The Haan are among the people of Hangfei (a fictional city in China), they claim to be friends and allies, but they are hiding things. They promise a great deal: better lives, better technology, but what they ask for in return may not be worth the price. Rather, what they are taking from humanity in return without humanity being fully aware may not be worth the price. Problem is, many in the government are in on the secret the Haan are trying to hide. Fallout is the sequel to The Burn Zone, and both novels provide a near perfect blend of thriller and thought-provoking science fictional ideas.
In this second outing for protagonist Sam Shao, Decker manages to raise the stakes and challenges for Sam. As the novel begins, more Haan colonies are constructed in Hangfei making some people unease. People going missing with greater regularity is an additive to an already uneasy situation. Sam suspects these two may be related and it isn’t long before she, her boyfriend Vamp, foster/step father Dragan, and foster/step brother Alexei find themselves more involved in global events than they expected.
Trying to convey the plot is a tricksy thing for two reasons – a major revelation at the end of the first novel is explored more fully and forms a major plot point here in Fallout. The second reason is that, as the novel is very much a twisty mystery, revealing too much of the events can rob the reader of being surprised or discovering those conspiracies on their own.
So, what can a review offer when holding back on a lot of the plot description? Well, I can say that Fallout is an excellent follow-up to what I thought was one of the more enjoyable (and surprising because of the comparably small fanfare prior to the release of the novel) SF novels I read in 2013. Decker takes everything he did previously and turns it up to eleven. Seeing the world through Sam’s eyes is not a pretty thing, society seems on the fringe of survival, the future is an unclean world, and trust is something she has little spare change for in her wallet. Her ‘father’ Dragan has taken up with a woman whom Sam distrusts and dislikes. Sam’s trying to strike a balance with Vamp; Sam knows he has romantic feelings for her but she’s afraid to let him get too close.
Sam believes she is seeing things: seeing the Haan for what they truly are and she also thinks she is seeing Nix, the Haan soldier who allied himself to Sam in The Burn Zone. Problem is, Sam thought Nix died. Then there’s her ‘brother’ Alexei. He complains neither Sam nor Dragan have enough time for him, they are always pawning him off on a babysitter. This might be the only element of the novel that didn’t quite work for me. He said these things and they felt believable, but I felt no emotional attachment to him from Sam, at least in the same way her attachment to Dragan and Vamp were portrayed. While his thread of the story was important, the emotional pull of his relationship to his sister and father felt slightly contrived.
Although the novel is set primarily in Hangfei, in taking the story to that theoretical 11, Decker expands the conflict and issue of the Haan to a global scale. Nations outside of China are mentioned as problematic, particularly America. Implications are not only relegated to Hangfei in China, elevating Sam’s plight and actions above a personal issue.
Fallout is a worthy sequel to The Burn Zone and shows that Decker has large plans for Sam and her world. Though an emotional closure is achieved with the last words of the novel, it is clear this world still has much to reveal. I hope Decker has the opportunity to share that story in another novel.
© 2014 Rob H. Bedford
Roc February 2014
Mass Market Paperback ISBN 978-0-451-41341-3 384 Pages
http://blog.jameskdecker.com/
Review copy courtesy of the author
I need to read this one. I read The Burn Zone earlier last year and thought it was great, glad to hear this one keeps that up.