Rogue Program

by Darrell Bain

Rogue Program is a combination of the novel Savage Survival, which has been re-edited and expanded by an additional 30,000 words and its sequel. Both books in one.Lyda Brightner is the central character. She, along with millions of other humans are captured during an alien invasion and then subjected to a series of horrible environments from which few will survive.A coming of age novel unlike any you've ever read.Those who have read the short version of Savage Survival have been waiting patiently for the sequel and at last it is available.Lyda Brightner grows from a bright, pretty tween into a mature woman who has been tempered in the fire of savage environments from which few emerge alive.In the end, Lyda, along with a few other survivors of the captured humans, finds herself responsible for the future of the whole human race.

670 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

I grew up in an extremely poor family that was dysfunctional in many ways. We lived in the old segregated south, an era many of my readers have no knowledge of. This and a hardscrabble existence as well as an addictive personality gene(s) that apparently runs in our family shaped my life and played a part in me finally realizing a life-long dream and becoming a writer when I was about fifty years old. This autobiography, now in print and ebook both was begun in response to fans wanting to know more about me, and eventually one of my publishers thought it might make an interesting book. Many members from Betty’s side of the family were amazed at all the things they hadn’t known about me. You can judge for yourself now whether my publisher had the right idea of me doing an autobiography. I hope you are both entertained and possibly that some of you will learn a number of life’s lessons that I discovered the hard way!

Reviews

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Bain's best books, in my opinion. I read the original version of this a couple years ago and enjoyed it then, but then he came out with this new, greatly expanded edition (which is really two books in one, to be honest) where he edited, refined, and expanded the original material and then added a sequel.

The first part is just as good or better than the original version. Probably the most gritty and interesting material I've ever seen from Bain. He certainly didn't shy away from anything or make things easy. In fact, I would say it's probably the only book I've read by Bain that is at least reasonably realistic in it's treatment of how people actually act. While he still doesn't really nail it (the fanatical way people follow Lyda, especially in the beginning, and then never, ever betray her or have their own agendas, is still just too blatantly unrealistic for me to get past). Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable read and it kept me hooked, wanting to know what happened next.

The second part of the book (i.e. the sequel that is newly added) feels kind of like playing a God game. What would YOU do if suddenly you were pretty much invincible and had godlike technology and 5000 faithful demi-god minions? Well, this part of the book attempts to answer that. I'm pretty sure that if such a situation were to happen in reality, there would be many more problems and the rest of the world would pretty quickly find their weaknesses, kill them all, and take their toys away. That being said, seeing what they do to fix some of the ills of the modern world is quite viscerally satisfying and I found myself chuckling a few times and wishing that we really could handle some of the world leaders the way the characters in this book do. Or solve financial woes the way they do. It's a fun thought experiment and I loved the answers Bain came up with. Even the main villain actually made me happy for it's one of Bain's more realistic villains and actually gives the main characters some real trouble. By the time they do deal with him, I was quite happy to see the way they did so.

Overall, one of the best books I've read by Darrell Bain and I recommend it for some enjoyable light reading. Most of Bain's books are guilty pleasures for me (I know I shouldn't like them...but I do), and this one was one of the best.