad he included an illustration of the hendros. I honestly couldn't stop picturing an orangutan for some reason 😅
Some shocking losses and fantastic twists again. The twists were less predictable this time round!
If you enjoyed Fragment, you'll love this one too. If you haven't read either, I recommend reading Fragment first to get a solid background. Highly recommend!
March 13, 2013
Nell and Geoffrey Binswanger barely survived Hender’s Island. However what they found on the island has made them celebrities. All Nell and Geoffrey want is to get some rest and relaxation. They are heading to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Before they can make it, they get an offer they can not refuse.
Russian billionaire, Maxim Dragolovich offers them a chance to research some new subterranean species. Nell and Geoffrey agree. Nell and Geoffrey are about to learn what hell is like.
Pandemonium is full of creepy, crawly creatures. Some that just might give you nightmares. I enjoyed looking at the graphics in the back of the book featuring some of the creatures and Pandemonium. This book kind of had the feel of X-Files meets Jurassic Park. Can you imagine what that would really look like? No, thank you. I would not want to purchase a ticket on that ride. There would be more to worry about then just King Kong.
My only criticism with this book and it is really mine but there are references to the events that took place in the first book, Fragment. I say it is my fault about this because I have wanted to read Fragment but have not yet. So after reading this book it just renewed my interest to read the prior novel. Purchasing a copy. I had a good idea or what happened in the first book but still it was a little off putting at first to read this book and keep having references and characters from the prior novel appearing in this book. I would say that this book is better read in chronological order and not as a stand alone novel.
Russian billionaire, Maxim Dragolovich offers them a chance to research some new subterranean species. Nell and Geoffrey agree. Nell and Geoffrey are about to learn what hell is like.
Pandemonium is full of creepy, crawly creatures. Some that just might give you nightmares. I enjoyed looking at the graphics in the back of the book featuring some of the creatures and Pandemonium. This book kind of had the feel of X-Files meets Jurassic Park. Can you imagine what that would really look like? No, thank you. I would not want to purchase a ticket on that ride. There would be more to worry about then just King Kong.
My only criticism with this book and it is really mine but there are references to the events that took place in the first book, Fragment. I say it is my fault about this because I have wanted to read Fragment but have not yet. So after reading this book it just renewed my interest to read the prior novel. Purchasing a copy. I had a good idea or what happened in the first book but still it was a little off putting at first to read this book and keep having references and characters from the prior novel appearing in this book. I would say that this book is better read in chronological order and not as a stand alone novel.
March 25, 2013
*********SPOILER-FREE REVIEW************
The first book in the series, Fragment, presented a very unique and original storyline that dealt with an offshoot or "fragment" of evolution by explaining, through real science and speculation, what could happen if a land mass was isolated and allowed to evolve undisturbed for 500 million years. In Pandemonium, Warren Fahy brings us another untouched world deep in the Ural Mountains.
Pandemonium wastes no time jumping right back into the story from where the first book ended. A megalomaniac Russian oligarch has founded an underground city, but something is preventing the power from being turned on. Who does he enlist to help solve the problem but our favorite heroes from Fragment. Once the team is back together in the underground city, all hell, or shall we say "pandemonium", breaks loose.
While Fragment was heavy on the scientific explanations, while still packing a lot of action and adventure, the opposite can be said for Pandemonium. The science aspect is still there but the action has been ratcheted up several notches. The world building in Pandemonium is once again right up there with the complexity of Hender's Island. Warren Fahy builds a completely new ecosystem from the ground up and explains it in a way that makes sense, from the base of the food chain all the way up to the new and deadly apex predator.
My criticism for the novel is short. There were a couple minor errors dealing with timescale in the plot and an ambiguity about a certain characters "armor". These points, however, are so minor as to take nothing away from the broad scope of the novel and, I feel, should have been caught by the editor.
Pandemonium blends speculative science with action and adventure that will have you frantically turning pages until its over. Pandemonium could be read as a standalone novel, though I highly recommend you read Fragment first. While the novel comes to a satisfying conclusion, I can only hope that Warren Fahy has many other worlds to create and explore with the cast of characters he has developed. 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5.
The first book in the series, Fragment, presented a very unique and original storyline that dealt with an offshoot or "fragment" of evolution by explaining, through real science and speculation, what could happen if a land mass was isolated and allowed to evolve undisturbed for 500 million years. In Pandemonium, Warren Fahy brings us another untouched world deep in the Ural Mountains.
