The Silent Vulcan

Pentworth #3

by James Follett

It is over six months since Pentworth was surrounded by a mysterious force field. Society is slipping into anarchy -- and what will happen when the extraterrestrials deep in Pentworth lake decide to show their hand?

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

James Follett (not "Follet") was an author and screenwriter, born in 1939 in Tolworth, England.

Follett became a full-time fiction writer in 1976, after resigning from contract work as a technical writer for the British Ministry of Defence. He has wrote over 20 novels, several television scripts (including episodes of the BBC's Blake's 7), and many radio dramas. Follett was one of the 400 most popular British authors, measured by the numbers of books borrowed from public libraries in the UK, having spent 11 years in the public lending right's top two bands of authors.

Reviews

[Laura]

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
After a UFO crash landed, the town of Pentworth and surrounding Sussex countryside have been cut off by a mysterious invisible and impenetrable wall.

A cult leader is blaming two local women - Ellen Duncan and Vikki Taylor - after accusing them of witchcraft. Detective Sergeant Mike Malone is on the case...

Meanwhile, an attempt to make contact with the visitors and their craft begins...

'The Silent Vulcan' is the final book in James Follett's sci-fi trilogy of the same name.

Abridged by Miranda Davis.

Producer: Elizabeth Allard.

Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2004.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jshr

[Susan Stewart]

The Silent Vulcan is book three in the Temple of the Winds trilogy. When I finished the first book, I took a break before reading the second, Wicca. When I finished the second, I immediately picked up the third. These books are that good. James Follett is a cousin of Ken Follett who also writes fantastic novels, notably The Pillars of the Earth series.

The Temple of the Winds trilogy tells the story of the people in a small English town who wake up one day with an impenetrable wall around it and a UFO at the bottom of their lake. This is an old-fashioned story with plot twists, likable and unlikeable characters, and a unique setup. The Sci-Fi elements are an important part of the story but don't overwhelm it. The Silent Vulcan ties up the pieces of the series nicely. I think it must be the edition I read, but there were a lot of typos, missing words, etc. They interrupted the flow and were annoying but I kept reading. I highly recommend the trilogy and each novel in it.

[Emily]

This was by far the best in the trilogy. It pulls the whole thing together. The character development throughout was well built (across all three) and I really enjoyed the style of writing. Even though this trilogy is not one that I found to be deeply gripping, I do recommend it.

[Tim Pendry]

I came across this as an audio book and it was entertaining enough to listen to while off sick with a minor 'flu but not sufficiently to want to listen to, let alone buy, the previous two volumes in the trilogy. A very British bit of basic science fiction, reasonably crafted but not stunning.

[Lou Maurio]

End Of Vulcan Trilogy

I read all three books for a second time. Mr Follett, the other Follett, did a great job in creating this series. I kind of wish there was a sequel with the future prodigy. Hint, Hint

[John Bullen]

ok enough story. But a trilogy that you can read all three books in 3 days seems a bit light.

[Laura of Lurking]

I felt this was a strong ending to the series. When this novel started there were so many plot threads to deal with that the first few chapters were nearly exclusively recap of the past 2 books – essential for someone who read them as they came out, having a long gap in between, but for someone who has only had a month it proved annoying.

Nevertheless it soon got going, once again following the course of "how does a small community survive losing all the resources they are so used to" over the aliens aspect, keeping our stark view of the personalities within the wall. The aliens aspect did get stronger as the book went on, but it never overtook what I have loved so much about this series. It has always felt like much more than science fiction.

The end of the book was unusual, it felt like there should be a sequel to carry it on. I have looked online though and found no mention of it.

I loved this series, and will look up more from the author in the future

[Sean Randall]

From Jane Austin to Hitler to submersibles, Follett seems to have an unparalleled range of things on which to draw. This book finishes off the whole story very well, though the ending seemed a little rushed to me and the final chapters had a rather sad pacing to them which was a shame as the rest of the series was so superb. Still, very glad to have read them, more Follett on the list for me for sure.

[Thom]

Read in September 2008