Revolution

2099 #4

by John Peel

From the depths of the Underworld to the ultra-secure prison on Ice, chaos, suffering, and evil are spreading, and Tristan Connor knows that no one can stop the revolution--they can only hope to survive

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

About the author

John Peel is the author of Doctor Who books and comic strips. Notably, he wrote the first original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, to launch the Virgin New Adventures line. In the early 1990s he was commissioned by Target Books to write novelisations of several key Terry Nation Dalek stories of the 1960s after the rights were finally worked out. He later wrote several more original Daleks novels.

He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).

Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..

Reviews

[Joe Kessler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This middle-grade sci-fi series stalls out a bit here, though I'm hoping the final two volumes are able to recapture the original momentum and fun. (It's been a quarter-century since my last read, so none of this is particularly clear in my memory.) The subplot with the heavy-handed riot police on Mars is probably the most interesting, which is a problem when that corner of the narrative remains so disconnected from everything else. Otherwise the characters mostly spend this installment regrouping and making plans for the future, which isn't the most entertaining sort of fiction.

Still, it's a quick enough book overall, and I'm picking up on some likely Babylon 5 influences that obviously went over my head as a kid, so that's neat to see. But proto-Orphan Black continues to be the primary vibe, which leaves me hopeful that we'll get more scenes of the clones interacting with each other soon.

Side note: no idea what's happening with the cover here, since the story is about three 14-year-old boys with genius programming skills, not an army of flying soldiers. I suspect the artist wasn't given much of a summary to work with.

[Content warning for gun violence, torture, and eugenics.]

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[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to re-read it, but I remember thoroughly enjoying this series.

[Andrew Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

yeeeaaaa