Review: FANTASY, ADVENTURE, SCIENCE & ACTION PACKED INTO ONE!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2014
Torn From On High by Northern Californian author SF Chapman is the second book in the Free City series. This follows the first book in the series, The Ripple in Space-Time, which was published in February 2013. This installment continues the detective adventures of Inspector Second Class Ryo Trop in world where corrupt warlords conquered all humans on planet earth. They live as serfs or slaves. The only 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.Chapman’s novel with fascinating characters inhabiting the gritty post-apocalyptic world of 2446 is a thoroughly enjoyable fare with Inspector Second Class Ryo Trop, at age fifty-five, a recently semi-retired from the Free City Inquisitor's Office, as its main protagonist. He is the guardian to twelve-year-old Dilma Trop, former parlormaid for the now-deceased Dimitri Verhovnyi, the Supreme Imperial Warlord of the Outer Reaches. Trop is considered by many to be second only to the Chief Inspector in investigative abilities. But he is faced with a daunting task when someone starts murdering lowly workers. Will he be able to solve the mystery before more workers are killed? And why would anyone want to kill Space Debris Salvage workers?The author created a truly superb but dark and gritty world with endangerment and rogues prowling around every inhabitable space. Some of the more memorable players in the story include Dr. Jana Fesai, Chief Inspector Helga Bennet of the Free City Inquisitor's Office, Sabra MacFarland, Commander of Covert Operations and Feudal Master of Paramilitarist Serfs Frédéric Rameau, Professor Malcolm Evans, Sabina Finney, Captain Philip Takahashi, Daniel Kufuzu - the Exalted Warlord of EurAfrica, Mixion Fahmi, and Fiefdom Liaison Agent and Attack Craft Pilot Keira Norton. Torn From On High is an amalgamation of various genres, including science fiction, fantasy, adventure, action and dystopian. It is a novel not to be missed.