Cybermage » Military scifi

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

Cybermage.se — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:32 +0000

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)

Cybermage.se — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:00:21 +0000

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)

Cybermage.se — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:00:53 +0000

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)

Cybermage.se — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:00:00 +0000

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)

Cybermage.se — Sun, 23 May 2010 11:55:52 +0000

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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Strength and Honor by R. M. Meluch (Tour of the Merrimack 4)

Cybermage.se — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:00:18 +0000

This is so far the last book in the Merrimack series so it was with anticipation and expectations of another good romp with the sneaky, steamy, violent and competent crew of the Merrimack and their reluctant Roman allies. And Rebeca didn’t disappoint me.

Title: Strength and Honor
Series: Tour of the Merrimack 4
Author: R. M. Meluch
Cover art: Stephan Martiniere
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: DAW 2008
Order: DAW | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Earth’s space forces, spearheaded by the United States, had long been at war with the forces of the Palatine Empire, a neo-Roman culture that broke away from Earth’s control long ago. But when the alien life-form known as the Hive – a biological force whose only imperative was: seek and devoure – began wreaking destruction across the galaxy, the Romans were forced to turn to Earth for help. Ceasar Magnus surrendered to Captain John Farragut – commander of the pride of the U.S. space fleet, the battle class starship, the U.S.S. Merrimack – and the period known as the Subjugation begun.

Ever since the surrender, an uneasy peace and alliance had been in force, as all humanity and their alien allies joined to battle the Hive.

When the threat of the Hive seemed to have been neutralized, John Ferragut was summoned to Caesar Magnus’ fortress to be honored. But instead, Caesar Magnus was assassinated, and Farragut and the Merrimack were lucky to escape from what could have proved a deadly trap.

Now Magnus’ son Romulus has taken control of the Palantine Empire and has had himself proclaimed Caesar, and Captain Farragut and the Merrimack are about to face their greatest challenge ever.

The forced alliance between the interplanetary Empire of Rome and the United States-led Earth forces is shattered as Caesar Romulus declares war, striking at the U.S. Deep Space base, and then following up with a direct attack against Earth. Merrimack has no choice but to retaliate with an assault on the Roman capital world of Palantine. In the midst of this chaos, the Hive renews its invasion. And even if John Farragut and his crew can survive all of this, the rogue Roman patterner Augustus – who has long been assigned to his own mission aboard Merrimack – flees the ship when war is declared, and no one knows whether he is only biding his time, waiting to meet Ferragut in a final deadly showdown.

The Author

R. M. Meluch has been publishing science fiction for thirty years. She holds degrees in communications and classical civilization, and dabbles in speaking in various languages, including Greek and Latin. At one point she traveled through Greece, Israel, and Egypt on the track of Alexander the Great. Meluch also holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo and “plays” with electricity. She resides in Medina, Ohio, with her husband, Jim Witkowski, and their ferrets, fish, alpacas, and a Doberman.

Ms. Meluch has deep and abiding interests in Roman history, airplanes, flying, and World War II. She has stated that she is interested in good characters on the wrong side in wars or conflicts.

Background

The Roman Empire never died, it just went underground. Have you ever wondered why most scientists or intellectuals speak Latin? They are part of a secret society that eventually will break loose from earth civilization and start their own Palantire Empire. A long war commence between Palantire and Earth.

Then they meet a new threat a race of hungry space faring insects that eats everything biological that comes their way. The Hive onslaught forces the old enemies to an uneasy peace to fight the new threat.

Now they believe the threat from the Hive over.

Worldbuilding

The neo-Roman culture flesh out quite well in the story but is a bit stereotypical at times. I like the way we get to see more of old earth’s political mesh up and that it still is divided into countries with different cultures and agendas.

Plot

Caesar is dead and his son Romulus seems determined to start the war with Earth all over again. Captain Ferragut and Roman patterner Augustus suddenly end up on different sides in the conflict and both have orders to eliminate the other if war is declared. But Augustus have another agenda.

Then the Hive starts stirring in unsuspected places.

War is a risky business which some of the Marines experience first hand in and out of enemy hands. Life is just a circus sometimes.

Some of the twists and last minute saves might be a little bit unlikely but, this is Space Opera, what do you expect?

Characterization

Rebeca has a delightful and endearing ability to create lovable and colorful characters like Captain Farragut and his Roman liaison Augustus. Dialog is also one of her strengths.

The Roman Caligula twist is excellent and there is one or two steamy relationships stories in there too.

My View

In this story revenge is the new black. Characterization is an important part of my enjoyment when I read, and I am very happy that I found Rebeca M. Meluch (I hate that female writers have to hide their sex to sell more books) that write characters I can love and root for. Strength and Honor is a healthy mix of military action, mystery, humor and sex. It was a fast and fun read. I can warmly recommend this book and this series to any lover of military science fiction with strong characters.

Extra

Read excerpt

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New Science Fiction Books in June 2010

Cybermage.se — Fri, 14 May 2010 23:00:17 +0000

Lets have a look at June for books. I usually check my pre-orders mid May and then revisit the list around the start of June. These are the books I am interested in. I try to put new never before published books here, for me there is no difference if the book is first published in the US, UK or in Australia. The delivery time to the far north is about the same. So mates we are going for world’s first here.

Books I have on order

Title: Blood and Iron
Author: Tony Bellantyne
Series: Penrose / Robot wars 2
Genre: Science Fiction
Hardback: 448 pages
Publisher: Tor UK
Order: Amazon US | UK

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…

Title: Veteran
Author: Gavin G. Smith
Genre: Science Fiction
Paperback: 400 pages
Published: Gollancz
Order: Gollancz | Amazon UK

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.

Title: Heavy Metal Pulp: The Bloodstained Man
Author: Christopher Rowley
Series: Netherworld 2
Genre: Science Fiction | Cyberpunk
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Order: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N

I liked the first book, it was a tight little book. Read my review of Pleasure Model. No cover yet.

Following the explosive events of book one, Pleasure Model, Detective Rook Venner, Mistress Julia, and Plesur are on the run from the government troops trying to kill them and from a shadowy group that wants to capture Plesur alive for its own purposes. What secrets have been implanted in Plesur’s head—and why are they worth killing for?

Caught between these two powerful rivals, the trio hides out in the lawless New Jersey territory. Betrayed by gang members looking to collect the bounty on Plesur’s head, the three are separated, and Rook and Mistress Julia find themselves in mortal danger. Julia, given as a prize to a gang member, finds herself in chains, but not without her own means of fighting back. Rook, forced to fight for his life in the gang’s bloodthirsty gladiatorial games, must stay alive long enough to rescue Plesur, but time is running out.

The Bloodstained Man is a fast-paced, adrenaline-filled ride through a future where pleasure has a price, and Plesur holds the key to a secret that could rock the country to its very core

Other Books of Interest

Title: Is Anybody Out There?
Editors: Nick Gevers & Marty Halpern
Genre: Science Fiction
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: DAW
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

Beyond our skies…and imaginations.

Are we alone in the universe, and if not, who else-or what else-is out there? Here are thought-provoking stories that explore such questions as: Do intelligent species invariably destroy themselves by nuclear war or ecological collapse? Are the sentient aliens that do exist just too far away? Do they exist in forms beyond our comprehension? Are they among us, but undetectable? These are just some of the possibilities explored by a stellar lineup of contributors.

Title: Who Fears Death
Author: Nnedi Okorafor
Genre: Supernatural
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: DAW
Order: DAW | Amazon US | B&N

I have been interesting in getting into some African science fiction for some time now.

In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means “Who Fears Death?” in an ancient African tongue.

Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny-to end the genocide of her people. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture-and eventually death itself.

Title: Threshold
Author: Eric Flint & Ryk E Spoor
Series: The Boundary
Genre: Science Fiction
Hardcover: 320 pages
Cover art: Bob Eggleton
Interior Illustrations: Keith Morrison
Publisher: Baen
Order: Baen | Amazon US | UK | B&N

When the strange fossil she’d discovered had ended up giving her a trip to Mars, Helen Sutter thought she’d gone about as far as any paleontologist would ever go in her lifetime. But when you’ve also married A.J. Baker, overconfident super- sensor expert for the only private agency in space ? the Ares Corporation — and your best friend Madeline Fathom Buckley is a former secret agent who’s just signed on as the chief of security for the newly created and already embattled Interplanetary Research Institute of the United Nations, there’s always somewhere farther to go.

The newest discoveries will take her, A.J., and their friends Jackie, Joe, and Madeline to the mysterious asteroid Ceres ? and beyond, in a desperate race to Jupiter’s perilous miniature system of radiation- bombarded moons. The next gold rush is on ? for alien technology, hidden in lost bases around the system. And there are people willing to do anything to get it ? even plan the first interplanetary war, four hundred million miles from home!

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Snippet 37 for Mission of Honor by David Weber (Honor Harrington 12)

Cybermage.se — Fri, 07 May 2010 05:48:58 +0000

MoH-snippet 36: Chapter 10: Rear Admiral Michael Oversteege goats Vice Admiral Gloria Michelle Samantha Evelyn Henke, Countess Gold Peak as she is planing a particularly sneaky war game.

Mission of Honor is a long awaited Honor Harrington novel the 12th in an extremely popular series. This is one of my absolute favorite series, I love everything by David Weber [profile], he is the master of military science fiction in my humble opinion.

MoH-snippet One Chapter 1:

December, 1921, Post Diaspora

“To understand Solly foreign policy, we’d have to be Sollies
. . . and nothing would be worth that!”
– Queen Elizabeth III of Manticore

Arsenovich Kolokoltsov, the Solarian League’s Permanent Senior Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs is struck speechless by disbelief and shock by the report from New Tuscany. Then he calls a conference with Permanent Senior Undersecretary of the Treasury Wodoslawski, Abruzzi, MacArtney, , Permanent Senior Undersecretary of Commerce Quartermain and Fleet Admiral Rajampet Kaushal Rajan and start to raise hell.

MoH-snippet Two: The Solies start to realize how far behind they are on the technology curb.

MoH-snippet three- The byrocrates are shocked by the Solarian League Navy utter defeat and the following surrender. They worry about the consecuences.

MoH-snippet four – they continue to talk about the battle at New Tuscany. Hot heads want to retaliate at any cost, cooler heads try to reason that it would be suicide to go up against the Manticorian navy at this time.

MoH-snippet five - they discuss declaring war on the Star Empire

MoH-snippet six: – they continue to discuss a war with the Manties and comes to a conclusion.

MoH-snippet Seven Chapter 2: Fleet Admiral Winston Kingsford, CO, Battle Fleet and Fleet Admiral Rajampet continue discussing the Mantis in private. Especially putting some analysts on the data right away, then they continue talking about fleet deployment, mantis missiles and when they will go after the Mantis home system. Winston is having an intresting inner dialogue about Sandra Cranell and her task force being deployed in the Madras sector.

MoH-snippet Eight: – Rajampet finish his meeting before we switch over to Queen Elizabeth III for a chat with Admira l Lady Dame Honor Alexander-Harrington. They start out talking about Stacy Hauptman and her father before they switch over to Manpower and the Talbot Cluster.

MoH-snippet Nine Honor and Elizabeth continue to speculate on the Solarian response. It’s four days to Christmas. Honor will be leaving on an unspecified mission (Haven?) after celebrating Christmas with her family.
Honor meets with Admiral Tourville afterwards

MoH-snippet ten Honor, Nimitz and Tourville remembers previous meetings and do social niceties before coming to the point in the next snippet.

Snippet 11 Honor want to know about the political leadership in Haven but they end up talking about the surrender demands.

MoH-snippet 12 Chapter 3: Benjamin IX, Protector of Grayson talk with the commander in chief of the Grayson Space Navy Wesley Matthews about their security situation.

MoH-snippet 13 Mathew and Benjamin continue to discuss the political and military situation especially considering the Mantis, the Sollis and the Havenite.

MoH-snippet 14 They confirm Lady Harringtons mission.
The Royal Manticoran Navy’s Destroyer Division 265.2, known as “the Silver Cepheids,” prepare to go home from their position a light-month from Manticore-A

MoH-snippet 15 The Silver Cepheids prepare to leave while the officers involve them selfs in cheerful banter about SCA. Then we switch over to Commodore Karol Østby of the Mesa Alignment Navy and his task force that quietly have been scouting the Mantis system in preparation for Oyster Bay.

MoH-snippet 16: Chapter 4 Some officers of the Solarian Office of Operational Analysis discuss a memo before switching over to Mesa and Aldona Anisimovna on her way to meet with Albrecht Detweiler.

MoH-snippet 17 Detweiler and his two sons meets with Aldona and the Streak drive is clarified in her internal dialog before they continue to discuss the recent ballroom activities

MoH-snippet 18 the Mesans continue to talk about Manticore.

MoH-snippet 19 The Mesans continue to talk about how to spin the Talbot story and it ends with them going to talk about Oyster Bay.

MoH-snippet 21: With such bad results from the evacuation exercise the new commander of the station sets out to make it better.

MoH-snippet 20: January, 1922, Post Diaspora
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this . . . .”
– Admiral Patricia Givens, RMN, CO, Office of Naval, Intelligence.
Chapter Five
An officer we know from previous books report for duty and there is a ominous discussion about evacuation drills not being up to par.

MoH-snippet 22: Captain Ansten FitzGerald and Commander Amal Nagchaudhuri have a friendly talk about Hexpuma’s repairs being almost finished and the crews upcoming R&R on the station.

MoH-snippet 23 President Eloise Pritchart and the leadership around her isn’t very surprised when eight fleet shows up at the edge of the Haven system, they have dreaded this moment for six months. They however are surprised!

MoH-snippet 24: President Eloise Pritchart and the Salamander is about to meet …

MoH-snippet 25: President Pritchart and Admiral Thomas Theisman chat while they wait on Honor to leave the shuttle. When Honor steps out they have a little chat before moving to the President’s office.

MoH-snippet 26: Chapter 7: Admiral Alexander-Harrington and the President measure each other up before sitting down.

MoH-snippet 27: The negotiations begin in earnest.

MoH-snippet 28: The Salamander’s opening statement is frank to say the least.

MoH-snippet 29: Honor finalizes her offer.

MoH-snippet 30: Chapter 8: The Haven leadership discuss Honor.

MoH-snippet 31: The cabinet continues to talk about how to set up the negotiations and make some great comments about Elizabeth and Honor.

MoH-snippet 32: Chapter 9: Mesa Alignment Navy units is carrying out their part of Oyster Bay at the outskirts of the system when they brush up against a GSN task force.

MoH-snippet 33: Chapter 10: They finally sit down to negotiating after some sidetrack thoughts about the hotel they are staying in.

MoH-Snippet 34: Honor is introduced to Haven’s negotiation team.

MoH-snippet 35: Honor presents her negotiation team

MoH-snippet 36: Honor starts to give her opening statement.

Source: www.ericflint.net

Mission of Honor will be available in June 29 2010

Description: 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.

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A Mighty Fortress by David Weber (Safehold 4)

Cybermage.se — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:54:31 +0000

After reading the snippets since January my most anticipated book of the year arrived. I am a long time fan of David Weber and the Safehold series. Genocidal aliens, a Humanity that hides on the planet Safehold ruled by the Corrupt Church of God Awakening and an android with the mind of a long dead starship captain with a mission to restore civilization.

Title: A Mighty Fortress
Author: David Weber
Series: Safehold 4
Hardback: 720 pages
Publisher: Tor, April 13, 2010
Maps: Ellisa Mitchell
Jacket Art: Stephen Youll
Order: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N | Sfbok

Background

This is the fourth book in a series that started with Off Armagedon Reef where Niume Alban wakes up, asses the situation decide to back the kingdom of Charis for their enlightened royal family and general inventiveness. After a sex changing morph she dons the identity of Merlin a Sejin warrior, save prince Cayleb from assassins, becomes his bodyguard and start to change the way they think.

The Church lead by the greedy and power blind Group of Four conspire to send a fleet to destroy Charis. They are defeated by the new and improved fleet of Charis Off Armagedon Reef.

In By Schism Rent Asunder the church retaliate and massacre Charis’ unarmed civilian traders and their families. Cayleb now king, retaliates by sending a fleet half way around the planet. He also makes peace with Chrisholm, falls in love with their queen Sharleyan and in their Marriage create the New Empire of Charis, united against the rest of the world.

In By Hersies Distressed it is Charis turn to go on the offensive, invading the island princedom of Corisade. Charis get to show up their new and improved army and artillery before they defeat prince Hektor’s army. Hektor is killed by church assassins. His son and daugther flees to exile with thoughts of revenge on Cayleb who they believe killed their father.

We have also learned that there is an Order inside the church that knows the truth about Safehold, that their religion is a fake and that suppression of scientific methods and innovation have been built into their society by the former colony founders. Now Cayleb, his wife and a few others know the truth. The brothers have an elaborate procedure before approving any new member and they are frankly scared of the rapid changes.

There is yet another group, the Circle, inside the Church that doesn’t know the truth, but they oppose greed and corruption inside the church. But they have been betrayed by one of their own when A Mighty Fortress starts. The only question is when the Inquisition will strike

World building

This is the kind of story David Weber does well, take a backward planet and introduce modern science and technology. You notice his extensive knowledge in the details. You get the world by short narratives with local points of views that makes the world come alive with people you care for and understand.

The Church of God Awakening didn’t exist at first on Safehold, it came after a schism where part of the crew of the colony ships decided to create a technological enclave only to be exterminated by orbital strikes, in retaliation they set off a nuke at a meeting of the colony leadership, that had set up themselves as God’s Angles. The Church was created in the following years and it took it’s seat in the city of Zion and it’s mysterious Church complex made out of battle steel. It gives off mysterious energy readings so Merlin keeps his spying remotes out of it. Thats about the only place of power on the planet he keeps them out of.

Plot

The church is building an armada using the lessons learned from previous failures. This time they have almost the same technological level as Charis, at least until Charis new explosive projectiles enter production. The Charisian’s are hard pressed but their experience and training still gives them a significant advantage, that might not help if they are outnumbered three to one.

Charis also have to deal with attempted insurrection in Corisade, the princedom they defeated in book three. One of the leaders of the underground is the silversmith Paitryk Hainree (Patrick Henry, Give me Liberty, or give me Death).

There are also people inside Chrisholm that are not happy about the New Church of Charis some of them might even betray them.

The group of four tightens their grip on the church and a wave of arrest sweeps through Zion, while Merlin attempts to save as many family members and sympathizers as he can.

In an attempt to avoid fighting the combined fleet of the church, Cayleb sends off one of his best commanders on a mission to intercept one of the fleets before it can unite with the others.

The Navy really have to show their color here, they are the wooden walls of the fortress defending Charis, and A Mighty Fortress it is. But the big clash still lays ahead.

Characters

This is very much a character driven story. At the back of the book there is a 22 pages list of characters you might find useful if you are new to Safehold or need to catch up, My first thoughts at that was wow, this is like one of those old Russian classics, but don’t worry the main characters are not that hard to keep track on.

This is a space opera, so the characters are competent, they are not invincible and they are all easy to love. For example Queen Sharleyan is pregnant so Merlin brings her up in space on their way to a medical exam in his base in The Mountains of Light. She is the first human in space for centuries and her marvel is a delight to read. Another highlight is when they tell their Spy master and his wife the truth.

Weber has a thing for good persons doing evils bidding out of duty like Thirsk, the enemy fleet commander or Hektor’s daughter who believe she has to revenge her father.

Merlin gets to shift around a bit more in this book, he takes on the identity of other ‘friends’ of his to help with the evacuation in Zion and to visit other rulers in their bedrooms and chat a bit. It is all done with a great deal of humor. I also like that Merlin doesn’t solve all the problems himself, he can’t. In fact it can kill.

Extras

One big map and four one page maps
22 pages of Characters
A Glossary with 5 pages
A Note on Safeholdian Timekeeping

My View

A Mighty Fortress is a magnificent military science fiction saga and I like it a lot. But there is much back story, meetings and character development is this book, that might not be for anyone, I like it quite well though. If you are looking for an action packed military action kind of novel this is not it. We are still waiting for the big fight here, that will probably be in the next book, expected 2011.

If you are new to Safehold you should start with the other books, the back story is quite extensive so you should read it first. Otherwise I would recommend it to any lover of Weber or Space Opera, as long as you don’t expect fast and action packed.

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Snippet 36 for Mission of Honor by David Weber (Honor Harrington 12)

Cybermage.se — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:00:20 +0000