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The Station Trilogy #1
Station
What is Station? A second chance? A nocturnal paradise? Or something more sinister?
When grief-stricken Marlin Hadder's life refuses to end despite his best efforts, he unwittingly earns an invitation to Station. On its glossy iridescent surface, it's a city of indulgence, where every desire can be satisfied through gratuitous sex, exotic drugs, and extreme surgical procedures called Elevations. But when Hadder wants a life beyond the audacious parties and shocking body modifications, he delves deeper into the sunless city, uncovering its darker mysteries.
Included among those discoveries is a violent, twisted group of residents called Risers, who have abused Station’s gifts, transforming themselves into killing machines set on bringing down the city’s massive walls. And once those walls fall, the outside world is an exposed throat waiting to be cut.
As Hadder encounters Station's more outrageous characters, including a flesh artist, a band of behemoth guardians, and a self-appointed king of carnage, he finds himself asking a frightening question. Is Station a place where dreams are made? Or where monsters are created?
The storm clouds are gathering, the Risers are moving, and the clock is ticking. A shocking murder, a great duel, and a heartbreaking act set chess pieces in motion, forcing Hadder to convince a community grown complacent that it must fight for its city. But is Station a utopia worth protecting, or cheap theater between gods better left in rubble?
Novel soundtrack available on Jarrett Brandon Early author website.
When grief-stricken Marlin Hadder's life refuses to end despite his best efforts, he unwittingly earns an invitation to Station. On its glossy iridescent surface, it's a city of indulgence, where every desire can be satisfied through gratuitous sex, exotic drugs, and extreme surgical procedures called Elevations. But when Hadder wants a life beyond the audacious parties and shocking body modifications, he delves deeper into the sunless city, uncovering its darker mysteries.
Included among those discoveries is a violent, twisted group of residents called Risers, who have abused Station’s gifts, transforming themselves into killing machines set on bringing down the city’s massive walls. And once those walls fall, the outside world is an exposed throat waiting to be cut.
As Hadder encounters Station's more outrageous characters, including a flesh artist, a band of behemoth guardians, and a self-appointed king of carnage, he finds himself asking a frightening question. Is Station a place where dreams are made? Or where monsters are created?
The storm clouds are gathering, the Risers are moving, and the clock is ticking. A shocking murder, a great duel, and a heartbreaking act set chess pieces in motion, forcing Hadder to convince a community grown complacent that it must fight for its city. But is Station a utopia worth protecting, or cheap theater between gods better left in rubble?
Novel soundtrack available on Jarrett Brandon Early author website.
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Published March 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 22, 2020
I really wanted to enjoy this, it’s a gorgeous book and feels amazing to hold, but that’s about all the substance it had. The protagonist is bland and one dimensional. The amount of adjectives and analogies made it difficult to enjoy. Sometimes less is more when it comes to writing and this is a prime example of that.
December 2, 2020
After I've gathered my thoughts a bit more, I'll write a review before the end of the year. I originally had this pegged at four stars, then revised it to five stars because after I interviewed the author for my youtube show (channel name: Hatchet Mouth), I realized just how much fun I'd really had with it. The few things I'd subtracted a star for were things that were simply being held back for the second installment in a series (the forthcoming The Rott Inertia).
August 3, 2024
I'll have to edit this later, because I have a lot to say - but I have to get this of my chest first while the impression is fresh.
1) I was thoroughly entertained
2) I liked the world building a lot and if you enjoy BioShock, you may like it too
BUT
3) While I was engaged throughout, I wasn't emotionally invested, which goes with point
4) The book feels pretty juvenile. It reads like a web novel: full of clichés, cringy and ineffective descriptions of violence, and tropey and superficial characters with exaggerated personalities. It's also a power fantasy featuring a badass, super competent everyman with a tragic past who now gets all the women without really trying because he's super cool like that.
Some of that is certainly on purpose to create the atmosphere, but all put together it's... a lot.
The book has flaws and once you notice them, you can't unnotice them. But it has a great deal of charm regardless. I'll read the next part.
1) I was thoroughly entertained
2) I liked the world building a lot and if you enjoy BioShock, you may like it too
BUT
3) While I was engaged throughout, I wasn't emotionally invested, which goes with point
4) The book feels pretty juvenile. It reads like a web novel: full of clichés, cringy and ineffective descriptions of violence, and tropey and superficial characters with exaggerated personalities. It's also a power fantasy featuring a badass, super competent everyman with a tragic past who now gets all the women without really trying because he's super cool like that.
Some of that is certainly on purpose to create the atmosphere, but all put together it's... a lot.
The book has flaws and once you notice them, you can't unnotice them. But it has a great deal of charm regardless. I'll read the next part.
March 6, 2020
An enjoyable and imaginative read.
You see yourself as a failure, and your life as a waste. Then, out of the clear blue, comes an opportunity to start over – as an adult – in a city beyond the pale where fun and pleasure seem to rule. You partake for a while but then, bored and aimless, you begin to wonder if this new life in which everything is provided and taken care of is really better than the old one. To your surprise, you find some like-minded spirits. Then things begin to happen, and your real purpose in this new place is gradually revealed.
You see yourself as a failure, and your life as a waste. Then, out of the clear blue, comes an opportunity to start over – as an adult – in a city beyond the pale where fun and pleasure seem to rule. You partake for a while but then, bored and aimless, you begin to wonder if this new life in which everything is provided and taken care of is really better than the old one. To your surprise, you find some like-minded spirits. Then things begin to happen, and your real purpose in this new place is gradually revealed.