Pandemonium wastes no time jumping right back into the story from where the first book ended. A megalomaniac Russian oligarch has founded an underground city, but something is preventing the power from being turned on. Who does he enlist to help solve the problem but our favorite heroes from Fragment. Once the team is back together in the underground city, all hell, or shall we say "pandemonium", breaks loose.
While Fragment was heavy on the scientific explanations, while still packing a lot of action and adventure, the opposite can be said for Pandemonium. The science aspect is still there but the action has been ratcheted up several notches. The world building in Pandemonium is once again right up there with the complexity of Hender's Island. Warren Fahy builds a completely new ecosystem from the ground up and explains it in a way that makes sense, from the base of the food chain all the way up to the new and deadly apex predator.
My criticism for the novel is short. There were a couple minor errors dealing with timescale in the plot and an ambiguity about a certain characters "armor". These points, however, are so minor as to take nothing away from the broad scope of the novel and, I feel, should have been caught by the editor.
Pandemonium blends speculative science with action and adventure that will have you frantically turning pages until its over. Pandemonium could be read as a standalone novel, though I highly recommend you read Fragment first. While the novel comes to a satisfying conclusion, I can only hope that Warren Fahy has many other worlds to create and explore with the cast of characters he has developed. 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5.
February 25, 2018
Warren Fahy's Fragment duology are those weird kind of books where the perfectionist in me feel they aren't very good - characters tend to be flat, the dialogue clunky and juvenile with lots of exclamation marks and people constantly going wow! - but when it all comes down to it I just don't give a shit about the imperfections (which is very rare for me).
I love the world Fahy has created and the creatures that inhabit it, and I really love the Hendros - following them trying to deal with the weirdness of human culture was a delight. Even if we rarely got to read more than surface deep into the characters, I loved the deeper glimpses we got: Nell suffering from flashbacks after Hender's Island, Andy feeling the Hendros were his only true family, Hender being terrified at the plain vastness of humanity. There was even a moment at the end that got me kind of teary eyed.
Also, I really appreciate Fahy's dedication to bringing dogs into his monster horrors and resolutely refusing to kill or even harm them.
I love the world Fahy has created and the creatures that inhabit it, and I really love the Hendros - following them trying to deal with the weirdness of human culture was a delight. Even if we rarely got to read more than surface deep into the characters, I loved the deeper glimpses we got: Nell suffering from flashbacks after Hender's Island, Andy feeling the Hendros were his only true family, Hender being terrified at the plain vastness of humanity. There was even a moment at the end that got me kind of teary eyed.
Also, I really appreciate Fahy's dedication to bringing dogs into his monster horrors and resolutely refusing to kill or even harm them.
August 1, 2017
Another Crazy, Amazing Page-turner By Mr. Fahy
I first learned of Warren Fahy's previous novel, "Fragment", on Reddit and it sounded like my kind of story, so I bought it without hesitation. I read it in two days, learned there was a sequel, "Pandemonium", and read that in two days as well.
What's this mean? It means if you liked "Jurassic Park", you'll LOVE this book (and "Fragment").
I won't give a description of the plot or story here because plenty of others have already done so but I'll say that if you want some edge-of-your-seat reading, with plenty of science thrown in, then just go buy BOTH "Fragment" and "Pandemonium"!
The stories are unique. The characters are enjoyable. The science is intriguing. You root for these people. You root for some of these non-people!
Are there problems with the writing? Yep. Fahy has "continuity issues" and sometimes it's REALLY hard to figure out what is going on, but those things didn't keep me from loving the world he created and from loving the characters.
Totally enjoyed this book as well as its precursor.
A note for those who buy the Kindle versions. There are important illustrations that are located after the ends of each novel. Page to them first to see what you will be reading about. Also, to the editors: Make those illustrations show up better in the Kindle editions!!!
I first learned of Warren Fahy's previous novel, "Fragment", on Reddit and it sounded like my kind of story, so I bought it without hesitation. I read it in two days, learned there was a sequel, "Pandemonium", and read that in two days as well.
What's this mean? It means if you liked "Jurassic Park", you'll LOVE this book (and "Fragment").
I won't give a description of the plot or story here because plenty of others have already done so but I'll say that if you want some edge-of-your-seat reading, with plenty of science thrown in, then just go buy BOTH "Fragment" and "Pandemonium"!
The stories are unique. The characters are enjoyable. The science is intriguing. You root for these people. You root for some of these non-people!
Are there problems with the writing? Yep. Fahy has "continuity issues" and sometimes it's REALLY hard to figure out what is going on, but those things didn't keep me from loving the world he created and from loving the characters.
Totally enjoyed this book as well as its precursor.
A note for those who buy the Kindle versions. There are important illustrations that are located after the ends of each novel. Page to them first to see what you will be reading about. Also, to the editors: Make those illustrations show up better in the Kindle editions!!!
September 20, 2014
Pandemonium, the sequel to Fragment, by Warren Fahy, is a worthy sequel that has it's own story and is not just a re-hash of the first novel. Picking up after Fragment, it has almost all the characters from Fragment, and convincingly includes them in Pandemonium's story without being ridiculous. It has a different setting and feeling than Fragment, but the same style of harrowing thrills and chills as it's predecessor. If anything there's more. So, it's pretty cool. The only thing I could gripe about is finding all the pictures after finishing the book(they're at the end and I read it on my kindle app). Very awesome pictures and artwork that I wish I had known about while reading. But, that doesn't take away from it for me, and I was pretty close on the images in my head anyway.
If you read Fragment, read this now, if you haven't, you probably won't be very lost, there's enough catch-me-up to bring one up to speed, but I strongly recommend Fragment first, it's very good. So is this.
If you read Fragment, read this now, if you haven't, you probably won't be very lost, there's enough catch-me-up to bring one up to speed, but I strongly recommend Fragment first, it's very good. So is this.
August 23, 2013
Ugh. I can't do it. I just can't finish this. I don't remember the first one being that bad, but the writing on this was horrible. I knew when I picked this up it wouldn't the next "Great American Novel" with engaging characters and prose that could make you weep. The author sure loved his exclamation points (i.e., "Oh! OK! Let's go this way so these creatures won't eat us!")(not an actual quote). The characters were uninspiring as well (I could not STAND Maxim and Sasha). I finally lost it about two-thirds of the way into the book, when a big group of cookie-cutter military guys were going to put a stop to the pandemonium going on in Pandemonium. When I couldn't differentiate one character from the next, I knew it was time to give up on this one. A shame, really, as this book could have been decent.
November 20, 2018
Sci-Fi at its best! I would have been biting my nails if I would have put the book down for a minute.
April 22, 2020
Scathingly reviewed on my blog, Meandering Michelle
November 4, 2019
On the plus side, this book had lots of action and interesting descriptions of various creatures. There wasn't much character development, but those who enjoy unusual creatures and exotic locales will enjoy it.
June 6, 2013
It's been a few months since the events depicted in Fragment and the survivors who escaped from Henders Island as well as the human race in general are struggling to adjust. It hasn’t been easy for anyone. The “Hendros” are quarantined in Area 51 for their protection while the world argues as to their status. What it now means to be human is just one of the many issues facing mankind on the wake of the discovery of this separated evolutionary tangent. Henders Island no longer exists, but for Biologist Hell Binswanger the nightmares of what happened there have not gone away as she is troubled by post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her new husband and fellow Biologist Geoffrey Binswanger is doing his best to help her adjust back to the real world and put the trauma behind her. Their plans for a honeymoon away from the constant Secret Service protection and the prying eyes of the media go astray when they meet a wealthy Russian by the name of Maxim Dragolovich. A legendary Russian Oligarch, he wants their help and will pay 2 million dollars-- each -- for their expertise for several weeks work. He wants them to take a look at some possibly previously undiscovered species somewhere in Kaziristan. When the money proves not to be enough of an enticement, he shows them a sample jar containing a living specimen unlike anything they have ever seen before.
Nell and Geoffrey agree and before long they are far from home and outside contact as they are deep underground in a vast subterranean city in the former Soviet Republic. They are certainly not alone as the promised creatures are there along with fellow scientists that were involved with Henders Island. So too are the creatures from Henders Island as some managed to escape and have been deliberately brought alive to this underground city first constructed during Stalin's time. As the aging city systems begin to collapse and outside forces move against them, the battle begins again to save the planet from a future where mankind is overrun and eliminated as the weakest link in the food chain.
