Fragmento

Fragment #1

by Warren Fahy, Fernando Dias Antunes (Translator)

UMA ILHA INEXPLORADA E UMA DESCOBERTA CAPAZ DE RECONFIGURAR O DESTINO DA HUMANIDADE

Seis jovens cientistas aceitam o desafio de um reality show e, entre amizades, amores, intrigas e uma descoberta que tem tanto de fascinante como aterrorizadora, vivem a aventura mais emocionante das suas vidas.
Quando a tripulação e elenco do reality show "Sealife" encontram a inexplorada ilha Henders, no Pacífico Sul, rapidamente percebem que não se trata da Lagoa Azul. Henders desenvolveu-se num total isolamento do resto do mundo, densa e habitada pelas mais exóticas e inimagináveis espécies predadoras. Enquanto os cientistas a bordo do "Sealife" se deslumbram com as descobertas, os políticos decidem se a investigação em curso compensa o risco que as criaturas da ilha podem representar para a Humanidade. É então que, a horas de se concretizar a destruição total da ilha, é descoberta vida inteligente em Henders, diferente de tudo o que alguma vez foi visto na Terra.

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Suspense

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

New York Times best selling author of Fragment and the sequel, Pandemonium, and his just-released thriller of ideas in a high tech future, Magenta. Warren Fahy was previously a manager of a bookstore, wrote essays for royalty attending college, designed Internet movie databases for 5 companies, lead writer on Rock Star Games' Red Dead Revolver, helped coin the word "mullet" as a hairstyle for the Beastie Boys, and wrote comedy for robots in Hong Kong. His debut novel, Fragment, was nominated for an International Thriller Award and a BSFA, and is published in 18 languages. (The final book in the Fragment trilogy, SYMBIONT, is under way.)

FANGORIA on FRAGMENT: "I haven't had this much fun reading a science/adventure thriller since Jurassic Park. For the last half I was frozen in place -- I couldn't move, couldn't talk. I even teared up a couple of times in pure joy. It took hours for the adrenaline to wear off."

JAMES ROLLINS on PANDEMONIUM: "PANDEMONIUM is pure genius, an otherworldly wonder as creative as the best of Jules Verne. Here is riveting scientific speculation paired with bravado storytelling."

Author's website (www.warrenfahy.com)

Reviews

[Thomas Gaffney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this for free through the Goodreads' "First-Reads" book giveaway, but this was not the book for me.

[Jeff Sitko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one requires a bit of explaining on my part. Initially, I wanted to rate this as a 4/5 based on the human element; the characters seem somewhat flat, based on overused archetypes, BUT that being said, they are the ONLY downside to this book.

Otherwise it depicts the most imaginative and innovative tale of man bucking against the unrelenting tide of nature since Jurassic Park. I'm currently reading Pandemonium, Fragment's sequel, and the characters seem better this time (roughly halfway through the book), but the creatures are what rapaciously consume one's imagination. It's an innovative and delightfully thorough concept that readily raises one's hackles through being evolutionarily provocative on a scale as rare as the Henders Island denizens. The creatures are the true stars of this book; the humans are their fodder. For sheer ingenuity and creativity, for providing a glut of fictional creatures that I, as a man of science, can find both believable and biologically tenable, I must give this book 5/5. Well done, Mr. Fahy. I hope to be seeing more, much more. Both on pages and in cinemas.

[11811 (Eleven) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF around 60%. The characters were cardboard and the story seemed like a bad imitation of Michael Crichton. 60% is pretty good considering how much I hated it.

[Michael Fierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now, THIS was a great book.

Basically, a Reality TV series crew embarks on a voyage for their "Scientific" TV show, only to get a distress call coming from the direction of an unexplored island, falling right in line with the hopes of one of its' scientist crew members who's been wanting to explore the island her whole life. Then all hell breaks loose.

Very Jurassic Park influenced minus actual dinosaurs.

It starts out in an older time period like many modern cryptozoological tech-thriller adventures, a fact, of which, I'm most certainly not complaining about. In fact, I love beginnings like this. Then it moves right into modern day.

