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Guardians of the Phoenix
Global warming has taken its terrible toll. The seas have dried up and deserts cover much of the Earth's surface. Humankind has been annihilated by drought and the nuclear and biological conflicts following the Great Breakdown. Desperate bands of humans still survive. Some live far underground, away from the searing temperatures and ongoing conflicts on the surface; others scrape a living in the remains of shattered cities above ground. In Paris, Pierre lives like an animal among the sand-drifted ruins of the once great city. Near death, he faces a choice: join the strangers heading south in search of water, or remain in the city and perish. Guardians of the Phoenix tells the story of the last survivors on planet Earth, their desperate fight for survival and their last hope to save the world.
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 28, 2010
3 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Eric Brown
375 books186 followersEric Brown was a British science fiction author and Guardian critic.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 19, 2012
http://civilian-reader.blogspot.co.uk... - Guest Review for Civilian Reader.
Whenever you pick up a book by an author who you’ve never heard of, you don’t really know what to expect when you go into it. Is it going to be a good read? Is it going to be a bad one? With Eric Brown though, I’ve heard a lot about him and his work before, and most of it good. The author is prolific, with fifteen novels already published (not including children’s books), and has also been a reviewer and an editor. I’ve been interested in picking up Brown’s novels for a while now, but I finally decided to take the plunge with the standalone novel Guardians of the Phoenix.
The main character of Guardians of the Phoenix is Paul, and when we kick off this novel, we see him as a youngster living with an old lady in what was once Paris, where we meet him struggling to survive in an age where mankind as a whole is also struggling. Brown writes a grim, dark outlook on humanity’s future and although the author doesn’t go into more detail about what happened during the Great Breakdown, its lasting effects are clear. This is a world that nobody would want to live in given the choice.
I came to Guardians of the Phoenix with perhaps greater expectations than I should have had, as I was ultimately disappointed by the novel. Guardians of the Phoenix didn’t really grab me and draw me in as much as I wanted it to. It’s predictable, with a simple plot, the main character is uninteresting, and the storyline just failed to grab me. I even had to put it down at one point – although that was partly due to a much more appealing book turning up on my doorstep while I was reading this novel. (James Swallow’s Fear to Tread, in case you’re interested.)
The pace is fast, sure, and Brown includes a lot of cliff-hangers at the end of each chapter to keep you reading, sending the reader on a bit of a roller-coaster ride throughout the course of the novel. The author has also included some great descriptions of the deserted European world, which is one of the book’s redeeming features.
However, for every good point, there seems to be a bad one. A plot hole which kept bugging me throughout this novel is the poor explanation that the author gave for how the entire world’s water dried up – it didn’t really quite feel believable, which was a shame as this is one of the core aspects of Guardians of the Phoenix’s plot.
But Guardians of the Phoenix isn’t a complete waste of time – if it was, I would never have finished it. It’s a coming of age tale that has an interesting start, and Paul (whilst uninteresting), does develop over the course of the novel. And If you’re someone who struggles to keep up with a novel that contains loads of characters, then you should have no problem with Guardians of the Phoenix as it switches between a small cast of heroes and villains to keep the pace fast and give you different viewpoints of the overall storyline.
The novel itself is also action packed, and there are plenty of encounters that ensure that there is always something going on, no matter if is the first or the last page, which is one of the few things that kept me reading.
Overall, Guardians of the Phoenix is a mixed read that unfortunately will leave the reader disappointed, and one that I felt could have really benefited from being longer, which would have allowed the author to perhaps sort out the plot-hole and make the characters more believable and interesting.
However, I am willing to give another Eric Brown novel a try though, as I’ve heard his other novels are a lot better than this one. Are there any Eric Brown fans out there who want to recommend a novel to me that’s better than this one?
Whenever you pick up a book by an author who you’ve never heard of, you don’t really know what to expect when you go into it. Is it going to be a good read? Is it going to be a bad one? With Eric Brown though, I’ve heard a lot about him and his work before, and most of it good. The author is prolific, with fifteen novels already published (not including children’s books), and has also been a reviewer and an editor. I’ve been interested in picking up Brown’s novels for a while now, but I finally decided to take the plunge with the standalone novel Guardians of the Phoenix.
