The Black Lung Captain (Tales of the Kitty Jay 2) by Chris Wooding (Gollancz) [Book Review]

Aug 142010

Title: The Black Lung Captain
Series: Tales of the Ketty Jay 2
Author: Chris Wooding [homepage]
Genre: Steampunk
Hardback: 448 pages
Publisher: Gollancz (2010)

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Darian Frey is down on his luck. He can barely keep his squabbling crew fed and his rickety aircraft in the sky. Even the simplest robberies seem to go wrong. It’s getting so a man can’t make a dishonest living any more. Enter Captain Grist. He’s heard about a crashed aircraft laden with the treasures of a lost civilisation, and he needs Frey’s help to get it. There’s only one problem. The craft is lying in the trackless heart of a remote island, populated by giant beasts and subhuman monsters. Dangerous, yes. Suicidal, perhaps. Still, Frey’s never let common sense get in the way of a fortune before. But there’s something other than treasure on board that aircraft. Something that a lot of important people would kill for. And it’s going to take all of Frey’s considerable skill at lying, cheating and stealing if he wants to get his hands on it …Strap yourself in for another tale of adventure and debauchery, pilots and pirates, golems and daemons, double-crosses and double-double-crosses. The crew of the Ketty Jay are back!

It is not easy to twinkle like a young boy about to read Treasure Island for the first time at my age but that was how I felt when the parcel with The Black Lung Captain arrived. It has such a beautiful cover made by Stephan Martiniere. I have to admit that it was the cover of Retribution Falls that first got me interested. It was with some concern I started to read since a few early reviewers claimed some of the magic from the first book were gone but I was fast alleviated it was there, more mature and on a different level since I first meet the characters. I feel almost guilty for indulging and enjoying this book as much as I did, almost.

The Black Lung Captain has a theme about facing fears, overcome them and grow beyond them. The Kitty Jay and her charming crew are back and they will face some of their worst fears before it is all over. It is also Captain Frey’s leadership lesson number two. I think the crew would appreciate if the team-building didn’t include treacherous partners, attacks by beast-men, mysterious but dangerous artifacts, persistent ghouls and former girlfriends but luckily for us neither them or Frey have much choice in the matter.

There are many strong character moments this time around too, and you learn more about the characters as they face their fears and grow beyond them. One of the strongest moments is when Jez face one of the Awakener’s high level operatives adding a whole new level of fear to the story. Harkins’ epic and entertaining struggle with the ship-cat takes almost the whole book before it reaches climax.

The plot is not bad either with the treasure hunt, the double-crosses and the underlying sinister plan that is gradually revealed. There is action non-stop and never a dull moment. There is also a romance or three but not in the way you expect. The ending kept me smiling for hours but that’s just me.

As you understand I am a bit euphoric about The Black Lung Captain, the sequel is almost better than original. Here we learn more of their Victorian retro-future world and the characters go places they never expected to, they grow and they overcome but they stay quirky and interesting. Frey matures a bit but I suspect he will never grow up or lose his charm. The ending is wide open for a number of sequels and plot lines to follow. I can’t wait to see where the next lesson, sorry misfortune will take them.

I have good news and bad news. As part of my research I visited chriswooding.com, the good news is that there will be a book number three and four. The bad news is that Chris just threw the quarter he had written on The Iron Jackal in the bin and started over again that probably means the publication will get knocked back by a few months, meaning it’s likely to arrive late next year instead of the planned release date of August.

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Empire of Light (Shoal Sequence 3) by Gary Gibson

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Jul 262010

Title: Empire of Light
Series: Shoal Sequence book 3
Author: Gary Gibson
Genre: Space Opera
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Tor UK July 2010

Order from: Tor UK | Amazon US | UK | sfbok

The nova war has begun to spread as the Emissaries wage a fierce and reckless campaign, encroaching on the area of space occupied by humanity and forcing the Shoal into a desperate retreat. While Dakota goes in search of the entity responsible for creating the Maker caches, Corso, left in charge of a fleet of human-piloted Magi ships, finds his authority crumbling in the face of assassination attempts and politically-motivated sabotage.

If any hope exists at all, it lies in an abandoned asteroid a thousand light-years beyond the Consortium’s borders, and with Ty Whitecloud, the only man alive with the skill to decipher the messages left behind by an ancient race of star travellers. Unfortunately Whitecloud is locked in a prison cell aboard a dying coreship adrift in space, awaiting execution for war crimes against Corso’s own people. But if humanity has any hope of survival, Corso is going to have to find some way to keep him alive – and that’s only if Dakota doesn’t kill him first …

Information

This book is dedicated to Emma and continues the story from Nova War.

World building

This is where we learn about the entity behind the Maker caches spread through the galaxy and maybe the known universe as traps for emerging interstellar civilizations. It reminds me a bit of Neal Asher’s Jain technology but different. We also learn about their counterpart the slower than light traveling race the Atn. But much remind hidden in mystery.

On the other hand human politics continue to disgust as the Peacekeeper fleet becomes more powerful.

The Author

Gary Gibson is a new acquaintance I have only read Stealing Light and Nova War before. According to Tor UK he is a graphic designer, previously magazine editor, in his home city of Glasgow. He has been writing since the age of fourteen. Gary has become one of my favorite authors with this series.

Plot

With both sides in the war having access to the Nova weapon it threatens life in the galaxy. Something has to be done and Dakota tracks down one of the entities behind the Maker caches and discovers a lead to a possible solution.

The quest bring former enemies together but the mistrust is strong as they put the pieces together for a reckless rush into enemy territory worthy of Star Wars to deal a decisive blow before it is too late.

Characterization

I like the way Gary explores the feelings after a war crime like the massacre the main characters where involved in here. Dakota seems a bit less accessible in this book and I find myself rooting more for Corso.

I also enjoyed reading about Ty Whitecloud’s struggles aboard that dying coreship.

My View

Empire of Light would be a good concluding book minus the epilogue that opens up for a sequel. I like the whole series, it feels fresh and original; it reads easy, I finished all three books in just a few days; it has a good escalation of the scope with each novel and the characters are accessible even if the human interest factor becomes less and less as the characters evolve. It should not be the last book in the Sheol Sequence according to the ‘cliffhanger’ epilogue. It is wide open for sequels.

Stealing Light (Shaol sequence 1) by Gary Gibson July 22, 2010
Nova War (Shaol Sequence 2) by Gary Gibson July 24, 2010

Other reviews

“Empire of Light” by Gary Gibson (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu) @fbc

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Veteran by Gavin Smith (Gollancz)

Books 4 Responses »

Jul 212010

Title: Veteran
Author: Gavin Smith
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Gollancz, June 2010

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Three hundred years in our future, in a world of alien infiltrators, religious hackers, a vast convoying nation of Nomads, city sized orbital elevators, and a cyborg pirate king who believes himself to be a mythological demon Jakob is having a bad day: “Nothing gets in the way of a hangover like being reactivated by your old C.O and told to track down an alien killing machine. The same kind of killing machine that wiped out my entire squad. And now it’s in my hometown. My name is Jakob Douglas, ex-special forces. I fought Them. Just like we’ve all been doing for 60 bloody years. But I thought my part in that was done with. My boss has other ideas. If I didn’t find the infiltrator then he’d let the Grey Lady loose on me. And believe me; even They’ve got nothing on her. So I took the job. It went to shit even faster than normal. And now I’m on the run with this teenage hacker who’s had enough of prostitution. The only people I can rely on want to turn the internet into God. And now it turns out that They aren’t quite what we’d all thought. I’ve been to the bottom of the sea and the top of the sky and beyond trying to get to the truth. And I still can’t get far enough away from the Grey Lady. All things considered I’d rather be back at home deep in a whiskey bottle.”

Veteran is a fast paced, intricately plotted violent SF Thriller set in a dark future against the backdrop of a seemingly never ending war against an unknowable and implacable alien enemy.

Information

Veteran is Gavin Smith’s debut novel and it is dedicated to Ruth & James Nicoll. I believe that they are “The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary” – James Nicoll and his wife. I found the quote online and I just had to include it here. English’s actions as described are appropriate to the novel.

The Author

Gavin Smith is new both to me and the world but he writes like a pro. I had to check inside if it was a pseudonym for an established author. Gavin Smith is 35. Born in Dundee he now lives in Leicester. He has a degree in Media Production (specializing in script writing) and a MA in Medieval history. He owns his own marketing company.

World building

Earth is a gritty place with social segregation after a long war with the alien Them and Gavin paints it well even though the story is written in first person. There are flashbacks to the time Jakob Douglas fought in the war that explains a great deal. There is also a lot of discussions that sometimes slows down this otherwise fast paced story but makes it clear to the reader what really is going on.

Plot

The plot is in short that Jakob Douglas is reactivated to hunt down one of Them. Then he discovers that there is more going on than meets the eye and become the hunted himself. He must fight back to stay alive. Which he eventually does after a number of adventures in some spectacular and intriguing places with names like Rigs, Crawling Town and Atlantis.

Characterization

The characters are what I really love with this story. They are gritty and twisted but in a good way. Jakob is no superman he has lots of luggage from the war to carry around but he grows as the story grows. But no one grows more than Morag, first the story play her as an almost insignificant figure which reflects the way Jakob and the others treat her. This is something she resents but it is also her driving force to grow later in the story where she becomes principal.

There are a great many other notable characters both friends and enemies that easily takes up life in the mind of the reader.

The banter and bickering is excellent and that is a huge plus for me.

My view

Veteran is an excellent read, I had trouble putting it down. This is one of the best books I read so far this year. It got mysterious aliens, conspiracies, realistic battle scenes, fast pace, lots of wow moments and wonderful characters. I would say this is a mixture of Heavy Metal, Cyber Punk and Classic SF. It is Military Science Fiction at its best and I would recommend it to a wider audience. I can’t wait for his next book.

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Blood and Iron by Tony Ballantyne (Penrose/Robot wars 2)

Books 3 Responses »

Jul 122010

It is a world inhabited by humanoid robots, female and male robots. Baby robots are created when a female robot twists the wire from a male robot into a mind for a newborn and it is inserted into a baby body. The twisting of a mind decides personality, fidelity and talent. Their past is shrouded in legends. But now humans have arrived at Penrose and their motivations isn’t pure. Most robot minds are twisted for ‘what is’ but a few are twisted with the ability to make their own decisions. This is an epic story about the start of a new era where everything shifts for the robots of Penrose.

Title: Blood and Iron
Series: Penrose/Robot wars book 2
Author: Tony Ballantyne
Genre: Science Fiction
Jacket art: Jon Sullivan
Inside Illustrations: Sebastian Winnett
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Tor UK
Copy: Bought by me

Order from: Tor UK | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Appointed Commander of the Emperor’s Army of Sangrel, Wa-Ka-Mo-Do of Ko tries to establish relations between the existing robot population and the humans who have recently arrived on Yukawa.

On the continent of Shull, Kavan forms the Uncertain Army and is marching to Artemis City. Upon discovery that the city’s generals have made an alliance with the humans, he retreats to Stark where he plans the eventual overthrow of Artemis and the humans.

Meanwhile, Karel is heading South, hoping to be reunited with Susan, his wife. As he walks, he hears more of the stories of the robots, and begins to understand something about his place on the world of Penrose.

But with limited resources and tensions growing between robot and human it’s only a matter of time before problems arise. And it’s becoming more and more apparent that the humans are a lot more powerful than the robots first expected…

Information

This is the second book in the series that started with Twisted Metal (review below). The first book explored the origin of the robots on Penrose as well as the City of Artemis’ war of conquest against Turing City and the North.

This story continues the story of Karel a strange robot that survived the conquest of Turing City on his quest to rescue his wife Susan from Artemis City and it also follows the former commander, Kavan of the Artemis Army on his return to the same city. We don’t know much about the second continent Yukawa but here we get to follow Wa-Ka-Mo-Do a newly appointed commander that has to deal with the newly arrived humans.

The book is dedicated to Eric, Chris and Simon
There is a map of the second continent Yukawa in the beginning

The Author

Twisted Metal was the first book I read by Tony Ballantyne and it blew my mind, it was such an original story. He is a British writer that lives in the Manchester area, regularly contributed to magazines such as Interzone and Private Eye before embarking on his first novel/series, Recursion. I haven’t read his first series but I have it on my to-read list.

World Building

This is such an original world populated with humanoid robots and animal robots. The great mystery is how did they come to be? The Book of Robots talk about the Makers and the first robots but it is forbidden in Artemis and Yukawa. Now the humans have arrived, are they really the makers? Filthy animals according to some.

Above their world hangs a metal moon, what is that? And are the humans mining it?

I especially enjoyed the Emperor and the Silent City and their brand of robot society contrasted with Artemis utilitarian world view ‘everything is metal’

Plot

Kavan has succeeded in conquering the north and now he is returning to Artemis City as a hero. But the leaders fear him and they plan treason to stop him, for they have been twisted to love leadership above all. He forms an army and marches against Artemis City picking up knowledge and followers on his way.

Kavan made to follow and believe in one ideology as are all the soldiers of Artemis can be seen as a clever critique of fanaticism as opposed to Karel’s freedom to make up his own mind.

Karel is also on his way to Artemis City to reunite with his wife. He travels in the wake of the Uncertain Army and he explores secrets hidden in the old mountains of the north on his way and he also picks up followers.

Wa-Ka-Mo-Do is in trouble, the humans has been given land and privileges by the emperor but the robots of Yukawa has been made for a society without humans and the tension continues to build. The humans’ motivation is not pure and there are fractions in conflict with each other. He learns more about the mysterious humans and befriends a teenage girl I hope will return next book. There is exploitation and colonialism in the way the humans treat the robots.

I also enjoyed Susan’s exploration of Artemis City while she tries to find her missing friend and escape.

Eventually there is a clash on both continents that will change their world forever.

Characterization

I love the robots, Tony switches point of view and there is no problem understanding or believing their motivation. I am usually not fond of multiple main characters as it dilutes my focus but here it works great for me. The switches back and forth are timely and appropriate to what is happening. You will find that the timelines might not be what you expect but that works well too.

The only one I miss from the first book is Maoco O, the city guard that survived and was about to start a resistance. What happened to him?

My View

Easily one of the best books I read this year if not the best. There is not often you read a truly original story. A world of robots made for how that world is, clashes with new concepts as conflicting human groups lands and starts to take advantage. It is a story about exploitation, colonialism, fanaticism and free will all packed in an epic science fiction saga about robots. I have been fascinated by robots since I read The Caves of Steel. You can read it as a standalone novel but I recommend you read Twisted Metal first. This is one of the books you should read this year.

Related information

My review of Twisted Metal
Tony Ballantyne’s homepage tonyballantyne.com
Blood and Iron was one of my picks for New Science Fiction to Read 2010

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Review of Mission of Honor by David Weber (HH 12)

Books 13 Responses »

Jul 082010

I am a vivid fan of David Weber and the Honor Harrington universe so it was with great expectations and anticipation that I received my new Honor Harrington novel. In honor of the moment I poured me some single malt whiskey, took a piece of knäckebröd and sat down in my favorite reading chair and started to read. This is my review.

Title: Mission of Honor
Series: Honor Harrington book 12
Author: David Weber
Genre: Military Science Fiction | Space Opera
Cover art: David Mattingly
Hardback: 608 pages
Publisher: Baen, July 2010
Copy: bought by me
Excerpts: Snippet 1-60

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The Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven have been enemies for Honor Harrington’s entire life, and she has paid a price for the victories she’s achieved in that conflict. And now the unstoppable juggernaut of the mighty Solarian League is on a collision course with Manticore. The millions who have already died may have been only a foretaste of the billions of casualties just over the horizon, and Honor sees it coming.

She’s prepared to do anything, risk anything, to stop it, and she has a plan that may finally bring an end to the Havenite Wars and give even the Solarian League pause. But there are things not even Honor knows about. There are forces in play, hidden enemies in motion, all converging on the Star Kingdom of Manticore to crush the very life out of it, and Honor’s worst nightmares fall short of the oncoming reality.

But Manticore’s enemies may not have thought of everything after all. Because if everything Honor Harrington loves is going down to destruction, it won’t be going alone.

Information

Mission of Honor starts some time after At All Costs and Storm from the Shadows. Torch of Freedom starts more than a year before but runs parallel with MoH up until a month before it ends. The main focus is on Honor Alexander-Harrington – The Salamander, the war hero that saved Manticore’s home system in a devastating battle at the end of At All Costs, but there are other principal characters like Michelle Henke, Hamish Alexander-Harrington and Eloise Pritchart.

The book is dedicated to Sharon and David’s children Megan, Morgan, and Michael Paul.
Please note that the real cover has Honor using her right hand to salute as she should and she also looks more concerned and distraught (but none of the online stores have the right cover).
There is an appendix with Character descriptions at the end of the book (16 pages) but I never used it.
The books comes with a CD containing most of David Weber’s works in different formats.

World Building

The small but rich and growing Star Empire of Manticore is a tool to be used in a century old conspiracy by the genetic supremacist Mesa Alignment. First they provoked a war with Haven and now they are about to do the same with the Solarian League. David is a great world builder and Mission of Honor is riddled with great pieces of information concerning the Solarian League and the Mesa Alignment.

You should read the other books in the Honor Harrington universe to really enjoy and understand what is going on in this book. Even though there is a lot of world building going on here most of it is built on what you already know if you read the previous books.

The Plot

The Star Empire of Manticore has a technological advantage that allows them to ‘win’ against Haven when MoH starts. The Solarian League Navy (SLN) is way behind both Manticore and Haven on missile technology as proven on New Tuscany.

Admiral Michelle Henke, Honors friend and the fifth in line for the throne is in command of the defenses at the Talbot Cluster. Mesa’s machinations behind the scene have set SLN Task Force 496 under the command of Battle Fleet Admiral Crandall bearing down on Henke with 71 ships-of-the-wall. She has only battle cruisers and superior technology to defend against them, but she is outnumbered more than ten to one.

On the other side Honor sets out to make peace with Haven something that might not be so easy after years of fighting, mistrust after what they have done to each other and with short sighted politicians with their own agendas.

Unknown to the others Mesa has launched a sneak attack against Manticore and Grayson called Oyster Bay that is about to go down in a few weeks.

The book also covers the media war especially the fall out from those nukes on Mesa.

In short the action is one battle and one sneak attack. Both battles where on the short side even if the preludes took their time. Michelle’s psych tactics was quite entertaining to read while Oyster Bay was quite chilling.

The ending is emotionally satisfying and leaves a strategic cliffhanger for the next book.

Characterization

I love to read about Honor and Nimitz but I am also happy there are others that take up the hat for the smaller actions we have come to love. Michelle Henke is a fully well developed protagonist in herself.

Weber uses a lot of small scenes with different characters to present background or explanations. There are evacuation training on the space station, different characters from the Hexpuma reporting for duty at their new jobs, the junior officers’ dining club and many more to make this a vivid and living story. The sheer number of character might be daunting for new readers but the feeling of all those settings coming to life and matter worked for me.

My View

I expected this novel and Mesa’s sneak attack to be the Pearl Harbor of Manticor and I can’s say it disappointed in that respect. But Elizabeth’s talk to the people reminded me of Churchill’s. With Oyster Bay the Treecats realizes the threat they are under. I wonder if Mesa realizes the effects of a race of Treecats going to war?

This is a monumental book in the Honorverse, this ends the original storyline with Haven and starts a new darker one with the Alignment as antagonist.

Now we will probably see one or two more books in the Honorverse before the next main book, which ought to be earliest at the end of 2011 and that’s a long time to wait.

I give it and the series a strong recommendation if you like military space opera.