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Street Freaks
It begins with a dire call-right before his father disappears and his skyscraper home's doors explode inward. It is the kind of thrilling futuristic story only Terry Brooks can tell. "Go into the Red Zone. Go to Street Freaks." his father directs Ashton Collins before the vid feed goes suddenly silent. The Red Zone is the dangerous heart of the mega-city of Los Angeles; it is a world Ash is forbidden from and one he knows little about. But if he can find Street Freaks, the strangest of aid awaits-human and barely human alike. As Ash is hunted, he must unravel the mystery left behind by his father and discover his role in this new world. Brooks has long been the grandmaster of fantasy. Now he turns his hand to science fiction filled with what his readers love complex characters, extraordinary settings, exciting action, and a page-turning story. Through it, Brooks reimagines his bestselling career yet again.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 2, 2018
183 people are currently reading
4987 people want to read
About the author
Terry Brooks
417 books77.8k followersTerry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944, where he spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same park that would eventually become the setting for his bestselling Word & Void trilogy. He went to college and received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and he received his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.
A writer since high school, he wrote many stories within the genres of science fiction, western, fiction, and non-fiction, until one semester early in his college years he was given The Lord of the Rings to read. That moment changed Terry's life forever, because in Tolkien's great work he found all the elements needed to fully explore his writing combined in one genre.
He then wrote The Sword of Shannara, the seven year grand result retaining sanity while studying at Washington & Lee University and practicing law. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months.
A writer since high school, he wrote many stories within the genres of science fiction, western, fiction, and non-fiction, until one semester early in his college years he was given The Lord of the Rings to read. That moment changed Terry's life forever, because in Tolkien's great work he found all the elements needed to fully explore his writing combined in one genre.
He then wrote The Sword of Shannara, the seven year grand result retaining sanity while studying at Washington & Lee University and practicing law. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 236 reviews
June 11, 2018
As always, my honesty post: I received an advance reading copy of Street Freaks from the publisher. I’ve known Terry Brooks for years and I consider him a friend. I don’t think either of those things affect how I reacted to this book.
Terry Brooks is best known for his Shannara books. When we see his name on the cover, we expect a good high-fantasy tale from him, and he always delivers a solid, readable story with great magical elements and characters.
So I was a bit jolted, first by the title Street Freaks and then by the tale. It’s not fantasy. It’s SF. It features biologically altered teenagers engaged in street racing custom cars.
“Hm. Not really my thing. Sigh. I should still give it a try.”
You see, like 97 percent of fantasy readers (I’m making up this statistic) I don’t want my favorite writers to get tricky on me. Give me the same kind of tale every time, but a little bit different. That’s all I ask. Don't step outside your box, fantasy writer! No, I don't want to explore a new world. I'm all invested in the old one. (See how reasonable that sounds?)
So, in truth, I went into this book expecting it would be okay. But not my cup of tea.
(Yes, I do 'duty reads'. I read books by old friends, set in new worlds, and if I don't enjoy them, I set them aside after 100 pages or so, and simply don't review them. Now you know my dark little secret.)
So.
First night of sampling the book. Great first chapter, in terms of, "I can't leave the character there. I'll have to read a bit more."
I didn’t expect it to become, “Just one more chapter and I’ll turn out the light, dear.”
But it did.
You know I have a no spoilers policy. But I will say that one thing Terry Brooks got very right in this story is how tricky it can be to make friends. When one is thrown into a situation where there is little choice in who you associate with, there are always the prickly ones, the snarky ones, the ones that you would never choose to associate with if you had a choice. But the relationships form, and each one is different. Each one has the pieces that fit, and the places where those pieces rub. All the different sorts of friendships that one forms in the face of necessity are listed here. He gets that part very right.
He also gets right that peculiar sensation of being an adolescent and realizing that adults are actually people. Just people. Some are nice and some care and some see you as a useful cog. And some may consider you disposable. They're not playing by any rules you can understand.
Terry Brooks doesn’t tip his hand. The events unfold for the protagonist, told in a gripping present tense prose. If you want to know what is going to happen, you have to follow. As a reader, you shouldn't trust the character's assumptions. His lack of life experience is as genuine as his intelligent reactions to some difficult situations.
It's a completely engrossing story.
Recommended.
Terry Brooks is best known for his Shannara books. When we see his name on the cover, we expect a good high-fantasy tale from him, and he always delivers a solid, readable story with great magical elements and characters.
So I was a bit jolted, first by the title Street Freaks and then by the tale. It’s not fantasy. It’s SF. It features biologically altered teenagers engaged in street racing custom cars.
“Hm. Not really my thing. Sigh. I should still give it a try.”
You see, like 97 percent of fantasy readers (I’m making up this statistic) I don’t want my favorite writers to get tricky on me. Give me the same kind of tale every time, but a little bit different. That’s all I ask. Don't step outside your box, fantasy writer! No, I don't want to explore a new world. I'm all invested in the old one. (See how reasonable that sounds?)
So, in truth, I went into this book expecting it would be okay. But not my cup of tea.
(Yes, I do 'duty reads'. I read books by old friends, set in new worlds, and if I don't enjoy them, I set them aside after 100 pages or so, and simply don't review them. Now you know my dark little secret.)
So.
First night of sampling the book. Great first chapter, in terms of, "I can't leave the character there. I'll have to read a bit more."
I didn’t expect it to become, “Just one more chapter and I’ll turn out the light, dear.”
But it did.
You know I have a no spoilers policy. But I will say that one thing Terry Brooks got very right in this story is how tricky it can be to make friends. When one is thrown into a situation where there is little choice in who you associate with, there are always the prickly ones, the snarky ones, the ones that you would never choose to associate with if you had a choice. But the relationships form, and each one is different. Each one has the pieces that fit, and the places where those pieces rub. All the different sorts of friendships that one forms in the face of necessity are listed here. He gets that part very right.
He also gets right that peculiar sensation of being an adolescent and realizing that adults are actually people. Just people. Some are nice and some care and some see you as a useful cog. And some may consider you disposable. They're not playing by any rules you can understand.
Terry Brooks doesn’t tip his hand. The events unfold for the protagonist, told in a gripping present tense prose. If you want to know what is going to happen, you have to follow. As a reader, you shouldn't trust the character's assumptions. His lack of life experience is as genuine as his intelligent reactions to some difficult situations.
It's a completely engrossing story.
Recommended.
May 3, 2019
This is a Terry Brooks being, more or less, himself. Street Freaks starts like a teen book but ends somewhat more mature; but I wouldn't hesitate to give it someone 15 or older depending on maturity. I've been a moderate Terry Brooks fan since I was a child. As a kid of the 80's and a teen of the 90's there was significantly fewer fantasy and sci-fi books that weren't classics and had real action in them; so Brooks felt like he was a pretty good writer. Today I'd say he's mediocre. Unfortunately that is exactly what Street Freaks delivered; a typical okay book. I had hoped that in the sci-fi genre (a first for Brooks) that he would be able to up his game.
Fast and the Furious, in the Future
Basically Street Freaks is the movie Fast and the Furious (any of them, they are all the same premise) in the future with new shiny technology. It does have an added mystery element to it regarding our lead boy's father; but that is actually not really what the story is 'about'. Our core narrative is just about kids driving cars, evading police and rebelling against the status quo. Sound familiar? I bet you've seen this movie... um... book.
Cool Ideas
While Brooks had some cool technology ideas in Street Freaks; a good technological concept is not enough to keep me interested. There's some biological, genetic type upgrades that some of our characters have and the idea of a 'red zone' is certainly likely to be in our (near?) future. Humans have been building walls and acting elitist for thousands of years so that all seems like a safe bet to predict. While I like the set-up of how you can learn things quickly, communicate with one another and (of course) drive super fast cars; I can honestly read something similar in any number of sci-fi books or short stories. There's just not enough here to engage me.
Friendship
There was one really well done element of Street Freaks; which is is it's focus on friendships and how tricky it can be to gain access into a group of tight knit people. We also experience what it can cost to show trust first and suspicion later. While friendship inherently requires trust there is a threshold moment in which you are risking something. Our lead teen learns this the hard way, as it always is with fiction, and Brooks accurately describes the feelings and emotions that hit many of us (teens or adults) when we are let down by others.
Overall
While the characters and their interactions are quite well done, there's just something missing here. Some element or twist that would have surprised me; or maybe just more complexity. While there is a lot going, on the reality is that it seems like there's a mystery that is, honestly, easily unraveled. I knew who was going to be the traitor (if you will) near the end and why. Maybe I just read too many books (lol) but I just wanted more from Brooks. As I said above, it is not unusual of me to want more from Terry Brooks in general. Maybe my expectations are just too high for him? Perhaps I need to come back to reality and realize he is a tolerable author. Brooks rarely writes books I would DNF; but doesn’t have any that I will remember in the future or tell everyone about in an exuberant way. In fact as I'm writing this review I feel like in five minutes I'll have already forgotten about this book and my life will have moved on.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Fast and the Furious, in the Future
Basically Street Freaks is the movie Fast and the Furious (any of them, they are all the same premise) in the future with new shiny technology. It does have an added mystery element to it regarding our lead boy's father; but that is actually not really what the story is 'about'. Our core narrative is just about kids driving cars, evading police and rebelling against the status quo. Sound familiar? I bet you've seen this movie... um... book.
