Rise of the Liberators

by Ryan Hyatt

The United States is in the throes of the Greatest Depression, and discharged Marine Corps Captain Ray Salvatore, a 34-year-old father and husband, must either allow his family's poverty to continue or accept an employment offer to lead a band of military misfits with a new secret weapon into war in the Middle East.

262 pages, Paperback

Published February 24, 2017

About the author

RYAN HYATT tells stories about your future. He is a former news reporter, current educator, and author of the Terrafide sci-fi series. He edits the satirical sci-fi news site, The La-La Lander, as well as Not Your Father's Bedtime Stories, kid’s lit he creates with his daughter, author Sage Hyatt. Find him at the beach and his stories across the internet. Connect with him @ucalthisreality.

Reviews

[Mark Everglade · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first of a three-part series, this novel revolves around a strong political thriller with giant mechs at the core of the action. As it continues, it touches on themes of information surveillance and necropolitics. Hyatt’s establishing Ray, the main character, both within his family and within a historical political context provides solid grounding for the novel. The writing is smart and well edited, and the message clear, and dire for us to understand as a species.

See the full review and an interview with Ryan here:
https://www.markeverglade.com/rise-of...

[Steve Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rise of the Liberators is a kind of prequel to Hyatt’s recent Stay Younger Longer. I say “kind of” because it’s more establishing the world that SYL occurs in more than telling any stories about the early lives of the characters in SYL. At first glance, the book seems to be setting up to being an action story about giant mechanized robot suits (dubbed “Liberators”), but after a short while it becomes clear that the Liberators are just the backdrop to explore a quieter, more thoughtful exploration of a family-level view of tumultuous geopolitical events.

The USA of Rise of the Liberators is set just a few years from now, but is one where there was no recovery from the Great Recession, which has since become the Greatest Depression and economic inequality (rather than all out ruin) has left the US government in a desperate position to secure the twin lifebloods of natural resources (oil) and public favor (support for unilateral war) to maintain some semblance of order. In a lot of ways, the geopolitical events here echo the Iraq war, but without any pretense of freedom or liberation (despite the name of the robots), simply revenge and resource acquisition.

Hyatt’s writing keeps the pages turning and he has a few wonderful set pieces that have an almost cinematic quality (one early chapter involving a gang of baby stroller thieves is particularly memorable). That said, some of the family scenes come off as a little overly sentimental and only serve to underscore that Hyatt’s talent is better suited for building the backstory and little details of this alternate future. A middle section (which could be a novella in its own right) is probably the strongest of the book because it is light on sentimentality and more assuredly focuses on the hypocrisy of political and economic leaders manufacturing inanities to dominate the public’s attention while more sinister plans are being played out. This middle section almost veered off track (though it was an enjoyable detour) until tying back into the main narrative in spectacular fashion (another memorable scene I won’t spoil here). More than the rest of the book, this middle section lays the groundwork for the world of Stay Younger Longer.

My only real complaint is that the book ends just as soon as we get to the part of the story I’m most interested in: how a relatively familiar looking US could become the world of Stay Younger Longer. The book ends on a cliffhanger that makes me hope the next book comes out very, very soon. There are a lot of unanswered questions of the “what happens next?” variety and I wonder if the sequel will pick up right where this leaves off to answer some of those questions or whether it will be self-contained the way this is relative to Stay Younger Longer.

Overall, the book is easy to pick up for a single chapter or sit down and read for a while. The most striking feature is the way the protagonist (and in some ways the narrator) alternates between jingoism and pacifism. Ray sometimes sounds like a commentator for Fox News and a Communist Party recruiter in the course of a single paragraph. This seemingly disjointed character comes off to me as the book’s greatest accomplishment: positing a near future where the concept of “moderate” politics all but disappears and individuals and corporations are in a constant state of flipping from one extreme view to another. It’s a great, subtle commentary on the current political climate and a lot more intellectually challenging and rewarding than the image of the giant robot on the cover would suggest.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his previous book, Stay Younger Longer, author Ryan Hyatt conjured up a world not so far from our own, where eco-politics carried more weight than they should, and the search for the next party was everyone’s greatest quest, and California set the standard of living for the nation.

Now, with Rise of the Liberators (Volume 1 of his new series Terrafide), he takes a step back in his story to less prosperous and secure time. Told in three interlocking tales, and set in the early 2020’s, it follows the story of Ray Salvatore, a former military man whose greatest wish is to get the implants needed to allow his visually impaired daughter to see the world in color.

But in an energy-starved America, Ray can’t even keep the air conditioning on in his Phoenix home, while his wife scrimps and saves and mourns their post-consumer life-style. At this point, cortical implants are on par with winning the lottery.

But Ray gets an unexpected break when an officer makes him an offer that could set him for life: sign-on for a top secret mission involving new technology and make the world a safer place for his daughter.

Ray’s task is to command the first of a series of Liberators, giant towering robots with enough firepower to level a city and the ability to adapt shapes to fit their mission.

And their mission? To invade an oil-rich Iraq and take over the country, securing the reserves for a waning United States.

But against this black-and-white set-up, Ray’s growing paranoia of his situation butts up hard against his sense of duty, turning what could have just been a big-robot-Big-guns Pacific Rim pastiche into something deeper, an examination of the nature of duty and heroism, an anti-war war story that asks whether men can be trusted with their own machines of war. Especially as Ray begins to wonder where the grossly advanced technology used to create the Liberators might actually have come from.

In reviewing his last book, I noted that the best science-fiction is often that which is only slightly removed from the experiences we know. In that aspect, Hyatt excels with his tale, showing us a world that could be days away in our own headlines. Filled with consumer greed, desperation, and a fervent nationalism that rivals anything on the nightly news, he sets Ray an unenviable task in leading his neophyte team into a conflict he is warned will be a no-win situation.

Hyatt also manages to keep his characters distinct against the technological and sociological backdrop he weaves so effortlessly. A seemingly unrelated (at first) middle section proves a withering study of consumerism as a failing children’s book author sets out to become the biggest salesman of all time, and plays wickedly on the willingness of the individual to become part of the show at any cost, even when their goal is an altruistic one. And the resolution proves oddly touching against such a commercial setting.

As the first phase in a larger tale, Rise of the Liberators is a strong set-up. Think Trnasformers with less gratuitous violence and more Cable News Interludes. It’s a mature story, deserving of an initial read, especially when the true scope of this work reveals itself. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait long for Volume 2 and the revelations behind the Liberators creation...

**Review first published on Fanbase Press 4/12/17**

[Justin Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

*** This book was provided to me by the author for a fair and honest review ***

Ray Salvatore is an out of work Marine who is about to lose his house in the midst of the Greatest Depression. Ray is completely screwed and very desperate about his lack of control over his situation.

Out of the blue, Ray is called up with an opportunity to take care of his family for life, and, head up a new military secret weapons project. All he has to do is wage a little war.

The secret project that Ray gets involved in is the Liberators: huge armored mecha that are unlike any military hardware on Earth. Ray’s job is to get up to speed on the ins and outs of the system(s), and then lead a group of moderately misfit Marines in learning how to effectively use the Liberator.

Questions abound, but Ray is focused on the task at hand and trying to whip his soldiers (often unconventionally) into shape to take on Iran.

While I really enjoyed this book and the character and scene building, there is a story split about halfway through the book introducing a new character, a new situation, and an entirely new set of technologies and problems. While this story arc does circle back to the primary one, I think it would have better been developed as a complimentary story (Terrafide #1.5, perhaps), and not in the primary novel.

That being said, Mr. Hyatt is exceedingly good at building up semi-dystopian urban environments. There are a lot of unique characters to juggle in Rise of the Liberators , and Mr. Hyatt does so deftly. Having already read Terrafide #2 , I knew a little of what to expect from where Rise of the Liberators was going, but it was a damn enjoyable ride.

I mean, who doesn’t love giant robots?

[Frank Dal Bello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply, I loved it. I've read all three of Hyatt's novels and this latest work is my favorite. I can't tell if he's getting better the more he writes or if I'm learning to like his style the more that I read. It's probably both.

Rise of the Liberators contains characters that you can't help but like and relate to, a plot full of action and suspense, plenty of cool, futuristic ideas, and a grim, but plausible future for our society. And for those of you who seek "truths" about life and humanity when reading fiction, like I do, there are enough sprinkled throughout to leave you satiated.

I can't wait to see what's next.

[Patrick Spink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the authors ability to use the history we know, common issues in our culture, and current world politics to create a dystopian future that isn’t farfetched. Hyatt’s graspable future setting presented narratives surrounding ideas of foreign wars for natural resources, the usage of personal data for profit, the need for sustainable energy, and government manipulation of the hearts and minds of the public. The action in the book was fun to read and presented with the humor and irreverence that keeps me reading.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

My full review can be found here: https://thereadingwife.com/rise-of-th...