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Sand Divers #2
Scavenger: A.I.
If you discovered the technology that caused the apocalypse, would you use it to resurrect your child?
The thrilling conclusion to the escape out of Danvar takes the action of Mad Max: Fury Road and injects it into a hostile environment catered to fans of Alien.
Divemaster Rushing Stenson and his wife Star thought their journey underground would lead to the discovery of the ancient city of Danvar. Instead, they resurrected a power perfect for the tyrant that put them there. He plans to use this self replicating technology to rebuild America and give life eternal to those loyal to his empire.
Inspired by the world created by Hugh Howey in his novel, Sand. Written and sold with his permission, the Sand Divers books are a stand alone duology loved by fans for its "breakneck pace...(and) under sand knife fight," "great special effects," and "endearing characters that kept me wanting for more".
This cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic thriller is an ideal fit for fans of Blake Crouch ( Wayward Pines), Nicholas Sansbury Smith ( Trackers), D.J. Molles ( The Remaining), Nick Cole ( The Old Man and the Wasteland) and Edward W. Robertson ( Breakers).
The thrilling conclusion to the escape out of Danvar takes the action of Mad Max: Fury Road and injects it into a hostile environment catered to fans of Alien.
Divemaster Rushing Stenson and his wife Star thought their journey underground would lead to the discovery of the ancient city of Danvar. Instead, they resurrected a power perfect for the tyrant that put them there. He plans to use this self replicating technology to rebuild America and give life eternal to those loyal to his empire.
Inspired by the world created by Hugh Howey in his novel, Sand. Written and sold with his permission, the Sand Divers books are a stand alone duology loved by fans for its "breakneck pace...(and) under sand knife fight," "great special effects," and "endearing characters that kept me wanting for more".
This cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic thriller is an ideal fit for fans of Blake Crouch ( Wayward Pines), Nicholas Sansbury Smith ( Trackers), D.J. Molles ( The Remaining), Nick Cole ( The Old Man and the Wasteland) and Edward W. Robertson ( Breakers).
454 pages, Paperback
Published July 12, 2016
4 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Timothy C. Ward
14 books126 followersTimothy C. Ward once kicked a spider in the face. Now, he writes books about magic and mayhem from the safety of his man base.
Series to date:
Godsknife: Enjoy this apocalyptic battle for godhood in the rift between Iowa and the Abyss.
- Godsknife: Revolt (Book 1)
- Godsknife: Lineage (novelette set in the Outbreak)
- Coming soon: Godsknife: Revenge (Book 2)
Sand Divers: post- apocalyptic treasure hunters with sand diving set in Hugh Howey’s world of Sand and Across the Sand.
- Scavenger: Evolution
- Scavenger: A.I..
He also writes LitRPG under Theo Hodges, with his latest series, Badges of Dorkdom taking a future college dropout and training him to be a wizard for the ages.
You probably don’t want to hear about his other series, Ciphercraft, a sci-fi LitRPG about space heroes.
Follow him on X @timothycward or at www.wardbook.com
Series to date:
Godsknife: Enjoy this apocalyptic battle for godhood in the rift between Iowa and the Abyss.
- Godsknife: Revolt (Book 1)
- Godsknife: Lineage (novelette set in the Outbreak)
- Coming soon: Godsknife: Revenge (Book 2)
Sand Divers: post- apocalyptic treasure hunters with sand diving set in Hugh Howey’s world of Sand and Across the Sand.
- Scavenger: Evolution
- Scavenger: A.I..
He also writes LitRPG under Theo Hodges, with his latest series, Badges of Dorkdom taking a future college dropout and training him to be a wizard for the ages.
You probably don’t want to hear about his other series, Ciphercraft, a sci-fi LitRPG about space heroes.
Follow him on X @timothycward or at www.wardbook.com
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 27, 2016
SCAVENGER A.I. is the sequel to SCAVENGER: EVOLUTION and begins directly after the events of the previous volume. I strongly recommend new readers purchase the original novel since Timothy Ward doesn't take any time to explain who anyone is or how they relate to one another. Thankfully, it's not too difficult to figure out who everyone is or what they're up to.
The premise of the book series is Earth has been reduced to a gigantic quicksand like desert which can be "dived" into by specialized suits. The protagonists have discovered an ancient American military base protected from the cataclysm with an advanced artificial intelligence inside that has the potential to rebuild the planet.
This artificial intelligence has merged with one of the team, Warren, and become a hybrid organism which attempts to present itself as benevolent but quickly proves itself willing to do anything to achieve it's aims and capable of unimaginable emotional blackmail. Worse, the Gov, the self-proclaimed future ruler of the United States is determined to get the technology for use against his enemies.
