Guaranteed Heroes

Halfway through the book I was ready to give it five stars. At that point I thought it was one of the best and most original dystopian novels I'd read in a very long time. And while it is no sense imitative or derivative of Kurt Vonnegut, it nevertheless reminded me of the pleasure I got from Vonnegut's earliest SF.

I was startled and charmed by various details that I thought he invented that turned out to be factual. He had me when he mentioned in passing someone being sent to "to Lancaster, Wisconsin to work in the zinc mines," because I didn't think there were more than a handful of people who'd even heard of Lancaster, Wisconsin--and I hadn't known there had been zinc mines there. I was actually horrified and disturbed to look up "Oregon boot" and find out that this form of prisoner escape prevention was actually historical. I had thought that the name "Toddle House," for a chain of hamburger restaurants, was invention and was admiring the convincing perfection of it--only to find out that it was the real name of a real chain. And I had known about the Titan missile that underwent a (non-nuclear) explosion because of a worker dropping a wrench that fell hundreds of feet and punctured a rocket fuel tank.

Unfortunately, he started a story and then didn't know how to end it. It goes on and on, rather repetitiously, with descriptions of the picaresque adventures of the main characters. Unfortunately, some key details of the dystopian future never get explained (why did so many people have lung disease? What was the berry that cured or palliated it? Did the berry also have a narcotic event? Is it all symbolic of medical marijuana?)

By the end of the novel I was completely confused as to who were the good guys and the bad guys, there were so many switched sides and betrayals and people changing their mind, and constant unsatisfied expectations (the good guys side includes children with telekinetic abilities and it's never made clear whether these abililities are strong enough to weigh in the scale against the bad guys). There is a great deal of violence, threatened and actual, told in a sort of tongue-in-cheek black-humor way; is this real violence, is this just Tom-and-Jerry, Itchy-and-Scratchy comic book violence? I don't know but after a while the humor, if it is humorous, wears thin.

Worst of all, he simply leaves the ending up in the air. You don't know if the heroes will win or lose. (You are constantly being told that throughout the book that they have no chance at all of achieving X and then they achieve X, so being told at the end that they are surely doomed doesn't mean they are doomed).

Four stars for putting me into an imaginative world I will remember for a long time--but the last half of the book is ultimately unsatisfying.

Excellent condition

I am an avid fiction reader. This is the fifth or sixth book from this author I have read. Each book further confirms my opinion of this author: He is excellent both in plot and character development.

He does have a bug about wealth and greed dominating our world (me, too!) and this one's similar to Four Night Run in that respect.
Don't want to spoil it but I was left gasping with the ending.

William Lashner is a top-notch writer. I have every book he has written. If you have not read Mr. Lashner I suggest you start with one of his earlier books as this book deviates a tad from his prior books. That is not to say that Guaranteed Heroes is not a good book. It is a good book, but you would appreciate this book more with a prior experience with his earlier books.

William Lashner offers a tale set in a radioactive future populated by characters whose internal life is as poisoned as the rivers. Whole states in the U.S. have been 'disincorporated' or abandoned to hermits, roving gangs and the grotesquely sick. Into these territories a diverse band of protagonists descend, searching for the sister of one. Ancient loves and betrayals must be confronted no less than a brutal motorcycle gang controlling the distribution of a berry with wondrous medicinal qualities.

The best post-apocalyptic fiction tells us something pressing about the present too. In Guaranteed Heroes it is not hard to perceive commentary on the pharmaceutical industry and its placing profits before people. But for the nuclear accident, the present too seems to have disincorporated whole territories from the fruits of progress.

The book has satisfying plot twists, nicely sketched characters and a worthy and righteous finale.

Excellent read. I highly recommend this book. Lashner is a master at creating interesting characters. Must read.

I've liked all of Lashner's books. He is a master of playing with words. That said, I was sure I would not not like this book at all based on its plot description and the reviews. Based on those I would not have purchased it. But the price was right (free).

Normally (always?), I don't like apocalyptic, post-Armageddon novels. They are almost always poorly written, with survivalist wingnut heroes who survive because of God's mercy.

Surprise! I loved this book. It reminded me of "Orphan Master's Son"; The present day North Korea and a nuclear devastated, fractured America of the 1960s have a lot in common. It's a love story, with a twisted and often violent road trip through a new demon America, but with page turning adventure with good guys, bad guys, and tricksters.