While the first book was weakened by stereotypes and two laughable plot twists at the end such is not the case here. A fitting sequel that is stronger than the original, Fragment is a good book could be read as a stand-alone though it would be better to have read the first book. Certain relationships between various characters continue to evolve here as do some of the dynamics first seen in the previous book. Things are set into motion there that are ultimately resolved here in a book that gets wilder and wilder as it chews and kills its way to the end.
This is primarily a science fiction thriller and as such character development remains very limited. Most of the characters returning from the last book are not developed further- with a couple notable exceptions that can't be mentioned without ruining the read. The primary character development in this novel is with Maxim and his precocious daughter, Sasha, who becomes a major character by the end of this read. Building on Fragment author Warren Fahy takes readers deep underground into a biological hell in Pandemonium. The result is an intense thriller that works on every level and proves the accuracy of the blurb on the front of the book from the Wall Street Journal- “’Think Jurassic Park but scarier.’”
Indeed.
Pandemonium
Warren Fahy
http://www.warrenfahy.com
Tor (Tom Doherty Associates)
http://www.tor-forge.com
2013
ISBN# 978-0-7653-3329-2
$24.99
320 Pages
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013
Mind Slices and Carpathian Shadows, Volume II
Book Reviews and More http://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/
Her new husband and fellow Biologist Geoffrey Binswanger is doing his best to help her adjust back to the real world and put the trauma behind her. Their plans for a honeymoon away from the constant Secret Service protection and the prying eyes of the media go astray when they meet a wealthy Russian by the name of Maxim Dragolovich. A legendary Russian Oligarch, he wants their help and will pay 2 million dollars-- each -- for their expertise for several weeks work. He wants them to take a look at some possibly previously undiscovered species somewhere in Kaziristan. When the money proves not to be enough of an enticement, he shows them a sample jar containing a living specimen unlike anything they have ever seen before.
Nell and Geoffrey agree and before long they are far from home and outside contact as they are deep underground in a vast subterranean city in the former Soviet Republic. They are certainly not alone as the promised creatures are there along with fellow scientists that were involved with Henders Island. So too are the creatures from Henders Island as some managed to escape and have been deliberately brought alive to this underground city first constructed during Stalin's time. As the aging city systems begin to collapse and outside forces move against them, the battle begins again to save the planet from a future where mankind is overrun and eliminated as the weakest link in the food chain.
While the first book was weakened by stereotypes and two laughable plot twists at the end such is not the case here. A fitting sequel that is stronger than the original, Fragment is a good book could be read as a stand-alone though it would be better to have read the first book. Certain relationships between various characters continue to evolve here as do some of the dynamics first seen in the previous book. Things are set into motion there that are ultimately resolved here in a book that gets wilder and wilder as it chews and kills its way to the end.
This is primarily a science fiction thriller and as such character development remains very limited. Most of the characters returning from the last book are not developed further- with a couple notable exceptions that can't be mentioned without ruining the read. The primary character development in this novel is with Maxim and his precocious daughter, Sasha, who becomes a major character by the end of this read. Building on Fragment author Warren Fahy takes readers deep underground into a biological hell in Pandemonium. The result is an intense thriller that works on every level and proves the accuracy of the blurb on the front of the book from the Wall Street Journal- “’Think Jurassic Park but scarier.’”
Indeed.
Pandemonium
Warren Fahy
http://www.warrenfahy.com
Tor (Tom Doherty Associates)
http://www.tor-forge.com
2013
ISBN# 978-0-7653-3329-2
$24.99
320 Pages
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013
Mind Slices and Carpathian Shadows, Volume II
Book Reviews and More http://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/
July 8, 2017
A completely unworthy follow-up to Fragment. Transparent dialogue, completely unrealistic setting, and recycled, cliched plot.
April 21, 2014
I really enjoyed Fahy's earlier work, Fragment, a adrenaline-soaked romp full of science, blood, and gore, so I was looking forward to this one. And to some extent, it met expectations. Thrill ride? Check! Imaginative science fiction? Check! Cardboard characters? Check! Blood and gore? Check!
But wait... most of the thrills in this novel are simply recycled from Fragment... SPOILER ALERT... with a dash of James Bond supervillain thrown in for good measure.
