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Battery Life
Equal parts Z for Zachariah and Mad Max, Gilpatrick and Lang's darkly funny debut follows a girl from outer space and an aging scavenger who must learn to trust each other in order to survive. Welcome to the Junkyard, a toxic wasteland where humans, machines, and everything in between fight for survival among the ruins of a long-forgotten war. This is where Diane Three-One-Seven finds herself after the arkship Cradle--the only home she's ever known--falls out of the sky. When a mysterious scavenger named Virgil stumbles upon Diane's escape pod, the two strike a deal (if it can be called that). Virgil's spare mechanical battle suit, nicknamed the "Grave Walker," can help Diane survive the ruined atmosphere--but it could kill her if it runs out of power. And Diane's untainted blood, a precious resource in this radioactive hellscape, could keep Virgil alive long enough to finish one last mission--but at what cost? The two will have to wait to work out their differences, however, as a new threat appears on the a masked man called the Messenger, who hopes to subdue the Junkyard with a mysterious new power. With the help of a ragtag team of misfits, Diane and Virgil may just have a chance to stop him--if they don't kill each other first.
391 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2023
38 people are currently reading
2559 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 19, 2023
Excellently written, gritty, and has memorable characters
This book is full of immersive moments, vivid imagery, and distinct characters. While there are a lot of elements that are similar to those in other great science fiction stories, they are woven together into an original tale that will stick in the reader’s mind. I hope that this becomes a movie someday.
There are lots of fantastic scenes with mayhem and violence, and death is commonplace. Citizens struggle with chemical dependence, altering themselves with mechanical parts, and moral ethics are nearly absent. This is not a world I would ever want to visit, but it’s fascinating to explore in my imagination. The authors really thought out the complexity of the political elements all working against each other for survival on this dying version of earth. It’s intriguing, fresh, and yet it reminds me of the enforced poverty of railway builders and miners fighting against their corporate “owners” to earn a better living.
The characters’ emotional journeys and transformations are compelling. Their relationships are developed with nuance and insight. The antagonists are mysterious and add complications that should lead to more books in the series.
There are very few errors, and the action scenes are intense! There is profanity. There is no sex, and no (obvious?) misogyny. Males and females have agency and intelligence. Such great writing! I recommend for high school and older sci-fi readers.
This book is full of immersive moments, vivid imagery, and distinct characters. While there are a lot of elements that are similar to those in other great science fiction stories, they are woven together into an original tale that will stick in the reader’s mind. I hope that this becomes a movie someday.
There are lots of fantastic scenes with mayhem and violence, and death is commonplace. Citizens struggle with chemical dependence, altering themselves with mechanical parts, and moral ethics are nearly absent. This is not a world I would ever want to visit, but it’s fascinating to explore in my imagination. The authors really thought out the complexity of the political elements all working against each other for survival on this dying version of earth. It’s intriguing, fresh, and yet it reminds me of the enforced poverty of railway builders and miners fighting against their corporate “owners” to earn a better living.
The characters’ emotional journeys and transformations are compelling. Their relationships are developed with nuance and insight. The antagonists are mysterious and add complications that should lead to more books in the series.
There are very few errors, and the action scenes are intense! There is profanity. There is no sex, and no (obvious?) misogyny. Males and females have agency and intelligence. Such great writing! I recommend for high school and older sci-fi readers.
July 25, 2024
Woah the world, the action, the characters, the dynamic between the characters, … this was an amazing ride. Felt like reading a videogame. Read this originally as an ebook but I had to buy a physical copy too. Dying for a sequel because I can’t accept that I’ll never be in this world or with these characters again.
July 7, 2023
*4.5 stars
July 26, 2024
Great sci-fi story! I’m not a huge fan of most works like this but was instantly intrigued by the characters and the story. Ultimately, this story brought out a nostalgia of playing Fallout as a child and reading Frank L. Baum as there are numerous connections to his popular Oz series throughout that I loved.
March 20, 2023
Battery Life
By Brennan Gilpatrick and Gregory Lang
Welcome to the apocalypse. It’s messy, it’s gritty, it’s constantly trying to kill you. No one’s in charge and everyone’s fighting for survival. Good thing we’ve got our ragtag team to save the day.