The main character of Guardians of the Phoenix is Paul, and when we kick off this novel, we see him as a youngster living with an old lady in what was once Paris, where we meet him struggling to survive in an age where mankind as a whole is also struggling. Brown writes a grim, dark outlook on humanity’s future and although the author doesn’t go into more detail about what happened during the Great Breakdown, its lasting effects are clear. This is a world that nobody would want to live in given the choice.
I came to Guardians of the Phoenix with perhaps greater expectations than I should have had, as I was ultimately disappointed by the novel. Guardians of the Phoenix didn’t really grab me and draw me in as much as I wanted it to. It’s predictable, with a simple plot, the main character is uninteresting, and the storyline just failed to grab me. I even had to put it down at one point – although that was partly due to a much more appealing book turning up on my doorstep while I was reading this novel. (James Swallow’s Fear to Tread, in case you’re interested.)
The pace is fast, sure, and Brown includes a lot of cliff-hangers at the end of each chapter to keep you reading, sending the reader on a bit of a roller-coaster ride throughout the course of the novel. The author has also included some great descriptions of the deserted European world, which is one of the book’s redeeming features.
However, for every good point, there seems to be a bad one. A plot hole which kept bugging me throughout this novel is the poor explanation that the author gave for how the entire world’s water dried up – it didn’t really quite feel believable, which was a shame as this is one of the core aspects of Guardians of the Phoenix’s plot.
But Guardians of the Phoenix isn’t a complete waste of time – if it was, I would never have finished it. It’s a coming of age tale that has an interesting start, and Paul (whilst uninteresting), does develop over the course of the novel. And If you’re someone who struggles to keep up with a novel that contains loads of characters, then you should have no problem with Guardians of the Phoenix as it switches between a small cast of heroes and villains to keep the pace fast and give you different viewpoints of the overall storyline.
The novel itself is also action packed, and there are plenty of encounters that ensure that there is always something going on, no matter if is the first or the last page, which is one of the few things that kept me reading.
Overall, Guardians of the Phoenix is a mixed read that unfortunately will leave the reader disappointed, and one that I felt could have really benefited from being longer, which would have allowed the author to perhaps sort out the plot-hole and make the characters more believable and interesting.
However, I am willing to give another Eric Brown novel a try though, as I’ve heard his other novels are a lot better than this one. Are there any Eric Brown fans out there who want to recommend a novel to me that’s better than this one?
October 9, 2013
Good enough to keep me reading, but there were a couple of missed opportunities for more interesting plot twists and human drama. There's not really a good explanation for why the whole world is a desert and I found it hard to set that aside. The amount of death and cannibalism was hard to take, but also drove home how bleak the world had become.
December 4, 2025
As a novel that is akin to The Book of Eli, The 100 and others of that ilk, it was a half decent read. I really don't like stupid people though, and even though Paul was severely isolated, he should have known better than to blithely wander over to complete strangers. In Paris he was cautious, and sneaky..which backfired on him anyway coz he made a stupid error in judgement. But to go and visit people you're fairly certain were killers??
I would have liked more closure. Say, a year or five on with all the new colonists in the depot. Although, they'd probably make the same mistakes and start infighting again.
Would I read it again? No.
I would have liked more closure. Say, a year or five on with all the new colonists in the depot. Although, they'd probably make the same mistakes and start infighting again.
Would I read it again? No.
March 3, 2019
A typical Eric Brown novel but at least it didn't feel as rushed at the end as a few of his stories are. The separate threads finally all come together and it is worth sticking with for the revelation about a quarter of the way in. Now I wonder if a sequel was ever planned but got left behind when other ideas for novels entered the active mind of Eric Brown? Hopefully he will maybe revisit this future Earth to expand on the storyline.
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
May 13, 2018
I just couldn't get into this book. I thought it would catch my attention right away but it just didn't.
January 24, 2017
Guardians of the Phoenix by Eric Brown 2010. A memorable story.
January 13, 2011
I should start to state I am a fan of Eric Brown. The Guardians of the Phoinix is his latest work and I was very excited when I started to read this post apocalyptic coming of age slash road movie story.
