Here are sixteen quotes (verbatim, typos and all) from recent Amazon reviews of The Penal Colony.
1. Unfortunately upon reaching the end I felt unsatisfied due to the author leaving numerous loose ends. This ruined the enjoyment for me.
2. (And with a satisfying ending, too)
3. the ending left a lot to be desired, very open ended and a bit of a disappointment.
4. I always like a happy ending.
5. Not a bad story, would've been quite a bit better if it had been edited better. Also the ending, abruptly one page. C'mon...
6. Great read and loved the ending.
7. The only downside I could find was that the ending of the book was a little too quick for me and I had to read the last chapter a couple of times to see if I had missed something hence I only scored it 4 stars.
8. Well done from beginning to end.
9. I wanted more information about the end the the trip. Without giving spoilers I wanted more of the end . How the trip went. What happened ? The author could have given more there and didn't . It was an ending without a real ending if you like that sort of thing
10. It had a good ending, it was smart, and it spoke to redemption.
11. I felt short changed at the end, but enjoyed it overall.
12. A wonderful story allowing for great character development throughout and the inkling of "I wonder how he fared" at the end.
13. This was an interesting read and the first half is great but by the end it was like, enough already.
14. it is a good story though and has a pretty good ending.
15. I was glad I stuck with it, but have to say that the ending was a bit of a let down!
16. I also want to go on the record and say can you teach other authors to write endings? Yours was damn near perfect and there were no silly cliffhangers or any such nonsense, just a beautiful ending. I just don't get to read but one a year.
See also here.
Showing posts with label The Penal Colony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Penal Colony. Show all posts
28 March 2014
6 January 2013
Holiday downloads
Click to enlarge
My novel The Penal Colony has been free at Amazon for the past few weeks, and consistently in the top five of the Action and Adventure and Thriller sections, though in recent days it has climbed higher yet and last night reached No. 10 in the overall chart of free books.
I was curious to see how downloading varied over the holidays, so each evening made a note of the number of registered downloads. Most of the downloads were made at the UK Amazon store; this book is less popular in the United States.
As you can see from the chart, there was a noticeable spike on Boxing Day, then a decline. The lowest figure was for New Year's Day, when people were otherwise occupied – or recovering from hangovers! To make up for this, there was another spike on 2 January.
While this exercise is of limited scientific value, it does show a pattern which surely reflects the number of e-readers and tablets received as gifts. It also shows the extraordinary popularity of ebooks. These days a title shifting 5,000 hardbacks a month is called a New York Times bestseller.
By the way, The Penal Colony's free run at Amazon should be ending soon, so if you want a copy for nothing please be sure to grab one right away!
18 October 2012
If you have enjoyed a free copy of THE PENAL COLONY ...
First, I am glad that you liked it. Secondly, you are under no obligation whatever to do anything more, but if you want to show some appreciation, consider sampling one of my other books. The Penal Colony is a loss leader, made free in order to bring my fiction to wider attention. It is far from being my best book. The others available are these:
The Stone Arrow (approx. 71,000 words). My first published novel. It won a prize, putting me in the company of people like Shiva Naipaul and Kazuo Ishiguro, which astonished me (in case there had been some mistake, I hurried to the bank on my bicycle to deposit the cheque for £500 – nearly as much as the entire advance I received from the London publishers). It's set in Sussex in the latter part of the Stone Age, when the native hunter-gatherers are being displaced by immigrants from the near Continent, agriculturalists practising slash-and-burn. The form is that of a thriller, with lots of derring-do. It's very ingenious in parts, though I say so myself.
The Flint Lord (72,000 words) seemed like a good idea at the time, a sequel to the above. One reviewer described it as "dour", and I agreed with that. However, on a later reading it seemed quite inventive and entertaining in its way, and the violence peculiarly innocent. The Flint Lord himself is a proto-Nazi, and to get through the business of writing about him I listened to Wagner via headphones. The book was generally well received, and if you like its predecessor you'll probably like this too.
The Earth Goddess (74,000 words). This follows on from The Flint Lord, and completes a trilogy I named The Pagans. It is much less violent than the other two, and the most interesting of the three. The late Neolithic and early Bronze Age threw up the first priestly class in Europe and their achievements (e.g. Stonehenge) were remarkable. The hero is a bit of a pill, and I ended the story too abruptly (by then being deeply disillusioned with my publishers and hence the whole idea of authorship), but the rest of it I still like.
Refuge (83,000 words). A post-apocalyptic thriller, my least favourite child. Publishers' readers complained that the villain, in an earlier draft, was insufficiently unpleasant, so I obliged them and rather wish I hadn't. Nonetheless, some people really like the grittiness of this book, especially in the action sequences.
The Tide Mill (125,000 words). Set in the 13th century, this describes two conflicts: one private and very personal, an illicit love affair, and the other grand and public, between the Church of Rome and the King of England. We see at first hand how a medieval manor worked and learn quite a bit about medieval engineering, but above all this is a gentle and rather touching coming-of-age story.
The Drowning (125,000 words). My latest and most overtly literary novel. It will appeal especially to British readers over the age of 50. I consider this to be some of the finest work of which I am presently capable.
Follow the links in the "Find My Books At ..." tab at the side and download the sample(s) of your choice from the website of your choice, free of charge of course. Or you can simply browse the text at Smashwords.
Update, 18 October 2012: The Penal Colony is now free again at Amazon and elsewhere, so I have re-dated this post. Since it first appeared, I have also released Darling Brenda (see panel at side).
The Stone Arrow (approx. 71,000 words). My first published novel. It won a prize, putting me in the company of people like Shiva Naipaul and Kazuo Ishiguro, which astonished me (in case there had been some mistake, I hurried to the bank on my bicycle to deposit the cheque for £500 – nearly as much as the entire advance I received from the London publishers). It's set in Sussex in the latter part of the Stone Age, when the native hunter-gatherers are being displaced by immigrants from the near Continent, agriculturalists practising slash-and-burn. The form is that of a thriller, with lots of derring-do. It's very ingenious in parts, though I say so myself.
