EXTINCTION GAME by Gary Gibson
Published on 11th September 2014
Available from Amazon
Jerry Beche is the last man on Earth. After the cult Red Harvest wiped out the human race with their deadly virus, Jerry has roamed the Earth, trying his best to survive. Just as he is about to give up on a hopeless life of being the last person alive, he’s captured by a group known as The Authority – he isn’t alone after all. He’s put to work to retrieve weapons and data with a crack team of specialists known as Pathfinders, who each survived a violent ending of their own alternate Earth. With a lack of answers to his questions, Jerry questions the truth about his newfound employer and whether his fellow Pathfinders can be trusted.
From author Gary Gibson, EXTINCTION GAME is a post-apocalyptic survival sci-fi novel that will whisk you on life-endangering adventures with the lead character, Jerry Beche. The book is told in first person from Jerry’s perspective and whilst it takes a little while to get going, you’ll soon find yourself unable to tear yourself away from the pages in a fight for your life.
The book embraces the science fiction aspect and delves into alternate Earths where frightening existences dwell, both natural and the not-so-human. When Jerry goes on these missions, it’s clear to imagine the world described by the author to the point where you become Jerry, if not an onlooking part of the team. Like watching a movie unfold, the book draws the reader in as a simple mission turns into a nightmare as quickly as a click of the fingers. The adrenaline-pumping panic of the characters jumps from the pages, with the urgency and hectic fight for survival delivered in what feels like real-time. Gibson certainly does a good job in putting you in that time and place with Jerry and almost leaves the reader breathless themselves.
Relationships play a big part in the book too. Coming from a land without anyone to talk to, finding a life with fellow humans is first overwhelming but something which Jerry grows used to. Relationships are forged with Jerry’s fellow humans, from Nadia, his Pathfinder team leade,r to Commander Mort Bramnik, who’s in charge of the island they inhabit. Jerry meets a variety of personalities, some who he grows close to and others he avoids like the plague but not really knowing any of them leaves him with an unsavoury taste in his mouth as he works out who he can and can’t trust in his new world.
When reading the book, I really enjoyed travelling to the alternate Earths and would have loved for more of these alternates to have been explored. I think the story could have benefitted from being a tad longer but I believe Extinction Game has been published as the first novel in a planned series of books. If this is certainly the case, then colour me excited as there’s so much potential in the new worlds and technology Gibson has created in this book.
With lots of likable characters within the book, each with their own personality, along with the potential for more missions and alternates, Extinction Game feels as though its dipping its toe in water which I’d very much like to dive into. With a bit more fleshing out, I could easily see this novel adapted into a movie with the earth-shattering visuals of the alternate being the star attraction.
If you like not-too-heavy sci-fi and adventure, and the prospect of post-apocalyptic worlds pique your interest, then Gary Gibson’s Extinction Game is one to check out!
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