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Noise

by Darin Bradley (Goodreads Author)

3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 · rating details · 155 ratings · 35 reviews

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.

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 o...more

Paperback, 222 pages

Published August 31st 2010 by Spectra (first published 2010)

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Sep 14, 2010 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: post-apocalypse-and-dystopia, read2010, sci-fi-fantasy

I need to buy a third copy of this book, because I keep giving it away.

The other reason is that this is a novel, right, but it really freaked me out. I started feeling that panicky feeling that I had during the gas shortage a year or so ago. What would I do if society really collapsed? Could I be violent if survival depended on it? Do I even have a plan to drink water beyond what I have in my pantry, much less securing my home and belongings and starting a new society with its own rules?

Phew. I...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 14, 2012 Samuel Snoek-Brown rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommendations

This is a damn fine novel. But it's not an easy novel to enjoy. Regardless your politics, your morality, your sense of community or self, you will find something to feel uncomfortable about in this book. The main characters are very hard to like, making decisions that at times seem appallingly inhuman. There are no heroes in this book. But even though we encounter plenty of antagonists, there are no real villains either. And that, ultimately, is both the most unsettling and the most brilliant as...more This is a damn fine novel. But it's not an easy novel to enjoy. Regardless your politics, your morality, your sense of community or self, you will find something to feel uncomfortable about in this book. The main characters are very hard to like, making decisions that at times seem appallingly inhuman. There are no heroes in this book. But even though we encounter plenty of antagonists, there are no real villains either. And that, ultimately, is both the most unsettling and the most brilliant aspect of this novel: In the apocalypse, there is no right or wrong but what we make, the only morality is what we construct in order to survive, and where other apocalyptic fiction often likes to present a false-anarchic free-for-all of amorality, Bradley is smart enough to show us human beings desperately trying to forge their necessary new morality. And the hardest part of reading this book, for me, was not that new morality -- a conflicted hodge-podge of anarchy and fascism, of utilitarianism and nihilism -- but how carefully, how seemingly sensibly, these characters present and live by their new morality. Some readers have complained that the main characters are heartless, one-note machines, flat stereotypes of the apocalyptic worldview present in this book, but I disagree: the background of Hiram is subtle, and of the other main characters is subtler, but it's there and it's plenty strong enough to explain the path these characters take, and Bradley, ingeniously, never judges them for it, never endorses or condemns their actions or their choices. He forces us, really, to forge our own morality as we read the book, in ways I don't see nearly often enough.

Some of the last third moves a bit fast for me (or perhaps the front third doesn't move fast enough?), so while the ending itself is excellent, I still wished there'd been another 30 or 40 pages, not because I felt like there is story missing here, but simply because Bradley had raised so many difficult questions for me and I wanted a little more time to deal with them while I read. But maybe that's the point: Hiram and Levi, for all their careful preparation, wind up necessarily facing questions they don't have time to answer, either.

Overall, a fantastic first novel, and I'm very much looking forward to Bradley's second.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 30, 2012 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction, texas, post-apocalyptic, apocalyptic

Nice to run into this new author with a creative twist on the sci fi theme of surviving an apocalypse. A couple of male teens in a medium-sized Texas city participate in a diffuse survival cult called Salvage. They communicate plans of preparation for the coming breakdown of civil order in code, both over bulletin boards and unused analog TV channels. They collaboratively create a manual, a how-to guide that essentially blends a Boy Scout type of handbook with Machiavellian and anarchic principl...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Berry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Let me tell you what Darin Bradley has achieved with Noise.

He's taken an Event, perhaps socio-political, definitely economic, in its scope and placed a pair of friends, Hiram and Levi, in medias res in their small Texas town. See, they've seen the writing on the walls--the wildstyle tagging along with the hacked analog transmission from the nebulous collective known as Salvage Country--and realized this is the End, friends. With a small band armed with information, weapons, and new names, they...more Let me tell you what Darin Bradley has achieved with Noise.

He's taken an Event, perhaps socio-political, definitely economic, in its scope and placed a pair of friends, Hiram and Levi, in medias res in their small Texas town. See, they've seen the writing on the walls--the wildstyle tagging along with the hacked analog transmission from the nebulous collective known as Salvage Country--and realized this is the End, friends. With a small band armed with information, weapons, and new names, they know it's time to make it to Amaranth, their quasi-mythical retreat.

See, it's all about your Group having a Place. So says the Book. Darin has managed to weave the get-out-of-Dodge narrative for Hiram et. al an with apropos sections of the Book, the bible at the beginning of the end. Bradley has waxed meta with Book in situ, giving the audience a chance to following along with Hiram's Group as they leave their apartments, cross town, and find their Place in a world in breakdown mode--all with the Book as artifact. The narrative is further interspersed with flashbacks of Hiram's childhood, and the particularly resonant ones were of the Boy Scouting days, the leadership skills acquired and, perhaps, taken for granted until the young adult Hiram falls back on those selfsame skills and more.

No one is who they seem, either, among the major players. They've taken new names, new identities forged as they create a new Place in this new and broken world. Anyone's skills belong to the Group; the person becomes the new economy. The old world is dying, and no one--no one--speaks their old names or of their old lives.

The pacing is quick, maybe quicker than one might expect in a multilayered narrative such as Noise presents. However, Darin has more than made up for it with an understanding that clean prose and lyrical prose need not be padded prose. As far as characterization is concerned, you might have known a Hiram or a Levi. You might have played D& D and rolled some D20's with them.

But you probably never had to see them roll the hard six and run someone through with a sword or shoot them in the face.

Noise isn't about a ragtag band of survivors holing up and waiting it out. It's about the exodus, the egress from Eden and the concomitant Fall. It's about the subsuming of personal identity into the usefulness and forward progress of the group's identity. It's about letting your past drown in a pond. Your Orphean descent into the Underworld. Your Amaranth where you will put down new roots in a faraway place.

Darin gives the reader plenty of explode-y action and up-close-and-personal scenes one might expect of an apocalyptic novel, but one thing's for certain: the characters are the heart of this book, and after reading Noise, don't be surprised to find yourself echoing a mantra of the Group in Noise:

"You did the right thing."

Here's hoping this is the first of many sharp, smart, resonant novels from Darin Bradley.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 08, 2010 Mitchel Broussard rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: apocalypse, dystopia, sci-fi, thriller-suspense

This is one of those novels that thinks its brilliant and smart, and just makes itself sound even more dumb by the page. The great premise of hidden messages embedded in the old analog signals no one uses anymore since the switch to digital television, is really awesome, but it never GOES anywhere. That's it. Okay, there's something about a secret town being set up to begin civilization anew or some shit, but it being never really explained, I felt blocked out from the plot entirely. Most of thi...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 02, 2011 zxvasdf rated it 4 of 5 stars

The idea is really intriguing and frightening. Those of y'all who say you don't like it, I can understand it. I do. But it's obvious that the author's devoted considerable time into crafting a scenario in response to a socioeconomic fall. This is only one of the many possible approaches, but Bradley goes as far as to write an actual book outlining the steps to be taken as a reaction to said fall.

I think another writer could go onto a totally different direction with the analog waves piracy angle...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 16, 2011 Chani rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Military rejects

I did not enjoy the writing style. It was schizophrenic and militant, and while this does probably fit the style of the novel, it was not something I enjoyed. I would have preferred characters a little bit less disturbed. Plus, the whole time I was unsure if all these things were really happening. I did step out of my enjoyed reading zone with this book, but it was just so all over the place, it didn't work. I also did not enjoy the random snippets from the main character's 'childhood.' They rea...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Charles Dee Mitchell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-sf

Without realizing it, Hiram and Levi had been in training for the Collapse most of their lives. They learned lessons in shop class, Boy Scouts, Renaissance Fairs, and all night sessions of Dungeons and Dragons. The began to receive instruction and train in earnest after television went all digital. On the unmonitored analog channels, 'Casters began sending out coded messages buried in the static, saying what to expect and how to prepare. Other messages were hidden in the wild style graffiti cove...more Without realizing it, Hiram and Levi had been in training for the Collapse most of their lives. They learned lessons in shop class, Boy Scouts, Renaissance Fairs, and all night sessions of Dungeons and Dragons. The began to receive instruction and train in earnest after television went all digital. On the unmonitored analog channels, 'Casters began sending out coded messages buried in the static, saying what to expect and how to prepare. Other messages were hidden in the wild style graffiti covering the walls of their college town somewhere in North Texas. When the Collapse occurred, Hiram and Levi would be among the prepared. The 'Casts had helped them assemble The Book, a sort of army training manuel for the survival of your Group. Following instructions Hiram and Levi already have established their Place in the country and stocked it with Salvage, i.e. stolen stuff. They have planned an escape route.