Paul the young protagonist is living alone with an old lady in the ruins of Paris when we meet him the first time. He gets captured by cannibals and is rescued by another group searching for a means of survival. Both groups are looking for a rumored cache of food and survival gear in the town.
The story has a bit of simplicity to it and the characters are less developed than in Eric’s Bengali Station Trilogy but on the other hand I felt that emphasized the survivalist feel of the book. The humanity that survived in this desert of a world where the seas has dried up and humanity is on the brink of extinction might not be so three dimensional. But there is a core of optimism in all the gloom as indicated by the title.
The Big Breakdown is never explained in detail but its aftermath involved nuclear and biological attacks. The seas have dried up and deserts cover most of earth’s surfaces that much we know. Small colonies of humans survive across Europe. It feels foreboding to read about those small, small enclaves making meager living where millions of people live today.
The group Paul joins with is on the track of a way to save the peoples in the colony they left behind in Copenhagen. And they have more than the rumored cache. Unfortunately for them so has the surviving cannibals and the story continues with a race to reach salvation first. But salvation is never as easy as it seems.
The book made me uncomfortable at times especially when he presented characters that were forced to cannibalism to survive as relatively sympathetic individuals. Some of the violence is also on the rough side. I wonder if this started out as a YA because sometimes the sex feels a bit out of place too.
I read and enjoyed Guardians of the Phoenix as a post apocalyptic space opera but know that Eric Brown can write much better than this. Another fifty pages would not have hurt the book.
Paul the young protagonist is living alone with an old lady in the ruins of Paris when we meet him the first time. He gets captured by cannibals and is rescued by another group searching for a means of survival. Both groups are looking for a rumored cache of food and survival gear in the town.
The story has a bit of simplicity to it and the characters are less developed than in Eric’s Bengali Station Trilogy but on the other hand I felt that emphasized the survivalist feel of the book. The humanity that survived in this desert of a world where the seas has dried up and humanity is on the brink of extinction might not be so three dimensional. But there is a core of optimism in all the gloom as indicated by the title.
The Big Breakdown is never explained in detail but its aftermath involved nuclear and biological attacks. The seas have dried up and deserts cover most of earth’s surfaces that much we know. Small colonies of humans survive across Europe. It feels foreboding to read about those small, small enclaves making meager living where millions of people live today.
The group Paul joins with is on the track of a way to save the peoples in the colony they left behind in Copenhagen. And they have more than the rumored cache. Unfortunately for them so has the surviving cannibals and the story continues with a race to reach salvation first. But salvation is never as easy as it seems.
The book made me uncomfortable at times especially when he presented characters that were forced to cannibalism to survive as relatively sympathetic individuals. Some of the violence is also on the rough side. I wonder if this started out as a YA because sometimes the sex feels a bit out of place too.
I read and enjoyed Guardians of the Phoenix as a post apocalyptic space opera but know that Eric Brown can write much better than this. Another fifty pages would not have hurt the book.
December 11, 2014
This was the first book by British writer Eric Brown I've read. It is a quick read, set in a stock dystopic future after disastrous climate change and warfare. Desperate bands of humans survive in isolated communities, cobbling together the remnants of lost technology, ranging across the dry hot sandblasted wastes of Europe, in search of ever more scarce food and water. Most of the story takes place in what was once France and I did enjoy recognizing transformed landmarks and locales.
Much of the story follows one group that sets out from a colony near the former site of Copenhagen, on a quest for a source of water, or anything else that would enable their failing colony to survive. At a different colony near the former site of Aubenas, there are a few surviving documents that describe Phoenix, a project of the ESA which was attempted during the final years before the total collapse of civilization in Europe. Another group sets out from Aubenas seeking the site of project Phoenix.
The action and plot tension are continuous, and events are not as predictable as I thought at first. I might be giving this book a higher rating except for the relentless brutality and cannibalism. There really is no higher message, other than good guys versus bad guys. So, I rate it as "adequate entertainment."
Much of the story follows one group that sets out from a colony near the former site of Copenhagen, on a quest for a source of water, or anything else that would enable their failing colony to survive. At a different colony near the former site of Aubenas, there are a few surviving documents that describe Phoenix, a project of the ESA which was attempted during the final years before the total collapse of civilization in Europe. Another group sets out from Aubenas seeking the site of project Phoenix.
The action and plot tension are continuous, and events are not as predictable as I thought at first. I might be giving this book a higher rating except for the relentless brutality and cannibalism. There really is no higher message, other than good guys versus bad guys. So, I rate it as "adequate entertainment."
February 5, 2011
This was a post apocalyptic road move (well, sand drive in a half track to be precise). The cover was so wrong - that image never occurs in the book. The title is wrong really too - it is not about the guardians at all! Anyway, was it any good. I was by no means hooked, but I wanted ot know what happened at the end. I thought the book would go one way and then 3/4 of the way through, I realised that was not going to happen and it really would be a sand drive book. The violence actually shocked me at times - in as much that it made me stop and think about what was going on, but I felt that the characters would gun people down without much/any effect. maybe that was symptomatic the state of the world portayed in the book, but I'm not convinced. The sex was interesting. Lots of it and at times I was reminded v much of Richard Morgan.
So it gets three stars as it was OK.
I went to the library yesterday and came way with 4 novels. Next up a book and author I have never heard of before - Acts of violence by Ryan David Jahn. I had never heard of him or the book before and picked it up on a whim. Just read the Amazon reviews. It's going to be a journey...
So it gets three stars as it was OK.
I went to the library yesterday and came way with 4 novels. Next up a book and author I have never heard of before - Acts of violence by Ryan David Jahn. I had never heard of him or the book before and picked it up on a whim. Just read the Amazon reviews. It's going to be a journey...
February 7, 2013
Global warming has taken its terrible toll. The seas have dried up and deserts cover much of the Earth's surface. Humankind has been annihilated by drought and the nuclear and biological conflicts following the Great Breakdown. Desperate bands of humans still survive. Some live far underground, away from the searing temperatures and ongoing conflicts on the surface; others scrape a living in the remains of shattered cities above ground. In Paris, Pierre lives like an animal among the sand-drifted ruins of the once great city. Near death, he faces a choice: join the strangers heading south in search of water, or remain in the city and perish. Guardians of the Phoenix tells the story of the last survivors on planet Earth, their desperate fight for survival and their last hope to save the world.
About the AuthorEric Brown is the award-winning author of a huge number of SF novels, such as Helix, Necropath ,
The New York Trilogy and The Fall of Tartarus, as well as many children's books, radio plays articles and reviews.
April 14, 2014
Given the fact that Eric Brown is one of my favorite authors, this book has been sitting in my 'to read' stack for a while now. It's typical stuff for Brown, well written with good characters and plenty of action, which is surprisingly graphic and sometimes rather gory, but the plot and the nature of the story calls for this. I admit to being a little concerned when I first started the book that it was going to be no more than just another post-apocalyptic survival of the meanest tale, but Brown managed to keep me hooked with hints of a greater story that lends hope and interest to the otherwise bleak outlook. A good dystopian type novel with a real sci-fi plot at it's center that I think any Eric Brown fan will enjoy, as will most other readers who enjoy well crafted fiction with a bit of pace to it.
September 19, 2011
spoilers!
decent. seems like it should have been longer. it kept building, and adding characters, then all the sudden almost all get killed off in a matter of 10 pages and the book is over. almost no explanation is given as to the reason humans are almost extinct, or how they managed to build the spaceship with this phase shifting technology that is so incredibly far ahead of what should be possible only 130 years in the future. from the few hints given, it sounds like the entire world was in chaos for several decades before that. some mystery is good, and not coming out and saying what happened works well for some books, but i didn't like it in this book. it also seemed to be shockingly brutal in some parts, and then almost juvenile in others. entertaining, but not a must-read.
decent. seems like it should have been longer. it kept building, and adding characters, then all the sudden almost all get killed off in a matter of 10 pages and the book is over. almost no explanation is given as to the reason humans are almost extinct, or how they managed to build the spaceship with this phase shifting technology that is so incredibly far ahead of what should be possible only 130 years in the future. from the few hints given, it sounds like the entire world was in chaos for several decades before that. some mystery is good, and not coming out and saying what happened works well for some books, but i didn't like it in this book. it also seemed to be shockingly brutal in some parts, and then almost juvenile in others. entertaining, but not a must-read.
March 3, 2013
Okay, I looked into the science of this type of apocalypse, and I can now say for sure that water does not work this way. Water can't just... go away. If there's a drought somewhere, then it's because the water is somewhere else. It's next to impossible for ALL surface water to just dry up.
As for the story, well, it's basically Tank Girl but less interesting. It's a properly brutal look at humanity post-fall, and the story is perfectly functional, but it's just hard to feel anything for the characters, except for Ed. Maybe that's just because I share his mock cynicism, I don't know.
Overall, it's a book that will occupy your time, but won't challenge you too much. If that's what you're looking for, give it a try.
As for the story, well, it's basically Tank Girl but less interesting. It's a properly brutal look at humanity post-fall, and the story is perfectly functional, but it's just hard to feel anything for the characters, except for Ed. Maybe that's just because I share his mock cynicism, I don't know.
Overall, it's a book that will occupy your time, but won't challenge you too much. If that's what you're looking for, give it a try.
June 8, 2013
Oh my goodness, what to say about it?
Well, first off, it's a fictional sci-fi story of how life is after The Breakdown, as you can probably guess what that might hint to, though I'll drop no hints of my own.
I truly enjoyed this novel in part because of the author's genius guessed of how life might be, and how he intertwined this might-happen with the basis of the science fiction genre: it keeps you in a state of wonder and awe.
I highly recommend this story to those who enjoy reading about Post-Apocalyptia, that is, life after life. I must warn that there *are* sex scenes in here, and some may not be as...pure as one might enjoy reading about.
That said, I loved this book, and am partly saddened by the fact that it wasn't any longer...but I digress.
Well, first off, it's a fictional sci-fi story of how life is after The Breakdown, as you can probably guess what that might hint to, though I'll drop no hints of my own.
I truly enjoyed this novel in part because of the author's genius guessed of how life might be, and how he intertwined this might-happen with the basis of the science fiction genre: it keeps you in a state of wonder and awe.
I highly recommend this story to those who enjoy reading about Post-Apocalyptia, that is, life after life. I must warn that there *are* sex scenes in here, and some may not be as...pure as one might enjoy reading about.
That said, I loved this book, and am partly saddened by the fact that it wasn't any longer...but I digress.
July 28, 2016
I DO Like Eric Browns books very much...saying that I did find this one to be not one of his finest works !...probably as I believe it was an earlier novel !. It is rather gruesome in places ...the idea was very good ,which attracted me to it ...but it seemed to be finished in a hurry !.I felt that just as it got exciting and the story could have opened up to bigger and greater things it finished ! which left me wanting more ...perhaps he will return one day and continue the story in a second novel ?
January 12, 2012
This is similar to "The Road" - a post apocalytptic story set after the world has self destructed. In this one the characters have aims and destinations. Add somes Jules Verne and some thriller elements and you have a fine story. I like the way Brown spends time building up the charcters, so it doesn't feel too much plot driven
August 18, 2012
A fairly standard post apocalyptic setting. Well described but not very original. Characters mostly just stereotypes. They serve their purpose but are never really believable. The plot is quite predictable. However the writing is enjoyable. The action moves along briskly. A few boring parts and embarrassingly bad sex scenes but some nice action and then it's over before it overstays its welcome.
February 23, 2020
I loved this book. However, I wouldn't classify it as Sci/Fi but more of a Dystopian type of book. Regardless, it's an excellent read! The main characters are very likeable and the bad guys are truly bad. The story is very engaging and I could hardly put it down!
June 19, 2012
Grimly dystopic tale of the last remnants of humanity struggling on an almost uninhabitable planet Earth and their desperate fight for survival.
January 10, 2015
Enjoyable, slightly heavy on the post apocalypse violence and some gimme's with the technology in places. Not a bad post apocalypse read.
May 24, 2013
A mediocre sci-fi, post apocalyptic novel... not very engaging.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews