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A review by chelsasquatch
Extinction Machine by Jonathan Maberry
4.0
I just want to start out by saying that Extinction Machine is a breath of cool air between assignments at school. I feel like I can always count on Jonathan Maberry to deliver something fun, fast-paced, and easy-to-follow, and that was exactly what I needed.
There were a ton of things I enjoyed about this book, but most of those had a second edge on them that I feel also dragged the book down for me. It was head and shoulders above Assassin's Code, which I still cannot bring myself to like, but it wasn't quite up to the standard set by Patient Zero. The Ledger books follow a pretty predictable structure, and I think that does more harm than good in the long run. Joe's day gets interrupted by an emergency that turns out to be a pretty serious, world-threatening thing. He and his team wade through mystery, Joe gets little to no sleep and goes through a crisis of realization (zombies? vampires? aliens? you'd think everybody would stop being shocked at some point) and maybe bangs a chick or two before we arrive at the extremely shoot-em-up climactic ending.
On a high note, those endings are usually spectacular. If there's one thing Maberry does right, it's a solid fight scene. I've picked up a lot as a writer by simply reading them, and I love to read them. Joe Ledger is a magnificent warrior. Those scenes are some of the reason I know I'll never get completely tired of reading the series, despite the fact that it can be almost too repetitive at times.
Howard Shelton, like the last three main villains, has been pretty cookie-cutter. Surprise, he's an extremely rich, extremely intelligent man with a flip-the-bird, screw-everyone mentality. It's not that I don't think these men make plausible bad guys--I just want to expect more from a writer who has such stellar minor characters and insane plot ideas. (Seriously, every time I explained the plot of the book to a friend who asked, they were extremely intrigued.) Even Bones (a "minion"--I literally groaned when I read that) was too “henchman” for me.
And then there are the aliens. Discussing aliens semi-seriously, at least for me, is like walking on egg shells. There are too many little details that I can't find plausible. Maberry does a decent job of briefly addressing these and diverting the reader's attention away, but I was still bothered by certain aspects.
Unless they wanted to destroy us, but even then if they have that technology, why don't they just destroy us themselves? I don't get it. Aliens.
Moving to the characters, I will always love Mr. Church. When I would roleplay with my friends, one of them played John Church, a police officer, and an NPC was an Asian forensics guy, and after I got them to read the books, we would joke about how it was Church and Hu. I love the way Maberry has him under lock-and-key, and we only know things over the course of several books. Most of the minor characters are amazing as well. I love the Top/Bunny banter, and--as much as I grit my teeth against Sam Imura because I'm still bitter about John "The Hammer of God" Smith--I kind of enjoy the overlap between series.
There were times I felt that Maberry was forcing things to make the plot move forward, mostly when it came down to Joe vs. the Closers. The Closers are supposed to be these super highly trained soldiers and Joe takes them down like nothing. Specifically, when the Closers are hunting Joe and Junie in the woods and they’re speaking movements to one another and it gives away their position to Joe. I know Blue Diamond is supposed to be mercenaries, but I wouldn’t say that they would be stupid enough to do something like that, especially supposing that they had knowledge of who they were facing. I mean, I’m all for Joe kicking ass but for all the fighting against “skilled” men he does, he doesn’t get hurt nearly as much as I imagine he would.
The last minor objection I have about the book is the severe lack of Grace Courtland. It was my biggest objection about Assassin’s Code as well. Joe is the most emotionally selective character I have ever read about. There were several moments () that I imagine should have triggered memories her death and didn’t. It’d be something if he was repressing the memory, but in almost every book Joe talks about Helen so the inconsistency makes me uncomfortable.
His apparent ease at moving from woman to woman kind of makes me uncomfortable, too, but that’s a completely different issue and it would take me longer than I want to spend right now to analyze this series under a feminist lens (it would be pretty interesting, though… it passes the Bechdel test in implication but it barely does in any the actual written parts).
Overall, I enjoyed reading Extinction Code quite a bit. I look forward to the next book because it’s going back to the Seif al Din virus and zombies, so Maberry should be able to switch up something, whether it’s the form or the villain, and bring me back in to where I was the first time I picked up the series.
There were a ton of things I enjoyed about this book, but most of those had a second edge on them that I feel also dragged the book down for me. It was head and shoulders above Assassin's Code, which I still cannot bring myself to like, but it wasn't quite up to the standard set by Patient Zero. The Ledger books follow a pretty predictable structure, and I think that does more harm than good in the long run. Joe's day gets interrupted by an emergency that turns out to be a pretty serious, world-threatening thing. He and his team wade through mystery, Joe gets little to no sleep and goes through a crisis of realization (zombies? vampires? aliens? you'd think everybody would stop being shocked at some point) and maybe bangs a chick or two before we arrive at the extremely shoot-em-up climactic ending.
On a high note, those endings are usually spectacular. If there's one thing Maberry does right, it's a solid fight scene. I've picked up a lot as a writer by simply reading them, and I love to read them. Joe Ledger is a magnificent warrior. Those scenes are some of the reason I know I'll never get completely tired of reading the series, despite the fact that it can be almost too repetitive at times.
Howard Shelton, like the last three main villains, has been pretty cookie-cutter. Surprise, he's an extremely rich, extremely intelligent man with a flip-the-bird, screw-everyone mentality. It's not that I don't think these men make plausible bad guys--I just want to expect more from a writer who has such stellar minor characters and insane plot ideas. (Seriously, every time I explained the plot of the book to a friend who asked, they were extremely intrigued.) Even Bones (a "minion"--I literally groaned when I read that) was too “henchman” for me.
Spoiler
When it's revealed that he is the third Governor of M3 I didn't care, and I felt like I should have. He still felt too much like a lackey.And then there are the aliens. Discussing aliens semi-seriously, at least for me, is like walking on egg shells. There are too many little details that I can't find plausible. Maberry does a decent job of briefly addressing these and diverting the reader's attention away, but I was still bothered by certain aspects.
Spoiler
I can't get over the fact that the aliens have ships that can reach Mach 24 and turn corners literally on a dime no matter the speed and they still somehow manage to crash repeatedly on earth. We can say that they wanted us to have their technology/were experimenting with us, but I still think any race who is smart enough to get to earth and can observe us for any extended amount of time would think that's a very bad idea.Unless they wanted to destroy us, but even then if they have that technology, why don't they just destroy us themselves? I don't get it. Aliens.
Moving to the characters, I will always love Mr. Church. When I would roleplay with my friends, one of them played John Church, a police officer, and an NPC was an Asian forensics guy, and after I got them to read the books, we would joke about how it was Church and Hu. I love the way Maberry has him under lock-and-key, and we only know things over the course of several books. Most of the minor characters are amazing as well. I love the Top/Bunny banter, and--as much as I grit my teeth against Sam Imura because I'm still bitter about John "The Hammer of God" Smith--I kind of enjoy the overlap between series.
There were times I felt that Maberry was forcing things to make the plot move forward, mostly when it came down to Joe vs. the Closers.
The last minor objection I have about the book is the severe lack of Grace Courtland. It was my biggest objection about Assassin’s Code as well. Joe is the most emotionally selective character I have ever read about. There were several moments (
Spoiler
the destruction of the Warehouse, namely; facing the Closers as a comparison to the enhanced soldiers in TDF; him reminiscing about Helen’s suicideHis apparent ease at moving from woman to woman kind of makes me uncomfortable, too, but that’s a completely different issue and it would take me longer than I want to spend right now to analyze this series under a feminist lens (it would be pretty interesting, though… it passes the Bechdel test in implication but it barely does in any the actual written parts).
Overall, I enjoyed reading Extinction Code quite a bit. I look forward to the next book because it’s going back to the Seif al Din virus and zombies, so Maberry should be able to switch up something, whether it’s the form or the villain, and bring me back in to where I was the first time I picked up the series.