Fragment

A Novel

By: Warren Fahy

Narrated by: Robin Atkin Downes

Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

In this powerhouse of suspense - as brilliantly imagined as Jurassic Park and The Ruins - scientists have made a startling discovery: A fragment of a lost continent, an island with an ecosystem unlike any they’ve seen before...an ecosystem that could topple ours like a house of cards. The time is now. The place is the Trident, a long-range research vessel hired by the reality TV show Sealife. Aboard is a cast of ambitious young scientists. With a director dying for drama, tiny Henders Island might be just what the show needs. Until the first scientist sets foot on Henders - and the ultimate test of survival begins...

For when they reach the island’s shores, scientists are utterly unprepared for what they find - creatures unlike any ever recorded in natural history. This is not a lost world frozen in time, an island of mutants, or a lab where science has gone mad: This is the Earth as it might have looked after evolving on a separate path for half a billion years.

Soon the scientists will stumble on something more shocking than anything humanity has ever encountered: Because among the terrors of Henders Island, one life form defies any scientific theory - and must be saved at any cost.

©2009 Warren Fahy (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Fahy's imaginative debut puts a fresh spin on the survival-of-prehistoric-beasts theme popularized by Jurassic Park." ( Publishers Weekly)

Why isn't this a big deal like Jurassic Park?

This book is awesome! If you loved Jurassic Park, the books, then you'll love this too. Fantastic blend of science and fiction, with a dash of action thrown in. I'm a sucker for arthropods and this fascinated me from beginning to end. HEY AUDIBLE, HOW ABOUT DOING THE SEQUEL? Great story, and spectacular narrative.

A new Michael Crichton

It was a sad day for fiction when Mr. Crichton passed away. Mr. Fahy has brought back the science techno thriller. Great book with a great imaginative story.

A Feast for the Science Fiction / Horror fans!

I just read this book for the 3rd or 4th time. The science is wild. The characters r interesting. The monsters r MONSTROUS!!
It's a smart read and a damn fun book!

Wow!

This is not your typical alien scifi. What a wonderful, beautiful, captivating, poignant story. Great narration that kept me listening through the night. Has got to be in my top 10 scifi list. Highly recommended!

Amazing story.

This is one wild ride. It was a little slow to start but picked up and kept me on the edge of my seat. The narrator was perfect.

Should have paid attention to the one star reviews

The characters were stereotyped and transpeant. The motives were pretty generic and could be seen from a mile away. The story and the ideabwere alright. just not to original.

Fun listen

There’s a lot to like about Fragments. The writing is crisp and the plot moves along swiftly. There were a couple of plot issues that bothered me. One had to do with the world building and how they effected character resolutions and a character that was very cliché although still entertaining.

I like science, it’s my geek quality. There is a lot of sciencey discussion, some flat out wrong but still interesting. This might put some listeners off, not being able to look up terms, and illustrates one deficiency of listening rather than reading. The narration is an example of what makes audio books enjoyable. The story benefits from the narrator.

I feel like there could be a sequel or more from this book. The ending is satisfying but leaves a lot of room for revisiting. And it is a world I wouldn’t mind revisiting. Typically I don’t enjoy series but this might be an exception which says a lot for this book.

I look forward to the author’s next book.

Great story

Really makes you think. I loved some of the theories on lifespan.
Annoying evil scientist was maybe a bit much but all in all terrific! Narration was excellent also.
I’m about to listen to the sequel!

Great acting and excellent content

Great acting and excellent content the creatures are so well crafted and scary. It is one of the most fun books read and listened too. As exciting or maybe more than the first Jarrasic Park book

A Pretty Good Crichtonesque Thriller

If you enjoy reading Michael Crichton or James Rollins thrillers you might enjoy this story about a mysterious island where nature has taken a very strange course. The team of scientists in this case are brought to the island as cast members of a reality show called Sea Life, a kind of cross between a Cousteau expedition and MTV's Real World. Once the scientists get to the island things immediately go horribly wrong! The unique creatures of this island are so aggressive it seems nothing from outside can survive for long. As the Sea Life crew fights for their lives and one producer fights for ratings, back home other scientists debate the value and purpose of humanity, "free will," life spans and reproduction. It is here the author lectures, and as a reader, if you are more interested in the "thriller" and less in the "science," it is here you will find yourself getting frustrated with the pace of the story. Even if you are interested in the science you might get frustrated with the screeching halt the author's lecturing brings to the plot!

The book could have benefited from the author being less science professor and more storyteller. Also, some of the characters didn't quite ring true for me--I had a hard time reconciling the image of a 50 year-old woman with a successful career as a television producer jumping up and down, clapping her hands and saying "pretty please."

Aside from character development, the other thing this author needs to work on is dialog. It's a bit stilted throughout, but overall not too bad. The author really fumbles, though, at the beginning of the last third of the book, especially between the two "love interest" characters.

But despite a few flaws, Fragment is a rip-roaring tale with an interesting premise at its heart. The creatures and the island, with a whiff of Avatar, are vividly drawn -- well enough to cause nightmares and pray that no place like this should ever be found on our planet!