The Fury is the explosive opening to a new series which can be described as like a zombie series, but without actual zombies. What would you do if the human race suddenly turned against you? If your friends, family and neighbours wanted to kill you? This is the situation that the protagonists of the Fury find themselves in. They’re also all teenagers.
The novel opens with an immediately disturbing tone; a teenager finds their birthday present on their birthday, goes to thank their mum and then their mum kills them. The mother then resumes with household chores, completely unaware anything has happened. There is a fairly high level of ‘gore’ and violence within this novel and I would say its comparable to Michael Grant in this sense. If you have a very sensitive disposition, then this novel may not be a great match for you.
That said, I really enjoyed it. It was fast paced, entertaining and I loved how the central characters were all so different from each other in personality, age, physicality, etc. It made the novel much more representative of teenagers as a whole, which perhaps made it more scary. My personal favourite characters were Cal, who was a great hero for the novel, and Daisy who at times seemed the most vulnerable but I felt was one of the most mentally strong of the characters and intelligent. As the persecuted teens, band together in an abandoned theme park (also, can I just say how much I loved this setting!) there is a slight echo of William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies as they try and function alone without adults and natural hierarchies build.
There are multiple narrators to The Fury as well, which contributes to its fast paced feel and also encompassing sense of the UK. Having characters from across England and the majority of the action not taking place in London gave it a very authentic feel in my opinion.
The book contains several twists that I don’t want to spoil for you, but I will say there’s a paranormal edge to the novel and I think you will either love or hate it. Personally, I felt it was useful in that tied together several strands of plot, but it wasn’t until the end of The Fury I was really taken in by it.
Fans of Michael Grant and Charlie Higson will, I think, really enjoy the world Alexander Gordon Smith has created and love this new series and YA action fans should be impressed by it’s fast paced, well-plotted execution. As you can see, I did enjoy this novel a lot and found it highly entertaining and compelling to read.
My copy of The Fury was given to me by Faber & Faber in exchange for my honest review. The Fury is available now to buy from bookshops and online retailers.
