The Dragon Factory
By Jonathan Maberry
Awesome! Fantastic! And every other word or phrase that goes along with those sentiments. Maberry knows how to write a thriller.
The Dragon Factory is the second in the Joe Ledger series. The first book, Patient Zero dealt with viral engineered zombies. This second novel deals with genetically engineered animals and humans. Here’s a brief synopsis:
Joe Ledger has joined the DMS (Department of Military Sciences) team full time, and together they have been out saving the world unbeknownst to the general public. Now, there is a new threat that must be eliminated, all while certain people in the government are trying to bring the DMS down. Joe, his team of specially trained soldiers, and all the other
members of the DMS will have to go against the NSA, the Russian mafia, Nazi’s, a mad scientist, and creatures no one could have imagined, in order to stop a clock that is counting down to the time when life as we know it would be changed forever.
Dragon Factory is well crafted and planned out. The chapters are broken up into a juxtaposed time line. If the reader pays attention to it they will see that there are times when multiple events are happening at the same time. In the hands of a lesser writer this could become a cluster bomb, but with Maberry it only enhances the story.
Then there is the complexity of the subject matter, genetic theory and engineering to the extreme, that has been very well researched. Too many authors of late have dealt with complex subject matter and obviously not understood what they have been writing about. JM may not himself understand everything that he wrote about, but he new enough to fake it well and make it believable.
Finally, there is the hero Joe Ledger. He is actually one of many, but he is the main protagonist. What makes him so great. He has all the ideal qualities: smart, funny, and sexy. His character is written with flaws that make him human and accessible. He reminds me a lot of Cussler's Dirk Pitt character, but less of a dog. Joe is the type of guy, that guy's would form a guy crush on.
What does it all come down to:
What I liked?
1. Joe Ledger. This character just rocks. I'm female; I want to make all his booboo's better one way or another. Guys will want to be him or work with him.
2. This is a science fiction thriller. The research and understanding of the material it took to put this story together in a plausible package is complete.
3. Genetic theory and science is overwhelming to a layperson, but JM makes it digestible and enlightening.
What I disliked?
1. The fact that I have to wait for the third installment The King of Plagues until next year.
To Buy or Not To Buy, That is the Question: Buy, Buy, Buy
By Jonathan Maberry
Awesome! Fantastic! And every other word or phrase that goes along with those sentiments. Maberry knows how to write a thriller.
The Dragon Factory is the second in the Joe Ledger series. The first book, Patient Zero dealt with viral engineered zombies. This second novel deals with genetically engineered animals and humans. Here’s a brief synopsis:
Joe Ledger has joined the DMS (Department of Military Sciences) team full time, and together they have been out saving the world unbeknownst to the general public. Now, there is a new threat that must be eliminated, all while certain people in the government are trying to bring the DMS down. Joe, his team of specially trained soldiers, and all the other
members of the DMS will have to go against the NSA, the Russian mafia, Nazi’s, a mad scientist, and creatures no one could have imagined, in order to stop a clock that is counting down to the time when life as we know it would be changed forever.
Dragon Factory is well crafted and planned out. The chapters are broken up into a juxtaposed time line. If the reader pays attention to it they will see that there are times when multiple events are happening at the same time. In the hands of a lesser writer this could become a cluster bomb, but with Maberry it only enhances the story.
Then there is the complexity of the subject matter, genetic theory and engineering to the extreme, that has been very well researched. Too many authors of late have dealt with complex subject matter and obviously not understood what they have been writing about. JM may not himself understand everything that he wrote about, but he new enough to fake it well and make it believable.
Finally, there is the hero Joe Ledger. He is actually one of many, but he is the main protagonist. What makes him so great. He has all the ideal qualities: smart, funny, and sexy. His character is written with flaws that make him human and accessible. He reminds me a lot of Cussler's Dirk Pitt character, but less of a dog. Joe is the type of guy, that guy's would form a guy crush on.
What does it all come down to:
What I liked?
1. Joe Ledger. This character just rocks. I'm female; I want to make all his booboo's better one way or another. Guys will want to be him or work with him.
2. This is a science fiction thriller. The research and understanding of the material it took to put this story together in a plausible package is complete.
3. Genetic theory and science is overwhelming to a layperson, but JM makes it digestible and enlightening.
What I disliked?
1. The fact that I have to wait for the third installment The King of Plagues until next year.
To Buy or Not To Buy, That is the Question: Buy, Buy, Buy
Micki...thanks for that wonderful review of THE DRAGON FACTORY. I'm delighted that you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteJoe Ledger will be back later this year in a short story, 'Zero Tolerance' which is a direct sequel to PATIENT ZERO. That story will appear in the anthology, THE LIVING DEAD 2, edited by John Joseph Adams.
The in 2011 the third full novel in the series hits stores, in which Joe will face off against THE KING OF PLAGUES, a secret society who are using modern versions of the Ten Plagues of Egypt as terrorist weapons to crash world economies.
There are also two free Joe Ledger short stories available online: “COUNTDOWN” is a prequel to PATIENT ZERO (http://us.macmillan.com/CMS400/uploadedFiles/COUNTDOWN_free.pdf) and “DEEP, DARK”, which takes place just before the second book, THE DRAGON FACTORY. Here’s the link: http://jonathanmaberry.com/download-the-free-joe-ledger-story-deep-dark
The series has been optioned by producer Michael De Luca (Seven, Magnolia, Blade) on behalf of SONY and is in development for TV.