The Plague Forge

The Dire Earth Cycle: Three

By: Jason M. Hough

Narrated by: Simon Vance

The Plague Forge delivers an unbeatable combination of knockout action and kick-ass characters as the secrets to the ultimate alien mystery from The Darwin Elevator and The Exodus Towers are about to be unraveled.

The hunt is on for the mysterious keys left by the alien Builders. While Skyler’s team of immune scavengers scatters around the disease-ravaged globe in search of the artifacts, Skyler himself finds much more than he expected in the African desert, where he stumbles upon surprising Builder relics—and thousands of bloodthirsty subhumans. From the slums and fortresses of Darwin to the jungles of Brazil and beyond, Skyler and company are in for a wild ride, jam-packed with daunting challenges, run-and-gun adventure, and unexpected betrayals—all in a race against time to finally answer the great questions that have plagued humanity for decades: Who are the Builders, and what do they want with Earth?

Praise for The Darwin Elevator

“A hell of a fun book.”—James S. A. Corey, New York Times bestselling author of Abaddon’s Gate

“[Jason M.] Hough’s first novel combines the rapid-fire action and memorable characters associated with Joss Whedon’s short-lived Firefly TV series with the accessibility and scientific acumen of [James S. A.] Corey’s ‘Expanse’ series.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“The best part about alien stories is their mystery, and Jason Hough understands that like no other. Full of compelling characters and thick with tension, The Darwin Elevator delivers both despair and hope along with a gigantic dose of wonder. It’s a brilliant debut, and Hough can take my money whenever he writes anything from now on.”—Kevin Hearne, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles

“Newcomer Hough displays a talent for imaginative plotting and realistic dialogue, and the brisk pacing and cliffhanger ending will keep readers enthralled and eagerly awaiting the next installment.”—Publishers Weekly

“Jason M. Hough does a great job with this huge story. The world of Darwin and the Elevator is deliciously complex and satisfying. Skyler, Tania, and all the other characters are delightfully drawn and fun to spend time with. . . . The story unfolds with just the right balance of high adventure, espionage, humor, and emotional truth. . . . As soon as you finish, you’ll want more.”—Analog

“A debut novel unlike any other . . . This is something special. Something iconic. The Darwin Elevator is full of majesty and wonder, mystery and mayhem, colorful characters and insidious schemes.”—SF Signal

“Fun, action-packed and entertaining . . . a sure contender for science fiction debut of the year!”—Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist

“Claustrophobic, intense, and satisfying . . . I couldn’t put this book down. The Darwin Elevator depicts a terrifying world, suspends it from a delicate thread, and forces you to read with held breath as you anticipate the inevitable fall.”—Hugh Howey, New York Times bestselling author of Wool

©2013 Jason M. Hough (P)2013 Random House

Critic reviews

“A hell of a fun book.” (James S. A. Corey, New York Times bestselling author of Abaddon’s Gate)

"The best part about alien stories is their mystery, and Jason Hough understands that like no other. Full of compelling characters and thick with tension, The Darwin Elevator delivers both despair and hope along with a gigantic dose of wonder. It’s a brilliant debut, and Hough can take my money whenever he writes anything from now on." (Kevin Hearne, New York Times best-selling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles on The Darwin Elevator)

"Newcomer Hough displays a talent for imaginative plotting and realistic dialogue, and the brisk pacing and cliffhanger ending will keep readers enthralled and eagerly awaiting the next installment." (Publishers Weekly on The Darwin Elevator)

I love this series!

So glad I stumbled upon the first book. Great read. My second favorite series I've read. constantly kept me interested and took me too the half way point of this book to actually put the picture together. it wasn't obvious nor to convoluted or too far out. Thank you James m. Hough and thank you Simon Vance.

Great ending to a wonderful series

this is the book you have been waiting for since you first started the series brings the whole thing to a close very fulfilling and yet a let down but just because you want it to be for so much more why it all happened but then you understand it and it is a good reason and series can continue and I hope it does will be cool if so I loved the whole series and am looking forward to more books by Jason Hough

Well done "man vs man" and "man vs other" story

The Dire Earth Cycle overall is a fairly well done version of the "man versus man" motif, using the setting of a post-apocalyptic Earth for exploring humanity's inhumanity to itself, human greed, and shortsightedness. Early on, the series has the feel of a zombie story, which it really isn't. Action sequences are well done.

This isn't a series you can pick up in the middle, and the time spent on the preceding novel is well worth the time. Character development takes time, but does not feel overly drawn out.

Simon's British accent is notable, but not distracting, which I consider a good thing. However, his ability to perform alternative accents is weak.

His reading pace is excellent. Pauses are presented perfectly for dramatic effect without being overdone. His overall speed of performance is just right.

Along with the weakness in accents, individual character voices are not often memorable. There is sufficient differentiation that you can tell when one character's dialog runs into another character's.

Griping Story - Great Action

Where does The Plague Forge rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This trilogy ranks near the top of my favorites list.

What did you like best about this story?

Griping story with great action sequences.

Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favorite?

Prumball (sp?).

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but was too long to be listened to in one session.

Any additional comments?

My only disappointment was the ending, if indeed it was the ending, but don't let that dissuade you from listening - its still a great story.

I was mad you killed my characters & then I wasn't

So many parts working in unison and I love it. I love how many people in this book are allowed to be more than just part of the scene. Everyone seems so whole and the women characters aren't just something to be rescued.

Slow draw followed by rapid closure

The Plague Forge is the final installment in Jason M Hough's Dire Earth Cycle trilogy. By the end of book two, the builders' plan was coming into focus just a bit with a few additional alien artifacts needed. Skylar and his band divide up to scour the globe for the remaining items with one team heading into North America, while Skylar heads to Africa and the Darwin crew attempting outsmart Grillo for the last piece. Nothing seems to go right for any of them, although Skylar does find the source of the plague virus.

There's little new sci-fi elements, save for the denouement with the aliens that is handled largely as just a final explanation and potential setup for a new series ala the film Cocoon. Subs abound, especially when the artifacts are handled to the extent that the tale has a zombie feel. At the same time, there's a near overload of all the characters experiencing multiple near and presumed death events only to always miraculously escape. Also, the builders themselves turn out to be less than perfect and don't actually save the day, quite the reverse actually.

The narration is quite well done given the large cast of characters, although the pace does drag a bit in the early going. Hopefully further adventures with Skylar and crew are in the works.

One of the most captivating stories ever.

A great ending to a wonderful story.
Please do start with the first book, of the Dire Earth Series and listen to them as audio. Simon Vance brings Jason Hough's glorious imaginings to life in a way that IMHO is an order of magnitude greater than what the printed word can accomplish.

Humans = Resilient as Hell + 1st Contact = :)

I'm reviewing the entire trilogy because I have been able to read the 2nd book 'The Exodus Towers' along with this book all within a 2 month period of time. At the end of the 1st book it leaves the reader quite confused about what ET's have to do with the book as opposed to just laying down the major players within the series. The 2nd & 3rd book I read in close succession & I believe that is what made this book so much more enjoyable for me than if I had to wait any extended period of time. Its a theory I'll never be able to test out but it was a major thought & concern that can't be answered because the author released all 3 books quickly in literary terms.

This book started out as a relatively average book in the 1st but the last 2 ended as a tour-de-force by touching on not only the most important part of the sci-fi portion of this series, First Contact, but it also brought out the basic rules of the primal laws of nature. Now apply human laws that apply when there is a complete breakdown of a prior civilization & those who are intelligent, resourceful, & ruthless enough to lead or show how the strong survive & the meek DO NOT inherit the earth.

A great twist on the 'human nature' side of this book is a problem our country still has not understood nor mastered how to handle a leader in power who is found to contain traits making them persona non grata to those that see their 'true colors'. If u remove this person who is to say the next person to step up is not even worse than the original once the façade is ripped away?? I think our CIA can still attest to making huge mistakes in deciding short-term decisions without thinking about long-term effects. In the beginning of this book a plague breaks out that kills off 9 billion humans & leaves a group of survivors to figure out how to try & live again while having these strange alien artifacts that point to a larger event happening in the near future.

The 'First Contact' portion of this book I cannot say is completely original but I can def. say that if a reader likes puzzles, the use of a people willing to sacrifice for the whole, & how that would play into the background of first contact with another alien race, this is a book for u. Not only do our established protagonists go thru the 'normal' problems facing a population reduced to mere shambles of its prior form, the characters are also thrust into figuring out apparent puzzles the aliens have made for them that aren't the kind u would like to play willingly, think Indiana Jones & not Monopoly lol. All the while u have the most traditional set of principles to explain the unexplainable humans seem to love using... RELIGION. Now don't get me wrong, this book is in no way a theologian story, but for a person who see's organized religion as not the best thing that happened to humanity it was bound to grab a large population of survivors due to one of the purest of human traits, Faith.

These books brought a successfully equal amount of action, drama, metaphysical, & plenty of trials requiring human nature related thinking to SURVIVE. The ending was also above average considering when u get thru book 2 most readers are probably thinking 'how is the author going to wrap this clusterfu*! up in a bow?' & not make the reader cringe or say 'COME ON!! WTF, I READ ALL THIS JUST TO END INTELLECUALLY IMPAIRED?!'.

outstanding

Excellent! I could hear all three books and not get bored! It was well ready, exciting,and intertaining! Please listen and enjoy the ride!!!

Love it!

The culmination of this trilogy was a roller coaster of emotions to read. I was tense, I laughed, I cried, I was excited, and filled with wonder. Great story, and Simon Vance does an EXCELLENT job brings the story and the characters to life.