Empire of Light (Shoal Sequence 3) by Gary Gibson

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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Nova War (Shoal sequence book 2) by Gary Gibson

Books 3 Responses »

Jul 242010

Title: Nova War
Series: Shoal Sequence book 2
Author: Gary Gibson
Genre: Space Opera
Paperback: 568 pages
Publisher: Tor UK

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

In Stealing Light, Dakota discovered the Shoal’s dark and dangerous secret, now she works towards stopping not only the spread of this knowledge, but also the onset of the Nova war. Found adrift near a Bandati colony world far away from Consortium space, Dakota and Corso find themselves prisoners of the Bandati. It becomes rapidly clear to them, that the humanity’s limited knowledge of the rest of the galaxy – filtered through the Shoal – is direly inaccurate. The Shoal have been fighting a frontier war with a rival species, the Emissaries, with their own FTL technology for over fifteen thousand years. Realising that the Shoal may be the Galaxy’s one chance at sustained peace, Dakota is forced to work with Trader to prevent the spread of deadly knowledge carried on board the Magi ships. But it seems that the Nova War is inevitable.

Information

This is a story about a war that seems inevitable and the bigger picture that starts to become visible.

The Author

Gary Gibson is a new acquaintance I have only read Stealing Light 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.

World building

I love getting to know new alien races like the Bandati that keeps them prisoner, the Magi we get to know through their ships but they are still mighty mysterious and then we have the Emissaries we mostly learn about through their actions.

We also learn more about the Shoal and the Long War they have with the Emissaries. They have really twisted punishments.

Plot

Dakota and Corso have to escape their prison and help the human worlds that are cut off from FTL now. While Trader schemes for a final solution of the Long War.

The plot is much more complex in the details but it holds together well with just a few implausible twists as is common in space opera.

I like the flashbacks to keep us in suspense and portion out the background when we need it.

Characterization

The more I learn of Dakota the better I like her. Reading about her being tortured and imprisoned felt very realistic. Both Corso and Dakota show weaknesses and behave like real humans.

My View

This is the middle book of a trilogy but it doesn’t suffer from that. It is really suspenseful and I read it in one go. I still miss a good love story but otherwise it is great. I continue to recommend the whole series it is one of the most enjoyable I read so far this year.

Stealing Light (Shaol sequence 1) by Gary Gibson July 22,2010

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Formidable Female Protagonists in Science Fiction Part 15

Books 6 Responses »

Jul 232010

I prefer female protagonists and this series of posts is homage to some of the most formidable female main characters in science fiction novels or series.

This week’s FFPinSF:

Dakota Merrick – Machine Head (Gary Gibson)
Kivrin Engle – Temporal Historian (Connie Willis)
Rydra Wong – Poet Captain (Samuel R. Delany)
Miriam/Helge – Queen World Walker (Charles Stross)
Ruby Kubick – Agoraphobic Salvage Artist (Laura J. Mixon)

Dakota Merrick – Machine Head

Books: Stealing Light (2007), Nova War (2009), Empire of Light (2010)
Series: Shaol sequence
Author: Gary Gibson
Genre: Space Opera
Publisher: Tor

Dakota Merrick is a machine head, a human with implants that were made illegal after a terrible attack that killed many innocent humans. Humans have achieved a limited interstellar civilization but FTL travel is controlled by the Shaol. Dakota becomes involved in an attempt to circumvent the Shaol monopoly. An alien non Shaol derelict is discovered with a working FTL engine and Dakota is hired to fly it. But they discover much more than they bargained for.

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Kivrin Engle – Temporal Historian

Book: Doomsday Book (1992)
Author: Connie Willis
Genre: Time travel
Publisher: Bantam | NEL | New English Library

Kivrin is a young historian that travels to early 14 century England and by mistake land in 1348 in the middle of the Black Death epidemic.

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Rydra Wong – Poet Captain

Book: Babel-17 (1966)
Author: Samuel R. Delany
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Ace | Gollancz (SF Masterworks)| Sphere | Gregg Press | Orion

Babel-17 is one of that books that makes you think afterwards.

In the far future, after human civilization has spread through the galaxy, communications begin to arrive in an apparently alien language. They appear to threaten invasion, but in order to counter the threat, the messages must first be understood. Rydra Wong is a beautiful starship captain, linguist, poet, and telepath. She is recruited by her government to discover how the enemy are infiltrating and sabotaging strategic sites. The novel has a Whorfian view of language

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Miriam/Helge – Queen World Walker

Books: The Family Business (2004), The Hidden Family (2005), The Clan Corporate (2006), Merchants War (2007), The Revolution Business (2009), The Trade of Queens (2010)
Series: Merchant Princes
Author: Charles Stross
Genre: Multiverse
Publisher: Tor

Miriam got a modern upbringing in the US and one day she learns she has the ability to walk to another world. It starts with: Ten and a half hours before a mounted knight with a machine gun tried to kill her, tech journalist Miriam Beckstein lost her job. The first books in the series are great but the final book was a downer for me.

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Ruby Kubick – Agoraphobic Salvage Artist

Books: Glass Houses
Author: Laura J. Mixon
Genre: Cyberpunk
Publisher: Tor 1992

Both are new to me, I like gritty cyberpunk.

A dystopian Manhattan of the next century is the setting for this tough, gritty sf debut featuring an agoraphobic salvage artist who uses virtual reality to connect her with the machines that face the world in her stead. Part cyberpunk, part mystery, Mixon’s first novel introduces a lesbian heroine whose life is made up of second-hand encounters until reality comes calling with a vengeance. The author’s razor-sharp prose catapults this story beyond the bounds of genre. Recommended for most sf collections.

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Read part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | index | afterword

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Stealing Light (Shaol sequence 1) by Gary Gibson

Books 7 Responses »

Jul 222010

Title: Stealing Light
Series: Shaol Sequence book 1
Author: Gary Gibson
Genre: Space Opera
Cover Art: Lee Gibbons
Paperback: 601 pages
Publisher: Tor UK 2007

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

In the 25th century, only the Shaol possess the secret of faster-than-light travel (FTL), thus exerting an economic stranglehold on all interstellar travel. For a century and a half, mankind has operated within their influence, till now there are at least a dozen human colony worlds scattered along Shaol trade routes.

Dakota Merrick, while serving as a military pilot, has witnessed atrocities for which this alien race is responsible. Now piloting a civilian cargo ship, she is currently ferrying an exploration team to a star system containing a derelict starship. From its wreckage, her passengers hope to salvage a functioning FTL drive of mysteriously non-Shaol origin. But the Shaol are not yet ready to relinquish their monopoly of a technology they acquired through ancient genocide.

Information

The online description of this paperback lists 400 pages but my book has 601 (Tor UK has 592), but I believe my own eyes the first page with story is page 3 and last page is 603.

This is a story about taking responsibility. The main character is Dakota and followed by Corso and the main antagonists are the Shaol Trader-In-Faecal-Matter-Of-Animals and the human crime boss Bourdain.

Dakota is a machine head, her brain is wired with enhancements once used by the military but outlawed since the Port Gabriel Massacre where enemies took control over the enhanced soldiers and killed off a whole town of Freeholders. Her dark secret is that she was victim to that mind control.

Corso is a Freeholder expert in ancient protocols blackmailed to hack into the ship they found while Dakota is the designated pilot.

The Author

Gary Gibson is a new acquaintance. 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.

World building

Humanity is forbidden knowledge of FTL travel or even attempting to get it or face boycott by the Shaol but the Shaol themselves hides a secret that starts to come to light when light from multiple Nova’s in the Magellanic Clouds reach our part of the galaxy.

Humanity is not united; it consists of different fractions that often fight each other. The Consortium dominates but wars are still fought on some worlds. Principal in this story is Freehold who fights a war against the Uchidan but are losing ground so in a desperate attempt to turn the tides they go after FTL travel.

The world building is quite extensive and includes some surprising twists. The underlying threat is intriguing and it is with anticipation I read the next books in the trilogy.

Plot

Trader is always there when something happens, he tries to steer events to the most favorable outcome for the Shaol.

Dakota is hired to bring a secret cargo to Boudain’s asteroid but she is betrayed and in that confusion the astroid is destroyed making her even more a fugitive than before. Boudain and his scary bodyguard go after her bent on revenge. That is about the time she gets an offer to pilot a Freehold frigate to the derelict starship. She doesn’t have much choice in the matter; she got to take the job.

Here is where the real action starts with the hardcore Freehold investors on one side and Dakota and Corso on the other side. But the thing is that they find so much more than an FTL drive and someone has to take responsibility to what is going to happen with that new knowledge.

Characterization

Again a story with wonderful characters. I am on a roll when it comes to new authors. Dakota is a complex character with lots of luggage and she makes many mistakes and she is not always in full control of events but she is still endearing. Corso grew up in a society where might is right, where the only way to become a full citizen is to kill but yet he manages to keep his humanity and grows as the story unfolds. I especially like Dakota’s ship. I have a thing for sentient ships with an attitude since Mutineers’ Moon.

My view

Stealing Light is a fast paced space opera about ancient alien secrets and a great start of a series. I read it in two days; it was pretty exciting to read. It’s the kind of story I like with strong characters and a mysterious past to decipher. The only thing missing is a love story. I sincerely recommend the whole series as a good example of modern science fiction.

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