I was reading Noise on Black Friday. I took a break after about fifty pages, turned on the computer to check email, and saw first thing the videos of ambulances driving the fallen away from Best Buys in Colorado. Then I read the story of the woman at the California Wall Mart who pepper sprayed her fellow shoppers to protect her xbox console. And all morning I had thought I was reading a novel.

What Hiram and Levi have been learning, what they have assembled in The Book, are lessons in ruthlessness. They will not be victims. They will take advantage of chaos. They will regard all those outside their Group as enemies, and they will neutralize them when necessary. They neutralize some unsuspecting National Guardsmen who have been called in to discourage the turmoil breaking out in malls and on the campus. They steal the NG's Humvee with its 50 caliber cannon. It comes in handy when dealing with disgruntled suburban males who don't like the look of what's going on. They pick up some followers before their escape from the city, but this crowd, only partially trained in the disciplines of the 'Casts, prove to be a mixed blessing. When one thirteen year old is caught trying to escape -- he wants to go home to his parents across town -- he is tied to a porch railing, judged, and neutralized. The Group has done the right thing. The kid knew too much.

Noise is an unsettling read. It follows its relentless logic for just 200 pages and gets the survivors of Hiram and Levi's group to their Place of safety. I am one of those movie watchers who always wonder why characters hit guards and bad guys over the head instead of killing, I mean, neutralizing them, but I also know there is always payback time. Much of what is in The Book makes an awful sort of sense, given the situation. But nobody's long-term prospects look good. (less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 08, 2011 David Pearce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great book - especially when you consider that what makes a young author's work good is exactly that it is flawed, it gives you a place to enter, to empathize with the writer, and - if you're like me - it gives you hope for your own promising but shitty writing. I've seen a lot of people complaining that the book never explains how the Event occurred. Ask me, that's one of the better parts of the book. Sometimes what's not written, what's omitted, is what makes great writing thrilling and suspen...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am at once entralled to this book while being conflicted in my thoughts for this book.

It's essentially The Turner Diaries for Anarcho D&D Nerds and it was kind of exciting to see a survivalist screed turned on its head to represent collectivism and post-utopianism but then as I stopped reading it, and went back to think about it more, it seemed to fail in a few areas.

This is about the immediate aftermath rather than any sort of long term look at a post-collapse society and about the actio...more

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Nov 17, 2010 Karlo rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a harsh look at a potential response by small groups to the breakdown of civil society. The writting is terse, affecting and made me feel alternately upset or numb depending on the scene. I would suggest that this isn't for the faint of heart: the violence that is on display is not video-game or action movie-like; it's up close and personal.

A special note on the length of this book: 208 pages. I wish more writters could get across their ideas without the need of 700+ pages of text. I p...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars

I liked the setting of the book at the point where society starts to break down into riots and anarchy, and I liked the idea that groups of survivalists are organizing by hijacking the old analog TV signals once TV has switched to fully digital. However, I have trouble really getting into books where I don't like the main characters, and the main characters in this are really pretty hard to like. The writing style is also very brief and often disjointed. So although the setting and the ideas wer...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Kwinks rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: end-of-the-world-fiction

A lot of thought went into this novel. I really did not like any of the characters, but to be fair, we were meeting them after a world ending event. I love the manifesto style of book within a book that shapes the story. I do wonder if there will be sequel, because the entire story is only two?three? days in the life of this group. I found Mary very interesting, Levi and Hiram had years to prepare for the event, Mary had minutes-and took to it like a duck to water.
I had some trouble keeping e...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Roxanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Noise was a fantastic read, and I disagree with the critics who want to know more details about the "event" in order to patch the narrative together. The thing is, it doesn't matter what "event" occurs. We're living in precarious times, and any number of shitty things could happen to topple over the foundations of our civilization. It's what you do (before and) after it happens that counts, and I think Noise does a great job of considering the intense moral crossroads without devolving into gore...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 30, 2010 Topher rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: post-apocalypse

I hit a problem around page 100 where I couldn't decide if I loved or hated this book - either way, I knew I felt strongly about it. This is not your typical post-apocalypse. Interspersed within the chapters are excerpts from The Book - the rules the two main characters put together from other's advice on what to do once the end happens. As you read The Book, you recognize all the cliches of the genre, and the author's advice on how to handle them.

An interesting, but still fairly quick, read.

