ATLAS 2 by Isaac Hooke

Published by47North on December 2, 2014

ATLAS 2 is long on action and short on substance. As was true in ATLAS, the novel starts with some excellent scene-setting before devolving into a predictable series of battles. The fighting scenes have a sameness (same weapons, same enemies, same fighting techniques) that eventually makes them wearisome to read. The novel too often has the feel of a point-and-shoot video game.

The aliens who troubled the heroes of ATLAS have found their way to one of the worlds colonized by Earth. They make their presence known by vaporizing humans with raindrops and by turning helpful robot into killer robots. After that promising start, Rade Galaal and his fellow MOTHs are dispatched to fight the aliens. They are tasked with capturing a "high value" target (not easily done since the targeted alien is composed of mist). Some of that was fun but the mission loses its interest as it drags on and on and on.

Galaal spent all of ATLAS trying to prove his manhood. He carries his insecurity into ATLAS 2. He continues to blame himself for everything that goes wrong, an annoying quality that makes him come across as self-pitying. Pages and pages of "I feel so bad about myself" whining could have been edited from the text to make this a tighter, more interesting story. And if I had a nickel for every time Rade refers to his "brothers" in combat, I'd have a whole lot of nickels.

About half the novel -- the better half -- is narrated by Shaw Chopra, the girlfriend Rade left behind in ATLAS. Her narrative voice is identical to Rade's but her story is more interesting. Shaw endures a moderately entertaining survival adventure that gives her some insight into the alien enemy. She is at least capable of insight, as opposed to Rade, who is long on platitudes (particularly "I would die for my brothers" and "I can't let another of my brothers die") but short on insightful thinking. He is apparently incapable of thinking or saying anything that isn't a cliché. Unfortunately, Shaw eventually adopts Rade's annoying tendency to feel guilt whenever the aliens kill someone else.

Well over 300 pages into the novel, the plot finally turns in a new direction. It isn't a particularly credible direction, but at least it is different. Maybe that means book 3 will be better, but I thought book 2 might be better than book 1, only to be disappointed with Rade's inability to grow up.

Isaac Hooke relies too heavily on a writing style that depends on one sentence paragraphs and three-to-five word sentences. That can work well in moderation, but too much of it creates the impression of a book written for a seventh grade reading level. In fact, I would be more inclined to recommend ATLAS 2 as a juvenile novel rather than an adult novel. Its simplistic story and unchallenging style make it a good fit for younger readers. Mature science fiction or action novel fans are likely to want greater depth than they will find here.

NOT RECOMMENDED