What at first starts out cheesy, nearly immediately wins you over as it whirlwinds you into the action like a tornado. It pretty much never slows down except for some gripping theoretical discussions that are as outrageous as they are well researched.

But, uh, back to the lecture at hand. People run, people climb, people hide, and people die. And if you think that's a spoiler than you've obviously never read an adventure tech-thriller. Especially one that's giving it's nods to Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg.

We've got characters we root for, and characters we wish would get killed a-million-and-one times over in any horribly likeable fashion possible. And, as can be expected, we've got cool creatures. I'm only going to say that some of them are cooler and more surprising than you can imagine.

I absolutely loved this book. And though I don't see how newcomer Warren Fahy can top this one, I look forward to keeping tabs on any books coming out by him.

Any reviewers that say they didn't like this book must not like having fun or have no imagination whatsoever or even more likely, both.

Ignore them.

Read this as soon as you're ready for a roller coaster ride into a Jurassic Park land of bugs instead of dinosaurs.

*Added note: If you're a book connoisseur like me, get either of the yellow-orange paperback editions with the title in embossed lettering (either orange or pink) with the cool art of a Mantis-looking leg on an ocean backdrop.

*Always try to support books with the better covers & packaging because publishers are getting lazier and spending less money on bringing full quality products to you not only for your reading pleasure but for your book collections too.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I thought this book was a blast. The descriptions of the various species were very interesting and the action was non-stop from the moment they hit the island. A highly entertaining read.

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I glanced through a few reviews of Fragment and had to laugh at all the comparisons to Michael Crichton. Honestly, I was thinking the same thing throughout the book. To me, it was a cross between Michael Crichton and the original Star Trek series.

A ship carrying scientists participating in a reality show discovers an island that is so isolated that it's developed it's own ecosystem unlike anything else anywhere on Earth. Naturally, the US military steps in quickly and takes over the whole research operation. If I'm not mistaken, it seems like everything is descended from some pre-Cambrian shrimp. The scientists are so good that they figure out everything about this alien ecosystem in a matter of days. Of course, there is trouble and lots of people die because everything on the island is both predator and prey, even the "plants". I really enjoyed the cheesiness of the scientists examining the flora and fauna of this island. Not only do they figure out everything on first examination, they also declare their discoveries to each other with exclamation points! Look, this creature has two brains! Look, these creatures are born pregnant! Look, they all eat each other!

Turn by turn, the story grows more and more implausible and events happen too quickly within the story's time line. I can't even tell you how impossibly implausible it gets by the end without completely spoiling it.

Now, this book really isn't awful enough for one star. It's well paced and kept me turning the pages. However, there were a couple of things that almost made me hurl it across the room. Why, oh why, was it necessary to throw in an instant romance in the last 1/4 of the book? That was probably the single most unbelievable and unnecessary element of the story. It just came out of the blue.

I give up. I can't say anymore without having to click the spoiler alert box.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A popcorn, thriller of a book in the vein of the work of Michael Crichton.

The crew of a reality show discovers a long lost island that harbors a unique secret--there are strains of life here that have followed a different path of development. The initial landing party is killed by the various new creatures, but what we see early on is only a hint of what's lurking on the island.

"Fragment" is a hybrid story of "Jurassic Park" and "The Ruins." The story does well enough when talking about the new creatures (and thankfully, Fahy provides illustrations of some of his newly created creatures) and looking at the mystery of the island. Where the book tends to grind to a halt is with one of our two heroes of the story and his storyline in the United States and his academic community before he comes to the island.

If you're looking for a summer time beach thriller where you might learn a thing or two along the way, this may be worth looking into.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Often I go into novels with expectations. If they’re by an author I know and like, or if they came highly recommended from a trusted source, then I might have very high expectations. If they’re something I plucked from the library’s “New Books” shelf, then I’ll be less hesitant. Sometimes, however, I go into a book with few or no expectations. This is not because I am being open-minded; I am a huge literary snob and have the Umberto Eco reviews to prove it. No, when I go into a book without expectations, it’s because I’ve simply forgotten what expectations to have. Fragment is an example of this situation: I learned of the book from an io9 review, shelved it, then promptly forgot about it until I got it at the library last week.

It’s a good thing I had few expectations for this book, because Fragment does not aim high. Warren Fahy attempts to combine a science-fiction thriller with social commentary on the abundance of reality television and popular scientist sound clips—in other words, the shallow, consumer-driven nature of our culture. This is where I’m supposed to say that the combination doesn’t work but each element is fine when considered on its own—that would be a lie. Fragment, considered in whole or in its components, is just a big mess, and while it is probably totally possible to ignore that and enjoy the book, it was not something I was capable of doing.

Fragment is set mostly on Henders Island, named after the captain of a British naval vessel who spotted it while out looking for the HMS Bounty. He didn’t actually land there, which proved to be a good decision, since it turns out Henders is the last extant fragment of a supercontinent that has been isolated from the rest of Earth’s landmasses for millions of years. The bottom line? Evolution has diverged so drastically on Henders that life on that island is just not compatible with life on the rest of the planet. It’s seriously alien, seriously aggressive, and seriously dangerous.

Seriously.

So of course, a bunch of people poke it with a stick, and the sticks turn out to be animals that poke back. Lots of people die, stupid decisions get made, tactical nukes get broken out, and in the end the only people who really win are the good-hearted scientists and the reality television producers (isn’t that always the case?).

I’ll say this for Fahy: he knows how to take the outrageousness and turn it up to eleven. I guess this is what people expect in thrillers? I don’t know. I struggle a lot with evaluating thrillers and thriller-like stories, because on one hand I don’t want to turn into GENRE SNOB HULK and CRUSH THE THRILLERS for often forsaking depth in favour of a formulaic plot structure and rote characterization. On the other hand … well, what I just said. People reject science fiction and fantasy for being “too unrealistic”, but I feel that there is a great deal of science fiction and fantasy where, while the setting might be less realistic, the plot and the behaviour of the character is a lot more realistic and more engaging than most thrillers. But I’m biased—and Fragment does nothing to help in that respect.

Fragment is also science fiction, of course, and that part of the novel isn’t bad. It isn’t great either. If I had a nickel for every review that contains something to the effect of “I love the premise, but …”, then I would … well, I would have a lot of nickels, and I would probably spend most of them hiring small children to put them into those little paper rolls.

But I digress.

Fragment’s outrageous plot also comes with a matching set of outrageous characters. For instance, there is Thatcher Redmond, a completely spineless (not literally spineless, like the inhabitants of Henders Island) scientist who spends all his time thinking about gambling, how he can rape science for money, and the fact that he indirectly caused the death of his love-child. He is not a nice dude, and indeed, Fahy doesn’t seem to include any redeeming qualities about him. Not once does he even stop to consider if he is doing the wrong thing.

On the opposite end of the scale we have Nell and George. Suffice it to say, they hook up at the end of the book, in a rather awkward way that would be charming if it weren’t so bizarrely out of place. They meet for the first time ever on September 16, and the story ends on the morning of September 18, by which time they have progressed from that awkward, “Wait, your last name is Duckworth?” “What of it, Dr. Bingswanger?” phase to that equally awkward “Let’s kiss while the entire world is watching it as a live feed” phase. Everything about their relationship is trite and contrived, and it feels so inevitable yet forced that this alone is enough to make me dislike the book. Excising this wouldn’t necessarily save it, in my eyes, but at least I could point to it and say, “See? The protagonists don’t have hook up after enduring mortal peril! Fahy defied the genre!!” I can’t do that now.

Fragment does attempt to let slip the surly bonds of thrillerdom and touch the face of satire with its portrayal of reality television. The modern-day ship that stumbles across Henders Island and sets off this entire adventure is the Trident, playing host to a bunch of real-life scientists as part of a reality television show. With its ratings in trouble, a visit to an uncharted island seems like the perfect boost—all the more so when some of the scientists get killed by the indigenous wildlife. But then suddenly the military intervenes and the government shuts down your broadcast, and then what do you do? More re-runs of that awful Crystal Skull documentary, I suppose. (Can’t you at least play Mythbusters?)

Unfortunately, Fahy’s critique of reality television never seems to progress beyond the stage of a shallow portrayal of rabid producers and network executives. Cynthia, much like Thatcher Redmond or George and Nell, is herself a fairly two-dimensional character. The book is very explicit in establishing that she wants all her pet scientists to get involved on television and that she wants drama! and will do almost anything to get it. Aside from a few tentative mentions of pressures on Cynthia to perform despite her stellar track record, we never really get to see much more into her character—and she is essentially our only window on this reality television angle. I think this is a shame, because this is by far Fragment’s most original and intriguing feature. I suspect it is probably what made me want to read it in the first place, and for the most part it feels like a squandered opportunity.

I re-read that io9 review and see where the warning bells should have sounded in my head. This is what happens when books languish upon one’s to-read shelf for two years before one gets around to reading them! I don’t want to be too hard on Fragment, because I have read much worse books. It has a fairly coherent story and a well-defined conflict. The science-fictional part of the premise is stunning, and the reality TV angle is also a cool, albeit underdeveloped, addition. So there’s plenty to tolerate or even like about Fragment depending on where your preferences lie. However, it was frustrating for me to read a book like this, because I had the constant sense it was something that could have been so much more. See, I lied at the beginning of the review. I never go into a book tabula rasa, with no expectations. I always have the highest expectations for my literature, whatever it is. I can see how that might be perceived as a mistake or as additional evidence of my snobbery (but seriously, why would you need that when you already know I read Umberto Eco?). I prefer to think of it, however, as not forcing a book into a more condescending niche because it’s “just” an example of a certain genre. Every book has the potential to be something more—and some books, like Fragment, don’t quite meet that potential.

[Clara Mun · Rating 4 out of 5]

CF novedoso, con base en los procesos evolutivos, en cómo llegan a formarse los sistemas de supervivencia o de convivencia de criaturas con diferente química a la nuestra. Me gustó mucho. Tiene un poco de humanización de lo diferente, eso se acerca más al pensamiento mágico, pero aún así la historia funciona muy bien.

[☼Bookish in Virginia☼ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun romp of a book if you are looking for an effortless beach read. It's Crichton-esque (although the descriptive tech parts aren't quite as well done) and reminiscent of Jurassic Park cum Mysterious Island, in that there's an isolated island where vicious critters have taken a different evolutionary path.

Overall, the concept is clever and the critters, for which there are even drawings at the back of the book, are fascinating and described in a convincing fashion. The pacing is exactly right for a beach read and the plot drives forward at a furious pace.

Where the book falters is where most first books stumble-- with character development (none) and the use of literary cliches. I recognized all of the character-types, and found some of the plot surprises not all that surprising, but that in itself shouldn't put you off if your in the mood for a fast paced adventure that doesn't tax the mind too much.

A good first effort. I'd certainly look at the next Fahy book, if only to see what his imagination has come up with next. As for this book, you might just as well wait for the movie. There will be a movie, won't there?

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only reason I finished this book at all was because I am a cheap person and, as such, I felt that not finishing it would be like throwing 8 one dollar bills in an ash tray and setting them ablaze.

Do you remember (or maybe you were) that kid in high school who felt like science papers were too dull and wanted to throw in random monsters/dinosaurs/zombies, etc to spice things up (or to annoy the teacher)? Yeah, that is what this book felt like to me. A science paper, well-researched but forced and very dry (except for the random acts of complete carnage, of course). And normally, I am willing to see romance between just about any two characters, yet the main couple in this book felt like they were thrown together by the writer because, if you'll pardon the phrase, they were the last two people on the island. The fact that almost none of the characters (including the aforementioned couple) were even vaguely interesting was the killing blow.

In conclusion: Nothing flowed. Everything was forced. This book? Destined for the next book fair I find (and Lord help the poor person who buys it).

[SueSue · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much wrong with this book, I don't even know where to begin.
But let's start with zero - ZERO - character development. No, I take that back. There's just enough to make these people annoying. All we learn of the protagonist is that she has a baseball cap and a dead mother - there is no conflict for her and no character arc.
The suspension of disbelief was stretched far beyond what anyone with even the most basic understanding of ecology could handle.
One scene near the end between the protagonist and her love interest (who was more of a caricature than a character) was so ridiculously and childishly contrived I could barely believe I was reading it right.
That's the bad news. The good news is that MOST of the writing had a nice flow to it. I think the author has some real talent, but is in need of a good writing workshop and a decent editor. There's potential there, especially when compared to most of the crap out there in this genre.
Sorry if that all sounds harsh, but I bought this as a summer vacation read and really wanted to like it - to get lost in those 500 pages. Disappointed big time.

[SheriC · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started out well, with an interesting mock essay on the historic cycle of new species introduced into an environment that can take over, decimate the existing flora or fauna, and change that environment forever. Then we're given a delicious little episode of a ship's crew being attacked by some mysterious monster on a remote island. Then... ugh. It appears that the whole story is going to be set with a ship full of reality show scientists and crew, who are obviously destined to explore the monster island. The momentum comes to a full stop when the narrative suddenly becomes more interested in describing every new character in full reality show terms - their appearance and clothing in excruciating detail, their Personality Type.

Sorry, can't do it. Even the anticipation of getting to see at least some of them eaten by monsters won't keep me reading. DNF at 5%, after 36 minutes of audio.

I attempted to read this for 2018 Halloween Bingo, for either the Modern Masters of Horror square or the Genre: Horror square, but I have other backup books that I will read for those instead.

[D Dyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book but would offer some caveats and cautions before encouraging someone else to read it. This book is sold as the next Jurassic Park and there are definitely some very clear parallels to that novel but if you open this book expecting an updated version of that one you’ll be disappointed. This book, which opens with Nell, botanist on a reality show looking to explore an as yet unexplored island and her crew mates on the sea life stumbling onto Henders Island and finding a version of what might happen if evolution had taken a very different path for the planet, and we follow as she first tries to understand and then tries to escape that island. I hesitate to call the creatures she encounters monsters, they’re just creatures living the lives they’ve evolved to and we are just unprepared for them. But watching as they mercilessly slaughter one human visitor to Henders after another is terrifying.
But, this book is not all action. In fact it is mostly science and set up, and considering the world we are introduced to I actually appreciated that. It served to make a world which might have otherwise felt entirely too unbelievable one I could envision.
But the book also has some indisputable flaws. The character list is long and while a couple are well-rounded many are extremely two-dimensional. The introduction of Dr. Thatcher Redmond was a subplot I felt was completely unnecessary. And characters like the obsessive director Cynthea were single note enough that it took away from some of the impact of the novel.
Finally, I want to make a quick note about the romantic subplot. It is an almost obligatory and very small part of the larger story but one I really appreciated if only for the fact that the author didn’t resort to exhausted gender stereotypes. Both of the participants are a bit inexperienced and awkward and neither is suddenly cast as an action or romance hero stereotype.

[Emms-hiatus(ish) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that escalated quickly!

Very fast paced and action packed. I thought it was a fun, gory, and imaginative. Considering that this is a first novel by this author, I'm bumping it up 1/2 star from 3.5 to a solid 4 and will be reading the second novel in this series.

[Ariberna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acabado . Aunque mi género no fue, es ni será la ciendia ficción, reconoceré que el libro me ha enganchado.
¡Bienvenidos Henderianos!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won this book in the Goodreads Giveaway.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The premise is what orignally caught my attention: A reality show plans to shoot a scientific exploration of an unexplored island. Unbeknownst to them, it contains an entire exosystem that is alien to ours.


- Numerous scientists, camera/production crew, and military characters with names like Zero, Ham Pound, Thatcher, Gyn, and Nell. Check!
- Dry, straightfoward scientific explanations dumbed down for the not-so-scientific reader. Check!
- Freaky hybrid forms of life that eat rather than be eaten. Check!
- Blood and gore scenes that make you physically cringe as you read but force you to continue reading because it's just too darn good to stop. Check!
- Interesting twists and turns that you can sometimes detect coming and that sometimes pleasantly, or not so pleasantly, surprise. Check!

This book goes from sci-fi to campy-B-movie with a little love and rockets mixed in. Deliciously bad but in a good way that leaves you wanting more.

I couldn't give it the 5th star for a couple reasons.

1-Some poor editing. Towards the end of the book, there is a paragraph that just does not make any sense at all. Almost as if the author began to write it and lost his train of thought. Some missing words or wrong words, but not so horribly wrong that you couldn't follow the flow.
2-Some really super dry explainations. Nothing that turned me off or made me want to stop reading, and most of it was for a future set up later in the book.

Overall, I was very happy to have had the opportunity to receive a copy of this novel, and hope that those of you who love a little sci-fi, super-hybrid, chew-em-up-and-spit-em-out campy monster stories will check this one out!!

[Tarl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thankfully I DIDN'T buy the hardcover...
Unimaginable and cookie cutter antagonists, enough science to choke the reader to death under pages of description, and an unimaginative ending couple to make this book the worst book I read in the last year. The premise is interesting, hell, it's unique, but half the book itself is scientific descriptions of the creatures on Hender's Island, and even at points where there is tense situations, the author spends a large amount of time explaining how the creature is moving, how it looks, etc which kills all the tension he had just spent the last section building. And the Christian, young soldier who goes all stereotypical, plus the Doctor with no redemable qualities...yes, THOSE are definately well thought out antagonists. Please, what happened to actually putting a thing called effort into coming up with those that oppose your likable heroes. And that's the one thing that Fahy did well, he created very likable 'good guys' for this story, like Nell. All in all, I highly DON'T recommend picking this book up. Save your time and imagination for something that is actually enjoyable.

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

I added this to my wish list a long time ago and after rereading the sample decided to buy

There really aren't enough categories to classify this book and the sample really doesn't give you a lot of information.

Basically there are a bunch of scientists filming a reality show about a trimaran going to remote pacific locations when a storm blows them off course they end up at a mysterious island. (that's the sample synopsis)
I assumed we were going to have a bunch of tediousness with a little bit of mystery
Well no. This book takes off like a rocket with monsters, mayhem and disaster around every corner.
we do take a few detours to meet some late arriving characters but we will quickly return to the nightmare that is the island.

I definitely enjoyed its fantastical premise and found the book a fun read.

[Twobusy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember back when Michael Crichton was cranking out blockbuster-movie-plots-disguised-as-novels and every review was pretty much the same? The details varied from plot to plot, but almost without exception you'd read a review and learn that he'd put together a book with a propulsive plot, a bunch of surprises and thrills, lots of technical and/or scientific detail to show off all the research he did, and little doubt that the characters and dialogue were anything more than paper-thin. Well, Crichton is gone — but with Fragment, Warren Fahy makes a solid attempt to recreate the Crichton model... for better and for worse.

The novel is basically built around the same initial concept as King Kong: a tiny, remote island out in the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific is discovered — and is quickly found to be inhabited by all kinds of fascinating monsters. Boatloads of energetic scenes of people getting shredded by the aforementioned monsters inevitably ensues. Fahy's Crichton-esque take is to cast this island and its bizarre inhabitants as an ultraviolent evolutionary offshoot, where billions of years of isolation have resulted in the creation of all kinds of horrifying and efficiently bloodthirsty inhabitants, including (most memorably) the spiger, which basically looks like a 15-foot long hybrid of a spider and a tiger (it even has orange stripes).

The plot, as it were, follows the discovery and exploration of the island, as well as the inevitable "what do we do with it, because if any of these things gets off the island it will destroy the rest of the world" discussions that lead a lengthy countdown sequence where a bunch of scientists try to get off the island before the military does what the military is built to do. But really, the plot exists only as a vehicle for Fahy to discuss (in lengthy but actually quite interesting detail) all kinds of creative evolutionary theories, and to explore how these theories might result in colorful monsters who gnash their terrible teeth, roll their terrible eyes, and kill everything in sight. That's the best part of the book. The worst? The characters, who are substantially thinner than even Crichton's paper constructs — especially one scientist whose mustache-twirling bad-guyness is expressed not only in his devious nature and willingness to sacrifice everything in the pursuit of his own success, but in the completely offhanded way he kills a kid. Yeah, that's right: kills a kid. Nonchalantly. I honestly had to go back and re-read that section to make sure I'd understood it correctly.

So what do we end up with? A beach or airplane read that does a reasonable approximation of the Crichton thing. If Fahy can figure out how to write dialogue and develop characters half as effectively as he can talk about scientific theory, he might actually evolve (see what I did there?) into a writer to be reckoned with. And if not? Well, there are worse ways to kill a few hours on an airplane.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remote, tiny island in the Pacific teems with unique, aggressive species. But they aren’t dinosaurs from The Land that Time Forgot ; they are distant relatives of mantis shrimp that evolved on a separate track from the rest of the earth in Fragment , a 2009 eco-thriller that is more plausible than a living dinosaur book. The new species are first discovered by the crew of a reality show called “SeaLife.” The U.S. Navy takes over because of the risk that the dangerous species could leave the island and destroy continental ecosystems, or hostile regimes could exploit the island to develop biological weapons.

Some reviewers have been critical of the “pseudo-science” in Fragment . But ask yourself, is the science in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein believable? How about Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World? Or Michael Crichton’s Congo? Those books all stretch science as it was understood in the era of the authors to create a compelling story.

Fragment isn’t in the same league as those classic tales of scientific exploration, but it is an exciting, contemporary story. The setting of the book, “Henders Island,” is an imaginative place. The best element of the book is the characters’ struggle to survive in the ominous setting. Thatcher Redmond, the villain of the book, is fun to hate, and his imperious voice was the highlight Robin Atkin Downes’s narration in the audiobook version.

The U.S. government has several possible ways to deal with the threat of the aggressive species on Henders Island. Without spoiling the ending, I will just say that I was not a fan of the solution. That is my number one complaint about the book, but it made for good drama.

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book? This was a fun book. It was chock-full of scientific discussion about evolution, environmentalism, biology, and ecosystems, but since I've always had a hidden core of inept science nerd, that's okay by me. What I didn't understand still sounded plausible, and appealed to the part of me that researched DNA sequencing in high school. I understood enough to get the point, though, and as a result believed in the characters more.

Speaking of characters: most of them are fodder for violent creature attacks! Hooray! Not much character development for many, but plenty of new, creative, and horrifying ways to die at the hands of an alien species. (Dissolved alive, anyone?) For those characters who are lucky enough to survive more than a few pages, there's still not a whole heaping lot of character development. But I liked Nell and Geoffrey and Andy, and whoo-boy did I hate Thatcher. (You need a good villain in a piece like this so you can wait breathlessly for his bad end.)

But characters are not really the point in a book like this. The point is to imagine the possibility of new and frightening life forms who are capable of biting you in half and leaving the rest of you for the horribly creepy disc-ants. It's like one of those beloved-but-kind-of-horrible scary movies. You get to feel the fear while also yelling at the too-stupid-to-live characters on screen and speculating who will keep their head. Literally.

In short, if you feel the need to analyze your book and discuss things like foreshadowing, and character motivation, and story arc, then I don't know why you would even bother. Seriously. Just enjoy the creepy monsters and move on, people. Have some fun.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

El argumento no es nuevo: una cadena televisiva, que ya no sabe como aumentar su audiencia, inventa un reality show que tiene lugar en un barco, con científicos, actores y tripulación, que se dedican a visitar lugares paradisíacos por todo el mundo, montar fiestas y liarse entre ellos; hasta que dan con una isla perdida en el Pacífico, de nombre Henders; una pequeña isla misteriosa donde la evolución de las especies ha seguido otro camino; por supuesto, los protagonistas no tardarán en saber dónde se han metido, encontrándose con especies que parecen salidas de una pesadilla. Como puede verse, todo esto ya lo pudimos leer en ‘Parque Jurásico’ de Michael Crichton, al que Warren Fahy recuerda en los agradecimientos, siendo la de Crichton una novela muchísimo mejor.

La primera parte de ’Henders’ está llena de aventuras y disertaciones científicas bastante interesantes: reflexiones del papel que ocupa el ser humano en el planeta, o el choque ante un ecosistema que nos es totalmente ajeno. Sin abundar en excesivos tecnicismos, el autor sabe hacer llegar su historia sin hacerse pesado. Las escenas de acción, truculentas en ciertos momentos, son rápidas. Eso sí, los estereotipos están muy presentes, como esos militares de mente obtusa ante lo que no pueden comprender, o ese científico trepa y egocéntrico, que ya sabemos todos desde el principio cómo va a acabar. Pero la segunda parte del libro no me ha gustado nada, con la aparición por sorpresa de cierta especie, que da un giro demasiado moralizante a la trama.

’Henders’ es lo que buscaba tras un Pynchon exigente, una lectura desengrasante y ligera. A sabiendas de lo que me iba a encontrar, esperaba más del libro.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

With sagging ratings, the ocean exploration reality show SeaLife desperately needs a boost before the network cuts their one-year voyage short. What could be better than answering a distress call on a mysterious island? Surrounded by a 700 ft cliff wall, Henders Island is largely inaccessible and its distance from the shipping lanes means very few seafarers have even seen it. But when a live broadcast of the landing shows the cast of the SeaLife eaten alive by the island’s flora and fauna, the show is condemned as a hoax.

Fortunately for readers, Henders Island is not a hoax. The two-mile wide island contains an ecosystem which has been isolated for hundreds of millions of years – with the resulting evolutionary divergence creating life which might as well be alien. Fearing that Henders Island might be weaponized, the president blockades the island and calls on an elite science team to explore it.

What follows is a combination of scientific exploration and adventure which reads more like a missing Michael Crichton book than a debut novel. Warren Fahy handles scientific debate and thrilling chase sequences equally well, while giving us a cast of interesting characters. His greatest accomplishment, though, is bringing fresh ideas to a concept which stretches back to Jules Verne.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book quite a bit. Fahy has created a dangerous world every bit as dense and full as Cameron's Pandora, minus any happy tree environmental saving grace. This is a world of creatures that would likely devour any other world, imaginary or real, were it to escape that small rock called Henders Island. The creatures were surprisingly well conceived and illustrated, and the ecology was finely tuned and enthralling. There were a few sections later in the novel that stretched even a forgiving sense of fictional probability, and which pressed the cuteness and goofy humor buttons a little too hard. Perhaps the author felt there needed to be a little levity, in light of the impending doom of the rest of the novel. Even so, it was a fun read and well worth one's time.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of scientists from a reality TV show discover a remote island in the South Pacific. New species have evolved there that may as well be aliens. The inhabitants are very powerful and deadly, and the scientists have to decide what to do with their discovery of the island and the creatures.

This was a blast to read, based on real science not pseudo-science, so it makes the plot more plausible. It's a perfect entertaining summer read.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great creatures. I can't wait to see how they look on the big-screen!

You can't read this book without picturing it as a movie in your mind. The descriptions are awesome (and they don't go on forever and ever - like some authors), the characters are great, the story is immersive...

Just go read this book.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see a lot of reviewers complaining about lack of character development, but you don't read a book like this for characters. Most of them are red shirts anyway. You read a book like this because you want the literary equivalent of a drive-in monster movie, and this book delivers monsters in abundance.

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love creature features and I was hoping that this would be a good one. I was disappointed in this, I found it to be horribly over the top and borderline silly. I did manage to finish this one but cannot find much to say that I liked about it.

[Leigh Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book by accident. Hadn't heard of the title or the author, but boy, am I glad I found it!

Billing itself as Jurassic Park meets The Ruins, it seemed like Fragment was setting an impossibly high bar for itself, but after reading, and LOVING every moment, I can safely say that it smashed my expectations to pieces.

I won't bore you with the synopsis because it's readily available, but I will say that once the action gets going, which is pretty early on, the authors foot stays firmly planted on the throttle. Amazingly well researched, oddly informative, and unafraid to sacrifice characters to all the terrors that reside on Henders Island, Fragment was an absolute joy to read. I blasted through, and during a brief stop to google the author, I discovered that there's a sequel. I spent a small fortune to get my hands on it as soon as possible and cannot wait to dive in!

I HIGHLY recommend this one!