The Flint Lord (72,000 words) seemed like a good idea at the time, a sequel to the above. One reviewer described it as "dour", and I agreed with that. However, on a later reading it seemed quite inventive and entertaining in its way, and the violence peculiarly innocent. The Flint Lord himself is a proto-Nazi, and to get through the business of writing about him I listened to Wagner via headphones. The book was generally well received, and if you like its predecessor you'll probably like this too.
The Earth Goddess (74,000 words). This follows on from The Flint Lord, and completes a trilogy I named The Pagans. It is much less violent than the other two, and the most interesting of the three. The late Neolithic and early Bronze Age threw up the first priestly class in Europe and their achievements (e.g. Stonehenge) were remarkable. The hero is a bit of a pill, and I ended the story too abruptly (by then being deeply disillusioned with my publishers and hence the whole idea of authorship), but the rest of it I still like.
Refuge (83,000 words). A post-apocalyptic thriller, my least favourite child. Publishers' readers complained that the villain, in an earlier draft, was insufficiently unpleasant, so I obliged them and rather wish I hadn't. Nonetheless, some people really like the grittiness of this book, especially in the action sequences.
The Tide Mill (125,000 words). Set in the 13th century, this describes two conflicts: one private and very personal, an illicit love affair, and the other grand and public, between the Church of Rome and the King of England. We see at first hand how a medieval manor worked and learn quite a bit about medieval engineering, but above all this is a gentle and rather touching coming-of-age story.
The Drowning (125,000 words). My latest and most overtly literary novel. It will appeal especially to British readers over the age of 50. I consider this to be some of the finest work of which I am presently capable.
Follow the links in the "Find My Books At ..." tab at the side and download the sample(s) of your choice from the website of your choice, free of charge of course. Or you can simply browse the text at Smashwords.
Update, 18 October 2012: The Penal Colony is now free again at Amazon and elsewhere, so I have re-dated this post. Since it first appeared, I have also released Darling Brenda (see panel at side).
6 February 2012
Learning from readers
There are currently 192 reviews of The Penal Colony at amazon.co.uk and 70 at amazon.com: that ebook is less downloaded in the United States, maybe because the cultural references pass American readers by. Many of the reviews, I’m relieved to say, are positive. Some of the exceptions are from readers who either haven’t finished the book or who haven’t understood what it is about.
Failure of comprehension is largely the author’s fault, but reading novels is a skill that must be acquired. The level to which public education has sunk, and the hegemony of the visual as a medium of entertainment, have produced a group of young people who have not been exposed to enough written fiction to know how to react to it. They suppose that if an opinion is expressed on the page, it must be the author’s. They have not learned to take a broad view, to wait and see what happens and form a judgement accordingly, but are instead blown about from scene to scene by every puff of wind. Nor have they any awareness of the resonances and undercurrents which make a piece of writing come alive.
The central driver of The Penal Colony is the change brought about in its protagonist by his experience on the island. He arrives with a fairly complete set of prejudices and loses them all. Thus I have been castigated as a bigot, a racist and a homophobe. Attitudes towards homosexuality, including my own, were less sympathetic in the 1980s (the book was drafted in 1985-6). This was the time of the AIDS scare, and there were controversies about homosexuality in the armed forces which I thought applicable to the social structure of the community in which my hero ends up. The Penal Colony is a story of its time and should be read as such.
Most reviews, however, should by no means be disregarded, even though some of the opinions may seem unreasonable to the author. The act of reading is a collaboration. If it fails in any consistent way there is something wrong with the book. A number of reviewers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the ending. They say it is too abrupt, and would like to know what else happens to the main characters. They accuse me of having got bored with the project, which was not the case.
My take on the story was that it should cover the protagonist’s time on the island. It begins with him waking up there and effectively ends with his departure. The brief final chapter was intended merely to put a cap on things and point the way to the future. Not a single professional reviewer complained about its brevity: but then professionals are expert readers fully versed in the language of fiction.
An author with any sense will take far more notice of the non-professionals – if he wants to be read, they are the people he must please. Disappointment about the ending is flattering, because it suggests that those readers who complain care about the characters. It is also sobering, because it reveals a lack of skill on my part. I am coming to the end of drafting a new book. The closing chapters are more explicit than I’d planned: I have heeded my critics’ advice.
Professional reviewers are part of the gatekeeping apparatus that interposes itself between writer and reader. Their opinions are often partial, and are primarily filler between the ads on the literary pages. Of course, you also have to read amateur reviews with a bit of scepticism, since some of them are planted by shills or the author in person, but by and large the amateur reviewer has no axe to grind. His or her review is likely to be honest, prompted by a sincere desire to share pleasure or warn others of trash.
This is one aspect of the ebook revolution which is not often trumpeted, but it should be. In the past all one got was the odd fan-letter forwarded (or not) by the publisher, and fan-letters are useless as a critical tool. Direct access to the opinions of the reader is an incredible gift for the author, and breaks down yet further the barrier between them. So please don’t hold back if you’re minded to post an opinion about any ebook you’ve read – you’ll be doing everyone an excellent turn!
3 October 2011
Thank you, readers
Amazon is sometimes portrayed as the 800-pound gorilla in the ebook jungle, and maybe it is, but for an author who wants to be read that gorilla runs the biggest game in town. In mid-September The Penal Colony was offered there for nothing (after I’d zeroed the price at Smashwords), and it quickly climbed the freebie charts. Since then, many tens of thousands of copies have been downloaded, and the number of reviews is growing.
About a year ago I posted a piece here, in which I opine that:
When a reader takes the time to read your book, he or she is doing you an honour. That has an uncharacteristically sentimental sound coming from me, but I believe it to be so. Every reader creates a new version of the novel’s world, informed by a unique set of experiences and values; each individual sees the characters differently and places different emphasis on this or that aspect of the story. It’s both intriguing and sobering for an author to know that, all over the world, hundreds or even thousands of different people are simultaneously engaged on a unique creative act inspired by his original, and now rather distant, imaginings.
It’s also intriguing to get such vivid feedback as the online reviews and to see the range of reactions expressed there, some diametrically opposed to the signals I thought I was giving out. For example, one reviewer suggests the depiction of the “Village” is something of a right-wing wishlist, which surprises me, because the book was written partly as a warning: I thought I had made it evident that the whole setup was (a) a Bad Idea and (b) being run corruptly. Indeed, during the Conservative Party Conference in October 1987, just before the London publication, a pressure group called Tory Action prompted the tabloid headline “Cage the thugs on an island, say Right”.
Some readers complain that the ending is too abrupt and would like to know what subsequently happens to the characters. This is flattering indeed, because it means they have almost become real people in those readers’ minds! Let me say that I was working to a space limit, not especially strict, but at 103,000 words the book was already pushing at the acceptable length for a thriller of that sort. During a lunch with Judith Kendra, the sympathetic commissioning editor at Grafton Books who encouraged this project, I believe I even mooted an extent of 80,000 words. More importantly, I conceived the story as being the experiences of the protagonist vis-Ã -vis the island, and the moment they cease so does the narrative. A generally favourable outcome and the abolition of Category Z may be assumed …
Thank you, then, readers, for giving my novel a new lease of life and for validating the work that went into it all those years ago. It’s an extraordinary feeling.
About a year ago I posted a piece here, in which I opine that:
If you write “creatively” at all, the only valid motive is self-realization. You should not expect, and certainly not demand, that other people should read your output, still less pay you for it. If they do either, you’re well ahead of the game – especially if they pay.
When a reader takes the time to read your book, he or she is doing you an honour. That has an uncharacteristically sentimental sound coming from me, but I believe it to be so. Every reader creates a new version of the novel’s world, informed by a unique set of experiences and values; each individual sees the characters differently and places different emphasis on this or that aspect of the story. It’s both intriguing and sobering for an author to know that, all over the world, hundreds or even thousands of different people are simultaneously engaged on a unique creative act inspired by his original, and now rather distant, imaginings.
It’s also intriguing to get such vivid feedback as the online reviews and to see the range of reactions expressed there, some diametrically opposed to the signals I thought I was giving out. For example, one reviewer suggests the depiction of the “Village” is something of a right-wing wishlist, which surprises me, because the book was written partly as a warning: I thought I had made it evident that the whole setup was (a) a Bad Idea and (b) being run corruptly. Indeed, during the Conservative Party Conference in October 1987, just before the London publication, a pressure group called Tory Action prompted the tabloid headline “Cage the thugs on an island, say Right”.
Some readers complain that the ending is too abrupt and would like to know what subsequently happens to the characters. This is flattering indeed, because it means they have almost become real people in those readers’ minds! Let me say that I was working to a space limit, not especially strict, but at 103,000 words the book was already pushing at the acceptable length for a thriller of that sort. During a lunch with Judith Kendra, the sympathetic commissioning editor at Grafton Books who encouraged this project, I believe I even mooted an extent of 80,000 words. More importantly, I conceived the story as being the experiences of the protagonist vis-Ã -vis the island, and the moment they cease so does the narrative. A generally favourable outcome and the abolition of Category Z may be assumed …
Thank you, then, readers, for giving my novel a new lease of life and for validating the work that went into it all those years ago. It’s an extraordinary feeling.
12 September 2008
The Penal Colony
I have gathered all the readers' reviews I can find, good or bad, from various places on the web, and reproduce them here at the risk of infringing the reviewers' copyright - if you have written one of these and object, please email me and I'll take it down right away.
If you have landed on this page from a search engine, you may prefer to see the main page for The Penal Colony.
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Reviews at Amazon.com
Reviews at Amazon.co.uk
From the Sony Reader Store
This is not the type I would normally choose to read
Posted May 09, 2011 by Nancy, Columbus, OH
I have to admit...I downloaded it because it had 4 stars and was free. I figured that if I didn't have the book I was wanting to read at the time, I may take a look at it...which is exactly what I did. I found myself drawn into the story in a very short period of time and was hooked. I had to know what was happening next. I found it to be the type to project your very own thoughts into. What would I do in this situation? I loved it and have recommended it to friends and family. Thank you for providing this lovely novel.
Good
Posted March 27, 2011 by Rhonda, Englewood, CO
This story kept you wanting to know more. This is a good read and was fast to get through. Kind of graphic but thats good story telling. Loved the ending.
Interesting and thought provoking
Posted February 23, 2011 by Art, Dumont, NJ
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. After 30 pages it pulled me back causing me to not want to put it down. If you spend a bit of time thinking about the characters and their situations, for me at least, it created
many introspective beliefs and thoughts to be challenged and modified. Thanks for the great read.
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Tim Danton, PC Pro, 29 December 2011
A gripping read from start to finish, this novel depicts an all-too-conceivable situation where Britain despatches its most dangerous prisoners to remote islands. Think of it as Lord of the Flies for adults. The Penal Colony is based on Sert, where The Village is the pinnacle of island culture: hot water, limited electricity and a direct link with the prison authorities make it the best place to live. But, as our arrogant protagonist Routledge discovers, you have to earn your place: when he arrives, insisting himself innocent of the murder of a young woman he met on a train, he’s told he can only be allowed in if he survives six days on the outside. But it doesn’t take him long to be captured by the biggest psychopath on the island…
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James Berghout 16 Mar 2008
The story is one that fascinated me from the start. With the state of the prison system in the U.S., I have naturally wondered what would happen if convicts were placed on an island to work things out for themselves. This is a fascinating study into human nature and the nature of civilization in a vacuum. It also makes one grateful for many significant and insignificant luxuries we live with each day.
As for the writing and the story, you can’t ask for more. Mr. Herley is a writer in charge of his craft. The plot progresses steadily and the characters are developed carefully and expertly. I like a story that has deep and meaningful characters.
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Paul Emil 11 May 2011
In the near future, Britain dumps prisoners on a remote island in the north Atlantic and leaves them to fend for themselves. A group of smart prisoners plan an escape from the “inescapable” island, which is under high-tech satellite surveillance. They have to beat the system and the jealous, violent gangs of “outsiders” who live outside of their camp.
This story is a nail-biter. When I finished the last page, I exhaled. I felt like I had just had sex. The sensation was a mixture of pleasure, relief, and satisfaction.
Grade: A
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Dan Moore 19 May 2010
Surprisingly few books have approached the idea of prison dynamics with the same ingenuity as Herley in this admirably creative novel which fuses an exciting premise with sophisticated writing and honest characters. It's a sort of Lord of the Flies meets Robinson Crusoe meets Count of Monte Cristo meets Papillon (and a host of others); and yet it carries off its own identity perfectly, promoting a well-cooked idea combined with grounded thematic concepts in a story which bristles with allegory and symbolism. Man vs. nature, instinct vs. reason, captivity vs. freedom, crime & punishment, oppression & redemption, etc. are all played out in the context. The book is worthy entertainment simply as a adventure/survival tale though and should disappoint absolutely no one.
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Fictionmonster 18 Aug 2009
Brilliant novel, well worth a read :) Also, you can make a donation to the author at his website http://www.richardherley.com if you liked this and his other books.
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cbell2 Aug 2009
I read and enjoyed 'Refuge' and came back here looking for more offerings from Richard Herley. I've now read 'The Penal Colony' (in just 2 sittings). These 2 books stand alone.
I found both books had a similar theme - a man on his own, doing the best he can in situations not of his choosing, finding unexpected strength and forced to make difficult decisions.
The correct order to read The Pagans trilogy is 'The Stone Arrow', 'The Flint Lord', then 'The Earth Goddess'.
If you enjoy these books, stop by the author's website and leave a donation http://www.richardherley.com/
Thanks for making your books available to us as ebooks, Richard!
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Charlou 29 Jun 2009
L'histoire commence par le réveil d'un homme plutôt cultivé, John Routledge dans une bicoque rustique. Cet homme est ligoté, attaché, et pense avoir été drogué et inconscient. Un homme lui apprend qu'il se trouve sur l'île pénitentiaire de Sert, une île pour détenus de catégorie Z, la pire. Son histoire lui revient rapidement : une rencontre fugace dans le train avec une femme, retrouvée morte par la suite, des preuves l'accablant. Un procès sans appel, un séjour dans une prison sur le continent avant ce transfert vers Sert par hélicoptère. Il pense être innocent, et se retrouve plongé dans cet enfer.
Il se rend compte qu'il est arrivé dans une sorte de société organisée, le Village, régenté par un homme appelé le Père, et qu'avant qu'il puisse potentiellement en faire partie, il devra passer six jours à l'extérieure de l'enceinte du Village, sans aide, six jours de survie en compagnie des détenus qui eux n'ont pas été admis dans le village, ou en ont été chassés. Il a à peine le temps de récupérer un couteau, une parka, et le voilà à l'extérieur dans la grisaille de l'île britannique, sachant qu'au moins deux autres communautés existent sur l'île... et seraient à éviter.
Et dès cet instant le livre plonge dans une sorte de régression de la société, dans cet univers carcéral coupé du monde où tout se réinvente. On oublie bien facilement que l'histoire est quasi contemporaine, on pourrait croire qu'elle se situe à un âge sombre de l'an mil. C'est en ce sens que j'ai vraiment été passionné par le livre. L'adaptation des détenus, les uns dans un semblant de ville organisée, comme une seconde chance d'être respectables, les autres redevenus à l'état sauvage, ou organisés selon le modèle de la tribu primitive, où la loi du plus fort est la seule qui existe.
L'administration pénitentiaire laisse ces hommes à leur déchéance et leur destin, ne faisant qu'apporter un ravitaillement régulier par hélicoptère à ceux du Village, dans une sorte d'entente tacite, mais leur empêchant quoi qu'il en soit toute fuite possible, à la fois par la rudesse et la difficulté de l'île de Sert et de sa mer elle même, et par un espionnage constant : satellite, radars, hélicoptère. L'île n'en est pas moins un mouroir organisé, hors de tout respect des droits humains.
Bref, cela va être une histoire de survie, un apprentissage et une initiation pour Routledge au respect des autres, de ce qu'ils sont devenus malgré leur passé... et un moyen de garder l'espoir de vivre comme un Homme, et pourquoi pas l'espoir de ne pas finir ses jours sur cette île.
J'ai vraiment apprécié ce livre. Je vous le recommande. Vous pouvez le trouver sur feedbooks, ou sur le site de l'auteur, directement. Sur celui-ci il est possible de faire un don à l'auteur si le cœur vous en dit et si le plaisir a été au rendez-vous, ce que j'ai personnellement fait. Je ne sais pas ce que donne cette politique d'auto édition, il serait d'ailleurs utile que je pose la question à l'auteur, mais la démarche est en tous cas intéressante et je la soutiens.
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grimo1re 27 May 2009
*****
I loved this book. The story is great, you will want to keep reading. The characters are well developed and very real. I can definitely recommend this book.
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Gilmartin 24 Jan 2009
*****
A dystopian future in the best British traditions of Nigel Kneale, a kind of "Lord of the Flies" with adults, Mr Herley has a firm grasp of all that is wrong with Britain, the "litter-strewn mediocrity" that it has become and the increasing desperation of successive governments as they plunge into ever more drastic "solutions" to these problems.
Incredibly good writing. I will be reading the rest of his output immediately!
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reader62 22 Jan 2009
*****
Great book, I could hardly put it down. Mr Herley publishes his books as ebooks because he wants to, obviously not because he has to!! My congratulations to him, his books are great.
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JenniferLW 9 Dec 2008
***..
Excellent book. Couldnt put it down. Well done.
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Benjamin 24 Nov 2008
*****
The first time I read The Penal Colony was 1998 or so; I spotted a well-used paperback copy in a pile of abandoned belongings at a college dormitory. I took it, began to read, and was instantly absorbed. I was blown away by the story, the characters, and through it all the language: sometimes sharp and precise, other times poetic, always compelling and memorable. I consider myself a fairly well-read person, in terms of classic literature as well as modern best-sellers, and without hesitation, I put The Penal Colony on my "Desert Island List" of ten books that I would take with me to my own exile on Sert.
Up until a few years ago, this book was hard to find: out of print (at least in the USA), and precious little information available on the internet. Now it's here, easy and inexpensive to download, and it's an absolute gem of a book. The ideas, situations and characters will stay with you for life.
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cmbs 4 Oct 2008
In this story an innocent man is sent to a penal colony on murder charges. The colony is an island where there is no supervision at all, the prisoners are dropped there and left to fend for themselves. The only time the government takes notice is when something happens that might bring the world's attention to what they are doing with the prisoners.
I liked the book and plan to read some other books by the same author.
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whiterabbit 9 May 2008
*****
Excellently written and engaging story. It immersed me in a nightmarish world of violence and devastated hopes. Each dramatic event drags you further into the landscape. When I finally put the book down, I found part of me remained in that landscape for a long time.
It was beautifully written and a very insightful story, delving into the meaning of freedom and what it does to a person when those freedoms we take for granted are ripped away. Also begs the question how free are any of us really? On some levels the character finds himself more free on the island than when he lived in "society". But when all is said and done it is a journey into unbearable lawlesness. Fantastic read!
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jamjam 2 Apr 2008
*****
Well as an avid non-fiction reader, I decided to explore some fiction works. I was not disappointed. This was so engaging and immersive I felt as if I was at the penal colony. Amazing book! Well done sir, well done.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully engaging suspense, November 27, 2000
By A Customer
A great book! If you like just about anything, give this book a try. Great characters, a compelling story, David vs. Goliath! Everything a great book needs...it hits on all cylinders. The sensory descriptions are just about perfect, I feel as though I've been to Sert. If I met John Anthony Rutledge on the street, it's like I know him like an old friend. Get this and read it!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome read, June 4, 2000
By Mark Lieberman "markdl17" (S.A., TX)
A great futuristic prison book. Once you start reading, you won't be able to put it down. Lots of action and excellent dialogue. The movie No Escape was based on the book. However, the book is tens times better. Enjoy.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the movie, May 17, 2007
By Vinaya Manmohansingh (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad/Tobago)
A thoroughly gripping story of life in a grim world. Reading it you just slide into the isolation and desperation of the island prison. There was a movie based upon it, No Way Out with Ray Liotta, that wasn't bad, but the book is even better.
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From the iTunes store:
Slow starter, worth the wait though
by Laura Martin
Took me a while to get into this book and you can tell the author has an interest in natural history by the sometimes lengthy descriptions of wildlife and/ or landscape. Once the story gets going though I was hooked and finished the last hundred pages at every opportunity as I couldn't wait to see what happened next! There is something of a 'Lost' quality about the story with the men on the island managing to fashion ingenious devices out of the materials available to them. All in all I really enjoyed this book even though as a woman I may not have been the anticipated audience!
Penal colony
by El Malabarista
What a great surprise!! This is a great novel and i would advise all to read it. The author has a great understanding of how desperately thin is this veneer of civilisation we cling to.
Absolutely brilliant
by Lewy12345
Possibly the most well written book I have ever read. I had a genuine lump in my throat and a tear running down my cheek at one point, I just cannot believe it is free!! I would happily of paid for this book. I will definitely be recommending it to friends.
If you have landed on this page from a search engine, you may prefer to see the main page for The Penal Colony.
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Reviews at Amazon.com
Reviews at Amazon.co.uk
From the Sony Reader Store
This is not the type I would normally choose to read
Posted May 09, 2011 by Nancy, Columbus, OH
I have to admit...I downloaded it because it had 4 stars and was free. I figured that if I didn't have the book I was wanting to read at the time, I may take a look at it...which is exactly what I did. I found myself drawn into the story in a very short period of time and was hooked. I had to know what was happening next. I found it to be the type to project your very own thoughts into. What would I do in this situation? I loved it and have recommended it to friends and family. Thank you for providing this lovely novel.
Good
Posted March 27, 2011 by Rhonda, Englewood, CO
This story kept you wanting to know more. This is a good read and was fast to get through. Kind of graphic but thats good story telling. Loved the ending.
Interesting and thought provoking
Posted February 23, 2011 by Art, Dumont, NJ
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. After 30 pages it pulled me back causing me to not want to put it down. If you spend a bit of time thinking about the characters and their situations, for me at least, it created
many introspective beliefs and thoughts to be challenged and modified. Thanks for the great read.
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Tim Danton, PC Pro, 29 December 2011
A gripping read from start to finish, this novel depicts an all-too-conceivable situation where Britain despatches its most dangerous prisoners to remote islands. Think of it as Lord of the Flies for adults. The Penal Colony is based on Sert, where The Village is the pinnacle of island culture: hot water, limited electricity and a direct link with the prison authorities make it the best place to live. But, as our arrogant protagonist Routledge discovers, you have to earn your place: when he arrives, insisting himself innocent of the murder of a young woman he met on a train, he’s told he can only be allowed in if he survives six days on the outside. But it doesn’t take him long to be captured by the biggest psychopath on the island…
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James Berghout 16 Mar 2008
The story is one that fascinated me from the start. With the state of the prison system in the U.S., I have naturally wondered what would happen if convicts were placed on an island to work things out for themselves. This is a fascinating study into human nature and the nature of civilization in a vacuum. It also makes one grateful for many significant and insignificant luxuries we live with each day.
As for the writing and the story, you can’t ask for more. Mr. Herley is a writer in charge of his craft. The plot progresses steadily and the characters are developed carefully and expertly. I like a story that has deep and meaningful characters.
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Paul Emil 11 May 2011
In the near future, Britain dumps prisoners on a remote island in the north Atlantic and leaves them to fend for themselves. A group of smart prisoners plan an escape from the “inescapable” island, which is under high-tech satellite surveillance. They have to beat the system and the jealous, violent gangs of “outsiders” who live outside of their camp.
This story is a nail-biter. When I finished the last page, I exhaled. I felt like I had just had sex. The sensation was a mixture of pleasure, relief, and satisfaction.
Grade: A
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Dan Moore 19 May 2010
Surprisingly few books have approached the idea of prison dynamics with the same ingenuity as Herley in this admirably creative novel which fuses an exciting premise with sophisticated writing and honest characters. It's a sort of Lord of the Flies meets Robinson Crusoe meets Count of Monte Cristo meets Papillon (and a host of others); and yet it carries off its own identity perfectly, promoting a well-cooked idea combined with grounded thematic concepts in a story which bristles with allegory and symbolism. Man vs. nature, instinct vs. reason, captivity vs. freedom, crime & punishment, oppression & redemption, etc. are all played out in the context. The book is worthy entertainment simply as a adventure/survival tale though and should disappoint absolutely no one.
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Fictionmonster 18 Aug 2009
Brilliant novel, well worth a read :) Also, you can make a donation to the author at his website http://www.richardherley.com if you liked this and his other books.
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cbell2 Aug 2009
I read and enjoyed 'Refuge' and came back here looking for more offerings from Richard Herley. I've now read 'The Penal Colony' (in just 2 sittings). These 2 books stand alone.
I found both books had a similar theme - a man on his own, doing the best he can in situations not of his choosing, finding unexpected strength and forced to make difficult decisions.
The correct order to read The Pagans trilogy is 'The Stone Arrow', 'The Flint Lord', then 'The Earth Goddess'.
If you enjoy these books, stop by the author's website and leave a donation http://www.richardherley.com/
Thanks for making your books available to us as ebooks, Richard!
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Charlou 29 Jun 2009
L'histoire commence par le réveil d'un homme plutôt cultivé, John Routledge dans une bicoque rustique. Cet homme est ligoté, attaché, et pense avoir été drogué et inconscient. Un homme lui apprend qu'il se trouve sur l'île pénitentiaire de Sert, une île pour détenus de catégorie Z, la pire. Son histoire lui revient rapidement : une rencontre fugace dans le train avec une femme, retrouvée morte par la suite, des preuves l'accablant. Un procès sans appel, un séjour dans une prison sur le continent avant ce transfert vers Sert par hélicoptère. Il pense être innocent, et se retrouve plongé dans cet enfer.
Il se rend compte qu'il est arrivé dans une sorte de société organisée, le Village, régenté par un homme appelé le Père, et qu'avant qu'il puisse potentiellement en faire partie, il devra passer six jours à l'extérieure de l'enceinte du Village, sans aide, six jours de survie en compagnie des détenus qui eux n'ont pas été admis dans le village, ou en ont été chassés. Il a à peine le temps de récupérer un couteau, une parka, et le voilà à l'extérieur dans la grisaille de l'île britannique, sachant qu'au moins deux autres communautés existent sur l'île... et seraient à éviter.
Et dès cet instant le livre plonge dans une sorte de régression de la société, dans cet univers carcéral coupé du monde où tout se réinvente. On oublie bien facilement que l'histoire est quasi contemporaine, on pourrait croire qu'elle se situe à un âge sombre de l'an mil. C'est en ce sens que j'ai vraiment été passionné par le livre. L'adaptation des détenus, les uns dans un semblant de ville organisée, comme une seconde chance d'être respectables, les autres redevenus à l'état sauvage, ou organisés selon le modèle de la tribu primitive, où la loi du plus fort est la seule qui existe.
L'administration pénitentiaire laisse ces hommes à leur déchéance et leur destin, ne faisant qu'apporter un ravitaillement régulier par hélicoptère à ceux du Village, dans une sorte d'entente tacite, mais leur empêchant quoi qu'il en soit toute fuite possible, à la fois par la rudesse et la difficulté de l'île de Sert et de sa mer elle même, et par un espionnage constant : satellite, radars, hélicoptère. L'île n'en est pas moins un mouroir organisé, hors de tout respect des droits humains.
Bref, cela va être une histoire de survie, un apprentissage et une initiation pour Routledge au respect des autres, de ce qu'ils sont devenus malgré leur passé... et un moyen de garder l'espoir de vivre comme un Homme, et pourquoi pas l'espoir de ne pas finir ses jours sur cette île.
J'ai vraiment apprécié ce livre. Je vous le recommande. Vous pouvez le trouver sur feedbooks, ou sur le site de l'auteur, directement. Sur celui-ci il est possible de faire un don à l'auteur si le cœur vous en dit et si le plaisir a été au rendez-vous, ce que j'ai personnellement fait. Je ne sais pas ce que donne cette politique d'auto édition, il serait d'ailleurs utile que je pose la question à l'auteur, mais la démarche est en tous cas intéressante et je la soutiens.
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grimo1re 27 May 2009
*****
I loved this book. The story is great, you will want to keep reading. The characters are well developed and very real. I can definitely recommend this book.