Fahy creates a whole new biological wonderland for this novel (yay!)... but brings back characters from Fragment (okay, fine) but he brings back the exact same horrors that were in his previous book (boo!). Why bring back survivors from the previous novel if you're just going to kill them off in this one? (Not that I really was attached to them, I honestly can't tell them apart from each other).
On the plus side, the sentient furry crustaceans from the first book turn out to be the most well-rounded characters in this novel (it's enjoyable to see them try to figure out the alien culture of the naked apes dominating this planet).
But wait... most of the thrills in this novel are simply recycled from Fragment... SPOILER ALERT... with a dash of James Bond supervillain thrown in for good measure.
Fahy creates a whole new biological wonderland for this novel (yay!)... but brings back characters from Fragment (okay, fine) but he brings back the exact same horrors that were in his previous book (boo!). Why bring back survivors from the previous novel if you're just going to kill them off in this one? (Not that I really was attached to them, I honestly can't tell them apart from each other).
On the plus side, the sentient furry crustaceans from the first book turn out to be the most well-rounded characters in this novel (it's enjoyable to see them try to figure out the alien culture of the naked apes dominating this planet).
February 13, 2014
Another win for the Big Dumb Fun category! Weirdly, this story seemed so very familiar, I thought it might be a forgotten airport bookstore discovery from long ago, but it was just published in 2013. It's possible that I might have read his first book, Fragment, and that says something about the quality of these books: fun in the moment, not all that memorable over time. (It's definitely not necessary to have read Fragment first. There was enough retelling of the events leading up to Pandemonium for this book to be a complete experience on its own.)
What I enjoyed most about it was seeing the human race in both macro and micro focus through the eyes of non-human sentient beings, which is a fun mechanism for taking a more objective view of ourselves. Particularly interesting was a character observing (without judgement) how we create films for the purpose of sharing factual information, yet these films are not true records of what really happened: we chop up the footage and interviews, restructuring them in order to tell an engaging story, and then come to believe that these films represent literal truth. Sadly, the book never explored its ideas with any great depth, but it would make a fantastic movie for the SyFy channel!
What I enjoyed most about it was seeing the human race in both macro and micro focus through the eyes of non-human sentient beings, which is a fun mechanism for taking a more objective view of ourselves. Particularly interesting was a character observing (without judgement) how we create films for the purpose of sharing factual information, yet these films are not true records of what really happened: we chop up the footage and interviews, restructuring them in order to tell an engaging story, and then come to believe that these films represent literal truth. Sadly, the book never explored its ideas with any great depth, but it would make a fantastic movie for the SyFy channel!
December 28, 2018
This book is garbage. It started out ok, promising. Then two completely different, poorly-written, unrelated stories were being told at the same time (one about 26,000 year old! animals that can talk and play chess, and one about some Russian billionaire that lives underground in a mine, and of course he's the stereotypical bad guy because he's Russian), and then suddenly none of that mattered anymore, 12! new characters were introduced on the same page, and they started killing everything in sight for the next 70 pages. The end.
It's like three different people (all under the age of 15) were told to write a sci-fi story, and then they just threw them all together and said "Here's our book; it's called 'Pandemonium'."
Young-adult at best. Mostly juvenile. Brain dead for the last 100 pages. Don't bother reading this dumpster-fire. Just burn the book.
Also, the picture on the cover has nothing to do with the story.
It's like three different people (all under the age of 15) were told to write a sci-fi story, and then they just threw them all together and said "Here's our book; it's called 'Pandemonium'."
Young-adult at best. Mostly juvenile. Brain dead for the last 100 pages. Don't bother reading this dumpster-fire. Just burn the book.
Also, the picture on the cover has nothing to do with the story.
July 18, 2014
I picked Pandemonium up on a whim from the grocery store (you'd think I would've learned better by now), because the cover was lovely and the little snippet on the back sounded like a fun way to waste a few days. I was expecting absolutely nothing from this book, and was blown away by how much fun it was. I suppose I should hesitate to use the word 'fun' as (spoiler) people are getting torn apart by giant bugs while sealed in a cold-war era underground town, but that's not the point.
The writing is solid (with a few things I kind of got tired of - the time stamps a minute or two apart separating a paragraph to have a character make inane comments), the plot is a blast, and the characters are incredibly interesting. This is a sequel but is absolutely a great stand alone book - though I'm definitely going to pick up the first one.