The book is a bit too heavy-handy setting up Star and Rush as the future leaders of America, especially since I wouldn't trust Rush to park my car let alone serve as President. I also think the author keeps trying to forward a Star and Rush romance despite the fact they have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever.
Despite this, I like quite a few of the scenes and enjoy the oddball sci-fi premise. Warren/W is a impressive villain who shows his inhumanity in ways both great and small. I also love the character of Fish and all the interesting/terrifying implications of being able to resurrect the dead but not really (effectively making a person from your memories so they appear to be the person you've lost but don't have any of the elements you don't remember).
Overall, if you liked the original book then I suggest you pick up the new volume. It's very much like a Pulp magazine or comic book one.
9/10
The premise of the book series is Earth has been reduced to a gigantic quicksand like desert which can be "dived" into by specialized suits. The protagonists have discovered an ancient American military base protected from the cataclysm with an advanced artificial intelligence inside that has the potential to rebuild the planet.
This artificial intelligence has merged with one of the team, Warren, and become a hybrid organism which attempts to present itself as benevolent but quickly proves itself willing to do anything to achieve it's aims and capable of unimaginable emotional blackmail. Worse, the Gov, the self-proclaimed future ruler of the United States is determined to get the technology for use against his enemies.
The book is a bit too heavy-handy setting up Star and Rush as the future leaders of America, especially since I wouldn't trust Rush to park my car let alone serve as President. I also think the author keeps trying to forward a Star and Rush romance despite the fact they have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever.
Despite this, I like quite a few of the scenes and enjoy the oddball sci-fi premise. Warren/W is a impressive villain who shows his inhumanity in ways both great and small. I also love the character of Fish and all the interesting/terrifying implications of being able to resurrect the dead but not really (effectively making a person from your memories so they appear to be the person you've lost but don't have any of the elements you don't remember).
Overall, if you liked the original book then I suggest you pick up the new volume. It's very much like a Pulp magazine or comic book one.
9/10
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January 11, 2017Expected release for this sequel to Scavenger: Evolution is June 28th. Add to your "to read" shelf to be notified, or better yet, sign up for my newsletter for exclusive deals, giveaways and news on my third book, Revolt, which also releases this summer.
Dan at My Life My Books My Escape interviewed me about this series and what to get excited about in book two, as well as offering a special giveaway.
Dan at My Life My Books My Escape interviewed me about this series and what to get excited about in book two, as well as offering a special giveaway.
July 21, 2016
If you read Scavenger: Evolution: (Sand Divers, Book One) by Timothy C. Ward, then you absolutely must continue the adventures of Rush, Star, and the others in Scavenger: A.I.: (Sand Divers, Book Two). With nonstop action that leaves you breathless, this continuation of an apocalyptic future gives readers new perspectives on characters and will have you unsure of just who can be trusted.
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June 27, 2016Kindle version live today! $0.99 for first week and Scavenger: Evolution is free this week!
June 29, 2016
3.5/5 Rating Review first posted at MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape
Sympathetic characters and imaginative sci-fi technology.
*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion and review.
Scavenger: A.I. is the sequel to Timothy C. Ward's debut novel, Scavenger: Evolution (my review), a novel I believed showed a lot of promise with its sympathetic protagonist and fast-pace. After reading Scavenger: A.I., I can say that Timothy has continued to improve on his writing, creating more sympathetic characters, keeping that fast-pace throughout the story, and creating a highly imaginative sci-fi tech story with his Poseidon suit and nano-technology.
Rush and Star have just killed Warren and temporarily defeated The Gov - but at the cost of injecting themselves with the plasma. They must now prepare a defense to prevent The Gov from taking over when he arrives. First though, they must take care of themselves. Both of them now contain the M-MANs, the nanos, but it was Avery who go the worst of it, and they are off to find Nedzad who is taking Avery to a containment area to try to cleanse him.
On their way there, they receive a message from a voice that sounds familiar... it is Warren's. Apparently the M-MANs did something special with his brain and body when they "killed" him. It is actually an artificial intelligence that wants to be called, "W", and it is unclear whether he is an ally to them or The Gov.
The other group, Dixon, Carrol, Jeff and Cool and their mother, are all on their way to Denver. Before they can get out though, Jeff's arm was hit and is now infected with the M-MANs and his health is slowly declining. Dixon is leading the group to a hospital, and aside from Jeff's health, everything is going smoothly... until they meet up with some of The Gov's men and Carrol starts to act strange.
The BIGGEST change from Evolution to A.I. was how the story told. From the way book 1 ended, and with my brief plot outline above, it should have been obvious that a single POV from Rush was no longer possible - we now needed multiple POV characters. Aside from Rush, we have Star, Gov, Nedzad, Cool, Dixon, Carrol, and W chapters! For me, this was a bitter-sweet thing. I loved reading from Rush's POV in Evolution: the sympathy and connection I felt for him was immediate and only grew as the story went on. So naturally, I want to keep reading him.