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Gilmartin 24 Jan 2009
*****
A dystopian future in the best British traditions of Nigel Kneale, a kind of "Lord of the Flies" with adults, Mr Herley has a firm grasp of all that is wrong with Britain, the "litter-strewn mediocrity" that it has become and the increasing desperation of successive governments as they plunge into ever more drastic "solutions" to these problems.
Incredibly good writing. I will be reading the rest of his output immediately!
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reader62 22 Jan 2009
*****
Great book, I could hardly put it down. Mr Herley publishes his books as ebooks because he wants to, obviously not because he has to!! My congratulations to him, his books are great.
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JenniferLW 9 Dec 2008
***..
Excellent book. Couldnt put it down. Well done.
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Benjamin 24 Nov 2008
*****
The first time I read The Penal Colony was 1998 or so; I spotted a well-used paperback copy in a pile of abandoned belongings at a college dormitory. I took it, began to read, and was instantly absorbed. I was blown away by the story, the characters, and through it all the language: sometimes sharp and precise, other times poetic, always compelling and memorable. I consider myself a fairly well-read person, in terms of classic literature as well as modern best-sellers, and without hesitation, I put The Penal Colony on my "Desert Island List" of ten books that I would take with me to my own exile on Sert.
Up until a few years ago, this book was hard to find: out of print (at least in the USA), and precious little information available on the internet. Now it's here, easy and inexpensive to download, and it's an absolute gem of a book. The ideas, situations and characters will stay with you for life.
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cmbs 4 Oct 2008
In this story an innocent man is sent to a penal colony on murder charges. The colony is an island where there is no supervision at all, the prisoners are dropped there and left to fend for themselves. The only time the government takes notice is when something happens that might bring the world's attention to what they are doing with the prisoners.
I liked the book and plan to read some other books by the same author.
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whiterabbit 9 May 2008
*****
Excellently written and engaging story. It immersed me in a nightmarish world of violence and devastated hopes. Each dramatic event drags you further into the landscape. When I finally put the book down, I found part of me remained in that landscape for a long time.
It was beautifully written and a very insightful story, delving into the meaning of freedom and what it does to a person when those freedoms we take for granted are ripped away. Also begs the question how free are any of us really? On some levels the character finds himself more free on the island than when he lived in "society". But when all is said and done it is a journey into unbearable lawlesness. Fantastic read!
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jamjam 2 Apr 2008
*****
Well as an avid non-fiction reader, I decided to explore some fiction works. I was not disappointed. This was so engaging and immersive I felt as if I was at the penal colony. Amazing book! Well done sir, well done.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully engaging suspense, November 27, 2000
By A Customer
A great book! If you like just about anything, give this book a try. Great characters, a compelling story, David vs. Goliath! Everything a great book needs...it hits on all cylinders. The sensory descriptions are just about perfect, I feel as though I've been to Sert. If I met John Anthony Rutledge on the street, it's like I know him like an old friend. Get this and read it!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome read, June 4, 2000
By Mark Lieberman "markdl17" (S.A., TX)
A great futuristic prison book. Once you start reading, you won't be able to put it down. Lots of action and excellent dialogue. The movie No Escape was based on the book. However, the book is tens times better. Enjoy.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the movie, May 17, 2007
By Vinaya Manmohansingh (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad/Tobago)
A thoroughly gripping story of life in a grim world. Reading it you just slide into the isolation and desperation of the island prison. There was a movie based upon it, No Way Out with Ray Liotta, that wasn't bad, but the book is even better.
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From the iTunes store:
Slow starter, worth the wait though
by Laura Martin
Took me a while to get into this book and you can tell the author has an interest in natural history by the sometimes lengthy descriptions of wildlife and/ or landscape. Once the story gets going though I was hooked and finished the last hundred pages at every opportunity as I couldn't wait to see what happened next! There is something of a 'Lost' quality about the story with the men on the island managing to fashion ingenious devices out of the materials available to them. All in all I really enjoyed this book even though as a woman I may not have been the anticipated audience!
Penal colony
by El Malabarista
What a great surprise!! This is a great novel and i would advise all to read it. The author has a great understanding of how desperately thin is this veneer of civilisation we cling to.
Absolutely brilliant
by Lewy12345
Possibly the most well written book I have ever read. I had a genuine lump in my throat and a tear running down my cheek at one point, I just cannot believe it is free!! I would happily of paid for this book. I will definitely be recommending it to friends.
1 September 2008
The Penal Colony
Blurb from the first edition
It is 1997. The British government now runs island prison colonies to take dangerous offenders from its overcrowded mainland jails.
Among all these colonies, Sert, 25 miles off the north Cornish coast, has the worst reputation. There are no warders. Satellite technology is used to keep the convicts under watch. New arrivals are dumped by helicopter and must learn to survive as best they can. To Sert, one afternoon in July, is brought Anthony John Routledge, sentenced for a sex-murder he did not commit. Routledge knows he is here for ever. And he knows he must quickly forget the rules of civilized life. But not all the islanders are savages. Under the charismatic leadership of one man a community has evolved. A community with harsh and unyielding rules, peopled by resourceful men for whom the hopeless dream of escape may not be so hopeless after all ...
I started this book in 1985, just after the miners’ strike was quelled by the Conservative government. The difference between Mrs Thatcher and her Labour predecessors was profound. It seemed that Britain, left in such a mess and so long due a correction, was lurching too far rightwards instead.
Then as now, violent crime and terrorism were high on the public-opinion agenda. Criminals are anti-social. The cost of their crimes usually goes far beyond that of the objects they steal or destroy, or even the human cost paid by their victims. By committing a crime, a man renounces the values of the society in which he lives. A heinous crime such as murder or rape is in effect a renunciation of society itself.
Capital punishment is barbarous; incarceration is expensive and often ineffective. Since criminals demonstrate by their actions that they wish no part of civilized society, it seemed to me logical that a future British government might want to isolate them, permanently, from that society. “Isolate” is derived from the Latin word for an island.
I enjoyed a holiday in north Devon in the spring of 1985, exploring the cliffs around Hartland. One sunny May afternoon, sitting among the thrift and overlooking the sea, I suddenly had the idea for The Penal Colony, got out my notebook, and started work. Those very cliffs feature in the story.
Synopsis: October 1985
Final draft: November 1986
Editor at Grafton Books: Patricia Parkin
First publication: October 1987
Revised for electronic publication: February 2008
Extent: 103,343 words
A movie based on this book, No Escape, was released in 1994.
List of printed editions
Grafton, London, hardback, 1987
William Morrow, New York, hardback, 1988
Grafton, London, paperback, 1988
Ballantine, New York, paperback, 1989
Heyne, Munich, paperback, 1991 (Die Strafkolonie)
Bastei Luebbe, Hamburg, film tie-in paperback, 1994 (Flucht aus Absolom)
Shinchosha, Tokyo, paperback, 1989
Proszynski i S-ka, Warsaw, paperback, 1994 (Kolonia Karna)
Grafton, London, film tie-in paperback (issued as No Escape), 1994
Reviews of paper-based editions
Herley follows his successful trilogy The Pagans with an intriguing, ultimately uplifting novel of man’s capacity for salvation, a twist on Lord of the Flies. In a not-too-distant future, the British government has relegated murderers, rapists, and others of society’s outcasts to the wild island of Sert, off the coast of Cornwall. Overseen only by satellite technology, the 500 men on the island have divided themselves into two communities: “the village” and “outside”. The village contains the most intelligent men who, rather than succumb to the savagery rampant outside its borders, try to retain what they can of civilization. “Outside” is ruled by two warring clans that despise and envy the villagers. Routledge, wrongly convicted of a sex murder, is told that he must spend a week “outside”; if he survives, he will be accepted as a member of the village. He quickly learns the meaning of survival and in the process, like the men in the village, he rediscovers dignity, respect for others and the moral satisfaction of working together for the common good. When the warring gangs outside finally combine for an all-out attack on the village, its leader, Franks, and the village council reveal a desperate but ingenious escape plan, and this fast-moving, intelligent thriller goes into top gear.
Publishers’ Weekly
Author Richard Herley has built a thriller as tight and disciplined as his inmate society.
Enid News & Eagle
A gripping novel, as thriller or novel of ideas.
Library Journal
... a well devised and gripping novel.
Yorkshire Post
It’s savagery - not civilization - that lies like a thin veneer on the human character. That’s the ironic theme of The Penal Colony, an absorbing, offbeat thriller by British novelist Richard Herley ...
Tension and philosophy artfully mix in this story, thanks to terse prose, plenty of action and a convincing milieu. Multiple battles of wits propel the plot as Routledge struggles with himself, his environment and bloodthirsty human adversaries to embrace his nature as a social animal and learn the values of his new society.
Herley explored similar themes in The Pagans (1978-84), a notable trilogy about the Stone Age now being published in paperback in the United States. The Penal Colony is the trilogy’s equal, casting the eternal love-hate conflict between individual and tribe in a modern context of solid adventure.
Vince Kohler, The Oregonian
... a well written and a memorable story of a chilling adventure.
Lake Oswego Review
Normally I shun such reviewer clichés as “a real page-turner”, “leaves you breathless”, “can’t put it down”, considering them to be empty substitutes for critical thought. Well, there’s always an exception: I’ve weighed those phrases carefully, and I believe that each of them accurately applies to a new novel, The Penal Colony by Richard Herley.
The Penal Colony is a gripping novel of suspense, terror, thrills and adventure. It raises your intellectual speculation while raising your heart rate. It has been a long time since I last encountered a book that so successfully blended those elements along with compelling characters.
... It is a marvelous plot, reminiscent of Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male in its rendering of helplessness, aloneness and vulnerability when Routledge is on the run. Herley is an expert at setting up this kind of story - heightening the reader’s suspense, easing it, backing into the resolutions of episodes.
But novels that depend almost exclusively on plot are generally not very interesting. This novel does not, and so this novel is captivatingly interesting. By setting his story only a few years in the future, Herley is asking what sort of society we are - and becoming.
Within this grand vision are other, subtle, supporting images, parables and metaphors. The Village, for instance, is like a monastic community: highly structured, obedient, non-democratic and headed by a beneficent man called “Father”. This is in contrast to the utter lawlessness of the Outsiders, one of whose dominant figures, named Martinson, has a fixation on Christ, Satan and crucifixion - and a violent hatred for Father.
Altogether, this makes a neat conceit. These are all (except Routledge) terrible lawbreakers, yet some have become law-abiding and others outlaws.
Significantly, on the island are the ruins of a monastery, one of those guardians of learning in the Dark Ages. Now we have, in Routledge’s estimation, “the new Dark Ages” with “Britain wallowing out of control”. There is more than one reference in the book to feelings of reincarnated lives and loyalties.
Is the Village, then, an example of how society can save itself, the way the monasteries once saved civilization? Maybe, maybe not. The book’s ending would seem to lead one away from such grand conceptualizations.
Yet it is true that, despite the primitive conditions, Routledge feels for the first time that he really belongs, which he never had felt in his comfortable middle-class existence. The Village offers “the opportunity to be a man”. These men deal honestly, squarely, fairly and kindly with each other, a way of interaction most of them had not experienced before.
If I could bring myself to put “perfect” in front of any noun, which I can’t, I’d be tempted to use it here. The Penal Colony came into the office absolutely unheralded, with little promotion or publicity, which usually means the publisher has few hopes for it. I really think this novel is in a class with Walter Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz, whose intellectual qualities it shares. I wish for it the same long-lasting fame and respect.
Roger Miller, Milwaukee Journal
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