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Bob Collopy
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The Phoenix Cycle: The Best Shall Rise Kindle Edition

by Bob Collopy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
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The Best Shall Rise

New San Francisco is the last city standing on a world ravaged by storms of ash and debris. The city survived by putting the ideals of the American dream on steroids and inspiring its people to persevere, though they have become ruthless in the process. Its citizens are ruled by the General, who has made sure that his people understand that gentleness and pity have become weaknesses that nature no longer tolerates.

Now Steve and Leslie must choose whether they will apply for the General’s once in a lifetime opportunity to “Rise from the Ashes” and join the Inner Circle that rules the city. If they don’t, they will be damned to spend the rest of their lives in the ghettos of Edingburg, a place where virtual reality has become a government-subsidized addiction.

For Steve, the choice is easy. His loyalties lie with the IRA, a revolutionary army led by a voice only known as “Mom.” They are trying to overthrow the General and free the people of New San Francisco from the cruelties of the City Guard. Steve’s mission is to broadcast a recording of a speech that a famous philosopher died to tell. Many thousands have and will perish to get this message out, but is anyone willing to listen?

-----------------------------------


Some Notables:

-Every main character is secretly based on a philosopher or philosophy, but it still reads like a fictional book. So it becomes a bloody revolution of ideas. A chapter of the book has been used by the philosophical departments of Universities in Britain.

-The book was featured in a multinational event where over 100 Indie theaters screened the 1984 movie to protest George Orwell’s realization of “Alternative Facts,” in the government.






Previous page
  1. Print length
    472 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    July 21, 2017
  5. Reading age
    16 - 18 years
  6. File size
    9917 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bob Collopy was raised on southern values. A world of rigidity and blind faith. He was then moved to Sedona. A near cult--like world, grown from 1960's flower children. He was then moved to Scottsdale. A world of extreme wealth and vice. He then went to college and joined a fraternity so notorious it was on national and world news multiple times. Due to these shifts, Bob always found himself the the semi-lucid observer; constantly confused and adjusting to new and opposing sets of norms few cultures would ever call normal or even acceptable. The city Bob has created is a blending of these intense and opposing cultures and the people trying to survive and conquer them.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B071DSM3VT
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 21, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 9917 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 472 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

About the author

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Bob Collopy

Bob Collopy

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Bob Collopy was raised on southern values. A world of social rigidity and faith. He was then moved to Sedona. A near cult-like world, grown from 1960's flower children. Then to Scottsdale. A world of extreme wealth and vice. Then to college where he was the black sheep of a fraternity that was so notorious it was on national and world news multiple times and had to be shut down. He now develops properties for groups that are at risk of homelessness.

Due to these shifts, Bob always found himself the the semi-lucid observer; constantly adjusting to new and opposing sets of norms few people would ever call normal or even acceptable.

The dystopian science fiction worlds Bob creates is a blending of these intense and opposing societies and about the people trying to survive and grow into something better who live in them.

Many major characters in Bob's books are secretly based on Philosophers or their overall philosophy. His work has been cited by groups like Stoicism Today. A publication made up of University professors, most of whom are in London.

---------

Bob is a Private Pilot, Practices Krav Maga, Real Estate Developer and lifelong Eagle Scout.

Customer reviews

3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3 out of 5
8 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kopratic
1.0 out of 5 stars Tries to do many things that just don't pay off
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2018
To keep it short, I didn't care for this book, personally. I read the updated version as well.

I felt it tried to do many things, but it didn't succeed in them. It had a Hunger Games-esque style of dystopia, which was never really made clear. We were thrown into the world. I'm all for that. However, despite the random info dump sections given as monologues by certain characters, I was still left massively confused. The Phoenix Cycle exists because dystopia? Everyone's in New San Fransisco because dystopia? Something about ash storms that make an appearance in the beginning, never to be seen or brought up again. Oh and Red and Blue teams for some reason.

Another thing I thought wasn't done too well were the characters and the dialogue. Virtually every character felt the exact same. And they were all fairly one-dimensional. Two-dimensional at best. I thought the use of eye dialect was poor and inconsistent. To me it looked like someone who had only heard bad stereotypes of an Irish or German accent. I think just saying a character had an Irish or German accent would've been much better. The book had multiple POVs, which I think is great. It gives the opportunity to explore the world. However, despite all that, I still don't think the world was explored nearly as well. Again, all of the characters simply blended together.

Much of the dialogue itself felt forced and awkward. The random bits of profanity spoken by the characters read like someone whose only contact with profanity (and war/battles in general) is via Call of Duty online multiplayer. I don't have a problem with profanity in books. However, it didn't seem to serve any sort of purpose here, other than to make certain characters seem more edgy.

I did think there were some good aspects. I thought the scene of Leslie's application into the Inner Circle was done well. It was a poignant moment that didn't try for a big, shocking twist like future scenes in the book. I also thought the scene of Ramfort delivering the radio message near the end was done well.

The book wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish it; however, I'm sorry to say that I won't be recommending this one.

[I received a copy of the book from the author via NetGalley.]
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Briennai Jackson
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting new dystopian thriller.
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2018
This novel reminds me of 1984, if it was written today rather than in 1940. It transports reader into a new world where the government tells the citizens how to act, and even tells them which emotions that they should feel. The “Inner Circle”/Party rules the city, but even they do not live easy lives. Everyone must work to support the government, and virtual reality is the only escape that some people participate in. Steve wants to be a part of the revolutionary army but the stakes are high and he must complete his mission and let the people know that they do not have to live in this way.

My only complaint about this book was that it was slow, but at the same time too fast. I will explain. It was slow to introduce the characters. It took me a while to actually realize who was who, distinguish character traits, and even start getting into the story. However, it was too fast in the storytelling. I was still trying to catch up, figure out who was who, and start learning about the characters. As the story flew from scene to scene, without the character connection, I felt confused.

However, this book did have its many perks. Once I started to connect with the characters, the rest of the novel went smoothly. The world-building was great, and I could almost visualize some of the scenes. There were no editing errors that I could notice, and there weren’t a lot of major or minor plot holes.

I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy science fiction novels.

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
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Jennifer Cameron-Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars ‘You are the best stock this Phoenix Cycle could hope to reap!’
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2017
Picture this. The world has been ravaged by storms of ash and debris. Only one city has survived: New San Francisco. New San Francisco has survived because it is ruled by the General. He has ensured that the people of New San Francisco understand that there is no room for weakness, no room for pity. The city is ruled by the Inner Circle, and Steve and Leslie have a chance to join that Inner Circle. It’s a once in a life chance to apply, and if they don’t they’ll be condemned to spend the rest of their lives in the ghettos of Edingburg.

There is another possibility. There is opposition to the General. A revolutionary army, known as the IRA, led by a voice known as ‘Mom’ is trying to overthrow the General and free the people of New San Francisco. Steve will choose one path, and Leslie the other.

What follows is an interesting and busy dystopian tale. The IRA wants a famous philosophical speech broadcast. Many will die trying to do this, but is anyone listening? The novel follows the main characters in a world that has been largely destroyed by the effects of environmental disasters and war, where the government keeps most people in a captive virtual reality. There’s not enough detail to work out how all this happened, but there’s enough connection to the current world to make much of it believable.

A dystopian environment with philosophical characters - there are several aspects to this story. It’s not a straightforward narrative: some aspects are delivered by journal entries and broadcasts.

I’ll need to reread this novel. I wonder whether the Department of Smoke has been able to exert any influence over the final manuscript? I know that the version I read is not the final version…

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Bob Collopy for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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