Cool Ideas
While Brooks had some cool technology ideas in Street Freaks; a good technological concept is not enough to keep me interested. There's some biological, genetic type upgrades that some of our characters have and the idea of a 'red zone' is certainly likely to be in our (near?) future. Humans have been building walls and acting elitist for thousands of years so that all seems like a safe bet to predict. While I like the set-up of how you can learn things quickly, communicate with one another and (of course) drive super fast cars; I can honestly read something similar in any number of sci-fi books or short stories. There's just not enough here to engage me.
Friendship
There was one really well done element of Street Freaks; which is is it's focus on friendships and how tricky it can be to gain access into a group of tight knit people. We also experience what it can cost to show trust first and suspicion later. While friendship inherently requires trust there is a threshold moment in which you are risking something. Our lead teen learns this the hard way, as it always is with fiction, and Brooks accurately describes the feelings and emotions that hit many of us (teens or adults) when we are let down by others.
Overall
While the characters and their interactions are quite well done, there's just something missing here. Some element or twist that would have surprised me; or maybe just more complexity. While there is a lot going, on the reality is that it seems like there's a mystery that is, honestly, easily unraveled. I knew who was going to be the traitor (if you will) near the end and why. Maybe I just read too many books (lol) but I just wanted more from Brooks. As I said above, it is not unusual of me to want more from Terry Brooks in general. Maybe my expectations are just too high for him? Perhaps I need to come back to reality and realize he is a tolerable author. Brooks rarely writes books I would DNF; but doesn’t have any that I will remember in the future or tell everyone about in an exuberant way. In fact as I'm writing this review I feel like in five minutes I'll have already forgotten about this book and my life will have moved on.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
July 27, 2018
Street Freaks is a fast-moving, really fun standalone novel set in a futuristic world divided between technologically advanced but controlled cities and free-wheeling lawless areas called Red Zones. The star of this book is a teenager on the run from the authorities for reasons he doesn’t understand. He befriends a group of mutated rejects, kind of like super powered X-Men who are street orphans and freakishly redesigned, sometimes more cyborg than human. Their gang/ den/ group is Street Freaks, also because they design and race street racers as well in preparation for the biggest race of the year. Although it has a lot of familiar themes such as the stormtroopers going giant corporation’s bidding, gangs of street urchins banding together, espionage, and auto racing, it is a story well-paced, well set up, and mainly well told. While it might be more designed for a young adult audience, I enjoyed it.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
December 19, 2025
Trama/Plot ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Personaggi/Characters ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stile/Style ⭐⭐⭐⭐
L'avevo letto in lingua originale quando uscì, certa che in Italia non sarebbe stato pubblicato a breve. Mi era piaciuto allora e mi piaciuto adesso, nonostante sia molto diverso dalla tipologia di romanzo di Brooks cui siamo abituati, se non altro per l'ambientazione, un futuro distopico, pieno di ingegneria genetica, di sperimentazioni umane e pochissima umanità tra le persone. Il punto di forza, questo invece secondo me tipico di Brooks, sono i personaggi: ben descritti, ben sfaccettati, coerenti e affascinanti. Il neo: lo stile estremamente asciutto, fin troppo.
***
I had read it in original language when it first was published, certain that it would not be published in Italy any time soon. I liked it then and I like it now, even though it is very different from the type of Brooks novel we are used to, if only for the setting, a dystopian future, full of genetic engineering, human experimentation and very little humanity between people. The strong point, this instead in my opinion typical of Brooks, are the characters: well described, well-faceted, coherent and fascinating. A single flaw: the extremely dry style, too much so-
Personaggi/Characters ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stile/Style ⭐⭐⭐⭐
L'avevo letto in lingua originale quando uscì, certa che in Italia non sarebbe stato pubblicato a breve. Mi era piaciuto allora e mi piaciuto adesso, nonostante sia molto diverso dalla tipologia di romanzo di Brooks cui siamo abituati, se non altro per l'ambientazione, un futuro distopico, pieno di ingegneria genetica, di sperimentazioni umane e pochissima umanità tra le persone. Il punto di forza, questo invece secondo me tipico di Brooks, sono i personaggi: ben descritti, ben sfaccettati, coerenti e affascinanti. Il neo: lo stile estremamente asciutto, fin troppo.
***
I had read it in original language when it first was published, certain that it would not be published in Italy any time soon. I liked it then and I like it now, even though it is very different from the type of Brooks novel we are used to, if only for the setting, a dystopian future, full of genetic engineering, human experimentation and very little humanity between people. The strong point, this instead in my opinion typical of Brooks, are the characters: well described, well-faceted, coherent and fascinating. A single flaw: the extremely dry style, too much so-
September 6, 2018
*eARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
I enjoyed this. It was certainly different than any Terry Brooks that I’d read before, and I’ve read a lot of Terry Brooks. Loyal fans will probably like this as his storytelling quality is there, even if we’re looking at a dystopian future instead of epic fantasy. It appeals to all age groups, being friendly in tone to younger readers, but mature enough in content for older ones as well. Because the main hero and majority of the characters are teens, this would work well as being categorized YA, but it’s a good story regardless.
The pacing and plot are pretty good overall, but there are a couple of plot points that didn’t make a lot of sense. The overall story was fine, but some of the hidden motivations with the “adults” in the story weren’t clear. Maybe they weren’t supposed to be, but it made for a distracting feeling as I came to the end. The ending itself felt pretty good, but these odd tidbits hung with me.
Will this be a series? Had to imagine anything from Terry Brooks that isn’t, but the book could stand alone. It could also see expansion, both in continuation of threads left open here and in other stories set in this future “United Territories”. Either way, I’d be interested in seeing what will come out, if anything.
I enjoyed this. It was certainly different than any Terry Brooks that I’d read before, and I’ve read a lot of Terry Brooks. Loyal fans will probably like this as his storytelling quality is there, even if we’re looking at a dystopian future instead of epic fantasy. It appeals to all age groups, being friendly in tone to younger readers, but mature enough in content for older ones as well. Because the main hero and majority of the characters are teens, this would work well as being categorized YA, but it’s a good story regardless.
The pacing and plot are pretty good overall, but there are a couple of plot points that didn’t make a lot of sense. The overall story was fine, but some of the hidden motivations with the “adults” in the story weren’t clear. Maybe they weren’t supposed to be, but it made for a distracting feeling as I came to the end. The ending itself felt pretty good, but these odd tidbits hung with me.
Will this be a series? Had to imagine anything from Terry Brooks that isn’t, but the book could stand alone. It could also see expansion, both in continuation of threads left open here and in other stories set in this future “United Territories”. Either way, I’d be interested in seeing what will come out, if anything.
July 12, 2018
The reason I’ve not read Terry Brooks before was because he seems to be specializing in fantasy and series, two things I don’t care for. This book is the reason I might not be reading Terry Brooks in the future. Because nowhere..nowhere is this one classified as a YA book as it so obviously is. WTF. And because my OCD demands I finish every book I start, ended up being stuck with a YA book for nearly 400 pages. Almost all of the characters are teens and, while they aren’t annoyingly immature or dumb, they are still teens. So essentially you have something like high tech fast and furious boombastic science fiction thriller, which starts off on an action scene and continues accordingly for the duration. There is a basic plot involving evil adults experimenting on kids for the goal of population control (cue in the maniacal mwahaha), but it ends up nearly buried under all the action. Brooks has been at this writing game long enough to put together a readable book easily and if you’re after easy reading (short words, simple sentences, etc.), this’ll certainly do the trick, but the thing is I never quite understood the appeal of dumbing down your entertainment and that’s what YA fiction is to an adult, it’s simplified, overexplained, unchallenging. It’s all the things books ought not to be. Even with all adult characters this wouldn’t have been a particularly complicated read, it’s too much of an actioneer, but as is it just pissed me off. Even the science fiction aspects are lackluster, some recycled ideas, some unimaginative nomenclature. Whether negligibly mismarketed or a cheap dishonest ploy to sell this at the adult fiction rates, this one is an action movie with teens written down as a book. And sequel ready too. Perfectly appropriate for a younger audience, complete waste of time for the mature one. Thanks Netgalley.
August 6, 2018
Although I used to be a big Terry Brooks fan back in the day, it's been over a decade since I last read anything by the author. I'm too far behind in the Shannara saga to give new installments a shot, so I've been waiting for him to write something new that I could sink my teeth into. When I received an advance reading copy of the forthcoming Street Freaks, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to get reacquainted with Brooks. I was excited to be bringing the book with me on my roadtrip around Gaspésie. Unfortunately, it proved to be quite a chore to read and I finished it at a coffee shop in St-Jean-Port-Joli, glad to have finally gone through it. Indeed, there were times when I considered just giving up. But I was still on vacation with limited reading material and I elected to persevere.
Alas, nowhere in the cover blurb, the press release, and all the related online material was there any indication that this was a YA novel. Because make no mistake. Terry Brooks went into full YA mode for this one. Even worse, he went into young adolescent mode regarding certain aspects of the story. As you guys know, I'm not too keen on YA as a rule, and I wish I would have known beforehand. Because now my review would be decidedly lukewarm at best. If I'd known, I would have thanked them for the opportunity, but I would have passed on this one. Now, I like Shawn Speakman and I got in touch with him when I finished Street Freaks, wondering why this work wasn't billed as Young Adult material. I was afraid that this book could suffer from the same sort of backlash that really hurt the sales of C. S. Friedman's The Dreamwalker Chronicles.
You may recall that Dreamwalker was billed as a crossover novel. Something which included elements targetted to a teen audience, but also hopefully enough content and complexity that would please Friedman's adult audience. What I immediately realized when I started the book was that in style and tone it was a world away from the dark science fiction and fantasy series/novels Friedman has become renowned for. And no matter from which angle you looked at the plot, it was YA through and through. When I mentioned this, both Friedman and her editor requested that I kindly refrain from using the terms YA or young adult in my review of the book. The rationale was, understandably, that such a label could potentially alienate a good chunk of Friedman's readership. The problem with this strategy is that, if the online customers/readers' reviews are any indication, a vast number of people believing that they would experience more of Friedman's awesomeness felt cheated to have forked out their hard-earned money for what turned out to be a YA novel. In the end, Dreamwalker didn't perform as well as they had hoped for. Here was a YA title whose target audience was the extremely lucrative YA market. Yet there was no mention of it being a YA work, it was released by a non-YA publisher, and it wouldn't even appear in the YA section of bookstores around North America. Moreover, it received basically no coverage from YA resources. Hence, not only did the bulk of Friedman's long-time fans felt short-changed by this strategy, but the book's target audience was more or less never reached.
Speakman opine that at its heart, every single Terry Brooks book is YA. They all feature young main characters going against the big bad guy. According to him, the same was true regarding Street Freaks. I wholeheartedly disagreed with him, claiming that though the main characters are often young, the Shannara novels mostly dealt with adult themes. In Speakman's opinion, Street Freaks is probably the most adult thing Brooks has ever written. Well, it appears that we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. And I can't help but feel that hiding the fact that the novel is definitely YA is a little disingenuous.
Here's the blurb:
"Go into the Red Zone. Go to Street Freaks." his father directs Ashton Collins before the vid feed goes suddenly silent. The Red Zone is the dangerous heart of mega-city Los Angeles; it is a world Ash is forbidden from and one he knows little about. But if he can find Street Freaks, the strangest of aid awaits―human and barely human alike. As Ash is hunted, he must unravel the mystery left behind by his father and discover his role in this new world.
Brooks has long been the grandmaster of fantasy. Now he turns his hand to science fiction filled with what his readers love best: complex characters, extraordinary settings, exciting action, and a page-turning story. Through it, Brooks reimagines his bestselling career yet again.
I a nutshell, Street Freaks is a teenage version of The Fast and the Furious franchise meets Divergent meets The Goonies. The main plot revolves around an evil corporate empire illegally experimenting on children to produce means to help control the world's population. How someone who became a worldwide bestselling author by capturing the imagination of millions of readers came up with something so unoriginal and uninteresting, I'll never know. Basically all the concepts and ideas in this book have been recycled and reheated in the microwave. The finished product is bland and uninspired, by far the most lackluster book by Brooks that I have ever read. While it's true that adult themes such as corporate greed and sex (to a certain extent) are explored, Street Freaks is more about juvenile themes like friendship, the desire to fit in, first love, etc. The plotlines, the way characters act and talk, the way the main protagonist thinks and acts and reacts, the way everything is kind of black and white. Everything is YA. Through and through. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Yet I felt that Street Freaks should be billed as such.
If young readers are not necessarily the target audience, one has to wonder why Terry Brooks felt the need to dumb down and simplify everything. Why did the author feel the need to overexplain every idea and concept, why all the repetitions, why all the info-dumps?
The characterization was incredibly subpar. Ashton Collins doesn't have the appeal necessary to carry a novel on his shoulders. There is not a whole lot of character growth as far as he is concerned. Problem is, Ash spends the better part of the book hopelessly infatuated by a girl and the rest of it being worried about who he can trust and what he can do. Brooks keeps rehashing the same feelings and worries throughout Street Freaks, which makes Ash more annoying with each new chapter. Instead of caring for him and rooting for the guy, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed and one soon forgets his plight and wishes that there were other points of view through whose lenses we could see the tale unfold. Sadly, the rest of the cast is mostly comprised of two-dimensional teenage boys and girls that are little more than cardboard cutouts. The sole exceptions being Cay and Jenny, and I wish we could have learned more about them. When all is said and done, Ash taking center stage pretty much killed it for me.
The pace was decidedly uneven. Street Freaks started with a bang, but the plot quickly petered out. It took way too long for the truth about the Street Freak crew to be unveiled, methinks. And then there are action sequences and car races that were more or less unnecessary. Things finally pick up in the last third of the novel, heading toward a predictible endgame and a finale that you see coming from a mile away. With a villain that is happy to reveal the whole evil entreprise before being outfoxed by a bunch of kids, of course. Seriously, for readers aged between 12 and 15, Terry Brooks' Street Freaks would likely be a killer read.
In the end, as other reviews have pointed out, while Street Freaks is perfectly appropriate for a younger audience, I believe that it is a complete waste of time for a more mature one. Consider yourselves warned. . .
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
Alas, nowhere in the cover blurb, the press release, and all the related online material was there any indication that this was a YA novel. Because make no mistake. Terry Brooks went into full YA mode for this one. Even worse, he went into young adolescent mode regarding certain aspects of the story. As you guys know, I'm not too keen on YA as a rule, and I wish I would have known beforehand. Because now my review would be decidedly lukewarm at best. If I'd known, I would have thanked them for the opportunity, but I would have passed on this one. Now, I like Shawn Speakman and I got in touch with him when I finished Street Freaks, wondering why this work wasn't billed as Young Adult material. I was afraid that this book could suffer from the same sort of backlash that really hurt the sales of C. S. Friedman's The Dreamwalker Chronicles.
You may recall that Dreamwalker was billed as a crossover novel. Something which included elements targetted to a teen audience, but also hopefully enough content and complexity that would please Friedman's adult audience. What I immediately realized when I started the book was that in style and tone it was a world away from the dark science fiction and fantasy series/novels Friedman has become renowned for. And no matter from which angle you looked at the plot, it was YA through and through. When I mentioned this, both Friedman and her editor requested that I kindly refrain from using the terms YA or young adult in my review of the book. The rationale was, understandably, that such a label could potentially alienate a good chunk of Friedman's readership. The problem with this strategy is that, if the online customers/readers' reviews are any indication, a vast number of people believing that they would experience more of Friedman's awesomeness felt cheated to have forked out their hard-earned money for what turned out to be a YA novel. In the end, Dreamwalker didn't perform as well as they had hoped for. Here was a YA title whose target audience was the extremely lucrative YA market. Yet there was no mention of it being a YA work, it was released by a non-YA publisher, and it wouldn't even appear in the YA section of bookstores around North America. Moreover, it received basically no coverage from YA resources. Hence, not only did the bulk of Friedman's long-time fans felt short-changed by this strategy, but the book's target audience was more or less never reached.
Speakman opine that at its heart, every single Terry Brooks book is YA. They all feature young main characters going against the big bad guy. According to him, the same was true regarding Street Freaks. I wholeheartedly disagreed with him, claiming that though the main characters are often young, the Shannara novels mostly dealt with adult themes. In Speakman's opinion, Street Freaks is probably the most adult thing Brooks has ever written. Well, it appears that we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. And I can't help but feel that hiding the fact that the novel is definitely YA is a little disingenuous.
Here's the blurb:
"Go into the Red Zone. Go to Street Freaks." his father directs Ashton Collins before the vid feed goes suddenly silent. The Red Zone is the dangerous heart of mega-city Los Angeles; it is a world Ash is forbidden from and one he knows little about. But if he can find Street Freaks, the strangest of aid awaits―human and barely human alike. As Ash is hunted, he must unravel the mystery left behind by his father and discover his role in this new world.
Brooks has long been the grandmaster of fantasy. Now he turns his hand to science fiction filled with what his readers love best: complex characters, extraordinary settings, exciting action, and a page-turning story. Through it, Brooks reimagines his bestselling career yet again.
I a nutshell, Street Freaks is a teenage version of The Fast and the Furious franchise meets Divergent meets The Goonies. The main plot revolves around an evil corporate empire illegally experimenting on children to produce means to help control the world's population. How someone who became a worldwide bestselling author by capturing the imagination of millions of readers came up with something so unoriginal and uninteresting, I'll never know. Basically all the concepts and ideas in this book have been recycled and reheated in the microwave. The finished product is bland and uninspired, by far the most lackluster book by Brooks that I have ever read. While it's true that adult themes such as corporate greed and sex (to a certain extent) are explored, Street Freaks is more about juvenile themes like friendship, the desire to fit in, first love, etc. The plotlines, the way characters act and talk, the way the main protagonist thinks and acts and reacts, the way everything is kind of black and white. Everything is YA. Through and through. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Yet I felt that Street Freaks should be billed as such.
If young readers are not necessarily the target audience, one has to wonder why Terry Brooks felt the need to dumb down and simplify everything. Why did the author feel the need to overexplain every idea and concept, why all the repetitions, why all the info-dumps?
The characterization was incredibly subpar. Ashton Collins doesn't have the appeal necessary to carry a novel on his shoulders. There is not a whole lot of character growth as far as he is concerned. Problem is, Ash spends the better part of the book hopelessly infatuated by a girl and the rest of it being worried about who he can trust and what he can do. Brooks keeps rehashing the same feelings and worries throughout Street Freaks, which makes Ash more annoying with each new chapter. Instead of caring for him and rooting for the guy, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed and one soon forgets his plight and wishes that there were other points of view through whose lenses we could see the tale unfold. Sadly, the rest of the cast is mostly comprised of two-dimensional teenage boys and girls that are little more than cardboard cutouts. The sole exceptions being Cay and Jenny, and I wish we could have learned more about them. When all is said and done, Ash taking center stage pretty much killed it for me.
The pace was decidedly uneven. Street Freaks started with a bang, but the plot quickly petered out. It took way too long for the truth about the Street Freak crew to be unveiled, methinks. And then there are action sequences and car races that were more or less unnecessary. Things finally pick up in the last third of the novel, heading toward a predictible endgame and a finale that you see coming from a mile away. With a villain that is happy to reveal the whole evil entreprise before being outfoxed by a bunch of kids, of course. Seriously, for readers aged between 12 and 15, Terry Brooks' Street Freaks would likely be a killer read.
In the end, as other reviews have pointed out, while Street Freaks is perfectly appropriate for a younger audience, I believe that it is a complete waste of time for a more mature one. Consider yourselves warned. . .
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
September 20, 2018
Well, Mr Brooks, if you were trying to prove that you aren't a one trick pony with the fantasy Shannara novels by sidestepping into the world of YA Science Fiction then you have done a fine, fine job sir!
I wasn't sure what to expect with Street Freaks but it wasn't the stonking dystopian adventure tale that I have just read! This book is basically a sci-fi based murder mystery after a fashion with a handful of corporate espionage mixed in and I found it to be quite remarkable and full of twists and turns that took me by surprise, over and over again. His characters, both the fully human and those genetically altered or artificially created, are complex and truly fascinating, especially the main character Ash who is forced by circumstance to grow significantly throughout the course of the tale as he battles to discover the truth about his father and his work with street kids. The world building is great and really gives the reader a very clear view of the world Brooks has created for his newest creations.
Street Freaks is great as a standalone novels but it also has enough potential to be added to as well. It's a wild ride and I definitely recommend it as I do anything else by Terry Brooks of course, he is most certainly NOT a one-trick pony, not that ever thought he was!
I wasn't sure what to expect with Street Freaks but it wasn't the stonking dystopian adventure tale that I have just read! This book is basically a sci-fi based murder mystery after a fashion with a handful of corporate espionage mixed in and I found it to be quite remarkable and full of twists and turns that took me by surprise, over and over again. His characters, both the fully human and those genetically altered or artificially created, are complex and truly fascinating, especially the main character Ash who is forced by circumstance to grow significantly throughout the course of the tale as he battles to discover the truth about his father and his work with street kids. The world building is great and really gives the reader a very clear view of the world Brooks has created for his newest creations.
Street Freaks is great as a standalone novels but it also has enough potential to be added to as well. It's a wild ride and I definitely recommend it as I do anything else by Terry Brooks of course, he is most certainly NOT a one-trick pony, not that ever thought he was!
November 5, 2018
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/11/03/...
Despite being the son of a wealthy renowned bioengineer, Ashton Collins is just your ordinary teenager. In fact, due to his strict and protective upbringing, Ash is probably much more sheltered than the average kid. But when he is ambushed in his home by a squadron of armed invaders, he finds himself on his own and without anyone to turn to. His only lifeline is a panicked message from his father right before the attack cut the feed, telling Ash to head to the Red Zone, located in the dangerous heart of Los Angeles, in order to find a group known as the Street Freaks.
Once in the Red Zone, Ash finds himself swallowed up by this futuristic dystopian mega-city, a world he knows next to nothing about. Luckily, the Street Freaks find him before he can get into too much trouble, inviting him into their circle. They’re a band of adolescent outcasts, including a young woman with super-strength, a boy with more robot than human parts, a synth created to be pleasure bot, and many others. Brought together by the street racing scene, the Freaks also run a vigilante-style operation on the side, and Ash’s photographic memory and near perfect recall are skills that immediately make him an asset. But Ash is also on a personal mission to find answers, like the identity of those responsible for the attack on his home. News of his father’s death also turns his world upside down, though not for a second does Ash believe it was a suicide as reported.
I confess, I’ve not been a big reader of Terry Brooks over the years, despite him being a huge name in fantasy fiction. That said, I know enough about his work to know Street Freaks is a bit of a departure for him, exploring the sci-fi dystopian landscape with a Young Adult bent. However, what I did not expect was how skewed it was towards younger readers, for it does not feel as though it carries much crossover appeal, unlike a lot of Brooks’ other work. While the characters are likeable, they’re still very much the teenagers they’re supposed to be—impulsive, snarky, somewhat hot-headed and volatile and oftentimes immature. For fans of the YA genre who are familiar with the typical YA character shenanigans, I don’t think this will pose much of a problem, but for readers expecting something more serious and hard-hitting, you may find that Street Freaks has little to offer beyond surface-scratching territory.
To its credit though, the book does reads like an action movie, the plot’s lack of depth be damned. The scenes of the street races were almost reminiscent of the podraces of Star Wars complete with roaring crowds and fiery explosions, and I can’t help but think Brooks might have been channeling a little from his time writing the novelization of The Phantom Menace. These types of action sequences, which bordered on blatantly gratuitous, were nonetheless entertaining and provided well-timed bursts of spirit and dynamism in between sections where the narrative attempted at discussing weightier topics, such as the ethics and social consequences of genetically or technologically enhancing humans.
But ultimately, Street Freaks ended up being a rather typical YA sci-fi dystopian—though I don’t want to paint that as too much of a negative. The book is a mystery adventure-thriller, but at its heart also explores important coming-of-age themes such as finding yourself and seeking acceptance. Brooks’ style trends towards being lighter and not too subtle, which worked well in this particular case. However, his tendency to tell-versus-show made the romance (yes, of course there’s a romance arc) feel forced and awkward, and not even listening to this in audio made it any less cringey, though happily, this was probably the worst of my complaints.
Bottom line, I won’t deny I wish Street Freaks had been more. Still, at the same time, it was also pretty much exactly as I expected, so I can’t say I was too disappointed. It’s certainly accessible enough for Terry Brooks fans coming from his fantasy, and to many, the fun and readability might be all that matters.
Audiobook Comments: I make it no secret that I am a huge fan of Simon Vance, who is one of the most talented and versatile audiobook narrators in the industry. However, my first impression was that his voice might have been too mature for this very YA tale, though in the end he managed a fine job of it in any case. A good narrator can sometimes compensate for some weaknesses in the writing, and I felt Vance fleshed out a lot of the characters by bringing them to life with his voice.
Despite being the son of a wealthy renowned bioengineer, Ashton Collins is just your ordinary teenager. In fact, due to his strict and protective upbringing, Ash is probably much more sheltered than the average kid. But when he is ambushed in his home by a squadron of armed invaders, he finds himself on his own and without anyone to turn to. His only lifeline is a panicked message from his father right before the attack cut the feed, telling Ash to head to the Red Zone, located in the dangerous heart of Los Angeles, in order to find a group known as the Street Freaks.
Once in the Red Zone, Ash finds himself swallowed up by this futuristic dystopian mega-city, a world he knows next to nothing about. Luckily, the Street Freaks find him before he can get into too much trouble, inviting him into their circle. They’re a band of adolescent outcasts, including a young woman with super-strength, a boy with more robot than human parts, a synth created to be pleasure bot, and many others. Brought together by the street racing scene, the Freaks also run a vigilante-style operation on the side, and Ash’s photographic memory and near perfect recall are skills that immediately make him an asset. But Ash is also on a personal mission to find answers, like the identity of those responsible for the attack on his home. News of his father’s death also turns his world upside down, though not for a second does Ash believe it was a suicide as reported.
I confess, I’ve not been a big reader of Terry Brooks over the years, despite him being a huge name in fantasy fiction. That said, I know enough about his work to know Street Freaks is a bit of a departure for him, exploring the sci-fi dystopian landscape with a Young Adult bent. However, what I did not expect was how skewed it was towards younger readers, for it does not feel as though it carries much crossover appeal, unlike a lot of Brooks’ other work. While the characters are likeable, they’re still very much the teenagers they’re supposed to be—impulsive, snarky, somewhat hot-headed and volatile and oftentimes immature. For fans of the YA genre who are familiar with the typical YA character shenanigans, I don’t think this will pose much of a problem, but for readers expecting something more serious and hard-hitting, you may find that Street Freaks has little to offer beyond surface-scratching territory.
To its credit though, the book does reads like an action movie, the plot’s lack of depth be damned. The scenes of the street races were almost reminiscent of the podraces of Star Wars complete with roaring crowds and fiery explosions, and I can’t help but think Brooks might have been channeling a little from his time writing the novelization of The Phantom Menace. These types of action sequences, which bordered on blatantly gratuitous, were nonetheless entertaining and provided well-timed bursts of spirit and dynamism in between sections where the narrative attempted at discussing weightier topics, such as the ethics and social consequences of genetically or technologically enhancing humans.
But ultimately, Street Freaks ended up being a rather typical YA sci-fi dystopian—though I don’t want to paint that as too much of a negative. The book is a mystery adventure-thriller, but at its heart also explores important coming-of-age themes such as finding yourself and seeking acceptance. Brooks’ style trends towards being lighter and not too subtle, which worked well in this particular case. However, his tendency to tell-versus-show made the romance (yes, of course there’s a romance arc) feel forced and awkward, and not even listening to this in audio made it any less cringey, though happily, this was probably the worst of my complaints.
Bottom line, I won’t deny I wish Street Freaks had been more. Still, at the same time, it was also pretty much exactly as I expected, so I can’t say I was too disappointed. It’s certainly accessible enough for Terry Brooks fans coming from his fantasy, and to many, the fun and readability might be all that matters.
Audiobook Comments: I make it no secret that I am a huge fan of Simon Vance, who is one of the most talented and versatile audiobook narrators in the industry. However, my first impression was that his voice might have been too mature for this very YA tale, though in the end he managed a fine job of it in any case. A good narrator can sometimes compensate for some weaknesses in the writing, and I felt Vance fleshed out a lot of the characters by bringing them to life with his voice.
October 5, 2018
It was tempting for me to give this book a much higher score because finally, we're getting a Terry Brooks book that actually hooked me in the opening pages. I have a whole shelf full of hardback Shannara books from my days as a devoted Terry Brooks fan, but over the last decade, his work has grown stale. His Shannara series has been whimpering along and the Landover novel he released a few years back... well, the less said about that the better.
So, when I started reading this book and the story started to kick in, the pages turned a bit faster and there was some real momentum here, I was thinking "Finally. This is what I've been missing."
It wasn't to last.
Instead, the promise soon faded into a book of cliches, highly unoriginal elements and a complete lack of character building. Mr Brooks seems to have cobbled this book together from a lot of popular elements in other media and novels, and assembled them into a 'new' story here. The worst part is that they're not even original concepts in the places I first encountered them, they've been used before... in some cases countless times.
It made the book overly predictable to the point where there wasn't a single twist or turn that you don't see coming from the opening chapters.
Then there's the trouble I had finding the target audience for this book. It reads like a YA novel with the way it's written and the characters involved. But, I got a strong 1980s vibe. I can't quite put my finger on why I felt that but I think it might be in the names everyone gave each other and the way they spoke that made me think of how youth culture in the 80s and early 90s was portrayed in TV and film. With names like 'Street Freaks', characters dressed in the Goth look and listening to Metal Head Music, it just felt really out of touch for a modern, young audience.
But above all this, my biggest gripe was the main character. What a useless and pathetic wet sack of nothing he turned out to be. He was a plot device in his own book. He existed for no reason other than to progress the story. He had no real character arc to go on, never showed any sign a personality, and was basically there as a reason for things to happen.
When his romantic storyline reared its ugly head, he soon went from being a nothing character to being detestable, creepy and pathetic.
Overall, this book was a big disappointment. The very last Shannara book had promise of the old Mr Brooks and I hoped that he might be more passionate about a new project and I could get excited again. Never mind.
It's a 2.5 star novel, not awful but not good either, but I just couldn't bring myself to round up to a 3 because I just can't give it that score with everything that was wrong with it. I think that maybe some young people who haven't read much might enjoy this, for everyone else, you might want to give it a miss.
So, when I started reading this book and the story started to kick in, the pages turned a bit faster and there was some real momentum here, I was thinking "Finally. This is what I've been missing."
It wasn't to last.
Instead, the promise soon faded into a book of cliches, highly unoriginal elements and a complete lack of character building. Mr Brooks seems to have cobbled this book together from a lot of popular elements in other media and novels, and assembled them into a 'new' story here. The worst part is that they're not even original concepts in the places I first encountered them, they've been used before... in some cases countless times.
It made the book overly predictable to the point where there wasn't a single twist or turn that you don't see coming from the opening chapters.
Then there's the trouble I had finding the target audience for this book. It reads like a YA novel with the way it's written and the characters involved. But, I got a strong 1980s vibe. I can't quite put my finger on why I felt that but I think it might be in the names everyone gave each other and the way they spoke that made me think of how youth culture in the 80s and early 90s was portrayed in TV and film. With names like 'Street Freaks', characters dressed in the Goth look and listening to Metal Head Music, it just felt really out of touch for a modern, young audience.
But above all this, my biggest gripe was the main character. What a useless and pathetic wet sack of nothing he turned out to be. He was a plot device in his own book. He existed for no reason other than to progress the story. He had no real character arc to go on, never showed any sign a personality, and was basically there as a reason for things to happen.
When his romantic storyline reared its ugly head, he soon went from being a nothing character to being detestable, creepy and pathetic.
Overall, this book was a big disappointment. The very last Shannara book had promise of the old Mr Brooks and I hoped that he might be more passionate about a new project and I could get excited again. Never mind.
It's a 2.5 star novel, not awful but not good either, but I just couldn't bring myself to round up to a 3 because I just can't give it that score with everything that was wrong with it. I think that maybe some young people who haven't read much might enjoy this, for everyone else, you might want to give it a miss.
July 24, 2018
I have never read any of Terry Brooks’s books so I didn’t really have any expectations going in to reading the book. Street Freaks takes place 200 years into the future with a totalitarian world government and big bio tech companies leading the way. The blog starts of with a bang but then I quickly start to notice the writing seems more on par with a young adult book (even though I can’t find anything anywhere that this book is a young adult book). I am not anti young adult books (some of my favortie books are young adult books) but this one had a few things that usually bring a books rating down for me. One is repetition of concepts and ideas. A protagonist that keeps repeating the same thing over and over and over gets tiresome. Another is constantly explaining how the world works. Id rather get dumped into an unknown world and figure it out on my own than constant explaining. And there is a lot of explaining. The book is a quick and easy read and the ending wasn’t what I expected. After having time to think about the ending, I wonder if this is intended to be a stand alone book or there will be a possible sequel? I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 3, 2018
Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to review this.
I bailed on this 52% in. The premise was brilliant. It was like Fast and the Furious with espionage and biogenetics. But I just didn't care enough about the characters to continue. For such a seasoned author as Terry Brooks, they were sappy and 2 dimensional. The main character spent 50% of his time fawning over one of the other characters, and the other 50% worrying about everything else. I really wanted to see these characters bond and have fun, but it turned into a sappy YA novel.
If this were a debut I may have finished and given it a 3🌟 but I do expect more from Terry, so I'm giving it a 2.
I bailed on this 52% in. The premise was brilliant. It was like Fast and the Furious with espionage and biogenetics. But I just didn't care enough about the characters to continue. For such a seasoned author as Terry Brooks, they were sappy and 2 dimensional. The main character spent 50% of his time fawning over one of the other characters, and the other 50% worrying about everything else. I really wanted to see these characters bond and have fun, but it turned into a sappy YA novel.
If this were a debut I may have finished and given it a 3🌟 but I do expect more from Terry, so I'm giving it a 2.
Read
November 19, 2018This is a DNF. I found myself unable to enjoy Brooks’ writing style: too choppy and to much of telling and not showing.
Read
February 18, 2019DNF at pg. 75.
If anybody wants this book message me and I'll send it to you. It's a paperback Uncorrected Proof and I'm not sure where I got it TBH.
If anybody wants this book message me and I'll send it to you. It's a paperback Uncorrected Proof and I'm not sure where I got it TBH.
March 23, 2021
Notes:
Great narration by Simon Vance. The story had interesting concepts but the core plot was dull in comparison to the world setting that was created.
Great narration by Simon Vance. The story had interesting concepts but the core plot was dull in comparison to the world setting that was created.
September 6, 2018
Entertaining look at a possible near future America. Believable characters, if somewhat unlikely with interesting dynamics. Unfortunately the romance angle didn’t ring true for me but it didn’t particularly spoil the story.
September 28, 2018
A GoodReads giveaway win.
This book was NOT for me. It didn't hold my interest.
I would say it's for a younger audience, probably 12 to 15 years olds.
I felt the characters were under developed.
It was repetitious. Some of the action scene and races that were written in, didn't feel necessary.
The ending was predictable.
This book was NOT for me. It didn't hold my interest.
I would say it's for a younger audience, probably 12 to 15 years olds.
I felt the characters were under developed.
It was repetitious. Some of the action scene and races that were written in, didn't feel necessary.
The ending was predictable.
October 21, 2018
Thank you to Net galley and the publisher for providing me with an e copy of this book.
I may be slightly biased as Terry Brooks is one of my favourite authors, but this book was really enjoyable! I live his writing style and the world and characters were well built.
Great little standalone Sci fi!
I may be slightly biased as Terry Brooks is one of my favourite authors, but this book was really enjoyable! I live his writing style and the world and characters were well built.
Great little standalone Sci fi!
October 8, 2018
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I love the author's Shanara series, but this one is set in a different world, a bit futuristic.
For most of the book Ashton was a fish out of water, not really fitting in and doing what others wanted of him. As time went on Ashton realized all he knew was not correct, that his dad may or may not be a good guy, it depends on who you are. By the end of the book Ashton has found his place and figured out somethings about his dad and himself. Ashton's world, while totally changed, leaves him in a good place.
For most of the book Ashton was a fish out of water, not really fitting in and doing what others wanted of him. As time went on Ashton realized all he knew was not correct, that his dad may or may not be a good guy, it depends on who you are. By the end of the book Ashton has found his place and figured out somethings about his dad and himself. Ashton's world, while totally changed, leaves him in a good place.
August 16, 2018
When I first read the title “Street Freaks” I must admit, I giggled like an adolescent schoolboy hearing a dirty word for the very first time. To say that Sci-fi is not my usual cup of tea would be a profound understatement. However, with my first encounter with Terry Brooks I must admit… I was hooked relatively quickly. I could literally smell the jet fuel pouring from the pages as I read each word and if you're not seeing neon chrome in your sleep, you're not reading it right!
Okay but seriously, I've rated this book 3/5 stars. I won't go into great detail as to why, until the book is released in October when I can throw all my notes on here for those curious enough to see how my odd mind works. But for now, just know that it was....
So as you can probably tell, I had my gripes with the story. While the settings and actions are painted masterfully, the main character, Ash, sometimes falls flat. There are moments when he shows flashes of brilliance... and others where he seems to be lacking more than just your average sheltered upper-class teen. To be more specific... not knowing what the term "new-fish" means when you're clearly "new" to an area was slightly frustrating and unbelievable to me. There was also a tendency to overstate the obvious, instead of just relying on his descriptive skills and allowing the reader to gather their own conclusion, we also had the main characters jumping in to tell the reader exactly the same thing. It's the classic old Telling not showing dilemma. It definitely got old, very quickly.
However, I couldn't help but keep reading. Whenever, I felt like I wanted to put the book down and just say "meh," I couldn't. I turned page after page until finally... It was over. I reached the end. I was satisfied. That should speak volumes to the entertainment value of this title.
So should you read it? Well... that depends. Do you like Sci-Fi? Then yeah. Do you like the Anime Akira? Theeeen Yeah.
But if you're looking for a good fantasy style novel, this isn't for you. I would suggest this book for anyone that's trying to slowly transition into the Sci-fi genre without going full Star Wars. Overall, this book was okay and I do look forward to checking out more of Brooks in the SciFi genre.. however, I just won't be going back to this one any time soon.
Okay but seriously, I've rated this book 3/5 stars. I won't go into great detail as to why, until the book is released in October when I can throw all my notes on here for those curious enough to see how my odd mind works. But for now, just know that it was....
So as you can probably tell, I had my gripes with the story. While the settings and actions are painted masterfully, the main character, Ash, sometimes falls flat. There are moments when he shows flashes of brilliance... and others where he seems to be lacking more than just your average sheltered upper-class teen. To be more specific... not knowing what the term "new-fish" means when you're clearly "new" to an area was slightly frustrating and unbelievable to me. There was also a tendency to overstate the obvious, instead of just relying on his descriptive skills and allowing the reader to gather their own conclusion, we also had the main characters jumping in to tell the reader exactly the same thing. It's the classic old Telling not showing dilemma. It definitely got old, very quickly.
However, I couldn't help but keep reading. Whenever, I felt like I wanted to put the book down and just say "meh," I couldn't. I turned page after page until finally... It was over. I reached the end. I was satisfied. That should speak volumes to the entertainment value of this title.
So should you read it? Well... that depends. Do you like Sci-Fi? Then yeah. Do you like the Anime Akira? Theeeen Yeah.
But if you're looking for a good fantasy style novel, this isn't for you. I would suggest this book for anyone that's trying to slowly transition into the Sci-fi genre without going full Star Wars. Overall, this book was okay and I do look forward to checking out more of Brooks in the SciFi genre.. however, I just won't be going back to this one any time soon.
October 23, 2018
Read the full review also on my blog Let's Geek: https://lets-geek.blogspot.com/2018/1...
Street Freaks is an action-packed SciFi adventure, with lots of twists, secrets and thrill.
Total Rating: 8.6/10
Originality: 8/10
Language: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Characters: 10/10
World building: 9/10
Fun: 8/10
Predictability: 8/10
Believable: 8/10
Relevancy: 9/10
Cover: 8/10
Genre: SciFi
For You if you like: Robots, Humanoids, Cars
Time It Took Me To Read: approx. 4.5 hours
“You know what your trouble is?”, she says, pointing the Bryson back the way she had come. There is anger in her voice now. "You want to pigeonhole everyone. You like the idea of a world all nicely ordered and dependable. But that isn't how things are. Peopel are messy and changeable. The world is fluid; the people who inhabit it are chameleons. You want to think of everyone as stable and identifiable, but they aren't."
THE BOOK:
The book starts with a bang: Asthon Collins receives a message from his father to run away, to the dangerous Red Zone, to a place called Street Freaks. Ashton does not know what happened, or what is happening - because suddenly he gets attacked and hunted, and he runs for his life. At Street Freaks, he meets a bunch of teenagers, who are not what they seem, but are able to help. Surrounded by secrets, Ashton slowly unravels why his father send him to this place, and why he is hunted.
Originality: 8/10
Amazing but simple idea that throws you into the action from page one, and doesn't let go until the final page. It is obvious that Terry Brooks, author of this novel, is not new to the craft of storytelling, but knows what he is doing, and how to do it.
Language: 8/10
The language is good - I mean, as said, Terry Brooks knows what he is doing. As often, I did end up finding myself skim-reading in action scenes, because they weren't as fluid and quick as my mind wanted them to be. I am not sure whether this is a good or bad thing yet. At the same time, the language continuously hinted, or actively pointed, to the fact that there was more than the reader, and the main character Ashton, knew. It got annoying after a while.
"He does as she asks. There is a lot going on that he doesn't understand. He is horrified by what has happened but oddly resigned as well. They are all pawns in a much larger game, one that none of them fully understands."
Atmosphere: 9/10
Reading this I felt continuously on the edge - things happen, then things happen, then more things happen. My heartbeat was high throughout the novel. I kind of longed for a breather, partly to avoid a heart attack, but when it came in form of a car race, and I find cars boring, I felt almost like I was left to fall on my face.
Characters: 10/10
Ashton is a teenager who never had trouble before, but suddenly is thrown into a cat and mouse chase, where he doesn't even know why he is hunted, and what his father is hiding from him. He is very naive, and I like how he doesn't immediately turn bad-ass or knows how to handle this situation - he makes mistakes and he gets into trouble. The other characters of interest are the other teenagers in Street Freaks, all with their own story to tell that brought them there. They are all different and unique characters, with their own motivation, desires and strengths and weaknesses.
World building: 9/10
We are in a future world, where we have the Red Zone, equivalent to a Ghetto. We know the existence of different organisations that build advanced medication and humanoids, for which Ashton's father works as well. Without telling us too much about the world beyond those two entities, I felt like the core issue at hand was really well build out. We have unique language, such as the insult "tweener" for humanoids, or the bars or gaming arcades in the Red Zone with their unique clientele and entertainment.
Fun: 8/10
This novel was big on the fun factor - the only reason I deduct points are because the emphasis on cars. If you like cars, add two points to this without a doubt, but the amount of car-talk, street racing and car-pimping was really boring. I did not quite understand why cars became such a central item in the Red Zone.
Predictability: 8/10
This novel had a good 6-7 twists (I got confused while counting, sorry folks!) that some took me by surprise and some were quite obvious, so I deducted one point. I decided to deduct another point, because I got annoyed by the many times characters told Ashton, and the reader, that there is more but they were not ready yet to talk about it. It almost felt like too forced, trying to tell the reader "there is more, but I will not tell you yet", rather than naturally create the setting that yes, we don't know everything yet, but there is an answer to everything, and connections we yet have to learn.
Believable: 8/10
There are a few big question marks when reading this novel. Quite at the beginning, Ashton runs away from, what is equivalent to the police or FBI or something I guess, in this story. How he does it, I still did not quite understand, or believe. Otherwise, many of the "this makes no sense" story lines actually make sense towards the end, such as why the Street Freaks take on Ashton without too much questioning and protect him.
Relevancy: 9/10
What I loved so much about this scifi novel was the existence of the humanoids, abandoned in the Red Zone, and we learn quickly, each one with their own sad story and background. This opened up a lot of questions: What makes humans human? With our advancement in technology and medicine, lab-grown organs, machines instead of legs, this is all in the scope of possibility. So one day we will have, like in this world, humans that are not 100% natural. Are they any different than humans? How should they be treated? How should failed experiments be treated? All very intriguing and very important questions that are important far beyond this novel.
Cover: 8/10
This cover shows actually the first few minutes within the story - Ashton escaping with his rucksack. I love the image - but I almost think showing another scene from the book, such as the inside of Street Freaks, would be much cooler. I really do like the side characters more than Ashton, and I find them really crucial to the story, so I miss them somewhat there.
Total Rating: 8.6/10
Maybe it is a bit late to admit, but this is my first novel by Terry Brooks, even though I of course know his name and the numerous novels he wrote. I just never came around to reading them. But now I definitely will. Street Freaks is an intriguing, non-stop action packed adventure with secrets and complex characters. A must read for sci fi fans.
Read the full review also on my blog Let's Geek: https://lets-geek.blogspot.com/2018/1...
Street Freaks is an action-packed SciFi adventure, with lots of twists, secrets and thrill.
Total Rating: 8.6/10
Originality: 8/10
Language: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Characters: 10/10
World building: 9/10
Fun: 8/10
Predictability: 8/10
Believable: 8/10
Relevancy: 9/10
Cover: 8/10
Genre: SciFi
For You if you like: Robots, Humanoids, Cars
Time It Took Me To Read: approx. 4.5 hours
“You know what your trouble is?”, she says, pointing the Bryson back the way she had come. There is anger in her voice now. "You want to pigeonhole everyone. You like the idea of a world all nicely ordered and dependable. But that isn't how things are. Peopel are messy and changeable. The world is fluid; the people who inhabit it are chameleons. You want to think of everyone as stable and identifiable, but they aren't."
THE BOOK:
The book starts with a bang: Asthon Collins receives a message from his father to run away, to the dangerous Red Zone, to a place called Street Freaks. Ashton does not know what happened, or what is happening - because suddenly he gets attacked and hunted, and he runs for his life. At Street Freaks, he meets a bunch of teenagers, who are not what they seem, but are able to help. Surrounded by secrets, Ashton slowly unravels why his father send him to this place, and why he is hunted.
Originality: 8/10
Amazing but simple idea that throws you into the action from page one, and doesn't let go until the final page. It is obvious that Terry Brooks, author of this novel, is not new to the craft of storytelling, but knows what he is doing, and how to do it.
Language: 8/10
The language is good - I mean, as said, Terry Brooks knows what he is doing. As often, I did end up finding myself skim-reading in action scenes, because they weren't as fluid and quick as my mind wanted them to be. I am not sure whether this is a good or bad thing yet. At the same time, the language continuously hinted, or actively pointed, to the fact that there was more than the reader, and the main character Ashton, knew. It got annoying after a while.
"He does as she asks. There is a lot going on that he doesn't understand. He is horrified by what has happened but oddly resigned as well. They are all pawns in a much larger game, one that none of them fully understands."
Atmosphere: 9/10
Reading this I felt continuously on the edge - things happen, then things happen, then more things happen. My heartbeat was high throughout the novel. I kind of longed for a breather, partly to avoid a heart attack, but when it came in form of a car race, and I find cars boring, I felt almost like I was left to fall on my face.
Characters: 10/10
Ashton is a teenager who never had trouble before, but suddenly is thrown into a cat and mouse chase, where he doesn't even know why he is hunted, and what his father is hiding from him. He is very naive, and I like how he doesn't immediately turn bad-ass or knows how to handle this situation - he makes mistakes and he gets into trouble. The other characters of interest are the other teenagers in Street Freaks, all with their own story to tell that brought them there. They are all different and unique characters, with their own motivation, desires and strengths and weaknesses.
World building: 9/10
We are in a future world, where we have the Red Zone, equivalent to a Ghetto. We know the existence of different organisations that build advanced medication and humanoids, for which Ashton's father works as well. Without telling us too much about the world beyond those two entities, I felt like the core issue at hand was really well build out. We have unique language, such as the insult "tweener" for humanoids, or the bars or gaming arcades in the Red Zone with their unique clientele and entertainment.
Fun: 8/10
This novel was big on the fun factor - the only reason I deduct points are because the emphasis on cars. If you like cars, add two points to this without a doubt, but the amount of car-talk, street racing and car-pimping was really boring. I did not quite understand why cars became such a central item in the Red Zone.
Predictability: 8/10
This novel had a good 6-7 twists (I got confused while counting, sorry folks!) that some took me by surprise and some were quite obvious, so I deducted one point. I decided to deduct another point, because I got annoyed by the many times characters told Ashton, and the reader, that there is more but they were not ready yet to talk about it. It almost felt like too forced, trying to tell the reader "there is more, but I will not tell you yet", rather than naturally create the setting that yes, we don't know everything yet, but there is an answer to everything, and connections we yet have to learn.
Believable: 8/10
There are a few big question marks when reading this novel. Quite at the beginning, Ashton runs away from, what is equivalent to the police or FBI or something I guess, in this story. How he does it, I still did not quite understand, or believe. Otherwise, many of the "this makes no sense" story lines actually make sense towards the end, such as why the Street Freaks take on Ashton without too much questioning and protect him.
Relevancy: 9/10
What I loved so much about this scifi novel was the existence of the humanoids, abandoned in the Red Zone, and we learn quickly, each one with their own sad story and background. This opened up a lot of questions: What makes humans human? With our advancement in technology and medicine, lab-grown organs, machines instead of legs, this is all in the scope of possibility. So one day we will have, like in this world, humans that are not 100% natural. Are they any different than humans? How should they be treated? How should failed experiments be treated? All very intriguing and very important questions that are important far beyond this novel.
Cover: 8/10
This cover shows actually the first few minutes within the story - Ashton escaping with his rucksack. I love the image - but I almost think showing another scene from the book, such as the inside of Street Freaks, would be much cooler. I really do like the side characters more than Ashton, and I find them really crucial to the story, so I miss them somewhat there.
Total Rating: 8.6/10
Maybe it is a bit late to admit, but this is my first novel by Terry Brooks, even though I of course know his name and the numerous novels he wrote. I just never came around to reading them. But now I definitely will. Street Freaks is an intriguing, non-stop action packed adventure with secrets and complex characters. A must read for sci fi fans.
Read the full review also on my blog Let's Geek: https://lets-geek.blogspot.com/2018/1...
September 18, 2023
This was so painful. The choice to write this in third person present tense was a bad one and made the narration feel robotic and bland, for a book that has a fair amount of high-octane moments. Character development was zero, they are all very flat, and the main character Ash was useless except for when his very specific talent was needed to make the plot move forward.
Everything about Ash and his interactions with/thoughts about Cay the “pleasure synth” was cringy and gross and I could not stop thinking about how the author was in his early 70’s when he wrote this book that includes a female sex bot created exclusively to pleasure rich men.
There were lots of weird recaps and info dumps spoken aloud by all the characters, delivered in a very wooden way, and I never felt immersed in the world. You can tell that this was written by someone who hasn’t been a teenager in many many decades but is trying to write teenagers in an imagined future that feels outdated.
And this has more to do with the editor, but this book now holds the title of “Book With The Most Grammatical/Spelling Errors” that I’ve read since I’ve started keeping track for fun. Not necessarily Brooks’ fault, but doesn’t help my impression of the book being a hot mess.
I understand I’m not the target audience, but I wouldn’t recommend it to the target audience anyway, which I assume is boys between 13 and 16 years old or something. I would hate for the takeaway to be “even if a girl says no to being in a relationship with you, keep bothering her about it and eventually she’ll come around and sleep with you”.
I read this for a reading challenge prompt “giving an author a second chance”, and I am validated in my decision to never read another book by Terry Brooks again.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/w0L-m_Rxk7M
Everything about Ash and his interactions with/thoughts about Cay the “pleasure synth” was cringy and gross and I could not stop thinking about how the author was in his early 70’s when he wrote this book that includes a female sex bot created exclusively to pleasure rich men.
There were lots of weird recaps and info dumps spoken aloud by all the characters, delivered in a very wooden way, and I never felt immersed in the world. You can tell that this was written by someone who hasn’t been a teenager in many many decades but is trying to write teenagers in an imagined future that feels outdated.
And this has more to do with the editor, but this book now holds the title of “Book With The Most Grammatical/Spelling Errors” that I’ve read since I’ve started keeping track for fun. Not necessarily Brooks’ fault, but doesn’t help my impression of the book being a hot mess.
I understand I’m not the target audience, but I wouldn’t recommend it to the target audience anyway, which I assume is boys between 13 and 16 years old or something. I would hate for the takeaway to be “even if a girl says no to being in a relationship with you, keep bothering her about it and eventually she’ll come around and sleep with you”.
I read this for a reading challenge prompt “giving an author a second chance”, and I am validated in my decision to never read another book by Terry Brooks again.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/w0L-m_Rxk7M
September 29, 2018
Set 200 years in the future, Ash is a sheltered teen who receives a frantic call from his father telling him to Get. Out. Now!! He manages to escape his apartment just as a swat like team storms in destroying everything in their path. Ash's father tells him to go to the Street Freaks. In a very unsavory part of the City where rules don't really apply, the Street Freaks, a group of modified teens, takes Ash in. Soon after, Ash finds that his father is dead and he has nowhere else to go.
The story starts out with a lot of action that continues throughout the story. Throw in some great street racing, lovable members of Street Freaks, and the gang trying to solve the mystery of who, what, why is going on with Ash and his father, and we have a decent story that kept my attention.
As much as I adore Terry Brooks, his veering off into YA sci-fi was just ok. Although not my favorite of his books (Hello... Shannara!), I WAS connected enough with the characters that I wanted to find out how it ended.
It feels like this book is a standalone although I could see how there could be a sequel. I would definitely be interested to read more about this future world. The sci-fi tech was definitely pretty cool.
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grim Oak Press for the advance copy!*
The story starts out with a lot of action that continues throughout the story. Throw in some great street racing, lovable members of Street Freaks, and the gang trying to solve the mystery of who, what, why is going on with Ash and his father, and we have a decent story that kept my attention.
As much as I adore Terry Brooks, his veering off into YA sci-fi was just ok. Although not my favorite of his books (Hello... Shannara!), I WAS connected enough with the characters that I wanted to find out how it ended.
It feels like this book is a standalone although I could see how there could be a sequel. I would definitely be interested to read more about this future world. The sci-fi tech was definitely pretty cool.
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grim Oak Press for the advance copy!*
February 14, 2020
Read/finished 26 Sept 2018 (★★)
**ARC provided by Grim Oak Press via NetGalley**
Nws my long-time/nostalgic affection & respect for Terry Brooks (hello, Shannara, Word and the Void & Landover), I never would’ve picked up ARC for STREET FREAKS had I known that it was YA. I didn’t recall *any* mention of such on GR at that time; perhaps I didn’t look hard enough?
Anyhoo, this is a ‘me-not-book’ situation. I have nothing against YA; in fact, my friends & I divvy up subgenres so to screen for our legion of youngsters & extended circles (SF is one of mine). So whilst STREET FREAK wasn’t ‘bad’ in objective sense, I’m most definitely *not* target audience. Predominant ‘tweenie boy’ vibes, several ‘Fast and the Furious’-like scenes, and awkward—and IMVHO, obligatory—romantic interest. (FWIW, sought alternate opinion = 2 nephews weren’t overly enthralled.)
**ARC provided by Grim Oak Press via NetGalley**
Nws my long-time/nostalgic affection & respect for Terry Brooks (hello, Shannara, Word and the Void & Landover), I never would’ve picked up ARC for STREET FREAKS had I known that it was YA. I didn’t recall *any* mention of such on GR at that time; perhaps I didn’t look hard enough?
Anyhoo, this is a ‘me-not-book’ situation. I have nothing against YA; in fact, my friends & I divvy up subgenres so to screen for our legion of youngsters & extended circles (SF is one of mine). So whilst STREET FREAK wasn’t ‘bad’ in objective sense, I’m most definitely *not* target audience. Predominant ‘tweenie boy’ vibes, several ‘Fast and the Furious’-like scenes, and awkward—and IMVHO, obligatory—romantic interest. (FWIW, sought alternate opinion = 2 nephews weren’t overly enthralled.)
December 11, 2020
This was kids written by a 70 year old and it showed. I can think of no redeemable qualities in this book. I’m ashamed of myself for having wasted four days in this bland world Brooks created.
Read
October 27, 2018One of the really great changes in literature is how genres are breaking down, merging, and recombining into something hard to categorize. This is advertised as science fiction, but there is actually very little science (either hard of soft). Rather, this seems to be a well written YA story based in the future when humans zip around in transporters, live in high rises to escape the pollution and live very different lives whether they are up top, or down below. Blade Runner investigated this trope more than twnety years ago, and thus it is already well established in our minds and luckily Terry Brooks spends little time building a set of place other than passing references to transportation, cloning, and bionic alteration of children into self-named Street Freaks.
This is an easy read that seems most pointed towards middle schoolers, even though the main characters are teenagers. The story line moves along quickly, the characters are interesting and overall, there is a sense that another book might show up at a later stage. This is, after all Terry Brooks, whose roots in multi-volume epics about quests and elves. But, it is terrific to see someone who is so well established in one area stretch out into something else.
This is an easy read that seems most pointed towards middle schoolers, even though the main characters are teenagers. The story line moves along quickly, the characters are interesting and overall, there is a sense that another book might show up at a later stage. This is, after all Terry Brooks, whose roots in multi-volume epics about quests and elves. But, it is terrific to see someone who is so well established in one area stretch out into something else.
February 18, 2023
Terry Brooks has found a niche in the urban fantasy realm and it seems to be where he really excels.
Street Freaks was like his Armageddon’s Children set in a futuristic Blade Runner type of world. A lot of the elements worked. We get some sci-fi, Y/A, a little bit of Fast and Furious with car races, and just a pretty darn good story. It felt similar in some ways to what I’ve grown so used to with a Terry Brooks book, but it was also rather refreshing, in its own way.
I found myself turning pages wanting to find out what was going to happen next. The element of bioengineering was intriguing and all of the kids at Street Freaks being unique with his or her own interesting quirks and physical differences was kind of neat.
The ending wrap up was fairly predictable but this was a good book. It hit the spot for me wanting a quick fantasy/sci-fi reading escape. I also enjoyed the illustrations in the book.
Solid 3 stars for Street Freaks.
Street Freaks was like his Armageddon’s Children set in a futuristic Blade Runner type of world. A lot of the elements worked. We get some sci-fi, Y/A, a little bit of Fast and Furious with car races, and just a pretty darn good story. It felt similar in some ways to what I’ve grown so used to with a Terry Brooks book, but it was also rather refreshing, in its own way.
I found myself turning pages wanting to find out what was going to happen next. The element of bioengineering was intriguing and all of the kids at Street Freaks being unique with his or her own interesting quirks and physical differences was kind of neat.
The ending wrap up was fairly predictable but this was a good book. It hit the spot for me wanting a quick fantasy/sci-fi reading escape. I also enjoyed the illustrations in the book.
Solid 3 stars for Street Freaks.
October 27, 2020
I was quite jazzed about this book for the first couple of chapters, I thought there was a lot of potential for the world and happenings within it. Unfortunately, things went downhill incredibly quickly.
Basically this is a book aimed squarely at very young boys, my ten-year-old self may have enjoyed it...well, some of it, maybe. But this whole book is so dumbed down I actually felt insulted for the youngsters this thing is aimed at. And don't get me started on the love story side of things because that was simply ridiculous to the point of laughable.
I think I feel more let-down than disappointed with this book. I have fond memories of reading The Word and the Void trilogy twenty plus years ago and was hoping a sci-fi offering by Brooks might give me that same buzz all over again. Alas, it was not to be.
Basically this is a book aimed squarely at very young boys, my ten-year-old self may have enjoyed it...well, some of it, maybe. But this whole book is so dumbed down I actually felt insulted for the youngsters this thing is aimed at. And don't get me started on the love story side of things because that was simply ridiculous to the point of laughable.
I think I feel more let-down than disappointed with this book. I have fond memories of reading The Word and the Void trilogy twenty plus years ago and was hoping a sci-fi offering by Brooks might give me that same buzz all over again. Alas, it was not to be.
November 9, 2018
I can't say I'm surprised by this book because I've been reading Terry Brooks since 6th grade and he's one of the writers I covered in my master's thesis, so I know quite well he's capable of quite a lot, but I will say it's hard not to be impressed with what a great addition this is to the CyberPunk cannon. The characters are so interesting I almost wish we had more time with them, yet the story wraps itself up rather nicely. As Brooks always does, his main character is the most normal of all of them.
October 9, 2020
This was not bad, not great (as the 2-star rating says, it was ok). I must admit it was odd reading Terry write not only SF, but YA. The story itself is not bad, compelling, and does take a bit to get going, but it is satisfactory. However, Brooks, in this one, tells far more than shows. And, the love story (if you can call it that), was just terrible. Am I sad I read it? No. Would I recommend it? To some folks, but it is not his best for sure. Might be my least favorite Brooks to date, but it was still ok, and I am not the true target audience.
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