The writing is solid (with a few things I kind of got tired of - the time stamps a minute or two apart separating a paragraph to have a character make inane comments), the plot is a blast, and the characters are incredibly interesting. This is a sequel but is absolutely a great stand alone book - though I'm definitely going to pick up the first one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2016
Well-written with a lot of exciting subplots, encounters with characters who may or may not be as trustworthy as they seem, dangerous creatures-most animal but some human, and potential ecological apocalypse/terrorism. Amidst all this excitement, Geoffrey and Nell, the same ethical and curious characters from Fragment, explore the depths of Pandemonium. As usual, the sels provide the beneficial long-term perspective; Hender is as interesting and philosophical as ever, what humans aspire to be and Kuzu is the most like us and perhaps that's why I always find Kuzu the most disturbing. Hopefully, there will be more stories in the future as I want to see more on the interactions of humans and hendros in the real world when the hendros are free.
March 26, 2013
The long awaited sequel to 2009's FRAGMENT was worth the wait. I really enjoyed getting back into these characters and seeing the odd creatures that Warren Fahy has in these books. The new creatures were great (and i liked the illustrations in the back of the book) and I enjoyed how he had the creatures from Hender's Island show up too. Even with the big gap between books they pick up right after and it's not hard to pick up where you left off from FRAGMENT.
Overall a fun book and I really enjoyed reading it.
Overall a fun book and I really enjoyed reading it.
April 14, 2023
Eh, one of the worse books I've read in a while. Interesting concept, and it started well, but as the story progressed i felt the quality of the writing deteriorated. Characters felt hollow, transient, and just plain stupid at times. Scene description got a bit muddled, and it was hard to build a mental map of where the story was taking place. Action scenes were laughably disjointed. Lots of very fun ideas packed into this book, but the writing was bad enough that i will steer clear of this author's other works.
January 23, 2018
Fragment was one the best and dumbest Michael Crichton style thrillers I've read. The genre taken to an absurdly enjoyable extreme. The sequel has zero editing, frequently departs from its established format in extremely jarring ways, and is generally not good. Lots of good monster devouring though. Also very high odds the author read the Black Book of Communism shortly before writing this, hoo-boy.
April 5, 2013
It may be time for Fahy to write a fresh new story. I think Fragment has run it's course. But pandemonium was entertaining, those who enjoyed fragment won't be disappointed.
August 31, 2013
A fun read, I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't LOVE Fragment. The visual descriptions were fantastic though.
October 1, 2020
I've been prefacing reviews as of late with qualifiers that the star rating I'm giving is a bit more generous than the book truthfully deserves. After revisiting Fahy's Fragment duology for the first time in almost a decade, I can say I've definitely grown away from his wannabe Jurassic Park (yet much more compelling than Crichton ever was to me), but holy moly do the campy parts of Pandemonium make this more enjoyable than most of the thrillers I've recently read.
To put it into perspective, Fahy has more detail and imagery in a couple pages than all Ruth Ware's diarrhea soaked excuse of a book that is In a Dark, dark Wood. Granted, we're talking two different genres, essentially, but it goes to show that if I can SEE the world the author is creating, then I can develop some sort of attachment to the novel, even if it takes some trudging.
Pandemonium isn't "good" in a traditional respect--in fact, unless you really REALLY enjoy this genre (can we call it Crichton-core, please?), or are a dad who enjoys science-fiction that on the surface seems like speculative hard sci-fi (but totally isn't), you'll find something to like in this. Pandemonium, and Fragment to an equal degree, feel like they were meant to be movies with a potential for body horror and some silliness. These aren't good books, but they're fun books. If you go in with some suspension for overwrought cliches, you'll find some genuinely likeable characters, notwithstanding the super hammy Russian villain or Hender and his sel pals, who, by the way, are way cooler than a dumb ass tyrannosaurus Rex, because they TALK and it takes the piss out of everything. Pandemonium could have been written in a way that takes everything way too seriously, but you can tell Fahy loves what he's made here. I'm somewhat glad the series never garnered longevity beyond these two books, because it seems difficult to keep the Fragment world relevant. I'm happy with where they remain, and I'm glad I was able to find Pandemonium at my library (it looks old as heck, though).
Even though no one probably cares about or remembers these books--they surely won't be regarded as classics in any sense of the word--for a moment I relived in a sequel one of my favorite pulpy sci-fi thrillers that I couldn't stop raving about to my dad for a month in high school. But since my partner and cats don't care, as they rightly should, I'll keep the joy to myself, however fleeting that joy may be.
To put it into perspective, Fahy has more detail and imagery in a couple pages than all Ruth Ware's diarrhea soaked excuse of a book that is In a Dark, dark Wood. Granted, we're talking two different genres, essentially, but it goes to show that if I can SEE the world the author is creating, then I can develop some sort of attachment to the novel, even if it takes some trudging.
Pandemonium isn't "good" in a traditional respect--in fact, unless you really REALLY enjoy this genre (can we call it Crichton-core, please?), or are a dad who enjoys science-fiction that on the surface seems like speculative hard sci-fi (but totally isn't), you'll find something to like in this. Pandemonium, and Fragment to an equal degree, feel like they were meant to be movies with a potential for body horror and some silliness. These aren't good books, but they're fun books. If you go in with some suspension for overwrought cliches, you'll find some genuinely likeable characters, notwithstanding the super hammy Russian villain or Hender and his sel pals, who, by the way, are way cooler than a dumb ass tyrannosaurus Rex, because they TALK and it takes the piss out of everything. Pandemonium could have been written in a way that takes everything way too seriously, but you can tell Fahy loves what he's made here. I'm somewhat glad the series never garnered longevity beyond these two books, because it seems difficult to keep the Fragment world relevant. I'm happy with where they remain, and I'm glad I was able to find Pandemonium at my library (it looks old as heck, though).
Even though no one probably cares about or remembers these books--they surely won't be regarded as classics in any sense of the word--for a moment I relived in a sequel one of my favorite pulpy sci-fi thrillers that I couldn't stop raving about to my dad for a month in high school. But since my partner and cats don't care, as they rightly should, I'll keep the joy to myself, however fleeting that joy may be.
March 13, 2019
This was a struggle to get through. TWO "lost" civilizations of bizarre creatures, both with the capacity to end human life. Most of the book features smart humans running from, killing, or describing literal monsters: spigers, ghost octopi, fire bombers, and disc ants. There's a sort of nonchalance throughout; while the scientists are oohing and ahing over the creatures' multiple limbs, bright colors, and general weirdness, the monsters are just a few feet away killing each other and every human in sight. "Oh, wasn't that interesting, its vertical jaws just bit our friend in half." I suppose if I were a zoologist, I would be impressed with the author's research and creativity. After all, there's a compendium of species, complete with scientific names, at the end of the book. The plot and even the characters, to some extent, get lost in the detailed descriptions of the killer creatures. In the end the island team and the subterranean team kill each other off in the underground city of Pobedograd, purchased for a song by the book's mad scientist villain. The heroes escape, with casualties, but not before the protagonist escapes from the belly of a horse-sized spiger, unscathed by the grenade she engages. Maybe this would be a good read if it were toned down a bit and a somewhat plausible storyline accompanied the Monster Zoo Parade.
March 12, 2017
Fragment, the predecessor to Pandemonium, is among my favorite books, because it was so unexpectedly original and offered a very dense habitat that would give Tolkien's Middle Earth and John Carpenter's Pandora a solid run for the money. I picked up Pandemonium expecting much the same, and in many ways, I was rewarded. The novel offers an even deeper dive into the strange habitats and life forms that made Fragment so great, and even offered some nice new environments and life forms that are cringeworthy in their methods of feeding and survival. Minor spoilers follow, so beware.
What I didn't love about this installment was that the characters felt much more flat than in Fragment, the dialogue and situations outside of pure survival seemed a bit disjointed and forced, and the humor did not really work. I felt I had to work much harder to finish this book, and parts of it were nearly tedious.
I will qualify this response by mentioning my own mindset was thrown off by my having to read manuscripts for my work, and it took me way too long to finish the book due to interruptions, so I don't blame Warren for any shortcomings. Perhaps this needs a reread at some point, when I can apply myself better.
What I didn't love about this installment was that the characters felt much more flat than in Fragment, the dialogue and situations outside of pure survival seemed a bit disjointed and forced, and the humor did not really work. I felt I had to work much harder to finish this book, and parts of it were nearly tedious.
I will qualify this response by mentioning my own mindset was thrown off by my having to read manuscripts for my work, and it took me way too long to finish the book due to interruptions, so I don't blame Warren for any shortcomings. Perhaps this needs a reread at some point, when I can apply myself better.
August 19, 2021
Oh well this is a bit of a Die Hard 2 moment in that "how can the same shit happen to the same person twice"
Well here we've got the old chestnut of a bond super villain wanting to weaponise the creatures from the first novel whilst simultaneously having access to other creatures from an underground cave system that he wants to populate with his chosen ones.
Blah blah blah, yep this is basically no where near as good as the first book and really does become silly.
Ok there's still lots of gruesome death and destruction but it's just not enough to make this really enjoyable. The main protagonists are newly married and supposedly on honeymoon but are now in need of rescuing from said caves, somewhere in Russia.
The team sent in has a few ulterior motives as well as a rescue there are traitorous shenanigans afoot and they are on a time limit as said caves are to be sealed for eternity as it'll be the end of the world if any creatures were to escape yadda ya.
The ending is a relief and pretty saccharine, still a pacey rollercoaster ride of a tale but more laughable than terrible.
Well here we've got the old chestnut of a bond super villain wanting to weaponise the creatures from the first novel whilst simultaneously having access to other creatures from an underground cave system that he wants to populate with his chosen ones.
Blah blah blah, yep this is basically no where near as good as the first book and really does become silly.
Ok there's still lots of gruesome death and destruction but it's just not enough to make this really enjoyable. The main protagonists are newly married and supposedly on honeymoon but are now in need of rescuing from said caves, somewhere in Russia.
The team sent in has a few ulterior motives as well as a rescue there are traitorous shenanigans afoot and they are on a time limit as said caves are to be sealed for eternity as it'll be the end of the world if any creatures were to escape yadda ya.
The ending is a relief and pretty saccharine, still a pacey rollercoaster ride of a tale but more laughable than terrible.
August 12, 2020
The sequel to the imaginative monster-fest "Fragment" introduces the survivors of that book to *another* killer micro-ecosystem, this time inside a giant cave complex. Unfortunately, the new "Pandemonium" world of aquatic cave-creatures isn't developed as thoroughly as the Henders Island monsters from "Fragment", and ends up playing second fiddle to them, as the plot instead focuses on a new outbreak of Henders creatures. Lots of goofy scenes involving , and who , makes the book less scary and less interesting, and the long-teased "Henders monsters vs. Pandemonium monsters" fight lasts a whopping two or three sentences.
August 15, 2024
3 & 1/2 stars…
There’s much here to knock a high rating down quickly. But the creativity, the believability of the creatures is all done so damn well.
Yes, some dialogue was odd, off, uncomfortable, unbelievable, sometimes just bad. But disbelief suspended is the key to success in this type of book, and it was suspended for me. The concepts and the believability of these outrageous creatures was carried well and for that I can offer a higher than average rating.
I’m not recommending this book and I’m not suggesting it be skipped. This book was enjoyable because it was an acid-trip of a journey and I enjoyed it, even enough to look beyond the cringeworthy dialogue and the somewhat standard storytelling.
There’s much here to knock a high rating down quickly. But the creativity, the believability of the creatures is all done so damn well.
Yes, some dialogue was odd, off, uncomfortable, unbelievable, sometimes just bad. But disbelief suspended is the key to success in this type of book, and it was suspended for me. The concepts and the believability of these outrageous creatures was carried well and for that I can offer a higher than average rating.
I’m not recommending this book and I’m not suggesting it be skipped. This book was enjoyable because it was an acid-trip of a journey and I enjoyed it, even enough to look beyond the cringeworthy dialogue and the somewhat standard storytelling.
January 27, 2025
Pandemonium, the sequel to Fragment, is a good (not great) book that continues the Henders Island story. The 5 Hendros now live in protective custody in the US and are awaiting complete freedom. Nell Duckworth and Geoffrey Binswanger are now married and serve as defacto guardians to the unique entities. When a Russian oligarch entices the Binswangers to study rare organisms in a mysterious area near the Ural Mts, they choose to leave the Hendros behind in order to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. They soon discover that there's more to the Russian millionaire and their scientific study than what appears on the surface.
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