May 13th, 2011 by Darin
Jeff VanderMeer has been doing a lot of sleuthing into Finnish weird/spec fic. Interested in expanding your horizons? Take a look.
Darin Bradley is the author of Noise. He holds a B.A. in Language and Composition, an M.A. in Literature and Literary Criticism, and a Ph.D. in English Literature and Theory. (bibliography)
NOISE
“In the aftermath of the switch from analog to digital TV, an anarchic movement known as Salvage hijacks the unused airwaves. Mixed in with the static’s random noise are dire warnings of the imminent economic, political, and social collapse of civilization—and cold-blooded lessons on how to survive the fall and prosper in the harsh new order that will inevitably arise from the ashes of the old.
“Hiram and Levi are two young men, former Scouts and veterans of countless Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. Now, on the blood-drenched battlefields of university campuses, shopping malls, and gated communities, they will find themselves taking on new identities and new moralities as they lead a ragtag band of hackers and misfits to an all-but-mythical place called Amaranth, where a fragile future waits to be born.”
Learn more at Salvage Country.
"This haunting debut from a brilliant new voice is sure to be as captivating as it is controversial, a shocking look at the imminent collapse of American civilization—and what will succeed it."
"A cruel little knife-strike of a book, in the best possible way."
"An exceptionally polished debut."
"Bradley’s voice is unique and compelling, and his take on surviving the end of the world as we know it is unlike any other."
"Edgy and disturbing, Noise is a worthy successor to all those post-holocaust books of yesteryear."
"Hiram's disassociated voice gets in your head and under your skin, so very sensible even when describing the mowing down of a potential mob with a .50-caliber machine gun or the firebombing of a National Guard humvee. And it is this unique voice that is the book's strongest and most persuasive feature."
"Story edged as a katana, prose tight as the grip that wields it, Noise is keen in its purpose and most 'incisive.' Shorn of false sentiment and trite cynicism, it paints an all too plausible apocalypse, and paints it in bold fresh terms. This is a great new take on its genre and an exemplary work in its own right."
"This is the sort of book that makes you squirm not because of what's happening to the characters but because of what they themselves are capable of. It's distressing and smart and I can't get it out of my head."
"Noise is The Book of Revelations by way of Fight Club. Alternately heartbreaking and terrifying, you can't imagine a world where the Collapse could happen, but secretly you know it's already too late. The signs and portents of Salvage are out there, and Darin Bradley is the only one who has been taking notes."
"Darin Bradley's brainy, slippery, and riveting Noise is Lord of the Flies on serious psychotropics. With narrative tendrils in the "paper" book and online as well, Noise is deliberately speaking to a young, media-soaked audience through various texts and tricks. You watch. Noise is destined to be a milestone work for Millennial readers."
"You want this book. You will covet this book and re-read it multiple times. You will search for meaning behind the words, the layers just hidden out of sight. You will peer over, read with your breath held at all the escalating violence and terror and wonder and love and then just when you think, holy shit, I need to rest, I need to stop, this book is wearing me out, I’m thin and hollow and can’t go on—that’s when the shit really picks up and you can’t stop."
"Noise is not an easy read, but it is a very rewarding one, and sure to touch a nerve among those of my generation: we that came to age in the shadow of the Cold War, when the possibility of annihilation was whispered from every television set showing The Day After and a handful of dice and graph paper offered the possibility of escape, if only for a few hours."
"Bradley has done an excellent job of capturing things going to hell in a hand basket."
"Considering the nature of his dystopic fiction and the fullness of his vision, I can perhaps be forgiven for thinking that, in his debut, Darin Bradley may be The One."
"In a year that is becoming more and more defined . . . by the emergence of quality apocalyptic fiction, Noise sits proudly amongst the very best of it’s kind."
"The voice of Darin Bradley is a brilliant addition to apocalyptic fiction."
"Noise is a small juggernaut of dystopian lit."
"This is a stunner of a novel, with a modernist almost poetical style, and a concept that blasts its way through the hoary old clichés....It’s the best fiction book I’ve read this year"
"[A] fascinating, fast-paced narrative charged with sociopolitical ideas. Striking and disturbing stuff."
"[Bradley] has a gift for evocation, and uses that gift to ground his story in the busy desolation of young male midwestern existence."
"In this riveting and jarring debut novel, university writing instructor Darin Bradley provides ample proof that the old adage that 'Those who can, do and those who can't, teach!' is just nonsense. Not only can this guy teach writing, but he is also definitely and deftly capable of practicing what he preaches!"
Thanks for the link, Darin. Very interesting stuff there.