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The Icarus Trilogy #2
Phoenix Rising
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Phoenix Rising continues the story of Ryan Jenkins and his teammates from the Crows. They are slaves to a corporate system that uses death and resurrection as just another hidden fee; their pain the entertainment for the masses. Most people watch War World and just think it's the next best thing in sports.
Phoenix Rising continues the story of Ryan Jenkins and his teammates from the Crows. They are slaves to a corporate system that uses death and resurrection as just another hidden fee; their pain the entertainment for the masses. Most people watch War World and just think it's the next best thing in sports.
362 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 6, 2012
14 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Kauffmann
10 books18 followersAs a kid, Kevin Kauffmann would spend most days creating worlds and adventures for action figures and old Transformers. After grabbing a degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, he decided that creating worlds should be more than a hobby.
The Icarus Trilogy, a sci-fi tale about futuristic gladiatorial warfare, was Kauffmann's first series, but he has since gone on to tell stories in many different genres. His Forsaken Comedy is a dark fantasy trilogy about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and his latest, Ouroboros, has received high praise for its representation of hallucinogen use and self-destructive behaviors.
Starting in 2024, 25&Y Publishing will release two novels and a collection from Kauffmann, the Misadventures of Rumpelstiltskin the Third, Daytrippers and Evenin' Flow, and he is the Narrative Director for Exfinitum, an upcoming card game from Yoton Yo Studios.
The Icarus Trilogy, a sci-fi tale about futuristic gladiatorial warfare, was Kauffmann's first series, but he has since gone on to tell stories in many different genres. His Forsaken Comedy is a dark fantasy trilogy about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and his latest, Ouroboros, has received high praise for its representation of hallucinogen use and self-destructive behaviors.
Starting in 2024, 25&Y Publishing will release two novels and a collection from Kauffmann, the Misadventures of Rumpelstiltskin the Third, Daytrippers and Evenin' Flow, and he is the Narrative Director for Exfinitum, an upcoming card game from Yoton Yo Studios.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 30, 2017
Very good
Kept me spellbound the whole way. Read the whole series in just a few days. Look forward to more like this.
Kept me spellbound the whole way. Read the whole series in just a few days. Look forward to more like this.
June 19, 2014
The writing in this second book seems to have gotten worse. Maybe "it is" a personal thing, but I simply "can not" handle the lack of contractions. I never realized how maddening life is without them until reading this series.
The characters also seemed to flatten out. The big, bad corporate executive had a conversation about how he doesn't care about the average person, dislikes poor people, and the only things that matter in life are money and power. It's like the revolution was against a villain from a Muppet movie.
My biggest problem, though, was with the overall reaction to the altering of Ryan Jenkins. To me, it seemed that the few other human experiments described were hand over foot more atrocious than what was happening to Jenkins. Jenkins was depressed and thought his life was meaningless. Hawkins altered him to make his life on Eris seem better. I know it's a stretch, but it's almost like they gave him anti-depressants. If I undergo therapy to cure a phobia or cure my depression, does that change me to the point that I am no longer ME? Enough so that everyone around me would treat me like some kind of abomination? I agree that what Hawkins was doing as a whole was bad and immoral, but what he did to Jenkins just didn't seem on the level of atrocity as everything else. Especially not enough so to have his quest be the centralizing story of the series.
I don't think I'll be reading the third installment.
The characters also seemed to flatten out. The big, bad corporate executive had a conversation about how he doesn't care about the average person, dislikes poor people, and the only things that matter in life are money and power. It's like the revolution was against a villain from a Muppet movie.
My biggest problem, though, was with the overall reaction to the altering of Ryan Jenkins. To me, it seemed that the few other human experiments described were hand over foot more atrocious than what was happening to Jenkins. Jenkins was depressed and thought his life was meaningless. Hawkins altered him to make his life on Eris seem better. I know it's a stretch, but it's almost like they gave him anti-depressants. If I undergo therapy to cure a phobia or cure my depression, does that change me to the point that I am no longer ME? Enough so that everyone around me would treat me like some kind of abomination? I agree that what Hawkins was doing as a whole was bad and immoral, but what he did to Jenkins just didn't seem on the level of atrocity as everything else. Especially not enough so to have his quest be the centralizing story of the series.
I don't think I'll be reading the third installment.
October 16, 2012
I really wanted to give this book, and it's predecessor, more stars. However, I am unable to do that and remain honest.
While the story itself is very intriguing, the writing and editing left a lot to be desired. Kauffmann's overly repetitious use of the same adjectives really worked on my nerves--the good doctor, the boy soldier, the young soldier, the giant, the gladiator...I could go on, but I won't.
The second half of the book has editing issues, i.e. there are missing or misspelled words.
I will read the third book, only because I am interested in how the story ends. However, if Kauffmann's writing doesn't improve in the third book, I can honestly say I will not have the patience to read any of his other works.
While the story itself is very intriguing, the writing and editing left a lot to be desired. Kauffmann's overly repetitious use of the same adjectives really worked on my nerves--the good doctor, the boy soldier, the young soldier, the giant, the gladiator...I could go on, but I won't.
The second half of the book has editing issues, i.e. there are missing or misspelled words.
I will read the third book, only because I am interested in how the story ends. However, if Kauffmann's writing doesn't improve in the third book, I can honestly say I will not have the patience to read any of his other works.
September 2, 2013
I had read the first book a few months ago as a free kindle download and really liked it, so I thought I would give the rest of it a try but I was kind of disappointed. I barely made it through the third book. overall I thought the series was meh
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews