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Genesis: The Rise of the Governor
The new dystopian thriller from Chris a prequel to the bestselling Tube Riders series.
In 2075, Maxim Cale is a semi-mythical figure, the rarely seen Governor of a transformed Britain. In the countryside, a regressed agri-society fuels the country, while within the walled cities, chaos and disorder reign as people battle daily for their lives. From the wealthy landowners of the farming states to the street kids fighting for survival, however, one thing is a terror of their longtime leader.
His will is iron, his powers legendary, his punishment merciless.
But 130 years before, he was an innocent little boy playing in the Algerian sand. Taken from his family, in the freezing hell of Siberia he became a monster.
And the world would never be the same.
This is his story.
The Tube Riders
Underground
Exile
Revenge
In the Shadow of London
In 2075, Maxim Cale is a semi-mythical figure, the rarely seen Governor of a transformed Britain. In the countryside, a regressed agri-society fuels the country, while within the walled cities, chaos and disorder reign as people battle daily for their lives. From the wealthy landowners of the farming states to the street kids fighting for survival, however, one thing is a terror of their longtime leader.
His will is iron, his powers legendary, his punishment merciless.
But 130 years before, he was an innocent little boy playing in the Algerian sand. Taken from his family, in the freezing hell of Siberia he became a monster.
And the world would never be the same.
This is his story.
The Tube Riders
Underground
Exile
Revenge
In the Shadow of London
- GenresDystopia
485 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 24, 2021
2 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Chris Ward
58 books141 followersChris Ward is the author of The Tube Riders series, the Tales of Crow series, and the forthcoming Endinfinium YA fantasy series.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 6, 2021
This is the prequel to The Tube Rider series and takes place from 1947 Russia to 1968, and an expedition to Serbia for a very secret anomaly. Young children have been kidnapped from all around the world and taken to Siberia, to be experimented upon and tested constantly. Those in charge are very cruel and exacting in their criteria and don’t allow any sign of weakness. They keep the children isolated in small groups, expecting them to tell if someone breaks any rules, they aren’t normally even allowed to speak to each other in their small groups. They are pitted against each other and even left to fit for their very survival. At the time in Russia, most families are struggling to survive and many soldiers have signed back up to help their families by earning a guaranteed wage. Captain Politov is one of these men and hoped he would be stationed near his family in Moscow, but he is specially asked for by Colonel Ivanovich and taken to Serbia! The Colonel forces a quick pace for the other officers and the men when the trucks can go now further, after he insisted they leave straight away, instead of waiting for spring and better weather. The Colonel is a frightening giant of a man with a scar cutting part of his face off from the war. Only the Colonel knows what is hidden under the ground near an old mining site in the middle of nowhere.
Christina was twelve when she was taken whilst walking down the street in Oxford, UK, whilst five year old Massi was taken from an isolated village in Algeria. Massi saw the strange white men in his village and followed them, finding one with a picture of his eight year old brother. He hated being ignored or told he was too young and would always fight his older brother. He sees his chance to take out his brother and thus gains the eye of the Captain. He was an innocent little boy with little education, taken from his home and made into a monster by what happened to him in Siberia. The events made him the man he would become some one hundred and thirty years later, when he would be known as the Governor of a transformed Britain in 2075. Many of the soldiers were driven mad by the voices they heard out in the wilds, with some not being able to sleep or cope, and walking off into the frozen wasteland, never to be seen again. More soldiers and scientists are constantly needed, to keep the staff numbers up and keep control. Massi and Christina are outstanding students, learning at an expedited rate, whilst only close to the entity known as ‘Mother’ by some. Massi is showing talents before even being placed into direct contact with Mother! All of the children are more intelligent, much bigger and stronger than those of their peers back home and are being melded into being the perfect weapons for Russia. This is a project that runs for decades, with the Colonel proving beyond a doubt, just how insane he has become! He has in his control a group of very large attack dogs, also affected by the anomaly, being bigger, stronger and more vicious than any other. He can control them and enjoys allowing them to attack and even feed off people at the camp. The Colonel wants to impregnate all the young girls and women, to give birth to super soldiers, rather than wait for the programme to work or fail!
One of the scientists insists on calling Massi, Maxim, which he hates whilst at the camp in Siberia, but once he is out of there and looking to rescue Christina from the Colonel’s grasp, he uses the name Maxim Cale. The Colonel is not someone that can be defeated easily, becoming an almost immortal figure, with unbeatable powers and a single minded focus. A trail of bodies is left from the camp to Moscow, as the Colonel and Massi track Christina, both wanting her for very different reasons. It changes the young teen Massi, with still some innocence and love in his heart, to a closed off Maxim who murders as easily as he eats. What else happens between his time as a youngster in Russia, to his time as the Governor, is not covered, but the book allows you to see how he was formed into what he later became and why. This is a long and complex read with a lot of violence and disturbing experiments on young children, over a number of decades. A dangerous period after WWII and the start of the Cold War, showing Russia’s worry over the rest of the world, especially the USA. There are a few main characters to follow as the story progresses, but Maxim is the one who takes an important role in the Tube Riders series, which this is an extended prequel for! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Christina was twelve when she was taken whilst walking down the street in Oxford, UK, whilst five year old Massi was taken from an isolated village in Algeria. Massi saw the strange white men in his village and followed them, finding one with a picture of his eight year old brother. He hated being ignored or told he was too young and would always fight his older brother. He sees his chance to take out his brother and thus gains the eye of the Captain. He was an innocent little boy with little education, taken from his home and made into a monster by what happened to him in Siberia. The events made him the man he would become some one hundred and thirty years later, when he would be known as the Governor of a transformed Britain in 2075. Many of the soldiers were driven mad by the voices they heard out in the wilds, with some not being able to sleep or cope, and walking off into the frozen wasteland, never to be seen again. More soldiers and scientists are constantly needed, to keep the staff numbers up and keep control. Massi and Christina are outstanding students, learning at an expedited rate, whilst only close to the entity known as ‘Mother’ by some. Massi is showing talents before even being placed into direct contact with Mother! All of the children are more intelligent, much bigger and stronger than those of their peers back home and are being melded into being the perfect weapons for Russia. This is a project that runs for decades, with the Colonel proving beyond a doubt, just how insane he has become! He has in his control a group of very large attack dogs, also affected by the anomaly, being bigger, stronger and more vicious than any other. He can control them and enjoys allowing them to attack and even feed off people at the camp. The Colonel wants to impregnate all the young girls and women, to give birth to super soldiers, rather than wait for the programme to work or fail!
One of the scientists insists on calling Massi, Maxim, which he hates whilst at the camp in Siberia, but once he is out of there and looking to rescue Christina from the Colonel’s grasp, he uses the name Maxim Cale. The Colonel is not someone that can be defeated easily, becoming an almost immortal figure, with unbeatable powers and a single minded focus. A trail of bodies is left from the camp to Moscow, as the Colonel and Massi track Christina, both wanting her for very different reasons. It changes the young teen Massi, with still some innocence and love in his heart, to a closed off Maxim who murders as easily as he eats. What else happens between his time as a youngster in Russia, to his time as the Governor, is not covered, but the book allows you to see how he was formed into what he later became and why. This is a long and complex read with a lot of violence and disturbing experiments on young children, over a number of decades. A dangerous period after WWII and the start of the Cold War, showing Russia’s worry over the rest of the world, especially the USA. There are a few main characters to follow as the story progresses, but Maxim is the one who takes an important role in the Tube Riders series, which this is an extended prequel for! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
May 25, 2021
This is a fascinating and unusual read, following a character from this series but showing how he changed into the figure that he ended up becoming. It is quite a saga - starting with his childhood and following him for many years, but it kept my interest throughout and was quite riveting.
It isn't a fast read nor a simple one, nor short like many prequels, or character origin stories. However this 'proper book' length story will captivate anyone who knows the rest of the stories in this series, or would make a great series starter if you wanted to follow with the others.
This is book five in the series, but as it is a prequel it can be read quite happily without having read any of the other books.
I would suggest that anyone who has read any of these stories will find their time well spent going through this highly imaginative and absorbing read.
It isn't a fast read nor a simple one, nor short like many prequels, or character origin stories. However this 'proper book' length story will captivate anyone who knows the rest of the stories in this series, or would make a great series starter if you wanted to follow with the others.
This is book five in the series, but as it is a prequel it can be read quite happily without having read any of the other books.
I would suggest that anyone who has read any of these stories will find their time well spent going through this highly imaginative and absorbing read.
May 25, 2021
6☆ Fabulous.
Don't miss this book. Chris Ward totally nailed it this time! I've been anticipating this Tube Riders prequel for a while and it was well worth the wait. It really fills in the background of the series, which I plan on reading again now. It's a great story with strong characters and plenty of drama.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Don't miss this book. Chris Ward totally nailed it this time! I've been anticipating this Tube Riders prequel for a while and it was well worth the wait. It really fills in the background of the series, which I plan on reading again now. It's a great story with strong characters and plenty of drama.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 14, 2021
16 hour read. Do NOT start any later than 6 AM unless you do not mind pulling an all-nighter and can sleep in the next day. This compelling one-hopes-fictional PG15 procedural starts and ends in a Moscow apartment, having made brief stops in Britain and Algeria before the action of building the supreme Soviet weapon begins.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 30, 2021
Although the story is based on a frequently used argument, the way the plot is developed by Chris Ward, with fast-paced action, intrigue, and deceit, provides very good entertainment for the reader. I´m not a huge sci-fi fan, but this book got me hooked, and I´ll be certainly reading the whole series!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
August 2, 2021
The Tube Riders: The Rise of the Governor #1: Genesis by Chris Ward is a fantastic read. This is book number five in this fantastic series that I have been so hooked on since the beginning. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about Sci-Fi and urban fantasy.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 2, 2025
A prequel to the Tube Riders series of books follows the history of the character of the Governor who will eventually become the leader in the U.K.. This book can be read without have read the Tube Riders first but it makes the story more readable when you know what he is going to become. Actually I think it’s time I re read the series.
April 11, 2022
This is prequel to the Tube Rider series even though it is book #5 in release. We are given in this move a background story to what the Governor was from childhood and what occurred that created his world vision as we see it in present time. He was the second son if the family who lived in poverty during the Communist regime in Russia. A special group of soldiers was put in charge of getting subjects from all over the globe to participate in a special experiment in desolate section in Siberia. His parents had made an agreement to let them take their older son but Massi as the governor was called at a child managed to get himself chosen. He had to undergo brutal experiments involving survival of the fittest, until he was submerge into what they called the Mother which was a piece of alien technology. Being submerged willingly did things to him both mentally and physically by enhancing his ability. He was so enhanced that he rivaled the one called the Colonel who had started the project, but he had a better grasp of the connection than the Colonel. As he matured physically he was paired with a female named Christina to help with controlling the rage tendency of his powers. They also manage to conceive a child developing in a successful pregnancy. This child's parentage had to be hide from the Colonel because he had decided that he alone would be the Alpha male of the complex and he had beat up Massi so severely that he looked almost dead but when he was submerged into the Mother she healed him plus gave him directions to the place where she had been taken from.
The rest of the story involves the closure of the facility and the spread out of its inhabitants plus where the Mother was eventually sent, plus Massi's destruction of the Colonel. He is unable to save Christina who dies giving birth to his daughter. The daughter was taken away by the captain who tried in his own way to save the program and the inhabitants. Massi changes his name to Maxin Cale at the end of the novel.
The rest of the story involves the closure of the facility and the spread out of its inhabitants plus where the Mother was eventually sent, plus Massi's destruction of the Colonel. He is unable to save Christina who dies giving birth to his daughter. The daughter was taken away by the captain who tried in his own way to save the program and the inhabitants. Massi changes his name to Maxin Cale at the end of the novel.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews