I’m not even really sure where to begin with this review. I, along with 6,000 of Sigler’s closest friends, let Scott Sigler pull me around like fish on on an angler’s line for 20 some-odd weeks as he released this fast-paced, bloody mosh-pit of a book in audio form, one chapter at a time.
So yeah, I wanted to kill him on a weekly basis. But back to the story.
Earthcore is a tale of corporate greed, personal gain and intergalactic genocide– all gone horribly wrong. Most of the action takes place miles beneath the surface, as a rag-tag group of miners, scientists, executives and henchmen try and survive a terror the modern world has never seen while making their way to the surface. But the surface holds little hope of salvation, as a psychotic ex-CIA agent plots against the survivors to further her own once-ruined career.
Bad things happen to bad people in this book. Then they happen some more. Very. Bad. Things. Things that make you wonder just what sort of childhood the author must have lived through. No way I’m going caving with him anytime soon. Or letting him near knives in my presence.
But don’t think it’s all blood and gore filling up the pages like some porn-plotted slasher film. Yes, it’s very plot-driven, but Scott gives plenty of time to character development. Many (but not all) of the starting scumbags turn out to be pretty decent human beings when they get in the thick of it, and you really start to care about those you didn’t think you could have. And then Scott kills them. In very bad ways.
Those of you who think the proper response to facing your worst nightmare (and he’s got a knife) is “Oh golly!”… you might wanna skip this one. Scott uses some rather colorful language in the book. Liberally. Scott drops unique curse combinations like a greenskeeper seeding a brand new golf course. You’ll want to repent just for reading some of this stuff.
But don’t take my word for it. Listen to it for free, one chapter at at time just like I did, at Podiobooks.com. And when you get totally frustrated and just WANT IT ALL DAMMIT, buy a copy of the print book online and avoid my pain.
Earthcore by Scott Sigler
Published by: Dragon Moon Press (November 2005)
ISBN: 1896944329
Genre: Scifi Thriller
Great review. I thought I’d be sly and wait until most of the book was out there before listening. Little did I know that I’d spend pretty much every waking moment listening to the damn book and still found myself waiting painfully during the crucial last several weeks!
I haven’t started Ancestor yet. How long do you think I should wait for that one??
I started listening to Ancestor when he started releasing it. But, like you, I want to listen all in one great chunk. So, I stopped listening and my plan is to wait until he’s down to somewhere in the last 5 episodes before starting to listen. Scott is brilliant and I really enjoy listening to his ‘casts.