Jeff Sexton
Terrific Trilogy Puts A New Spin On Well Established Entities.
As this *is* a review of the entire trilogy, let me start by placing my reviews of THE SENTINEL and THE RAVEN (Books 1 and 2) here first:
THE SENTINEL:
A Long Time Coming. Let me tell you a story. It begins in 2010. Jeremy Robinson and I have known each other online for a few years now, having met in MySpace. I've read every book he's written (just a half dozen or so at this point), and he is now releasing a book he calls TORMENT - his first outright horror book. So I read it too. And it literally gave me nightmares for YEARS after reading it.
A year later, Robinson releases his next horror book - The Sentinel. And it becomes the first of his books that I would not read... for 13 years. Until November 2024, when he is gearing up to release the completed Jane Harper Trilogy via writing a book called THE HOST and packaging it similarly to how he did FAMINE and HUNGER: THE COMPLETE TRILOGY earlier in the 2020s.
And now that my nightmares from TORMENT have faded - particularly after Robinson retconned it into his INFINITE TIMELINE event in the late 2010s/ early 2020s and weakened it significantly - I'm finally in a position that I can attempt to read THE SENTINEL.
And what I found... was nowhere NEAR the horror of TORMENT. Yes, it absolutely has its horrific moments - many times over. Its got an almost Carrie-type callback. Its got a ship sinking. Its got creatures. Its got the same irreverent wit that Robinson would come to develop more over the last 15 years. Truly, having read everything Robinson has released since THE SENTINEL (other than its sequel, THE RAVEN), this may as well be included in his "Origins" package, because you can absolutely see in this book the beginnings of his style to come for the next decade+ of his career.
So pick this book up, even now - or maybe wait until March 2025 when THE SENTINEL: THE COMPLETE JANE HARPER TRILOGY is released. You're going to laugh. You're going to cry. You might even puke a few times at the horror on the screen. But you're going to have a blast doing it, and you're going to want to have the next book available immediately at hand anyway.
Very much recommended.
THE RAVEN:
Second Book In Series Picks Up Weeks After First Book And Raises Stakes. This is one of those second books where we get direct (if a few weeks later) follow-up to the story from the first book - so absolutely read The Sentinel first, or wait until March 2025 when The Sentinel: The Complete Jane Harper Trilogy will be available, as you absolutely need that context to understand much of any of the insanity happening in this book. As has always been the case in a Robinson book, the New God of Science Fiction - a moniker I gave Robinson long after the original release of this book over a decade ago - takes a somewhat common concept in scifi (zombies, here) and makes it 100% his own while creating utterly wild action sequences that you'll never see anywhere else. And boy do this book have a lot of those. Wow.
The one issue with this particular book - soon to *finally* be rectified - is that it very clearly sets up a sequel and likely conclusion to the trilogy... that Robinson then waited *over a decade* to deliver on. Though he's still faster in concluding his stories than a certain famous "Game" / "Song" writer. ;)
So read this one now if you haven't, to get ready for THE HOST, available in the aforementioned THE SENTINEL: THE COMPLETE JANE HARPER TRILOGY in just about 3 months as I write this review. Or pick up that book when it comes out in March, because I guarantee you that by the time you finish this book, you'll be glad THE HOST begins on the next page.
Very much recommended.
And now, the conclusion of our trilogy:
THE HOST
Concussive Conclusion. Man, if you thought THE RAVEN hit hard and heavy, this book is about to feel like you went a few rounds with Iron Mike Tyson in his prime... in the best of ways. The action here, well, Robinson has had a decade since writing the last book to hone his craft even further. And with that truly demented mind... yeah, you're in for some pretty awesome treats in this particular tale.
As a conclusion to this trilogy (finally, though still faster than that "Game" / "Song" dude), this works on many, many levels. You get the callback to using a particular name that Robinson used a few times in his earlier books, though in a completely different character here. (For those who don't know, that name happens to be Robinson's long time editor, assistant, and occasional co-author, and while those who *do* know now know he shows up, that's all I'm saying here.) You get some of the more metaphysical discussions that Robinson has packed into a few of his books over the years to great affect (at least in my opinion, and hey, this is my damn review :D). You get the humor and action and heart that has defined Robinson's career from the earliest books through now and presumably for as long as he is writing. And you get a conclusion for all of these characters that works within the story told to this point, without going all "Return Of The King" and ending hours after it should have.
The *one* issue I have with this book, and I told Robinson this personally shortly after finishing in a more direct way (as it involves spoilers to get *too* specific here), is that where the metaphysical discussion is happening, Robinson reaches to what I told him seems to have become a bit of a crutch these last few years, and that I hope he ditches that particular device in the next few books. At least for a few books. So we'll see what happens there, but even still, it absolutely worked within the story told within this trilogy, so it isn't like it was *completely* out there - just a personal preference that I told the author, whom I've known for many, many years, directly and am expressing in this review. Feel free to tell me to go to hell over this and that you *love* that particular crutch and hope Robinson uses it in *every* book. :) As long as you're reading and reviewing books, I'm happy. :D
Ultimately, again, this really was a pretty damn perfect conclusion to this particular trilogy.
Very much recommended.
And with three "Very much recommended" ratings on three books in this completed trilogy... yes, the trilogy as a whole is thus very much recommended.
Terrific Trilogy Puts A New Spin On Well Established Entities.
As this *is* a review of the entire trilogy, let me start by placing my reviews of THE SENTINEL and THE RAVEN (Books 1 and 2) here first:
THE SENTINEL:
A Long Time Coming. Let me tell you a story. It begins in 2010. Jeremy Robinson and I have known each other online for a few years now, having met in MySpace. I've read every book he's written (just a half dozen or so at this point), and he is now releasing a book he calls TORMENT - his first outright horror book. So I read it too. And it literally gave me nightmares for YEARS after reading it.
A year later, Robinson releases his next horror book - The Sentinel. And it becomes the first of his books that I would not read... for 13 years. Until November 2024, when he is gearing up to release the completed Jane Harper Trilogy via writing a book called THE HOST and packaging it similarly to how he did FAMINE and HUNGER: THE COMPLETE TRILOGY earlier in the 2020s.
And now that my nightmares from TORMENT have faded - particularly after Robinson retconned it into his INFINITE TIMELINE event in the late 2010s/ early 2020s and weakened it significantly - I'm finally in a position that I can attempt to read THE SENTINEL.
And what I found... was nowhere NEAR the horror of TORMENT. Yes, it absolutely has its horrific moments - many times over. Its got an almost Carrie-type callback. Its got a ship sinking. Its got creatures. Its got the same irreverent wit that Robinson would come to develop more over the last 15 years. Truly, having read everything Robinson has released since THE SENTINEL (other than its sequel, THE RAVEN), this may as well be included in his "Origins" package, because you can absolutely see in this book the beginnings of his style to come for the next decade+ of his career.
So pick this book up, even now - or maybe wait until March 2025 when THE SENTINEL: THE COMPLETE JANE HARPER TRILOGY is released. You're going to laugh. You're going to cry. You might even puke a few times at the horror on the screen. But you're going to have a blast doing it, and you're going to want to have the next book available immediately at hand anyway.
Very much recommended.
THE RAVEN:
Second Book In Series Picks Up Weeks After First Book And Raises Stakes. This is one of those second books where we get direct (if a few weeks later) follow-up to the story from the first book - so absolutely read The Sentinel first, or wait until March 2025 when The Sentinel: The Complete Jane Harper Trilogy will be available, as you absolutely need that context to understand much of any of the insanity happening in this book. As has always been the case in a Robinson book, the New God of Science Fiction - a moniker I gave Robinson long after the original release of this book over a decade ago - takes a somewhat common concept in scifi (zombies, here) and makes it 100% his own while creating utterly wild action sequences that you'll never see anywhere else. And boy do this book have a lot of those. Wow.
The one issue with this particular book - soon to *finally* be rectified - is that it very clearly sets up a sequel and likely conclusion to the trilogy... that Robinson then waited *over a decade* to deliver on. Though he's still faster in concluding his stories than a certain famous "Game" / "Song" writer. ;)
So read this one now if you haven't, to get ready for THE HOST, available in the aforementioned THE SENTINEL: THE COMPLETE JANE HARPER TRILOGY in just about 3 months as I write this review. Or pick up that book when it comes out in March, because I guarantee you that by the time you finish this book, you'll be glad THE HOST begins on the next page.
Very much recommended.
And now, the conclusion of our trilogy:
THE HOST
Concussive Conclusion. Man, if you thought THE RAVEN hit hard and heavy, this book is about to feel like you went a few rounds with Iron Mike Tyson in his prime... in the best of ways. The action here, well, Robinson has had a decade since writing the last book to hone his craft even further. And with that truly demented mind... yeah, you're in for some pretty awesome treats in this particular tale.
As a conclusion to this trilogy (finally, though still faster than that "Game" / "Song" dude), this works on many, many levels. You get the callback to using a particular name that Robinson used a few times in his earlier books, though in a completely different character here. (For those who don't know, that name happens to be Robinson's long time editor, assistant, and occasional co-author, and while those who *do* know now know he shows up, that's all I'm saying here.) You get some of the more metaphysical discussions that Robinson has packed into a few of his books over the years to great affect (at least in my opinion, and hey, this is my damn review :D). You get the humor and action and heart that has defined Robinson's career from the earliest books through now and presumably for as long as he is writing. And you get a conclusion for all of these characters that works within the story told to this point, without going all "Return Of The King" and ending hours after it should have.
The *one* issue I have with this book, and I told Robinson this personally shortly after finishing in a more direct way (as it involves spoilers to get *too* specific here), is that where the metaphysical discussion is happening, Robinson reaches to what I told him seems to have become a bit of a crutch these last few years, and that I hope he ditches that particular device in the next few books. At least for a few books. So we'll see what happens there, but even still, it absolutely worked within the story told within this trilogy, so it isn't like it was *completely* out there - just a personal preference that I told the author, whom I've known for many, many years, directly and am expressing in this review. Feel free to tell me to go to hell over this and that you *love* that particular crutch and hope Robinson uses it in *every* book. :) As long as you're reading and reviewing books, I'm happy. :D
Ultimately, again, this really was a pretty damn perfect conclusion to this particular trilogy.
Very much recommended.
And with three "Very much recommended" ratings on three books in this completed trilogy... yes, the trilogy as a whole is thus very much recommended.