Emergence (John Birmingham, Pan Macmillan)

John Birmingham is back in his favourite ‘splosions and gore’ mode with Emergence, the first book in a trilogy that features Dave Hooper. Dave starts out as a pretty ordinary guy. He works on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, he’s been through a messy divorce, he’s in trouble with the taxman, and he’s recovering from yet another epic bender—but that’s nothing compared to the trouble he finds himself in when he gets back to his rig only to discover that something horrible and inexplicable has devoured much of his crew. The next thing you know, Dave has gained extraordinary strength and a psychic affinity with his foe, a foe that is now threatening New Orleans. Along with a gang of Navy SEALs and an oddly attractive scientist, only Dave can save the day. The action in this book is fast, funny and gory. I cannot think of another book that uses the word ‘ichor’ so many times in its final chapters. Birmingham not only writes great battle scenes, he clearly loves pushing fantasy clichés involving monsters and magic powers to that fine point between homage and parody. And, of course, there’s a cliffhanger ending that leaves you breathless for the next installment. Hurry up with book two!

Tim Coronel is a freelance editor and publishing consultant, and a former publisher and editor of Books+Publishing

Category: Reviews