| Title | : | The Noise Revealed (Noise #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1907519548 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781907519543 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 326 |
| Publication | : | First published April 26, 2011 |
While mankind is adjusting to its first ever encounter with an alien civilisation – the Byrzaens – black ops specialist Jim Leyton reluctantly allies himself with the mysterious habitat in order to rescue the woman he loves. This brings him into direct conflict with his former the United League of Allied Worlds government. Scientist and businessman Philip Kaufman is fast discovering there is more to the virtual world than he ever realised. Yet it soon becomes clear that all is not well within the realm of Virtuality. Truth is hidden beneath lies and there are games being played, deadly games with far reaching consequences. Both men begin to suspect that the much heralded 'First Contact' is anything but first contact, and that a sinister con is being perpetrated with the whole of humankind as the victim. Now all they have to do is prove it.
The Noise Revealed (Noise #2) Reviews
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The second in a two-volume story, this is rather better than the first half. That's partly because Whates is better at writing action than he is at some of the character stuff, and there's rather more action in this half than the first. There are rather more interesting ideas in this book than in the first, although, again, nothing truly out-standing. Some of the scenes in Virtuality, for instance, while largely irrelevant to the plot, are, nonetheless quite good as set pieces.
It's a mystery to me why the two books were even published separately - they aren't that long, and wouldn't have seemed at all unusual bundled into a single volume. It would have improved the first half, as well; it's not very effective on it's own, because all it does is set up the second one.
The major weakness here, though, is that the novel is really rather vague about what's actually happening. What, exactly, are the bad guys trying to achieve? Aside from killing the heroes, which is presumably a means to an end, I've no real idea. Although this is clearly meant to be the end of the story - in a way that the first book wasn't - there are just too many loose ends left hanging for it to be truly satisfying. I can only assume Whates is leaving it open for further books set in the same universe, but with nothing truly inspiring to grab me, I'm not sure I care.
Would have been 3.5 stars, were that an option. -
Well this was on course for getting 4 stars, but just didn't tie together at al well for the ending. Lots of questions specifically asked throughout this and its predecessor, which were given every indication of being answered, were not.
Mostly a good read - I like the chief characters, but sometimes the prose got beyond indulgent. The meal, in the last 15% of the book - what was that all about? Sudden lurid description and irrelevance. Occasionally lines made me cringe at how cliched or self-satisfied they sounded - 'He moved with the easy grace of a dancer'. Please! This one made me laugh out loud.
But overall a good story, interesting ideas, and paced pretty well. Not solid, but certainly fun, and I cared what happened, which is, after all, what any story should be all about. -
After the surprisingly good The Noise Within, the duology ending The Noise Revealed was disappointing; there were few if any surprises, the good guys were penciled in and the bad guys started wearing "villain hats" and essentially all the intriguing and mysterious things in the debut turned out to go nowhere or just be standard genre stuff I've seen countless times.
The book flows well though and the pages turn easily so I finished it quick but more from a sense of duty - to dot the i's and cross the t's so to speak - than from interest or entertainment value. Another example of how easy is to set up interesting things and how tricky is to keep them so -
A good sequel to the first Noise Within. I was left wanting more at the end of this book and I can't work out yet if it was due to the book being too short or the epilogue being too brief. The end of the book certainly left scope for another if Whates wants to extend the story, but equally, there is enough rounding up of plot to close the story and leave it as just the two books.
If another of this series cropped up next year, I'd certainly buy it. -
Even though not as good as The Noise Within, The Noise Revealed is a great action-packed sci-fi novel. My expectations were so high after the amazing The Noise Within that I probably got disappointed on one or two areas. However, when I try to see this second book on its own, I see it as another very enjoyable book from Ian Whates.
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This is a good finish to the story started in The Noise Within. I recommend both books.
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Not sure what to think. The ending seems rushed and there is no hint of a third volume coming up, but this one feels incomplete.