The story starts off alternating between Rush, Star, and Nedzad - who are all kind of in the same area and plot-line. After a little bit though, all three go there separate ways; plus, we have Dixon's and Cool's group going to Denver. So, in order to tell the story, we need to see less of Rush, and more of others . At first I was bummed, because as I said, I wanted only to read Rush, but as I quickly built up a connection to Rush before, so did I to the other characters.
Star, as you may recall, was acting very strange in last book, and no we can finally understand her motivations, and see how she feel towards Rush about what happened with their son, Fish. Cool turned out to be my favorite POV to read, because, in short, there were so cool to read! I had no idea that Cool was such a great character! He is that younger brother, who is now trying to take care of his hurt older brother; stay strong for him mom; prove that able to help lead to Dixon; and looks up to Rush like his missing father. Nedzad turned out to have quite a mysterious unknown background, and became much much more than a sentry.
One complaint I had in Evolution was that too much time was focus on Rush, and we didn't learn/develop as much about the side characters. Well, that complaint wasn't even a thought here! The one things that those three characters, the other POVs, and Rush all have in common, is they all are incredibly sympathetic.
What was also great in A.I. was the amount of tech that was involved in the plot. Sand-diver suits, the Poseidon suits, and the M-MANs were important before, not nearly as crucial to the plot and characters as they are this time. I mean, the main antagonist, W, is an artificial intelligence born from the M-MAN nano-tech! I thought the Poseidon suit was awesome when I read it before, but seeing what the M-MANs can do (like how they turned into dogs) and then learing what can be done with them when under your power was incredible or me.
What I LOVE about sci-fi stores, is when they can present some type of technology that can get me thinking about the possibilities of what it can do. And this is nano-technology, that you can control and tell to do anything you imagination, simply by thinking it.... Yeah, I had a field day with this.
As for the plot, a LOT more complex than I was expecting. The ending of Evolution did allude to that, but the having of multiple POVs with different plot lines, introducing more character's background, having different areas that story was taking place, and introducing a new antagonist beside the Gov, greatly opened the door for Timothy to expand the scope and detail of this story. It went from a story about Rush, a sand-diver trying to save his Wife, to a story about a group of individuals, all with different motivations and goals, stuck in a battle between the Gov, Warren, and themselves.
Timothy C. Ward has talent for writing sympathetic characters and creating imaginative sci-fi technology. I was pleased to see him expand this story to multiple POVs; I believe the pacing and length of this format is something that needs to be worked on, but everything I thought that needed be worked on from Evolution has greatly improved here, in A.I. If that is any indication, then I very much look forward to reading the next series by Tim :)
3.5/5 Rating
-DJ
Sympathetic characters and imaginative sci-fi technology.
*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion and review.
Scavenger: A.I. is the sequel to Timothy C. Ward's debut novel, Scavenger: Evolution (my review), a novel I believed showed a lot of promise with its sympathetic protagonist and fast-pace. After reading Scavenger: A.I., I can say that Timothy has continued to improve on his writing, creating more sympathetic characters, keeping that fast-pace throughout the story, and creating a highly imaginative sci-fi tech story with his Poseidon suit and nano-technology.
Rush and Star have just killed Warren and temporarily defeated The Gov - but at the cost of injecting themselves with the plasma. They must now prepare a defense to prevent The Gov from taking over when he arrives. First though, they must take care of themselves. Both of them now contain the M-MANs, the nanos, but it was Avery who go the worst of it, and they are off to find Nedzad who is taking Avery to a containment area to try to cleanse him.
On their way there, they receive a message from a voice that sounds familiar... it is Warren's. Apparently the M-MANs did something special with his brain and body when they "killed" him. It is actually an artificial intelligence that wants to be called, "W", and it is unclear whether he is an ally to them or The Gov.
The other group, Dixon, Carrol, Jeff and Cool and their mother, are all on their way to Denver. Before they can get out though, Jeff's arm was hit and is now infected with the M-MANs and his health is slowly declining. Dixon is leading the group to a hospital, and aside from Jeff's health, everything is going smoothly... until they meet up with some of The Gov's men and Carrol starts to act strange.
The BIGGEST change from Evolution to A.I. was how the story told. From the way book 1 ended, and with my brief plot outline above, it should have been obvious that a single POV from Rush was no longer possible - we now needed multiple POV characters. Aside from Rush, we have Star, Gov, Nedzad, Cool, Dixon, Carrol, and W chapters! For me, this was a bitter-sweet thing. I loved reading from Rush's POV in Evolution: the sympathy and connection I felt for him was immediate and only grew as the story went on. So naturally, I want to keep reading him.