July 7, 2022
Philosophical fiction and science, combined to the highest level of reading entertainment.
Combining a mesmerizing style of writing with some fascinating concepts, this is an action packed first book in a series that cannot be ignored. A gripping reading experience that is addictive and thoroughly enjoyable. It sets a high bar for the next books, a bar which I am sure the author will have no difficulty in meeting and surpassing with the same consummate ease of writing displayed in this book.
Combining a mesmerizing style of writing with some fascinating concepts, this is an action packed first book in a series that cannot be ignored. A gripping reading experience that is addictive and thoroughly enjoyable. It sets a high bar for the next books, a bar which I am sure the author will have no difficulty in meeting and surpassing with the same consummate ease of writing displayed in this book.
September 4, 2023
good plot, good ending
Lots of promise in the plot and themes kept me going through the book. Well described and widely varied characters. Some excellent themes of morality. But there was a lot of wading to be done, through crude sex, drugs, and violence - and also through a host of malapropisms and overuse of a thesaurus. Some segments I just speed-read to get back to where the plot started happening again. The ending is almost enough to tease me into the second book.
Lots of promise in the plot and themes kept me going through the book. Well described and widely varied characters. Some excellent themes of morality. But there was a lot of wading to be done, through crude sex, drugs, and violence - and also through a host of malapropisms and overuse of a thesaurus. Some segments I just speed-read to get back to where the plot started happening again. The ending is almost enough to tease me into the second book.
August 16, 2021
I was unable to put this book down from about the 10th page in. It literally consumed my life for several days before finally making my way to the end. The world that Jarrett creates is truly unique and exceptionally fascinating. The book’s premise is completely fresh, and the book moves at a fast pace that keeps you deeply engaged. Very highly recommend.
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March 16, 2021From Kirkus Reviews -https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
Death is neither the end of existence nor the beginning of clarity for a grieving widower who finds himself in a mysterious near utopia in this debut novel.
Marlin Hadder is dead and not particularly liking it. After a dreamlike encounter in which he seemingly repudiates a peaceful meeting with a “painfully beautiful” and powerful “iridescent figure” because of the Rage, a lifelong anger that he struggles to control, Hadder ends up in a city called Station, in a decrepit bar with the same name. The city is a marvel: All labor is done by humanoid manikins, and there are numerous entertainments and no aging or sickness. It seems like paradise, but Hadder has some key questions (“Could this strange city really prove a new beginning? Could it make him finally forget his old life that was lost in the wreckage? Is that what he needed? Is that what he really wanted?”). Several residents have queries of their own. The more he explores, the more he questions, especially regarding the enigmatic Creator of the city, Mister Rott, and the beings on the other side of Station’s border. Early writes with economy and punch, creating an unusual world with specificity and color while permitting many aspects to go unexplained for the moment, allowing for more particulars or mystery as the story demands. Hadder and the other humans of Station are painted in equally strong detail. Their strengths and flaws seem believable and lived in even as the stranger aspects of their reality—such as the lack of a sun, the inability to leave the city once one’s entered, even the nature of their continued existence—loom over the characters to various degrees, affecting their psychologies and philosophies in unexpected ways. Portraying a realm built from various pieces of the characters’ old world, the engrossing novel wears its numerous influences well, twirling aspects of Dante, Philip José Farmer, and Buddhist thought into the narrative without being ham-handed. Some readers may be surprised at where the last third of the book goes, given its tonal shift with respect to the previous pages, but this volume is only the first of a series. The author’s deft plotting and capable writing keep things together even while laying the groundwork for the tale’s continuation.
Strong worldbuilding and characters ground an in imaginative setting, creating a powerful series opener.
Death is neither the end of existence nor the beginning of clarity for a grieving widower who finds himself in a mysterious near utopia in this debut novel.
Marlin Hadder is dead and not particularly liking it. After a dreamlike encounter in which he seemingly repudiates a peaceful meeting with a “painfully beautiful” and powerful “iridescent figure” because of the Rage, a lifelong anger that he struggles to control, Hadder ends up in a city called Station, in a decrepit bar with the same name. The city is a marvel: All labor is done by humanoid manikins, and there are numerous entertainments and no aging or sickness. It seems like paradise, but Hadder has some key questions (“Could this strange city really prove a new beginning? Could it make him finally forget his old life that was lost in the wreckage? Is that what he needed? Is that what he really wanted?”). Several residents have queries of their own. The more he explores, the more he questions, especially regarding the enigmatic Creator of the city, Mister Rott, and the beings on the other side of Station’s border. Early writes with economy and punch, creating an unusual world with specificity and color while permitting many aspects to go unexplained for the moment, allowing for more particulars or mystery as the story demands. Hadder and the other humans of Station are painted in equally strong detail. Their strengths and flaws seem believable and lived in even as the stranger aspects of their reality—such as the lack of a sun, the inability to leave the city once one’s entered, even the nature of their continued existence—loom over the characters to various degrees, affecting their psychologies and philosophies in unexpected ways. Portraying a realm built from various pieces of the characters’ old world, the engrossing novel wears its numerous influences well, twirling aspects of Dante, Philip José Farmer, and Buddhist thought into the narrative without being ham-handed. Some readers may be surprised at where the last third of the book goes, given its tonal shift with respect to the previous pages, but this volume is only the first of a series. The author’s deft plotting and capable writing keep things together even while laying the groundwork for the tale’s continuation.
Strong worldbuilding and characters ground an in imaginative setting, creating a powerful series opener.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews