Prelude to Chaos

by Edward Llewellyn

Gavin Knox was bodyguard to the President of the United States and witness to a crime which could shake civilization to its foundations.
Judith Grenfell was a neurobiologist who discovered a side effect of the most common pharmaceutical on the market which could cause the greatest biological disaster in human history.
Both were,prisoners in the most advanced maximum-security prison ever devised.
Without their information the few survivors of biological catastrophe could dissolve in bloody civil war. They had to escapoe, and fast, to safeguard the survival of the human race, or leave the world barren for eternity.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1983

Reviews

[Bria]

I can't tell if this is optimistic or pessimistic about politics, compared to what's actually happening in 2024.

[Jordan Rawlins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book in a section of Powell's in Portland titled "Judge these books by their covers." And I must admit, I loved walking around with this book because random strangers would remark on the cover! This book is very of it's era (1980's), its weaponry and vehicles were straight out of an 80's role playing game and I loved that. Overall it was exactly the kind of quick fun read I was hoping for. I enjoyed the sort of bold cartoon dialogue "I am the hardest of the hardcore" the main character used. I also thought the plot point about infertility was very clever. My complaints, and the reason I gave this book three stars, are that typos and format issues are all over the place and more importantly, the main character's motivating plot is dropped for such a long period that I grew frustrated. In the end though, this is a book with a woman on a motorcycle riding in front of an armored car - and if that imagery works for you, like it did for me, it's worth the read.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1306943.html[return][return]It's a somewhat confused tale of two wrongly accused prisoners breaking out and discovering that the USA (indeed, the world) of 2030 is on the brink of biological catastrophe. The point of the book seems mainly to be the escape sequences of the first half, followed by the resistance against the bad guys of the second half, which are decently enough written. The elements of a good book are all there but somehow don't quite gel.

[Dane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good way to pass the time. This is like a B+ movie on Netflix. I liked it when I read it (way back when I was a teen and the book had just come out) but I won't hold up well to close scrutiny.

The other critical reviews are generally on the mark about the choppiness but I felt the through-lines were there enough to carry the reader through to the end.

What I liked most were the action scenes, the general concept, and the snarky character.

I don't know what I'd think of the book reading it with my older eyes and modern social views.

So, if you're looking for a pleasant distraction that hearkens back to 80s action flicks, then give this a read.

[Francisco d'Anconia · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those captivating author where I’ve set out to read every book they’ve written. Highly recommend.

[James]

Prelude to Chaos256pp. Gavin Knox was bodyguard to the President of the United States and witness to a crime which could shake civilization to its foundations.Keywords: Science Fiction

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book promised a few things. Firstly, it promised prisoners; secondly, it promised a really cool idea these prisoners save humanity from sterilization. It didn’t really fulfill either of these things.

We start with Gavin Knox atop the last surviving Federal Penitentiary trying to keep signal relays working to stay updated on news. See, this super amazing, super secure hi-tech prison is on its last leg so the prisoners have to keep everything working. Sounds like a great plot point to see them work together to either take the authority down or resign to living peacefully together, right? Wrong. Throw all that thinking out.

What happens is that Gavin takes notice of another prisoner, Judith Grenfell She has a plan to break out and needs Gavin’s help to get away. After a chapter or two of planning, we’re tossed into the escape attempt (which is fairly smart, if execution somewhat a little lazy) and “on the run” from authorities. Except not really. See, anyone who ends up in the Pen is considered dead to anyone concerned, so if there’s an escape no one makes an effort to stop them.

Gavin and Judy take to the road but there’s really no urgency in their actions. There’s maybe one close call? Anyway. The book quickly takes a sharp turn into “politics against religion” because it closes out the main plot (the sterilization of the entire human population) within a few pages with Judy’s background. It’s not a major point again until towards the end of the book, and even then it’s shrugged off.

What happens in between is a lot of back and forth with these two characters. Gavin’s former Secret Service–he’s proud of that and yet ashamed of it when someone finds out and uses his experience. Judy’s part of a religious sect that seems a mix between Christian and Mormon and they follow the teaching of The Light and The Teacher. They have settlements all over the U.S. and Judy drags Gavin (who claims he’s not religious) to the safety of a Settlement. But when things get hairy there, and Gavin learns some not so good information, they bolt for the next Settlement which is somewhat better but he’s still trying to hide his past and… yeah, without boring your pants off, it’s just a lot of flip-flopping.

The writing is awkward sometimes. Llewellyn can be strong and on point in one paragraph and flounder the next; I started to wonder if I had an ARC of a book published in 1983. For only 250-some pages, the characters started to grow stale halfway through because we already knew why they were in the Pen, why they wanted to break out–all in, maybe, forty pages. Neither Gavin or Judy complete their personal quests and just kind of wander around in the pages–but I give Judy credit because she at least tried. Gavin just stands around and complains about everything.

For a random used bookstore find (I admit I grabbed it initially for that cover) it wasn’t awful, and it was a nice short read. If there was some development in between, maybe it would have been a shorter read, but it just kind of dragged throughout. If you’re not willing to sit through a few hours of “Politics bad, religion bad, Gavin good” then avoid this one. But hey, at least you get a cool cover for your collection.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I managed to find this little book at a bulk book sale for 25 cents and was eager to check it out based on a goodreads recommendation. The back cover blurb sounded quite intriguing. Indeed the book grabs you right at the start but the issue is that it fails to deliver on its promises. The plot shifts from a charged escape/revenge thriller onto a different story track as the characters' goals ultimately change. This loses the reader as you find yourself reading a different book than you'd thought. Ultimately the story becomes a post-apocalyptic survival story, devolving into an 80's era scifi adventure cut right out of a TV series, and while it held my attention while reading it was immediately forgettable as a whole. It also suffered from too much unnecessary sexual references/tension and the author's apparent disdain of religious faith, as referenced by the POV character's continual derogatory thoughts and statements about it. In the end the book was a disappointment that got sidetracked and fell short of its potential.