The Kirkus Star is reserved for “books of exceptional merit,” so this is a big honor! The star also means my book will be considered for the Kirkus 2018 prize.
The author’s new novel might be summed up by a line from Rosa’s editorial: “Sometimes it feels like America is spinning in an opposite direction from the planet Earth.” As real-life America spins out of alignment with other nations’ gun-control laws, he critiques its obsession with the Second Amendment and shows how it could threaten to shred the nation’s true founding principles. For example, a mayor replies to a sheriff’s complaints of lawlessness with “the government hasn’t made laws for years!” Ironically, Bender packages his message in a first-rate action narrative, filled with the sort of violence that has attracted gun lovers to pop-culture icons like Rambo and Dirty Harry for decades. In one cinematic scene, for instance, a gang member meets his end when “thunder cracked, and blood burst out the back of his skull.” Such indulgent moments of machismo are balanced by superior characterization, particularly of the Wanderer’s sidekick, Kid Hunter, and 12-year-old bandit Lindsay.The fact that the Wanderer still wears his wedding band and is haunted by the ghost of a woman named Helen connects to a complex, satisfying origin story that includes Breck Ammunition itself. Throughout, Bender proves to be an instructive novelist, challenging American readers with basic scenarios that could very well come to pass: “when you leave the house, you’re checking for your wallet, your keys, your phone, and your gun. Like these are equally essential things for the day ahead.”
A tight, thoughtful work that has much to offer readers on both sides of the gun control debate.
Kirkus previously raved about my first two novels, We, The Watched and Divided We Fall. However, The Wanderer is my first book to earn the coveted Kirkus Star.
But I really want to know what you think! So, to celebrate the Kirkus review and five-star reviews from Readers’ Favorite critics, I’ve decided to let loose the Wanderer a little early!
Here are some excerpts about the Dystopian Western:
“A dystopian view of an America that many may well see as a path the country is already headed down … I couldn’t put this book down and read it quickly and easily.” — Grant Leishman for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)
“The setting is absorbing, pulling in the reader like a captivating movie, and I couldn’t help getting the same feeling I get when I watch the series ‘Arrow.’ It won’t be surprising if this story ends up on screen.” — Arya Fomonyuy for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)
“The action is continuous and horrific … revealing vistas of the future and especially the dangerous paths poor and greed based politics are forcing mankind to follow.” — Deepak Menon for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)
“Brutally honest and scarily real, The Wanderer and the New West is a brilliant novel. Raw and gritty, this novel lays down the bare truth without sugar coating anything.” — Rabia Tanveer for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)
“Bender creates vivid characters in the plot that will resonate with any reader … The author helped me visualize the impact of lawlessness on the media, technology and any nation as a whole.” — Edith Wairimu for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)
The Wanderer and the New West — Words by Adam Bender. Cover by Ben McLeod.
I’m thrilled to see early reviewers connecting with my new novel, and look forward to hearing what you think! Stay tuned to this blog and subscribe to my newsletter for updates on the novel’s release. You can also pre-order the eBook version now at Amazon and other online retailers.
It’s hard to believe, but it’s the 25th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, that blue blur who gave Mario a run for the money (coins? rings?) back in the ’90s.
That was a time when Nintendo and Sega were big rivals, with the SNES head to head against the Genesis. I didn’t have much loyalty to either brand at the time. My first console was Super Nintendo, but I remember hungering to own a Sega Genesis. Sadly, my parents refused to buy me a second gaming system.
It felt a little like fate that day at Genuardi’s when I learned the grocery store had a lottery to give away a new Genesis core system. All you had to do to enter was fill out a form and stick it in the box. Naturally, I filled out five forms…on every shopping trip for a month.
I won! I figure it was either probability (I did stuff the ballot) or the store manager’s pity (“Wow, this poor Adam Bender kid REALLY wants a Genesis.”) Look, the important thing is that I got the Genesis. The first game I played Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Chemical Plant Zone has one of the catchiest theme songs ever.
I loved the concept of Sonic. He was really fast, he looked cool and yet kind of angry, and his best friend was a flying fox — not like a massive Australian bat, but an actual fox who could fly! (Please note that this blogger was in elementary school at the time.) But I’ll be honest with you — I was pretty bad at this game. The level pictured above, Chemical Plant Zone, comes fairly early, and yet it took me forever just to survive the part where pink toxic water fills up over Sonic’s head and you have to get him out before he drowns. Plus, there was no way to save (this feature was pretty rare in the early ’90s), so Game Over meant playing the whole damn game over.
I got pretty far with the help of my friend Adam (yes, he was also Adam; no, he wasn’t imaginary). We’d take turns, switching off every level or when one of us lost a life. On one particularly brilliant day, we worked out that it was easier to focus if you muted the soundtrack. I don’t think we ever beat the game, though. But you know, even though there were so many times when I wanted to slam my controller into the wall, I can’t deny that game provided many hours of fun. And I guess I’ve always looked back fondly at Sonic since then.
I didn’t play much Sonic after that. I never got a Dreamcast, so I missed Sonic’s foray into 3D adventures. There wasn’t much incentive, either, since most of these new Sonic games received mixed reviews. Also, Sonic just wasn’t as cool as he used to be. Apparently, spunky mascots with ‘tude belonged to the ’90s.
Nowadays, there just isn’t the same fanfare when a new Sonic games comes out, which is pretty damn often. Maybe that’s the problem. Whereas there tends to be multiple years between each major Mario game (not counting various spin-offs, remakes, etc.), it feels like there’s at least two new Sonic games a year.
So when Humble Bundle recently announced a 25th anniversary Sonic bundle, you might say I was conflicted. One the one hand, it included Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and a bunch of other Sonics from that era — nostalgia! But then again, it also included a bunch of the newer Sonic games that I’d come to equate with mediocrity. Still, I could get them all for $10…
So I did it. I skipped lunch* and used that $10 instead for Sonic games. And guess what? I’m happy I did! Here’s the kicker: I say that not for the nostalgia of playing old Genesis games, but for the nostalgia-rama that is Sonic Generations.
I RECOGNIZE THAT! I RECOGNIZE THAT!
In Generations, classic-look Sonic meets his 21st century update. You get to play as both, racing through classic side-scrolling levels as the old Sonic and grinding through 3D roller-coasters with the new one. Amazingly, both styles are fun!
I feel like Sega made this game just for old Sonic fans like me. The developer basically remade all my fond memories of Genesis-era Sonic with beautiful graphics, then added the modern platforming genre conventions to which I’d become accustomed. It’s the most fun I’ve had in a platformer since Kirby’s Epic Yarn, or maybe even Super Mario Galaxy.
Please note that I did not say Sega remade Genesis-era Sonic, but rather my fond (and possibly incorrect) memories of that Sonic. This is very deliberate, because the truth is that when I played Sonic the Hedgehog 2 again, I still nearly threw the controller at the wall. Not so with Generations!I’m not terrible at it! I can save my game!
Seriously, how did I miss this game when it came out?
Also, those same qualities that made Sonic a total badass in 1992 now make him … actually quite cute! The real shame is that classic Sonic has to share the game with the modern version, Sonic the still-dated-but-slightly-less-so Hedgehog. In fact, by embracing classic Sonic’s datedness, classic Sonic has somehow transcended into the less dated of the two hedgehogs! And here is a final sentence in which I use the word dated!
The crazy thing is that Generations came out like a million lame Sonic games ago (2011). And yet I missed it due to an assumption that if most Sonic games these days are just-OK, all of them are just-OK. I’m sure many of you have made the same mistake. But here’s the good news — you still have a chance to correct course and restore your positive memories of a gaming icon!
You can check out the full critique over at Kirkus, but here’s a quick taste:
… a gripping dystopian narrative … Bender’s sequel is a worthy delivery on the promise of his riveting debut.
A novel about a scheming president offers an excellent read for those who love thrillers or 21st-century history.
KIRKUS REVIEWS
If you haven’t read DIVIDED WE FALL yet, check out this page for a list of stores where you can buy it in digital ($3.99) or paperback ($13.99). You can also get WE, THE WATCHED for FREE by joining my mailing list! And check out “Fire Eyes,” a short story that ties into the series.
DIVIDED WE FALL picks up on the events of WE, THE WATCHED. With the nation under attack, Agent Eve Parker must find and arrest her fiancé, who has lost his memory and become a revolutionary named Seven. However, when Eve learns more about the President’s plan to broaden citizen surveillance, she begins to question just who is right.
I hope you enjoy the book and look forward to reading your review!
I felt especially honored today to receive a glowing review of my debut novel, We, The Watched, from Kirkus Reviews, a highly respected institution in the book publishing world.
Check out this amazing excerpt:
Fueled by a brilliantly nebulous backdrop, this briskly paced, action-packed novel is undeniably a page-turner of the highest order…
A deeply allegorical and powerfully thought-provoking dystopian must-read.
Told from the unique first-person perspective of an amnesiac, acclaimed novel We, The Watched places the reader in the shoes of Seven as he struggles to go unnoticed in a surveillance society and discover his true identity. Seven enters a dystopia where the government conducts mass surveillance and keeps a Watched list of its own citizens. The Church has become as powerful as the State, and people who resist are called Heretics and face execution.
I want to address the reviewer’s one criticism about sexism on the part of the protagonist. The reviewer makes a fair point here, and it’s something that I consciously improved upon in the sequel, Divided We Fall, and my writing since then. I definitely take these kinds of concerns seriously, and I’m glad this criticism did not stop the reviewer from recommending We, The Watched as a must-read.
Hope you enjoy We, The Watched — I can’t wait to read YOUR review!
