Rising Son: Chronicles of Spartak (Book 1)
Speculative Fiction/LGBTQ Fiction
The ruling elite see Spartak as a trophy; the people see him as their best hope. By the year 2115, twelve families control all wealth in America, the middle class is myth, democracy a con game and the Supreme Court has just legalized a new entertainment option for the bored elite.
Spartak Jones is kidnapped and forced to become the first legal slave since the civil war, a souvenir birthday present for the eldest son of the richest family. Handsome, seductive and athletic, he is not shy about using his talents to survive and protect those he loves.
Brilliantly written…creating superheroes of substance!
If you love The Hunger Games, and you want a bit more of a gritty and adult feel, you may love Rising Son.
A multitalented, bisexual, teenage slave becomes a symbol of freedom in this debut sci-fi saga… with energetic action scenes and sharply drawn characters, and the result is a vigorous tale.
Straight up Ayn Rand stuff…Holy Shit!…So shockingly different from the literary icon for searching youth…Holden Caulfield of Catcher in the Rye.
Highly imaginative and creative, action-packed, with a fascinating young protagonist who combines the physical and moral attributes of both Spiderman and Superman in his remarkable body and psyche.
The treacherous world of 22nd century San Francisco as imagined by Steve Coulter would be a challenge to anyone but to 16-year-old Spartak Jones, it becomes the stone on which he hones his athletic skills and his bravery. Coulter’s writing can make us feel both at home and uneasy at the same time as he skillfully reveals a future we must fight against at all costs.
Totally absorbing. I stopped everything else and read the book to completion in one sitting.
This is a riveting political saga. The rich/poor divide is similar to the themes in the Clinton/Trump Presidential Election. Add to that a futuristic society and a slave who risks life and limb for his elite master and this book provides a rich reading experience. Throughout the story I found myself thinking of today’s similarities. I encourage you to read it. You will do it long into the night.
Throughout the book the story line is fluid and the characters extremely well rounded which gives the whole a flow that the reader is carried along on to live the entire story as if part of the actual action. There are many twists and turns that are rarely seen before they are sprung on the reader and the conclusion simply rocks the soul to the core…an ending that couldn’t have been imagined by the reader at all.
Riveting from the start! This book grabbed me and I couldn’t put it down. We are all Spartak.
… ever since I finished the book, on too many occasions – sadly – when reading/listening to the news, I’ve thought to myself: This is the beginning of Spartak’s world – just as the author has presciently described it in Rising Son.