This book explores themes such as: what is freedom? what can be forgiven? and what is worth compromising your morals for?
We have a great cast of morally gray characters. Virgil you want to root for completely, but he makes decisions for survival that are sometimes hard to swallow. Diane is a bit naive and new to the road but I had no qualms rooting for her. The other crew members were a great addition and I really enjoyed the character work/development.
The world building was also well done. I’m really interested in learning more about it if there ends up being a sequel. It’s set mostly in the US but alludes to some big things across the ocean. Each of the places we do visit have that distinct apocalyptic feel but each still had its own character as well.
The writing took me a little bit to really get into. I thought the beginning meandered a little bit but then it all came together and I had a lovely time at the end of the world.
Thanks to @netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review
By Brennan Gilpatrick and Gregory Lang
Welcome to the apocalypse. It’s messy, it’s gritty, it’s constantly trying to kill you. No one’s in charge and everyone’s fighting for survival. Good thing we’ve got our ragtag team to save the day.
This book explores themes such as: what is freedom? what can be forgiven? and what is worth compromising your morals for?
We have a great cast of morally gray characters. Virgil you want to root for completely, but he makes decisions for survival that are sometimes hard to swallow. Diane is a bit naive and new to the road but I had no qualms rooting for her. The other crew members were a great addition and I really enjoyed the character work/development.
The world building was also well done. I’m really interested in learning more about it if there ends up being a sequel. It’s set mostly in the US but alludes to some big things across the ocean. Each of the places we do visit have that distinct apocalyptic feel but each still had its own character as well.
The writing took me a little bit to really get into. I thought the beginning meandered a little bit but then it all came together and I had a lovely time at the end of the world.
Thanks to @netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review
May 29, 2023
Whew, where to begin here? Wait I know, first a disclaimer: I read this book mostly on vacation. This was maybe not the best book to read whilst tired? Because I can’t quite figure out if the confusion was on me or the book. So, there you have my main downside, that I genuinely don’t know whether is my fault.
To begin, I loved the premise and the world and especially the characters. They were definitely my favorite part. I appreciated their struggle, even if I wasn’t totally sure what was happening. And that’s really the crux: everything I “got” about this book, I really liked. But I also felt that I was missing a lot, like I didn’t fully understand what was causing the sicknesses, and I was definitely a bit lost on how some of the more minor characters and alliances fit into things.
I definitely recommend this book, but I’d also make sure to read it when you have time to fully delve into the world. Then, you can do me a solid and let me know if it was my exhaustion or if the book was actually confusing.
Bottom Line: The characters were great, and I loved the overarching concept, but found some of the content confusing.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
To begin, I loved the premise and the world and especially the characters. They were definitely my favorite part. I appreciated their struggle, even if I wasn’t totally sure what was happening. And that’s really the crux: everything I “got” about this book, I really liked. But I also felt that I was missing a lot, like I didn’t fully understand what was causing the sicknesses, and I was definitely a bit lost on how some of the more minor characters and alliances fit into things.
I definitely recommend this book, but I’d also make sure to read it when you have time to fully delve into the world. Then, you can do me a solid and let me know if it was my exhaustion or if the book was actually confusing.
Bottom Line: The characters were great, and I loved the overarching concept, but found some of the content confusing.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
June 10, 2023
Diane 317 knew something was terribly wrong with her peaceful home. The tremors aboard the Cradle, a space station orbiting a post-apocalyptic Earth, were worsening. When Diane’s home began plummeting to Earth, she sought safety in an escape pod. The devastation of the crashed fortress was a potential gold mine to junkies, the wasteland scavengers. Virgil, a seasoned veteran of the Junkyard, found Diane’s crashed pod while hunting for a payday. Using cybernetic armor, Virgil saves and traps Diane in the Grave Walker, a battle-tech armor suit, to help her survive. With the orphaned space teenager in tow, Virgil sets out to save his home and possibly what is left of humanity.
Battery Life is a cyberpunk adventure tale by Brennan Gilpatrick and Gregory Lang. This high-adrenaline action novel is a fun and fast read. Gilpatrick and Lang have created badass badlands that could rival any setting of destruction and mayhem. The story can be clichéd at times, curmudgeon rescues vulnerable youth, and they have to learn from and rely on each for survival. But never with so much chaos, mutants, and high-tech weaponry. Gilpatrick and Lang’s anti-social, larger-than-life characters add to this futuristic epic. Join Diane and Virgil as they battle the Junkyard in Battery Life.
This review was originally published at https://manhattanbookreview.com/produ...
Battery Life is a cyberpunk adventure tale by Brennan Gilpatrick and Gregory Lang. This high-adrenaline action novel is a fun and fast read. Gilpatrick and Lang have created badass badlands that could rival any setting of destruction and mayhem. The story can be clichéd at times, curmudgeon rescues vulnerable youth, and they have to learn from and rely on each for survival. But never with so much chaos, mutants, and high-tech weaponry. Gilpatrick and Lang’s anti-social, larger-than-life characters add to this futuristic epic. Join Diane and Virgil as they battle the Junkyard in Battery Life.
This review was originally published at https://manhattanbookreview.com/produ...
October 22, 2023
3.5 stars
Mortal Engines meets Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Let's build our crew and go on a quest. Naïve teenager with awesome fire power. Older wise guy who has been around every block. Battle scarred cyborg. Anguished lapsed religious reader. Gutsy and skilled mechanic.
The best word I have to describe Battery Life is uneven. I almost bailed after the first pages, which didn't catch my interest, but then I was intrigued by the spaceship, then I was caught up in the crash and the meeting, then I lost interest, then I gained interest, and so on. Did the two authors take turns, or did they write together? I would read another book by the author(s), but this one could have used some polishing and tightening.
Mortal Engines meets Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Let's build our crew and go on a quest. Naïve teenager with awesome fire power. Older wise guy who has been around every block. Battle scarred cyborg. Anguished lapsed religious reader. Gutsy and skilled mechanic.
The best word I have to describe Battery Life is uneven. I almost bailed after the first pages, which didn't catch my interest, but then I was intrigued by the spaceship, then I was caught up in the crash and the meeting, then I lost interest, then I gained interest, and so on. Did the two authors take turns, or did they write together? I would read another book by the author(s), but this one could have used some polishing and tightening.
May 22, 2023
Battery Life by Brennan Gilpatrick and Gregory Lang was phenomenal. There's space, spaceships, earth in the future, drama, action, fighting, backstabbing, a group of questionable companions, with super descriptively disgusting bad guys, and monsters. This is solely an action-based novel. I really enjoy ACTUAL endings and this one, while not at all what I thought it was going to be, it was neatly and perfectly done. I recommend this book for science fiction and dystopian fans. I also recommend this book to technology, space, world creating, and new concept lovers.
January 7, 2025
The Junkyard
A really good look into a world post-war and the end of life as we know it. I hope there's a sequel to this because I really enjoyed the characters and the world building. From cults, to corporations, to AI hell bent on taking over, and even symbiotic life forms it was all very fun to see.
A really good look into a world post-war and the end of life as we know it. I hope there's a sequel to this because I really enjoyed the characters and the world building. From cults, to corporations, to AI hell bent on taking over, and even symbiotic life forms it was all very fun to see.
Want to read
May 23, 2023The absurdity of some of the novel will stick in my mind for a while, in a good way. This is an imaginatively told story, and I stayed engaged. Good stuff.
Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!
Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!
November 1, 2023
Page. Turner. Such a fun read, and the world was so fun to discover and get lost in. Seeing the struggle within all of the characters and watching them evolve was enjoyable with every flip of the page, and I couldn’t put it down! Definitely worth a read!
June 27, 2023
Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone publishing for an eARC for an honest review.
July 8, 2023
Great book! I suck at writing reviews….trust me it’s an awesome book!
August 19, 2023
Wild
Fantastic read, what a crazy mess to walk through you will enjoy it! Hard to put down but a blast.
Fantastic read, what a crazy mess to walk through you will enjoy it! Hard to put down but a blast.
December 7, 2023
Audiobook
December 18, 2023
Audiobook
I picked this up from my library's Hoopla because I am a sucker for post-disaster novels. I wasn't disappointed, this has some very interesting ideas, lots of action.
I picked this up from my library's Hoopla because I am a sucker for post-disaster novels. I wasn't disappointed, this has some very interesting ideas, lots of action.
October 7, 2023
4.5 stars
In a world of online reviews, I had never heard of this book prior to stumbling upon it at a local bookshop, and I bought it based on the bookshop's recommendation display. The cover also drew me in. Although I like science fiction, the Mad Max dystopian future with the world a giant junkyard isn't really my typical cup of sf tea.
I was expecting just some over-the-top sf robots battles and suped-up vehicles races in a grimy dystopian future (which this was)- while also hoping for a quest with an enemies to friends relationship (delivered). This book exceeded my expectations. First, the writing is smooth and hilarious - which is all the more surprising that this is the author duo's first published book - very impressive! I felt immediately immersed in this world - and it broke my heart that this is what the beautiful Earth had become. None of the poor (mostly morally-gray) characters were dealt any easy life in this post-apocalyptic Earth, and I felt for them. I also loved seeing our characters come together to form a rag-tag crew to fight the enemy and face their own demons.
I don't want to give too much away, but this is a fun dystopian future adventure with insane technology, a gritty atmosphere, and a found friends (more or less) group battling something more evil than usual. I highly recommend.
In a world of online reviews, I had never heard of this book prior to stumbling upon it at a local bookshop, and I bought it based on the bookshop's recommendation display. The cover also drew me in. Although I like science fiction, the Mad Max dystopian future with the world a giant junkyard isn't really my typical cup of sf tea.
I was expecting just some over-the-top sf robots battles and suped-up vehicles races in a grimy dystopian future (which this was)- while also hoping for a quest with an enemies to friends relationship (delivered). This book exceeded my expectations. First, the writing is smooth and hilarious - which is all the more surprising that this is the author duo's first published book - very impressive! I felt immediately immersed in this world - and it broke my heart that this is what the beautiful Earth had become. None of the poor (mostly morally-gray) characters were dealt any easy life in this post-apocalyptic Earth, and I felt for them. I also loved seeing our characters come together to form a rag-tag crew to fight the enemy and face their own demons.
I don't want to give too much away, but this is a fun dystopian future adventure with insane technology, a gritty atmosphere, and a found friends (more or less) group battling something more evil than usual. I highly recommend.
July 11, 2023
this book has intriguing themes of climate change and capitalism in a post apocalyptic world that have all been done before (and better executed). the characters were not fully fleshed out and their actions constantly contradicted their motives/wants. also, wayyyy too much lore.
August 21, 2023
This book was quite the surprise of ‘Fallout’ mixed with a ‘Fifth Element’ kind of unlikely companion story. A Woman falls from her posh life amongst a generation ship into a treacherous wasteland of Earth to be discovered by this ‘Han Solo’ of the junkyard. A swindler and scrap dealer, he knows people, the ins and outs of this world and now Diane has to rely on him for her survival.
We know that Virgil’s motives aren’t entirely pure and well-intended. He’s in it for himself though there’s something about seeing the hope in Diane that just starts to plant the sed of becoming a better person.
This story is rich with action, mad-max chases, battles with giant leviathans, technology-enhanced humans, sewer monsters, raiders, and an overzealous leader that can’t seem to be touched. Though there was also plenty of mistrust, moral struggles, funny dialog, and overconfident heroes that never let their nerves show.
Virgil’s arc was wonderful and i really enjoyed it, Diane was well played and she eventually got her gusto rather than being the scared out-of-place visitor to a new land. I loved her character shift as well.
All in all it was a really great hidden gem for those who love some post-apocalyptic action with quippy dialog and a imaginative cast of side characters and monsters.
We know that Virgil’s motives aren’t entirely pure and well-intended. He’s in it for himself though there’s something about seeing the hope in Diane that just starts to plant the sed of becoming a better person.
This story is rich with action, mad-max chases, battles with giant leviathans, technology-enhanced humans, sewer monsters, raiders, and an overzealous leader that can’t seem to be touched. Though there was also plenty of mistrust, moral struggles, funny dialog, and overconfident heroes that never let their nerves show.
Virgil’s arc was wonderful and i really enjoyed it, Diane was well played and she eventually got her gusto rather than being the scared out-of-place visitor to a new land. I loved her character shift as well.
All in all it was a really great hidden gem for those who love some post-apocalyptic action with quippy dialog and a imaginative cast of side characters and monsters.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews