Review: Looking at the year 2446: Science Fiction Feast
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2014
Northern California author SF Chapman must be feeling richly fulfilled. Of all the many people who dream of writing `the novel', he has succeeded. Though it may not have been under the best circumstances (his loss of employment when the 2008 recession paralyzed the workforce of the country), Chapman took advantage of a critical change and returned to a long held dream to become a writer: the seeds of that dream had been present but simply viewed as an `unrealistic' a career for many years. Now that he has started writing, the authorial juices are flowing and he is making statements in the form of stories about human frailties and strengths, natural disasters, and that seductive genre of science fiction - the way to step away from a world that is plagued with problems in these tenuous times. What makes SF Chapman succeed in his writing (and this reviewer has read his first two books I'M HERE TO HELP and THE RIPPLE IN SPACE-TIME) is the quiet simplicity in the way he unfolds his stories. He finds the language pertinent to each character, knows how to build momentum, and understands that resolution of a story's message can truly be only in the effect it has on the reader: he honors that concept well.From the author's Info we discover that `S F Chapman has done it all: truck driver, scientific glass blower, construction worker and second grade science lecturer. He's a computer geek, handyman, music lover and relentless tinkerer. But he's most passionate about his latest venture' - rapidly writing books that tend to dwell in the sci-fi dystopia. TORN FROM ON HIGH (THE FREE CITY SERIES BOOK 2) is a continuation of BOOK 1, and in Chapman's INTRODUCTION he suggests reading Book 1 first `to increase your understanding of the characters in the series and the gritty post-apocalyptic world of 2446.  It is a dark and gritty Film Noir-like world with danger and scoundrels skulking around every corner. Nearly all humans on Earth and beyond live in subjugation as serfs or slaves under the domination of a few corrupt Warlords.  The exception is the small autonomous zone of Free City at the northern end of the Shannon River valley in what was once known as the Republic of Ireland. Free City could easily be mistaken for twenty-first century London, San Francisco or Manhattan. Although it has the typical ills of all metropolitan areas, Free City is the sole bastion of Law, scientific research and progressive thinking. By long standing agreement with the Warlord Syndicate, the Free City High Court tends to all judicial matters. The Registry Bureau regulates motor vehicles, boats and ships, aircraft and spacecraft. The Free City Inquisitor's Office, a future version of Scotland Yard or the FBI, is often called in to investigate difficult crimes wherever they occur.  The Free City Series follows many of the cases that Inspector Second Class Ryo Trop, the Inquisitor's Office's most talented cop, has undertaken.  As a counterpoint to the action, I have included several News Items from 2446. These short articles are often written in what would now be called a sensationalized tabloid style with the heavy-handled use of adverbs and adjectives. The News sometimes provide subtle clues for readers who like to "solve" the crime before the protagonist does.  A list of the characters along with brief personal histories has been provided in the Appendix.'Chapman's style of alternating chapters between newspaper clippings and narrative line is a gimmick of an idea that remains a gimmick throughout the book. The story is rather masterfully based on the Inspector Ryo Trop's return to Free City after solving a kidnapping case in the Outer Solar System only to be engaged by the Inquisitor's Office to inspect the serial murdering f Space Debris Salvage workers. Parallel to Trop's investigation is his comrade Spy Master Lt. Zmuda's investigation of a plot for human domination in the Sahara Desert. Disparate assignments - or are they? Chapman interweaves these lines of sci-fi fiction with an ever-growing mastery. For those who feast on the current lust for theatrical apocalyptic science fiction and CGI effects this book will appeal. It is may elude some but the trip is worth taking. Grady Harp, April 14