Center of Gravity (Star Carrier 2) by Ian Douglas [Book Review]

Mar 072011

Earth Strikes back …

Ian Douglas likes the theme of humanity against a huge galactic empire where the American military by human ingenuity and flexibility overcomes both the aliens and the stupid civilian administration that tries to lead them astray. The civilians are not so over the top stupid this time but that is not to say they are smart.

Center of Gravity starts in the aftermath of Earth Strike and Admiral Alexander Koenig and his crew are officially the heroes that saved the day. The closeness of it all scares the political leadership so much that they want to pull more forces back to defend earth, a posture that would put the center of gravity of the conflict right on top of earth. Admiral Koenig knows a strong defense is futile against an aggressor with overwhelming resources. He has to take the initiative and bring the fight to the Sh’daar. He eventually gets a reduced task force he has to sneak away with fully knowing that an order to stay and bolster earth defenses is only hours away.

As usual in Ian Douglas series the focus is on the military actions with vivid descriptions of combat and what is happening with the people involved including the alien point of view. The humans are a bit bland compared to the aliens’ interesting psychology. Ian introduces a few more races and starts to reveal more about the Sh’daar, the mystic race leading the galactic empire and their motivation behind the edict against transcendence technologies that started the war.

The humans all have their struggles beside the obvious military ones Alexander struggles with the death of Karyn Mendelson in the recent destruction of the synchorbital military base Phobia above Mars while Lieutenant Trevor Gray struggles both with prejudices against Prims and his feelings for Angela who he had to enroll for to pay for the treatment that saved her life but also made her another person, a person not in love with him.

Center of Gravity was all in all an enjoyable read but it is on familiar grounds. I hope Ian Douglas deviate more from the formula in forthcoming books. I still want to read the next book No Return when it comes out in 2012.

Information

Ian Douglas is a pen name for William H. Keith.

Title: Center of Gravity
Series: Star Carrier book 2
Author: Ian Douglas
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Paperback: 389 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager (2011)
Order from: Amazon US | UK
Copy: bought it from Amazon

In the evolution of every sentient race, there is a turning point when the species achieves transcendence through technology.

The warlike Sh’daar are determined that this monumental milestone will never be achieved by the creatures known as human.

On the far side of known human space, the Marines are under siege, battling the relentless servant races of the Sh’daar aggressor. With a task force stripped to the bone and the Terran Confederation of States racked by dissent, rogue Admiral Alexander Koenig must make the momentous decision that will seal his fate and the fate of humankind. A strong defensive posture is futile, so Koenig will seize the initiative and turn the gargantuan Star Carrier America toward the unknown. For the element of surprise is the only hope of stalling the Sh’daar assault on Earth’s solar system—and the war for humankind’s survival must be taken directly to the enemy.

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Gridlinked by Neal Asher (Agent Cormac 1)

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Jun 012010

This is the original first novel about Earth Central Security (ECS) agent Cormac. The books starts with a man about to teleport through the Skaiden Runcible device 253 light years to his destination while suffering from hangover and a cut in the film about a sexy catwoman that half undressed him on the dance floor the night before. But something goes wrong and he exits at his destination a fraction under the speed of light causing a 30 mega ton explosion. The body count is more than 10 000 and that’s just the beginning.

In outer space you can never feel sure that your adversary is altogether human.

The runcible buffers on Samarkand have been mysteriously sabotaged, killing many thousands and destroying a terraforming project. Agent Cormac must reach it by ship to begin an investigation. But Cormac has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Pelter, who is prepared to follow him across the galaxy with a terrifying android in tow.

Despite the sub-zero temperature of Samarkand, Cormac discovers signs of life: they are two ‘dracomen’, alien beasts contrived by an extra-galactic entity calling itself ‘Dragon’, which is a huge creature consisting of four conjoined spheres of flesh each a kilometer in diameter. Caught between the byzantine wiles of the Dragon and the lethal fury of Pelter, Cormac needs to skip very nimbly indeed to rescue the Samarkand project and protect his own life.

Information

Our protagonist Agent Cormac is an unfeeling field agent. He’s cover is blown because his asset thinks he is a construct and he has to fight his way out. Cormac has been Gridlinked for 30 years and it has dehumanized him to a level where it affects his usability as an agent so he gets a choice, shut it down yourself or face the consequences. Being without a connection after such a long time affects a man. I compare it’s effect with the description in WE.

Much of this book and the series is about him finding his humanity again.

The series long arc deals with the Dragon and ancient races.

The Author

Neal Asher is a British science fiction author living in Essex. I am most familiar with and love the now six Agent Cormac novels in the Polity universe. He has also written the Splatterjay Trilogy and a number of standalone novels and short stories in the same universe that I am keen on reading (expected summer reading 2010).

World building

The world Neal Asher paints is the Polity where humanity has spread thousands of light years ruled by benign artificial intelligences (AIs). Instead of evolving into something in-comprehensive by humans the AI:s choose to stay with their creators. There are some post human features in there mind-upload into golem bodies, nano technology, body enhancments, computer-brain interfaces, sentient spaceships and much much more.

One thing that sets Neal Asher apart from the usual Space Opera is the complex and well thought out future society he created.

I like the recurring articles at the beginning of each chapter that highlight items or phenomenon in the world.

In this book he also introduces the mysterious Dragon an extragalactic entity with unclear motivations sent to our galaxy by the Makers.

Plot

When the Runcible on Samarkand is destroyed Cormac is assigned to find out why.

The asset Cormac had to kill when his cover was blown is Angelina Pelter, the sister of Separatist leader Arian Pelter. He swear revenge on the man who killed his sister and sets out after Cormac accompanied by a crazy robot called Mr Cane.

Cormac arrive at Samarkand in ship only to discover two life forms there, the aforementioned Dracomen.

Cormac is hard pressed to survive while unraveling the mysteries surrounding the Runcible explosion.

Characterization

Cormac is my kind of hero. He is not a superman, he feels like a human even in this space opera setting. He has his weaknesses and doubts (he suffers from addiction to his gridlink since 30 years). But he is also inventive and adaptive and determined. Great characterization by Neal Asher.

The rest of the characters are fairly well developed also.

My View

The quality of Neal Asher’s writing has improved since this first book in 2001, I notice because I just finished reading Shadow of the Scorpion from 2008. It is still a great book filled to the brim with exciting ideas and fast paced breathtaking action. My mind exploded the first time I read Gridlinked it has so many marvelous ideas, intriguing aliens, gadgets and settings that I kept going Wow all the time. The Polity is on par with all the other Singularity writers out there and the action makes me think of James Bond and Dominic Flandry. I recommend Gridlinked to all lovers of intelligent space opera.

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Shadow of The Scorpion by Neal Asher (A Cormac Novel)

Books 5 Responses »

May 312010

This is the prequel to Neal Asher’s Agent Cormac series and it covers Cormac’s early years and the first missions that formed the basis of the man he later became.

[blurb] Raised to adulthood during the end of the war between the human Polity and the vicious arthropoid race, the Prador, Ian Cormac is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn’t remember.

In the years following the war he signs up with Earth Central Security, and is sent out to help either restore and simply maintain order on worlds devastated by Prador bombardment.

There he discovers that though the old enemy remain as murderous as ever, they are not anywhere near as perfidious or dangerous as some of his fellow humans, some of them closer to him than he would like …

Information

The book is dedicated to the Island of Crete, because the scorpions are small there which doesn’t fit the one in the book, but then he is not on Crete either.

The protagonist is Ian Cormac the young boy and Cormac the soldier in training. The book starts with a flashback to young Ian alone with his mother in the desert. That’s where he sees the scorpion-shaped old war drone for the first time. The story focuses mainly on a selection of mission made by young Cormac with flashbacks to his youth.

The Author

World building

The world Neal Asher paints is the Polity where humanity has spread hundreds of light years ruled by benign artificial intelligences (AIs). Instead of evolving into something in-comprehensive by humans the AI:s choose to stay with their creators. There are some post human features in there mind-upload into golem bodies, nano technology, body enhancments, computer-brain interfaces, sentient spaceships and much much more.

One thing that sets Neal Asher apart from the usual Space Opera is the complex and well thought out future society he created. It is complex and believable.

The Plot

Young Cormac has to find his way as a soldier on the war thorn planet Hagren where he first experience the Separatists as they tries to sneak into the crashed Prador warship to steal warheads. Faced with both the Separatists and surviving Prador crew Cormac has to make some hard decisions and learn just how far he is prepared to go. Fighting your own people is not what he expected.

The big mystery is the war drone, where is it from, what do it want?

Characterization

The other thing that sets Neal apart is the characterization. Neal is a wizard with characters, a new character comes to life in a few paragraphs and they all makes sense and add their part to the story.

The main character Ian Cormac, or Cormac as he prefers is easy to love, but he is a complex character with many dimensions. He deeply contemplates the choices he makes and feels bad about the hard ones he has to make but he comes through with determination and adaptability. He and the other characters grow and take on new roles.

The questions the characters ponder are also high quality. In this novel Neal ponders moral questions about being a parent and protecting your child as well as many of the questions a soldier has to ask himself when he stands against his own. Many of those questions are current today, the technologies exist today but they are used on soldiers returning from war and they are just as controversial now.

My View

The Shadow of the Scorpion is an excellent introduction to Agent Cormac and the Polity universe. It takes on some deeply moral issues as well as being a fast paced science fiction story with aliens, rebels and sentient war machines. It works as a standalone novel and gives great background if you are already into the Cormac series.

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Victorious by Jack Campbell (Lost Fleet 6)

Books 3 Responses »

May 272010

I have been following the Lost Fleet since about 2006. Lost fleet is coming to an end with Victorious but a new series with Admiral Black Jack Geary is under contract Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier. Jack Campbell also has a contract for another series in the same universe called Phoenix Stars. Back to Victorious, here are my thoughts.

As war continues to rage between the Alliance and Syndicate Worlds, Captain “Black Jack” Geary is promoted to admiral-even though the ruling council fears he may stage a military coup. His new rank gives him the authority to negotiate with the Syndics, who have suffered tremendous losses and may finally be willing to end the war. But an even greater alien threat lurks on the far side of the Syndic occupied space.

Information

The book is dedicated to Paul Parsons and S.

As usual the book starts with a six pages long list of the ships in the fleet. It also says where ships have been lost in battle.

The protagonist of this series is Captain John “Black Jack” Geary.

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century – and losing badly. Now its fleet that was crippled and stranded in enemy territory back home again. They were saved by a man who’s emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he had been heroically idealized beyond belief . Captain John ‘Black Jack’ Geary’s legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance’s one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic ‘Black Jack’ legend.

The Author

John G. Hemry (LCDR, USN ret.) is an American author of military science fiction novels. Drawing on his experience as a retired United States Navy officer, he has written the Stark’s War and Paul Sinclair series. Under the name Jack Campbell, he has written six volumes of the Lost Fleet series. He has also written over a dozen short stories, many published in Analog magazine, and a number of non-fiction works. The only thing I read by John is the Lost Fleet series, but that is going to change.

World building

The world building is good enough for the story. We learn the bigger world as seen by John Geary, back from a century long hibernation. Much have changed and not for the better. Knowledge and finesse have been lost. The world is much cruder but also more built on the brutal necessities of a century long war.

The tension between the civilian leadership and the military is obvious when John Geary returns to the Alliance. The changes for the worse, the degradation of civil rights and freedom have gone far. John doesn’t solve the problems but he shows them there is another way with his ironclad integrity. It is a bit stereotypical but not more than one would expect.

The same is true for the Syndics but they didn’t have that much cohesion to begin with so there the results are worse. The Syndic Empire starts to crumble under their failed leadership. But the Alliance don’t want the Syndic to go under, they need every human they can get to fight the aliens responsible for this war.

Plot

John first has to deal with the political leadership of the Alliance to get the clout to negotiate a peace with the Syndic hopefully saving them from themselves at the same time. But they won’t give up without a fight.

Then there are those aliens to deal with.

Characterization

Captain John Geary have to deal with the love of his second life. She is untouchable as his flag captain, the way he deals with that is enjoyable and emotionally satisfying. He continues to be human and to doubt himself while doing his duty. That gives him a more real feeling and it is also a good contrast to the Legend of Black Jack.

The characterization is what makes Lost Fleet great, there is both strength and weaknesses in the characters that makes them come alive.

My View

Victorious is a satisfying conclusion to The Lost Fleet, a fast paced Long March kind of military science fiction series about a man having to live up to the impossible historical legend of himself. It is not Great Literature but it is a fun read. I am lucky the author got a contract for two new series in the same universe, I am sure to get those too. If you like military space opera like Honor Harrington you should take a look at Lost Fleet.

The New Series

Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier is a new series that follows Black Jack and his companions after the events in Victorious. It will deal with the mysterious aliens.

The Phoenix Stars is a new series set in formerly Syndic star system as the people there cope with the ongoing collapse of the Syndic Worlds

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Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro (Saga of the Skolian Empire 1)

Books 1 Response »

May 232010

This is Catherine Asaro’s first published novel and new to me. Physicist and ballerina, hmm wonder what kind of books she writes. Read the review below to find out.

The Skolian Empire rules a third of the civilized galaxy through its mastery of faster-than-light communication. But war with the rival empire of the Traders seems imminent, a war that can only lead to slavery for the Skolians or the destruction of both sides. Destructive skirmishes have already occurred. A desperate attempt must be made to avert total disaster.

The Author

Catherine Asaro is pretty new to me; I picked up the first books the summer of 2009. She has an impressive background; she was a professor in physics until 1990; she is a member of SIGMA, a think tank of speculative writers that advises the government as to future trends affecting national security and she is a former ballerina. She is married to Kendall Cannizzo, and astrophysicist at NASA and they have one daughter

Information

This is Catherine Asaro’s first published novel, her first novella Light and Shadow was published 1994 in Analog.

The book is dedicated to her husband Kendall Cannizzo with love.

The protagonist of this book is Sauscony Lahaylia Valdoria Skolia, also called Soz or Soshoni. She is a member of the Ruby Dynasty ruling the Skolian Empire and has the empathic and telepathic abilities of a Rhon psion. She ranks Jagernaut Primary (Admiral or General) in the ISC. A Jagernaut is a biomechanically enhanced fighter and pilot.

I suspect but don’t know that Catherine is of Finnish Swedish speaking descent as many of her terms make sense for me in Swedish. Skola is the Swedish word for school and is also used to in expressions concerning knowledge. Jägare is the Swedish word for hunter or in Finland it is what they call their Special Forces soldiers.

Worldbuilding

In the universe of the Saga of the Skolian Empire there are two mayor power blocks that locked in conflict the Skolian Empire and the Eubian Concord. It seems like the Eubian Concord is the original aggressors, they have a society built on might is right, where their leaders basically are mental vampires that keep empaths as slaves to feed on. While the The Skolian Empire built on the power of faster than light communications made possible by linking the mental powers of the powerful empaths that rule it.

We get to know quite a bit about the social and political situation in both empires. Soz thinks of the Skolian Empire as the good guys, but that might not be totally true. It is not according to the people of the planets they occupy to ‘save’ them from the Concord.

You will also notice that Catherine is a physicist in the info dumps about future technology even if Psionics might take you into the land of fantasy.

Plot

The book is divided into three parts Delos, Forshire Hold, Diesha.

A romance is central to the story but it is also about two Empires on the brink of a major war our protagonist wants to avoid.

Delos tells the story of how Romeo and Julia, sorry Soz and Jaibriol Qox II meet. Like Soz, Jaibriol is also a Rhon psion, but he was also a member of the Aristo Highton caste and heir to the enemy of Skolians, the Eubian Concord.

Fordshire Hold is where Soz goes to heal after the fateful space battle that cripples her best friend and lover.

Diesha is when she realizes she have to rescue Jairiol who have been captured by Skolian forces.

Characterization

The characters are complex even if they have a romance novel feel to them at times. Soz have many inner demons and doubts to fight, she is also the only character that is well developed, which is understandable since she is the protagonist, and the story is about her.

The Fordshire Hold part of the book is where Soz grows most as a character and comes to realize the world is more than she thought it was, that was a part I liked to read.

My View

Primary Inversion is a fantastic first novel with remarkable storytelling by Catherine Asaro. It is a Romantic science fiction with space opera, military scifi and hard science influence about a formidable yet human Julia character and it avoids the usual pitfalls of that genre, it is not action packed but there is enough thrill to go around. It reads well as a standalone novel. I will read The Radiant Seas that continues Soz’s story next.

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