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Jul 03, 2011 Craig rated it 3 of 5 stars

Good idea here that gets a bit bogged down in all the jargon and "newspeak" that the characters adopt for their lives, post-breakdown of society. Every other chapter comes from The Book, a guide to restarting a civilization following an apocalyptic event, and these are very basic and easy to follow rules. The rest gets just a bit overly-hip in the way Bradley paints his characters and their attitudes to the breakdown of society. The ending packs a bit of a wallop and I have to admit I'd like to...more

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Jan 18, 2011 Jessi rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was really gripped by this book right from the get go. I'd had the opportunity to sit down and read it cover to cover, thanks to a pesky cold. While not without flaws (in the later portions of the book a whole cast of characters enter the mix, most of which aren't much more than a name, let alone a face)I think Noise was well executed and inspiring. I wouldn't recommend this book to just anyone, but all in all a good read.

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Feb 08, 2012 Meg Winkler rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm gonna tick some people off with this review. I'm sorry, I just couldn't get into this book. It feels like an English major who really tried to emulate Fight Club or something and it just rubs me wrong. I get the premise, I understand what the author was conveying, I just can't jive with it.

Actually, it feels like I'm missing something - like the author had something very introspective to say and it just didn't translate to the page well.

On the other hand, there are several people who really...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Abstract Witch rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: liked-it

Extraordinary. I'm glad I got this book from the publisher so I could read it. *-*
I liked how the book turned out, I liked that is was dark. I hated what happened with my favorite character! I really appreciated the psychological processes. I loved this whole book. Just loved it. And I'm glad that it has realistic ending. Realisting and shocking.

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Dec 28, 2011 Pamela (slytherpuff) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, what-just-happened

See more of my reviews at Bettering Me Up.

My thoughts are as jumbled as the plot of this novel. There was a lot of back-and-forth between previous events and the present time, which normally doesn't bother me, but it made this story difficult to follow.

If you don't know your Biblical and Mythological history, you're going to be lost. As I am a scholar of neither, I had to look up several of the references made.

Bradley has a unique way of weaving a story together, and if I hadn't been so confus...more

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Sep 06, 2010 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

great book - fast read, engaging characters, ad, really what would *you* do in this situation? Sort of a "Clockwork Orange" and "Neuromancer" and the "Apocalypse" -- with all the fun, light comedy removed.

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 20, 2012 Shamela rated it 5 of 5 stars

READ THIS.

NAOW.

Especially, of course, if you're a fan of smart, dark, thoughtful, funny, scary dystopian/postapocalyptic/how are we gonna survive?? fiction.

1 like · like · see review

Dec 01, 2010 Matthew Rich rated it 4 of 5 stars

Amazing story. Very different. Written in a signature style that may be hard to get into for a casual reader. Overall -- very creative -- dark -- Kind of realistic.

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Sep 09, 2010 Josiah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

Certainly interesting, in tone and general emotion, not necessarily in the idea content. Like most who read it I'm conflicted, but I owe it for the experience.

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Apr 18, 2011 Margali rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very interesting ideas, but the characters never really came to life.

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Sep 04, 2010 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

An interesting dystopian novel about anarchy and societal collapse.

1 like · like · see review

Feb 20, 2011 Doug added it

Shelves: sci-fi-war

don't waste your time.

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Feb 21, 2012 Madilyn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, dystopian, owned, political, fiction

Pretentious.

I liked The Book, but that was about it.

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May 29, 2012 Brigid rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: didn-t-finish-it-don-t-want-to

Couldn't stay with it.

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Aug 18, 2012 Thomas Baughman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-literature, fiction

An excellent first novel.

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About Darin Bradley

Darin Bradley holds an M.A. in Literature and Literary Criticism and a Ph.D. in English Literature and Theory. He has taught courses on writing and literature at East Tennessee State University, Furman University, and the University of North Texas. He lives with his wife in Texas, where he works as a full-time writer for id software. Noise is his first novel.

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Quotes from Noise

“I tried to convince myself once, when I was a teenager, that I felt God. Alone in the sanctuary, accompanying my mom on an evening errand to the church. I stared at the ceiling and drew deep breath as quickly as I could. I told our youth minister in his ball cap that I had felt Him. That I was blessed.

But in the end, it was only the wind and the rain, making noise in the darkness.” — 2 people liked it

“The thing about oracles is that they talk back.” — 1 person liked it

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