The story starts off alternating between Rush, Star, and Nedzad - who are all kind of in the same area and plot-line. After a little bit though, all three go there separate ways; plus, we have Dixon's and Cool's group going to Denver. So, in order to tell the story, we need to see less of Rush, and more of others . At first I was bummed, because as I said, I wanted only to read Rush, but as I quickly built up a connection to Rush before, so did I to the other characters.
Star, as you may recall, was acting very strange in last book, and no we can finally understand her motivations, and see how she feel towards Rush about what happened with their son, Fish. Cool turned out to be my favorite POV to read, because, in short, there were so cool to read! I had no idea that Cool was such a great character! He is that younger brother, who is now trying to take care of his hurt older brother; stay strong for him mom; prove that able to help lead to Dixon; and looks up to Rush like his missing father. Nedzad turned out to have quite a mysterious unknown background, and became much much more than a sentry.
One complaint I had in Evolution was that too much time was focus on Rush, and we didn't learn/develop as much about the side characters. Well, that complaint wasn't even a thought here! The one things that those three characters, the other POVs, and Rush all have in common, is they all are incredibly sympathetic.
What was also great in A.I. was the amount of tech that was involved in the plot. Sand-diver suits, the Poseidon suits, and the M-MANs were important before, not nearly as crucial to the plot and characters as they are this time. I mean, the main antagonist, W, is an artificial intelligence born from the M-MAN nano-tech! I thought the Poseidon suit was awesome when I read it before, but seeing what the M-MANs can do (like how they turned into dogs) and then learing what can be done with them when under your power was incredible or me.
What I LOVE about sci-fi stores, is when they can present some type of technology that can get me thinking about the possibilities of what it can do. And this is nano-technology, that you can control and tell to do anything you imagination, simply by thinking it.... Yeah, I had a field day with this.
As for the plot, a LOT more complex than I was expecting. The ending of Evolution did allude to that, but the having of multiple POVs with different plot lines, introducing more character's background, having different areas that story was taking place, and introducing a new antagonist beside the Gov, greatly opened the door for Timothy to expand the scope and detail of this story. It went from a story about Rush, a sand-diver trying to save his Wife, to a story about a group of individuals, all with different motivations and goals, stuck in a battle between the Gov, Warren, and themselves.
Timothy C. Ward has talent for writing sympathetic characters and creating imaginative sci-fi technology. I was pleased to see him expand this story to multiple POVs; I believe the pacing and length of this format is something that needs to be worked on, but everything I thought that needed be worked on from Evolution has greatly improved here, in A.I. If that is any indication, then I very much look forward to reading the next series by Tim :)
3.5/5 Rating
-DJ
June 28, 2016
This second book in the Sand Divers series is amazing.The author is really talented at world building and creating interesting characters.Rush and Star evolve in incredible ways and continue their fight to prevent the enslavement of mankind.I am anxiously awaiting book three.I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review
August 3, 2016
There is just so much action in this series, I love that about it! The characters are great and I love to read more and see what happens next. This book had me from the beginning. It was exciting and thrilling adventure for me again in this book. The world building was very good as well. * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
June 28, 2016
This book was kind of like the show 24 in that the plot moves at a breakneck pace during a very short period of time. It felt like the story was always moving and though there were some scenes where you got to slow down and take a breather most of the book felt like action scenes. There were a lot of really cool ones too. My favorite was probably an under the sand knife fight. Yes you heard me right, and it was amazing! Super tense. I cringed and felt excited and claustrophobic all in that same scene.
Getting to see where Rush and Star were in this next installment was great too. Their relationship has changed a lot from the first book and there are a whole bunch of new issues brought up between them. I enjoyed watching them work through their struggles throughout the story.
The technology in this book was crazy! And the ways the author had the characters use it was very imaginative and just fricking cool! A few time I remember thinking something like "they just did what with that crazy technology?!"
This was a great sequel. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.
Getting to see where Rush and Star were in this next installment was great too. Their relationship has changed a lot from the first book and there are a whole bunch of new issues brought up between them. I enjoyed watching them work through their struggles throughout the story.
The technology in this book was crazy! And the ways the author had the characters use it was very imaginative and just fricking cool! A few time I remember thinking something like "they just did what with that crazy technology?!"
This was a great sequel. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.
June 23, 2017
I enjoyed this sequel to Scavenger: Evolution immensely!
It's a fast, exciting and engrossing Hard Science Fiction Adventure, that's an essential read for fans of the original Sand books from Hugh Howey.
It's a fast, exciting and engrossing Hard Science Fiction Adventure, that's an essential read for fans of the original Sand books from Hugh Howey.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews