Foundation and Chaos is book two of the Second Foundation Trilogy is rather different to book one. For a start Bear sticks more faithfully to the FounFoundation and Chaos is book two of the Second Foundation Trilogy is rather different to book one. For a start Bear sticks more faithfully to the Foundation universe as described by Asimov. How important that is will vary depending on the reader. More importantly, the plot of this book feels more cohesive, resulting in a more entertaining read.
The Second Foundation Trilogy covers the life of Hari Seldon, his invention of psychohistory and his setting up of the two Foundations. This particular book concentrates on the period of his life when he was put on trial by the crumbling Empire. Although Hari Seldon is the main character of the trilogy (and thus this particular book) large parts of it are witnessed through the eyes of other characters. This is both interesting and frustrating at the same time.
On the one hand we get to explore Trantor from various perspectives. On the other, I found Seldon to be one of the most interesting characters and wanted to spend more time in his head. There is an overarching plot to this trilogy, the exact nature of which is not clear yet. In the first book, there were sections which seemed totally irrelevant to the main thrust of the book. During this book, the various strands become rather more entwined. Even so the significance is not at all clear. Plotwise, perhaps the most significant change from book one to book two is the portrayal of R Daneel Olivaw. In this book he seems less human. A not unnatural condition for a robot as old as he is by this point. His obsession with “protecting” the human race while still genuine goodwill on his part, seems less healthy now and maybe counterproductive. He also seems a little too free at manipulating people.
As I mentioned this book is more faithful to the Foundation Universe. No more wormholes, we’re back to hyperships again. This book reads and feels more like an Asimov Foundation story. The themes are very much those which Asimov used throughout his Foundation writing too. Unfortunately there is still something missing. The book is well written, the characters interesting and the setting well developed. Its good, its just not quite Foundation....more
I approached this book with considerable trepidation. I'm a big fan of Asimov's original Foundation Trilogy but was not overly impressed by his later I approached this book with considerable trepidation. I'm a big fan of Asimov's original Foundation Trilogy but was not overly impressed by his later additions to the series like Foundation's Edge where he attempted to tie the Foundation stories in with his robot stories.
So, knowing that this book took place prior to the setting up of the Foundations, that it featured robots and that it was written not by Asimov (for obvious reasons) but by Gregory Benford, who's books I had never read…..
I was, however, pleasantly surprised. This didn't strike me as a great original story, nor is it an Asimov Foundation book. What it is though is an entertaining story set in the Foundation universe and using familiar characters.
The story itself concerns the events in Hari Seldon's life just prior to his becoming First Minister. Specifically, his continuing development of psychohistory (which appears to be at a fairly advanced stage at this point) and the political machinations he becomes embroiled as he is drawn into politics
Various secondary strands pad out the book and the importance of some of them may not become completely clear until I have read the other two books in this trilogy.
Particularly intriguing to me was the initial appearance of the "sims" Voltaire and Joan, who engage in a most dramatic public debate. However, the rest of their plot arc was rather dull and the tie in with the main story seemed unconvincing.
Benford has a much more wordy writing style than Asimov and we get far more of what characters are thinking. We also get a fair amount of repetition. I'm not sure whether this is down to bad editing or was done because Benford thought the reader might have forgotten certain theories mentioned 100 pages earlier.
Purists may be upset by certain liberties that Benford has taken. For example the introduction of modern computers and cyberspace. The most glaring update must be replacing hyperspace ships with travel via wormholes.
To me getting upset about this sort of thing is rather missing the point. Asimov wrote roughly according to the science of the time and did update the Foundation universe himself in later stories. Not only that but as Benford notes in the afterword, Asimov was not terribly consistent about many aspects of the Foundation universe anyway.
This book does what it sets out to do, namely setup a trilogy of books which will try to answer some of the open questions about the Foundation universe. Already I am curious about just how the two Foundations get set up and exactly what role the robots play in this.
There are hints that the Robots "overseeing" isn't perhaps as snowy white and pure as one might have thought....more
GoodReads recommendation engine has been suggesting Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space to me for a couple of years now and it's not hard to see why, GoodReads recommendation engine has been suggesting Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space to me for a couple of years now and it's not hard to see why, after all it's epic scaled science fiction written by a British author, and that is kind of my thing. Well it finally made it to the top of my to read pile and I'm glad it did. While it starts slow by the end it's gripping stuff.
So What's It All About?
Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him. Because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason — and if that reason is uncovered, the universe—and reality itself — could be irrecoverably altered…
Slow and Confusing Start
Revelation Space didn't get off to the best of starts. The early chapters were quite slow moving and the disparate characters and timelines made it hard to keep track of exactly who was where and why.
To make matters worse Dan Sylveste spends the first half of the book essentially reacting to things and in many cases the major events happen off-stage and are simply related to us.
There's a reason for that as it turns out, which is that those major events maybe aren't so major in the end, but we don't know that while we're reading so it's a bit off-putting that all the action seems to be happening elsewhere.
A Slowly Tightening Noose
Once the threads of the story come together though things change. The pace gradually increases, the number of characters and locations shrink and as this happens there's a palpable change in the level of tension and paranoia as this group of manipulative and frequently unlikable people find their options ever more limited.
It becomes clear that someone, or something is directing their actions and it seems that no matter what steps they take it always ends up in the best interests of the alien entity. The final sections of the book are a strange mix of Alien and 2001 as the group find themselves simultaneously hunted and exposed to alien artifacts beyond their understanding.
They're Not Very Nice Are They?
In truth they aren't a particularly nice bunch. The most compassionate of the viewpoint characters is after all a hired assassin and the point is made that some of them have developed themselves to the extent they are barely human, even the ordinary humans are strangely muted in their empathy.
One of the many topics that Reynolds touches on in the book is the notion of body augmentation and what that might do to people. In some cases it is relatively minor tweaks like Sylveste's electronic eyes, but at the extreme end there is the Captain who is slowly succumbing to a virus that has mutated his largely mechanical body.
What is Human?
Although he does not flat out ask the question, Reynolds certainly poses it. We are presented with body augmentation, artificial intelligence, the imposing of mind patterns on another's brain and even cloning is mentioned.
This is a society where certain fundamental understandings about what a human being is really no longer apply and that affects how people behave.
But What About?
There are a lot of dangling plot elements in Revelation Space. A lot of the stuff and some of the people we are focused on early in the book essentially fade into the background as the true scope of the peril becomes clear. Normally I might find that quite frustrating, but Reynolds handles it cleverly.
The tradeoff is that some of those early chapters are a bit of a slog, but if you can hang in there until you see the larger picture, it will pay off. And those dangling plots suddenly don't seem that important, not when you're dealing with something this grandiose and immediately life threatening.
Did You Like It?
Yes I really enjoyed it once the scope narrowed down to the ship and its small crew. From about half way on the tension just kept ratcheting up.
Iain M. Banks highly advanced human (and AI) civilization, The Culture is rather unusual amongst modern science fiction in that it is presented as somIain M. Banks highly advanced human (and AI) civilization, The Culture is rather unusual amongst modern science fiction in that it is presented as something close to a post scarcity utopia. Excession deviates from that presentation by showing that maybe the almost godlike (by human standards) Minds aren't quite as morally perfect as they might at first seem. Perhaps they simply haven't been presented with something they wanted badly enough before.
Excession is definitely rather different to the previous Culture novels but that change is quite refreshing.
An Out of Context Problem
The motivating event in this novel is the Excession itself, described as an Out of Context Problem, which is defined as something that is so far outside of a society's norm that it can't be predicted or anticipated.
In this case, given the vast technological sophistication of the Culture itself that means the Excession is a completely alien object of unknowable power levels. Which makes it in a sense a Deus ex Machina only it creates the problems rather than solving them.
When this mysterious sphere is discovered the Culture takes immediate action, which is to say various groups of Minds take action. But they are not the only people interested in the Excession, the Affront, a highly hostile species also sees opportunity.
What follows then is a lot of manipulation and plotting as the various factions try to maneuver themselves to be in a place where they can gain the benefit of whatever technology has created the Excession.
A Tour Of The Culture
Because this is very much a galaxy spanning problem that affects the entire Culture the novel covers a lot of characters and locations. Where previous books have generally focussed their attention on just a few, here we jump around frequently.
We also get to find out what the Minds are up to and that's another thing we haven't seen that much of in the past. As I mentioned the general presentation has been that the Minds are benevolent controllers of the Culture although from time to time we've been given hints it's not quite that simple.
Here we see just how not simple things really are. For a start there's no single controlling entity in the Culture, rather there are little cliques and groups all trying to sway things in the direction they think is best. And while humans aren't disregarded, they also don't get to make any of these decisions.
In previous stories the human characters have generally been working for Special Circumstances and while certainly manipulated to greater or lesser degrees have also been difference makers. Here though most of the humans we meet are living rather directionless lives. Even the ones recruited by Special Circumstances don't really seem to have much purpose and are little more than pawns in a much larger game.
The Affront
The major alien civilisation in Excession is The Affront a technologically advanced civilisation that seems to have come to a cultural dead end. While very alien in their physiology, Banks portrays them as extremely humanoid in psychology.
These aliens are simultaneously jovial and good natured while incredibly cruel. They take excessive pleasure not only in hunting but in the bullying of their juniors and subjugation of members of their own species.
In fact they are so obviously evil that at first the society seems like a simple caricature, but that's not accidental. The Affront mainly exist to further explore how the Culture works. On the surface The Affront shouldn't be allowed to exist, but the Culture is so enlightened that they find themselves unwilling to interfere even when faced with blatant evil.
Well, most of them do. There is a group of Minds who sees things differently.
Petty Personal Problems
While we do dot around a lot in this book there is one major sub-plot that centers around the human characters of Dajeil Gelian and Genar-Hofoen. These two had previously had a relationship which ended badly (Dajeil tried to kill Genar) and consequently Dajeil goes on a 40 year sulk.
You might be able to tell that I wasn't very impressed by this subplot. While the two characters are quite well explored they both prove to be rather shallow and uninteresting. One of the fundamental issues I have with The Culture is that its inhabitants are so free from limits (lifespan, physical materials, wealth) and yet as a result seem almost entirely directionless. Dajeil and Genar-Hofoen illustrate this nicely.
Mostly while reading these sections of the book I just wanted to get back to the Minds and their political intrigue.
Who Should Read It?
Do you like Iain M. Banks? Do you like thought provoking space opera? Do you like your action to be accompanied with some moral dilemmas and complex characters? I'd say this one is for you.
Did You Like It?
Yes, it may actually be my favorite of all the Culture novels I've read to date. While I've seen criticism that some of the in jokes are impenetrable to new readers I think the heavy action quotient will make it a little more familiar to most SF readers and thus easier to warm to.
The latest book in my #GreatIndieReviewProject series is Without Bloodshed by Matthew Graybosch, a science fantasy story which mixes libertarian idealThe latest book in my #GreatIndieReviewProject series is Without Bloodshed by Matthew Graybosch, a science fantasy story which mixes libertarian idealism with heavy metal, violence and a healthy dose of sex.
One of the things that independent published allows authors isa freedom to step outside traditional genre limits or push them in different directions. That's certainly something that the author of Without Bloodshed Matthew Graybosch has taken advantage of.
Don't worry, you'll find most of the staple ingredients here too but this book has an agenda of sorts that sets it apart from the herd.
Science Fantasy For An Adult Audience This is not a book intended for children. And I don't say that simply because of the amount of sexual content. It is present certainly at times somewhat explicit, but not unreasonably so given the story being told.
It's more that the subject matter, while carefully bookended by action sequences, rests heavily on politics and social constructs. There's a lot of intrigue going on here. At times, so much that I rather lost track of who was triple-crossing who. There's also a fair amount of people standing around discussing principles and worrying about morals. These are fairly adult concepts and interests.
It's also in the presentation. The book requires concentration to read, particularly in the early chapters. There is so much information to be processed that it's easy to get lost in it. And then there is the large cast.
Characters, Characters Everywhere
I think it's safe to say that Morgan Stormrider (the author does actually take a moment to justify that rather extravagant name) and Naomi Bradleigh broadly represent the authors values (as displayed in an idealized action environment) and they are both quite appealing protagonists.
At times I did think that Morgan in particular comes across as just a bit too perfect. He has made mistakes, but they are in the past and in this story he always seems to know what the right way to behave is. I sort of want him to do something selfish occasionally.
Once we move away from the primary characters though things got a little more confused for me. For a start, the story has a large cast due to its level of politics and intrigue. But to make matters worse, quite a few of these characters go by two or more names. At several points during the story I had to stop and try and figure out who exactly was talking about who. Obviously anything that pulls me back out of the story is a bad thing, so I think it's an area where the story could have benefited with a bit more work to better differentiate the players.
Fortunately once I had got myself past the half way mark most of the characters had sufficiently imprinted themselves on my brain that the confusion lessened. I think my perseverance was rewarded, but you can't assume all readers will be as patient as I was. Which would be a shame because by the end there are plenty of hooks in place for the larger plot and it's obvious the scale of the story is intended to grow even further.
The characters themselves are for the most part quite distinct, it's more the volume and names that create the confusion, although there is one glaring exception in a character who is so forcefully one-dimensional in her bitchiness I sort of wonder what is going on with her.
Displaying Your Influences
Every author has their influences and it's usually not to hard to pick out what they are. While the book itself is unquestionably of the science fantasy, the style of the book shows several other influences.
I am not a huge fan of either rock or heavy metal music so most likely I am missing a good number of references in Without Bloodshed, but even I can pick up on the fact that it is a significant influence on the book. I also strongly suspect a significant anime influence based on both the culture presented and some of the descriptions used.
The third major influence in the book is a Libertarian one. Society and many of the characters espouse libertarian values and it's not hard to see that we are expected to see those as the "good" values. As a writer you have to be very careful not to step over that line from character expression to authorial expression. There are a few places where maybe the soapbox got pulled out but for the most part it is kept in check.
World Building
While the politicking and intrigues are undoubtedly a strong element in the book, the world building is more of a mixed bag.
On the one hand the Graybosch clearly spent time thinking out his world, how it functions and what it's technical level would be, but on the other we really aren't exposed to this world very much.
So we get a lot of very specific information about sidewalk heating or the use of Tesla points to power things but we don't ever get the viewpoint of a regular person in this new world.
Clearly Nationfall radically altered the political structure of the world. The story doesn't go into detail on this, which is fine, but the implication is that all the geo-political governments collapsed and we are now dealing with some sort of semi-anarchical city-state structure. But I never got a good feeling for what that meant. I would think there would have been some pretty nasty fall out along the way.
Morgan and Naomi are so insulated from the real world due to their twin jobs as music stars and Adversaries that they never really interact with regular people. They are too rich and too important.
Admittedly this is also often the case in fantasy stories where our protagonist is a king or prince, but in that case we sort of know what the average peasant's life is like. Here I genuinely have no idea.
We get some brief infodumps about biker gangs and some sort of proto-libertarian anarchical free-state made up from Anonymous and the Pirate Party (not a completely absurd notion) but again, what does it actually mean to live like that? I think in this case having at least one viewpoint character
Who Should Read This?
Do you like rock and or heavy metal music? Do you appreciated some fantasy in your science fiction? Are stories better with a healthy dose of political intrigue? Are you okay with some sexuality in your reading material? If some or most of these apply to you then you should give this one a shot.
Did You Like It?
Yes, overall I enjoyed reading Without Bloodshed. There are areas where I think the storytelling could be tightened up and early on confusion is definitely an issue, but the book is trying to do more than just tell an action story. The politics and the social views the characters present are intended to illustrate and exemplify as well as entertain. Plus the anime and heavy metal infused setting is quite distinctive.
I don't think there's anything else quite like this on the market....more
I really love Peter F. Hamilton's stories. I've read most of his books and even his short story collection A Second Chance at Eden. So it's probably fI really love Peter F. Hamilton's stories. I've read most of his books and even his short story collection A Second Chance at Eden. So it's probably fair to say that I am a biased reviewer of his books. It's also not a surprise that I enjoyed The Evolutionary Void. But the book (and the trilogy) had some problems.
The Evolutionary Void is the final part of a trilogy of books that Hamilton has written about what's referred to as the Commonwealth Universe. This following on from a duology where he introduced the setting. It's a space opera setting basically with highly technically evolved humans and other races. There's action, there's politics, there's sex, there's absurd numbers of characters. And behind it all there are big sci-fi ideas.
But Is It Hard SF?
Nope it's not. Get over it.
There's no shortage of science in Hamilton's science fiction, but a lot of it is broad extrapolation and some of it clearly veers off into fantasy. This is something that seems to matter an awful lot to a vocal minority of readers. But generally speaking if you enjoy Space Opera and don't mind books the size of a small mountain you should check this out.
Start at the beginning though.
What is Going On?
There's actually been a multi-year gap in my reading of this particular series. This book was actually published 4 or so years ago but I'm just getting round to reading it. But I read the previous two volumes before this one was published.
That delay has clearly made the situation worse, but I would argue that even with just the 3 year publishing timeline of the 3 books you would really be struggling to remember all the characters and factions and places and plotlines that are crammed into this story.
I actually had to check wikipedia for this one to clear up a couple of things I just could not remember.
I recently complained about excessive world building in epic fantasy. So it stands to reason I should criticise the exact same thing here. Right? Right?
Actually, it didn't bother me. The story is huge (and thus hard to keep track of) but it really didn't feel bloated. It was big because really big things were happening to a lot of people. But that's the distinction. Things were happening. The story was moving forward.
A Fantasy Story Inside a Space Opera
I'm a big fan of the fantasy genre. I probably actually read that more than I read science fiction. So you'd think that the concept of essentially having a fantasy story embedded inside the sci-fi story would be heaven for me.
Not so much. Honestly Edeard's story is the one that interested me the least of all the characters and plots that were going on, but he got quite a lot of time in this book again as he had in the previous one. The world of the void is sort of technically interesting to me, but I found those characters by far the most shallow and since Edeard's story only tangentially connects with the rest of the story I just didn't care as much as I was probably supposed to.
I had a similar reaction to Ozzie's never ending trek along the Silfen paths in the first Commonwealth books as well.
Wow That Was Sudden!
This was a trilogy of big books. It was a long story. And Hamilton clearly wasn't scared to give it the space he felt it needed. And yet at the end it wrapped up really quickly. So quickly in fact that I thought I must have missed a section.
I mean the major issues are resolved so it's not like I was left hanging. But lots of things are referenced as having happened without us seeing them. Which is weird because up to that point we saw everything. It just felt a bit like the author couldn't be bothered to have to go round and clean up after all his characters now that he was finished playing with them.
Who Is This For?
Do you enjoy space opera? Do you like galaxy spanning and threatening adventures The more characters the better? Do you want big ideas to go with your big adventure? This one's for you.
Did You Like It?
I loved it. I'm pretty much a fanboy when it comes to Peter F. Hamilton. I'm able to contain to the point I don't actually start drooling when I get a new book of his.
To my mind Charles Stross is an extremely talented science fiction writer who incorporates lots of big, bold ideas into his fiction. Sometimes, thoughTo my mind Charles Stross is an extremely talented science fiction writer who incorporates lots of big, bold ideas into his fiction. Sometimes, though, I get the feeling the ideas have run away with the story. Saturn's Children might be an example of that.
The notion of a world where humans have died out but the obedient robots they built are still maintaining society is a fascinating one and Stross explores what that might mean very effectively here. In this case we are dealing with forms of intelligence patterned directly against the human brain which allows him to also hold up a dark and rather gruesome mirror on human behavior.
Basically in this universe, we created a slave race who when they eventually became free immediately started enslaving each other. Harsh... but probably accurate.
Our protagonist and viewpoint character is Freya Nakamichi-47, a sex robot, who becomes embroiled in a solar system spanning plot that could result in the re-enslavement of all androids. So she moves from the worlds oldest profession to the world's second oldest profession, that of spy.
The road to stopping this plot though is a winding and twisty one as Stross takes the opportunity to delve into what it would mean to have a "soul chip" and be able to plug in someone elses. Essentially the soul chip is the sum total of an android's memories. Now that opens up all sorts of areas for exploration including multiple identities and the notion of nature vs. nurture.
Not surprisingly perhaps given the setup, this is a fairly adult book. It is implied (though this could just be the coloring of our viewpoint character) that most of these androids are designed to enjoy and motivated by sexual pleasure. And given that Freya was specifically created to provide such pleasure... well.
Somewhere along the way between cross, double-cross, triple-cross, memory transplants and giant info-dumps to tell us how this universe actually functions... the plot is stopped. Sort of. At least... for now? The resolution is rather... unresolved.
This seems to be a bit of a trend with modern science fiction but I like there to be a point to the journey I've gone on. No, it's not how real life works... but that's partly why I read fiction.
It is a truly fascinating universe that Stross conjures up mind you and Freya herself is a complex and interesting character. The others seem much more shallow, but then we don't get to be in their heads. Freya's tumultuous journey from one crisis to another certainly kept my attention. But I found myself getting a bit frustrated trying to keep up with who was really which personality and what group they were allied with and who they were just pretending to work with. It all just felt overly clever as though the ideas had become more important than the story.
If you're a fan of classic science fiction you will appreciate the call outs to Asimov (three laws) and Heinlein (my nipples went spung) but even there it does feel a bit like the author showing off....more
Peter F. Hamilton is a writer of epic galaxy spanning space opera science fiction. And all of that is right here on show in Great North Road. But thePeter F. Hamilton is a writer of epic galaxy spanning space opera science fiction. And all of that is right here on show in Great North Road. But the novel manages the clever trick of also being very down to earth and character focussed.
"In AD 2142, where portal technology allows instantaneous travel to other planets, Newcastle police detective Sidney Hurst heads a high-tech investigation of the disturbing murder of a clone of the wealthy North family. Hurst has the added challenge of the politics and media associated with the high profile murder, as well as the opaque mystery itself. The body shows the same wounds as that of Bartram North, murdered twenty years ago on the tropical planet St Libra. The bio-fuel that flows from St Libra is a mainstay of Earth's economy and so powerful vested interests are watching over Hurst's shoulder."
At times it feels like you are reading military science fiction. At others a detective drama. Or maybe corporate espionage. All of those things are true, but there's also big big SF ideas and at the heart the mystery of one person. Who is she? What did she do? Why did she do it?
If you've read anything by Peter F. Hamilton before than you'll certainly recognize his style right from the beginning of this book. The setting in this case is a near future earth (well also a colonized planet, but we'll get to that) an the early portion does a lot to set up the world we are dealing with. At this stage it is 90% familiar and 10% science fiction but those science fiction aspects gradually increase as the story develops.
Great North Road is not set in the Commonwealth universe as many of Hamilton's recent works are. This world is not nearly as advanced. While there have been several significant scientific breakthroughs, not least the gateways and the sophisticated rejuvenation techniques it definitely has the feel of a world not that far from our own.
Hamilton has a habit of writing door stopper books and that's definitely the case here with Great North Road coming in at a whopping 1,100 pages in length and he juggles a huge cast of characters to tell his story.
Starting with an apparently simple murder investigation he steadily broadens the scope by introducing the possibility of a hostile alien. And then of course there are the North's themselves, an entire clone family which is a rather fascinating concept in its own right.
As big as this book is you might reasonably expect it to be a bit of a slog but it really isn't. Not only does Hamilton slowly raise the stakes of the tale, but he also rather cleverly introduces an increasing level of paranoia in several of the story strands that he weaves together.
It's both interesting and disturbing to watch as that paranoia starts to eat away at people. Making them question their own judgements or act rashly. Hamilton's view of the unvierse is broadly positive but he doesn't ignore that when put in desperate circumstances people will act badly towards each other.
There's a diversity to the characters too. One of the central ones is a devout Christian (and it's interesting to hear the explanation for his belief) who is refreshingly not any more of an asshole than anyone else.
Authorial Tricks
One trick that Hamilton pulls that I'm really not a big fan of is to hold information back from the audience that they really ought to have access to.
I expect the author to hold back some information since it adds to the tension in a story, but when a view point character deliberately doesn't think about something just so the reader doesn't know that seems a little sneaky.
Hamilton isn't even apologetic in how he does it, having the same character blatantly reference the events and clearly think about them but just not telling us what they are, even though we have access to the same character's other thoughts.
While I'm not a fan of the technique in general it does work well in Great North Road because the mystery of Angela Tremelo (who is she really and if she didn't commit the murders what was she doing?) gives us a core story to wind all the other elements around.
Building The World
While this is a one and done novel, Hamilton clearly gave the universe just as much attention as he did with the Commonwealth Universe.
This world doesn't just have a past (nicely documented at the end so you can follow the timeline of events), but it has a future. It is building to something even if we may never see it. Or maybe we will because there's definitely material here to support a sequel.
For example the mysterious alien predator is not the only alien species in this book. In fact the Earth (and its colonized planets) are under perpetual threat of invasion from the Xanth. A life form so alien that humanity does not understand what it is, how it exists or what its purpose is.
That looming threat against the entire of humanity has clearly impacted this world. It has changed the way humans look at the universe and the results are mostly negative.
Another nice touch is the way Hamilton has considered what impact the technologies he has unleashed on his world will have on it. This is clearly a world where all actions have consequences.
Wrapping It All Up In A Bow
The ending may be just a little too neat for some people. You could certainly argue it's a bit of a cop out given how the story progressed, but at the same time it does fit the themes of the novel and it doesn't just let everyone completely off the hook By the end there has been a fundamental change not only in Earth's interaction with other planets but how humans look at the universe again.
It's probably fair to say that endings are not traditionally Peter F. Hamilton's strongest area. He's very good at developing big ideas, but not always so strong and sticking the landing. Here the ending serves the story, but it's not as strong as earlier sections.
And I guess given what is achieved in this story I feel pretty forgiving of minor weaknesses like that. The murder investigation story on its own would have made an excellent book. As would the exploration of St. Libra (everything is bigger in St. Libra). But wrapping that all together with some many characters and a bundle of great science fiction concepts earns Hamilton some leeway....more
While I appreciated Iain M. Bank's first Culture novel as a fine bit of writing, I found it rather distant in some ways. The Player of Games, spendingWhile I appreciated Iain M. Bank's first Culture novel as a fine bit of writing, I found it rather distant in some ways. The Player of Games, spending almost all of its time in a single person's head, is for me a much more personal story.
It also gives us a much better understanding of what the Culture is and how it works, despite spending most of its time in the Empire of Azad and therefore outside of the Culture. That's because Azad is an instantly familiar environment. Yes it's relatively extreme, but we can easily associate it with plenty of Earth civilizations.
So the regular contrasting and questioning by Gurgeh about Azad's society really tells us more about the Culture than it does about Azad. And while we are consistently told (and the citizens clearly believe) that the Culture is a utopia, there are clear signs that it's not actually quite that perfect.
Though clearly it is a much nicer place than Azad, an empire that is built on military might, social stratification and a healthy dose of fear. Oh, and a game. The most complicated game that has ever existed and a game that is used to define people's role in the Empire. Though as we gradually discover that may not be entirely down to actual skill. Because, much like the society that spawned, Azad is a game where people can manipulate and conspire.
One of the tricks that Banks pulls off in this book is describing the gameplay and getting across the significance of the action, without ever really explaining how the game works. Which is just as well, because it could never live up to its billing as the most complex game ever.
But the real draw of the book is Gurgeh's evolution as the story progresses. From beginning to end he's a rather selfish and self-involved individual, but his perception of the world changes as he is exposed to the behavior of the Empire. That's not the only thing that affects him though. Banks makes an interesting point about how language itself might impart social values and thus affect behavior.
All in all I found the book captivating and it came very close to getting a five star rating, but I found the ending a little unsatisfactory. The story does end, we're not left hanging or anything. And yet it doesn't really conclude things....more
I was really looking forward to Star Wars: Razor's Edge for a couple of reasons. First off it's set between Star Wars (yes I know we're supposed to caI was really looking forward to Star Wars: Razor's Edge for a couple of reasons. First off it's set between Star Wars (yes I know we're supposed to call it A New Hope) and Empire Strikes Back. Secondly it's written by Martha Wells who has written some wonderful original works (my favorite being Wheel of the Infinite).
I have to say that this does not live up to her original works, but as a Star Wars novel it's a solid entry into the Expanded Universe and also covering territory that isn't as over-explored as some other areas of the franchise.
The novel's focal character is Leia Organa, but Han Solo gets a fair amount of face time as well. Luke is present but it's more of a cameo and he's really just a background character here. It is interesting to note that while in the Star Wars movies there is a major dearth of female characters, in this book they make up a significant portion of the leadership roles.
The book definitely has the feel of early Star Wars in that things are stacked against the Rebels and the threat of the Empire is sort of everywhere. It's also a much smaller scale story than many of the books though the consequence for the characters involved would be no less severe.
It was also nice to have something that touched on the aftereffects of Alderaan's destruction, something which gets brushed aside in the movies due to the pace of the plot.
And yet despite all these largely positive things, I cam away from the book feeling rather flat. Part of the problem I think is that none of the secondary characters really stuck with me. I was still confusing some of the names right up to the end. They just weren't very deep or distinctive. Something that was particularly obvious when compared to the characterization for Leia and Han.
And of course I knew that Leia and Han were going to survive. So if the other characters haven't made much of an impression of me, there goes any sense of threat.
I do wonder, if it had been another writer would I be judging this so harshly? It's hard to say. It's certainly not bad. Just a bit average. And it felt like the elements were there for something more....more
I came to The Silver Sickle with no particular expectations. The author Ellie Ann had asked if I would consider reviewing it and the synopsis sounded I came to The Silver Sickle with no particular expectations. The author Ellie Ann had asked if I would consider reviewing it and the synopsis sounded like it had potential. But in these scenarios you really never know what you're going to get.
In this case what I got was a book that is well worth reading.
The Silver Sickle bills itself is steampunk and that's true if you use the descriptors broadly. It could also be classified as science fantasy I think. It's also billed as Young Adult, but that's rather deceptive too. Mainly don't get hung up on the genre label because this isn't a book that will fit nicely into your label.
The driving force of the story is the relationship between Farissa and Zel. It is a love story in a sense but not really a romance as such. The reason their relationship drives the story is that they find themselves put in critical positions as a result of the things they do for each other.
When setting up an alien world, an author has to make some difficult decisions about how to get that information across to the reader. Ellie Ann picked the hardest, but ultimately most satisfying approach. Just throw the reader in at the deep end and give them what they need to figure it out.
That does require the reader to commit to actually concentrating for the first few chapters until all the references begin to build a picture, but once they do it's so much more satisfying than being presented with twenty five pages of exposition.
And the world she builds is fascinating. Or at least the little segment of it that we see is, since really all we get to experience is the city of Dyn and it's clear from the references that there are not only other countries out there, but other planets and creatures as well.
The alien goddesses do arguably have rather human emotions and motivations but their description is pretty unique and their behavior makes an internal sense.
Probably my favorite element though is the Cogsmen who I admit I picture rather differently than the none-the-less excellent cover. There's another story to be told about how they came to be in Dynn I think.
Really my criticisms are small and niggly things. The switch between character view points was rather uneven due to the huge variation in chapter lengths. There was one segment where we switched characters 4 times in a matter of 4 or 5 pages and it didn't feel necessary.
The thing about switching viewpoint is it's a moment when the reader is liable to pull out of the story again. But if you can set up a rhythm early on and stick with it, they're much less likely to do that.
I also felt like maybe the King's behavior was just a little bit inconsistent. Now you could argue that's because we are seeing him only from the outside we simply don't see what causes certain actions. But that's not an entirely satisfying answer.
As I said this is small stuff. If there was a 4.5 star rating that's what I'd be giving. Unfortunately since it's not quite 5 I guess it will have to be 4. But if you're looking for a refreshing blend of fantasy, science fiction and steampunk where the central characters are well drawn and the world is unique, check this one out....more
Consider Phlebas is the first book in Iain M. Banks long running Culture series of novels. It falls somewhere between a space opera and a travelogue tConsider Phlebas is the first book in Iain M. Banks long running Culture series of novels. It falls somewhere between a space opera and a travelogue to my mind.
There's certainly no shortage of action throughout the novel. It's pretty fast paced from beginning to end. But at the same time the story meanders a bit to show us the diversity of cultures in this universe.
It also has a strangely negative skew (at least by the standards of most SF)in that you could say the moral of the story is you probably won't make any difference in the long run.
There is a huge war being played out in the background of this story, but we are (deliberately I assume) kept at a distance from it and don't really feel the effects of the devastation that's going on. While the protagonist and those in his circle are driven by elements of that war, they also exist in their own bubble. We feel their concerns and their risks quite personally and yet in the end it's not clear that their actions actually changed anything at all. You won't feel that until you've finished though. While you're reading everything seems urgent and important.
The only area where I feel the novel slips (and thus loses a 5th star)is in the motivation of the protagonist Bora Horza Gobuchul. Banks sets up the Culture as such a clearly Utopian thing and their enemies the Idirans as sufficiently repellent that it's actually quite hard to buy into Horza's dislike of the Culture or his willingness to work for the Idirans.
It is addressed several times during the story but never in a way I found convincing. The Culture is just too perfect. Now of course in real life people frequently hold on to irrational, illogical and self-contradictory views. But ironically that doesn't work nearly so well in fiction.
It's a must read I think, but a flawed one....more
Not because it was badly written, but because I feel it was presented as something it isn't really. It'sI have to say I was disappointed by this book.
Not because it was badly written, but because I feel it was presented as something it isn't really. It's called Kenobi and it has a picture of a youngish Obi-Wan on the cover. But it's not actually about him.
Oh he's certainly in the book, and his presence is critical to the events that unfold. But you're not going to learn anything about his character or even much about what he's thinking in this book because we only get a few short passages from his point of view.
Instead what we get is (by author John Jackson Miller's own acknowledgement) Star Wars as a western. And on that level I think it actually works fairly well.
We have a lot of familiar western elements here. Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi plays the role of the stranger who comes into town. We have a land-owner with just a bit too much power and influence. We have his spoilt brat kids. Oh and we have the Tusken's in the role of native Americans. It really does work quite nicely. There's even an almost romance for Kenobi.
Admittedly the pacing is a little odd as things build up to an apparent climax in the middle of the book, only to take a new path and build back up again for the real conclusion. That did throw me a little while I was reading, but looking back I quite like it.
There are niggling frustrations though. Since the book is 95% from the point of view of characters who don't know who Kenobi is, we have endless scenes of people wondering how he did something or references to funny noises or a blue strobe. But since the reader knows perfectly well what it is and why, that's just kind of annoying.
And in theory there is a sort of redemption story here for Kenobi, it's just not a very good one and we never really get to feel what he must be feeling. It just feels a bit tacked on. Basically it could have been any Jedi in this book, it really didn't have to be Obi-wan.
But I will admit a significant part of my unhappiness is that I really wanted a book about Obi-wan. A book where he was the focal character and the view point character. He's probably my favorite character from all the movies and he never gets the attention others get. So yeah, I'm a bit biased....more
ZVR is short for Zombies vs. Robots. ZVR: Diplomacy is a prose offshoot of the ZVR comic books. It takes the same basic high concept... robots are figZVR is short for Zombies vs. Robots. ZVR: Diplomacy is a prose offshoot of the ZVR comic books. It takes the same basic high concept... robots are fighting zombies and explores how this zombie plague is affecting other countries, namely Russia and Britain.
Diplomacy makes for a cool name, but let's be clear there's not a lot of negotiations going on here. Pretty much as far as the Robots or the Zombies are concern it's just a great big fight. However, humans are caught in the middle and that's the element that brings variety to this anthology series.
In fact the single most impressive thing about this is probably the variety of situations types of stories that are told here. The stories hit different notes, come up with different ideas for robots and in some ways the only constant is that inevitable hoard of zombies.
Now I haven't read the original stories this anthology is based on, and it's clear that elements from that setup are being referenced here. But it's also clear that you don't need previous exposure for these stories to work.
The common element throughout is the feeling that no matter what the outcome of any individual story is, humanity is probably doomed. That the zombie tide is so overwhelming that really they can't be stopped either by robots or humans.
But along the way we get moments of heroism and cowardice, love and treachery.
Yes zombies have really been done to excess of late, but despite that it seems there are still are some new stories to tell....more
_Attack on Area 51_ is the 17th book in the Wingman series by Mack Maloney. A series that started back in 1987 when the notion of having a story set a_Attack on Area 51_ is the 17th book in the Wingman series by Mack Maloney. A series that started back in 1987 when the notion of having a story set after WWIII against the USSR and a devastating nuclear strike on the US would have seemed like a decent notion. Wisely the specific details are left out of references in this latest story.
Not that it really matters because this is pure pulp material. Our hero Hawk Hunter (so you know he's a real pulp hero) is a man's man. He can fly any airplane and the girls swoon and throw themselves at him (even the highly educated psychologist ones apparently). This is not a book that deals in subtlety.
A lot of the ideas are hokey. For example St. Louis is now called Football City after the football game that runs 24/7 there as a form of gambling. The US has broken down into a bunch of warring city states, many of them controlled by factions like the Asian Mercenary Cult (can you be a mercenary and a cultist at the same time?)
When I said this was pulp, that's what I meant. It's pure unapologetic pulp fiction. Not a pastiche, not modernized. Just pulp. Oh and the author made Area 51 central to the book. I think I've mentioned before that I wish people would stop using Area 51. It's way overdone at this point.
And yet despite all that I've said, and the fact that Hawk Hunter is ridiculously perfect and that none of the other characters actually get to have a character and that in fact the female character I referenced simply gets referred to as _the shrink_ the whole time, I have to admit I enjoyed reading this. It was fast paced, it was fun and it required no real effort or thought on my part. I'd happily read more.
I can't honestly describe it as good writing, but I did find it fun.
The High Ways is one of comics legend John Byrne's latest books. Which he both writes and draws. Which is either good or bad depending on how much youThe High Ways is one of comics legend John Byrne's latest books. Which he both writes and draws. Which is either good or bad depending on how much you like John Byrne I suppose.
There's no doubt that his impact on comics in the 70s, 80s and 90s was substantial. But his visibility has dropped significantly over the years although he has continued to work primarily at smaller publishers like IDW. To my mind this book shows both the good and bad points of Byrne's more recent work.
In terms of story telling clarity and just basic cartooning _The High Ways_ is hard to beat. It's easy to follow, there's no confusion about what's going on or who is who. The man undoubtedly knows his craft. The book looks like a John Byrne book in every way you might expect.
But that's also a problem because this book looks dated. The panel layouts, the vast numbers of word balloons, the character's clothing. It feels like something from the 80s or early 90s. And this is 2013.
That dated feel extends to the dialogue as well. Everything is explained. Everything. Part of it may be Byrne wanting to emphasize the details, risks and complexities of space flight, but it reminded me of a 1950s style sci-fi pulp novel.
The notion that even a rookie navigator would be so ill prepared for space that every single little thing would have to be explained to him in detail doesn't really stand up. And yet that's exactly what we are presented with.
The story begins as a "Welcome to space rookie!" adventure and then we start to get mysteries, twists and more twists. So it develops nicely and keeps you guessing effectively. But at the same time we get no depth to the characterization at all. We really don't feel for any of these characters even when they are betrayed. Because they're all a walking cliche. Grouchy captain who only cares about money; rookie; cynical veteran. There's even an evil scientist in the mix!
I didn't dislike the book. It's competently done. It just feels like something from another time....more
Billed as the first part of the Heartland Trilogy, _Under the Empyrean Sky_ starts slow. We're not told when or where this exactly is set but we're leBilled as the first part of the Heartland Trilogy, _Under the Empyrean Sky_ starts slow. We're not told when or where this exactly is set but we're left to assume that it is the American heartland at some point in the future.
And the tone of the first half of the book is certainly reminiscent of the "kid coming of age in small town america books" that are not uncommon. Chuck Wendig treads a fine line of building this dystopian future where those in the "heartland" are little more than slaves for the airborne elite without just dumping a bunch of information on us.
So we are introduced to Cael, who gives us a view point on this strange world full of frustration, thwarted ambitions, hardship and pettiness. And some of the time Cael isn't very likeable. He's a bit selfish, a bit impetuous and prone to sulky behavior. Yup, he's a teenager. This is all very effectively done, but it is as I said slow.
Because everything is small. This world is small, deliberately made so by the Empyreans who control the laws, the money and every other part of the Heartlander's life. Getting your hands on a ripe apple is a major victory in this place.
But Wendig does have a larger story he's planning to tell and it slowly emerges with a twist I really didn't see coming. And then things start to speed up. The last third of the book really does fly by as non-stop action that happens in the period of a few hours. And all that previous stuff starts to pay off.
The trick to writing this style of "coming of age story" is that you have to squeeze and squeeze the protagonist until the reader is screaming for them to *do* something, anything. Fight back. And when they do... that's the cathartic moment. It's simple enough in theory but difficult in execution. It works here.
And there are a few stumbles. We stay firmly in Cael's head for a large chunk of the book. Which makes sense although it can be frustrating due to his frustration and attitude. But then all of a sudden we're head hopping. Not in the middle of paragraphs or anything like that but it is disconcerting because by the time it happens you've got used to the rythm of the writing and it changes without warning.
The early focus on Cael also means that the other characters really development gets truncated. They do have their own subplots but it ends up crammed into a tiny part of the book instead of being able to play out from the start.
I would also say that the book doesn't really provide a satisfying conclusion. Too many things are left up in the air, so you're going to be drawn in to reading the trilogy.
But those caveats aside, this is a well executed story that I enjoyed. How much you like it will be very much determined by your taste for this style of fiction....more
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