Daniel Price

Almost from the moment I picked this book up and read the first chapter, I couldn't put it down. It was fun, striking, and memorable, and such a ride that I never wanted it to end. I devoured the first 300 pages in about 36 hours--despite the fact that I was traveling and mostly reading when I should have been in bed--and finished it tonight, loosely 4 days after I picked up the 600 page book. I have no doubt that, had I been reading at home instead of traveling, it would have been a three show more day read, at most. Now, I'm only cursing the fact that I'm still in a hotel, hours from home, instead of standing beside my desk... where the sequel is already sitting, waiting for me to pick it up, which I'll do as soon as I get home.

So, what's so wonderful here? This is a blend of suspense, science fiction, and character-driven drama that pulls you in from the first pages and maintains an inertia all its own, from start to finish. Price has done a marvelous job here of creating characters that seem drawn from both real life and comics--flawed, detailed characters with depth who readers can't help but care about, even in their worst moments. In blends of humor and action and suspense, he's managed the tangle of characters wonderfully--in fact, I can't remember when I last read a book with six main characters where each, to a person, was handled with care and depth, but without the action falling prey to chapters that read more tediously. Simply, that didn't happen here--throughout the book, I felt like I was on a roller coaster of fascinating wonder, and I loved nearly every minute.

I will admit, there were maybe one or two moments when I was anxious to get past a certain chapter/section so I could get back to the main characters of the book, but for the most part, I only ever wanted to keep reading, and reading, and reading, but in the hope that the book would last. In fact, I got to page 594, realized I was at the end and that the last pages of the book were promotional, and turned to my husband to say with a pout, 'It ended early!' Not because the ending wasn't satisfying... but simply because I wanted to keep reading.

For readers who want character-driven suspense melded with their science fiction, or who love X-Men or dystopian books or apocalyptic fiction, you'll want to read this; Flight of the Silvers is all of this, none of it, and more.

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely: I recommend it. show less

Song of the Silvers doesn't just live up to the fantastic concept and promise of Flight of the Silvers (Book 1 in the trilogy)--instead, it works on from the first book to deliver an outstanding, character-driven piece of suspenseful science fiction that's nearly impossible to put down.

Building on the first book, The Song of the Silvers centers on the same world-breachers readers came to love in the first book, and expands their circle just enough to offer new faces and in-depth interactions show more without taking away from that original focus. And although there were a lot of suggestions of what would come in Book 1, this installment in the series manages to deliver on all of them without ever becoming predictable, or even slowing down. Instead, the book is packed with twists (that I, at least, didn't see coming) and character development that make the world come to life, balancing humor and action against character and heart to the extent that this book has a little bit of everything. What may impress me most, I also have to say, is Price's nuance and care when it comes to using or addressing any element of time travel. Time travel can so easily muddle up stories and characters, I'm always somewhat nervous when I see a book where time travel comes up, but isn't the focus. Here, Price works it in masterfully, but in such a way that it never comes across as either a device or something that's used too easily--and it's never used predictably, in either Book 1 or 2. With that added to the fact that even premonitions are treated in such a way that they're more of a characteristic than a focus, and with characters that can't help but bring sympathy, the book is... well, it's wonder-full, and I look forward to the moment when I pick up Books 1 and 2 to read them again in preparation for reading Book 3.

Lastly, I'll say that even though this book is over 700 pages, the inertia and power of it make it seem like a lot less; in fact, as I came up on the last two hundred pages, I had to force myself to slow down instead of powering through it, knowing I wanted to savor the story while I could since the third book in the series in still in the works (though the author keeps on giving out tantalizing updates via his website, which I'm dutifully trying to ignore).

If you like suspenseful, character-driven speculative fiction, or genre-bending stories that cover incredible territory with stellar writing, then you should pick this series it up. As far as I'm concerned, it really is that simple. I have a feeling that, long after I've read Book 3, this will always be one of the most striking and memorable science fiction series I'll have ever come across, and whether it's making me laugh or cry at a given moment, I absolutely adore it.

Obviously, I recommend it. show less

If you like the alternate universe genre, you definitely don't want to miss this series. The books are engaging and well-written, drawing you in from the beginning, spinning out the mysteries that envelope our characters' lives, and parcelling out the answers just regularly enough that you can't put the books down. The action is unrelenting, and Price's characters are drawn so compellingly that you feel visceral satisfaction when a bad guy is vanquished, and truly mourn the traumas the good show more guys suffer. Price's deft handling of the supernatural abilities of his characters keeps them from turning into comic-book cliches. There's even a special geographical note for the New Jersey fan. A wonderful sequal to "Flight of the Silvers." The wait for the final volume in this trilogy will be a tough one. show less

“Time stopped on the Massachusetts Turnpike.”

That’s the first line of Daniel Price’s refreshing novel The Flight of the Silvers*, one of the most entertaining time-travel stories I’ve read in years. This first line signals not only that we’re in for some weird time-bending stuff but also that the author is interested in realism, not just the fireworks of mind-bending world-building. (Don’t worry, there’s that, too.)

As children, two sisters, Amanda and Hannah, witness time show more stand still when three mysterious and quite possibly malevolent strangers inexplicably rescue them from a — relatively speaking of course — mundane accident (near Chicopee, for my fellow Mass Pike-goers).

Seventeen years later, Amanda and Hannah are as different as two sisters can be, and yet, they, along with four strangers, are rescued from the end of the world by the silver bracelets snapped over their wrists by the same shadowy figures from the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Then the really weird stuff begins.

In their new world, which, refreshingly, is neither utopia nor dystopia, just a topia (ok, alt-topia), the six strangers navigate an America they don’t understand (that’s where the very cool world-building comes in) and personal powers that surprise and shock them. (I don’t want to give too much away, but think X-Men meets time travel meets Terminator 2. Kinda.) The forces tracking them are powerful in different ways, and are largely unfriendly, to say the least: the menacing, powerful strangers who saved them from apocalypse; an FBI-type agent hoping not to get an NSA-like agency involved; a group of strangers with their own superpowers and everything to lose; and a psychopath from their own America with a nasty grudge.

Two squabbling, sisters, one recovering alcoholic, one boy genius with possible sociopathic tendencies, one teenage girl, and one cynical comic-book artist attempt to evade them all without losing themselves in the process. While The Flight of the Silvers is a rollicking and often funny piece of speculative fiction, Mr. Price also asks questions about community, isolation, family, and immigration that figure prominently in our own place and time.

And a final word to the wise, dear readers: The Flight of the Silvers is the first in a multi-part series, and from where I sit, there’s no way it won’t become a film franchise.

*My thanks to Blue Rider Press for sending a review copy of The Flight of the Silvers. show less