The Ninth Circle (Tour of the Merrimack 5) by R. M. Meluch [Book Review]

Nov 282011

Sentient Mammoths, Foxes and Other Aliens

The Ninth Circle continues R. M. Meluch’s Tour of the U.S.S. Merrimack series. This is the fifth installment and the first in what looks like a new major arc into the origin of DNA based life.

Many of my favorite characters return with some well-deserved development but we also get to follow John Farragut’s younger brother with the same name in his new life as a Roman recruit, double exile and space pirate. He and his friend’s life in the ninth circle of hell as they see it is what gives this story its title.

Lieutenant Glenn Hamilton and Dr. Patrick Hamilton are on the planet Zoe on a research holiday when it becomes the focal point for the known galaxy. Life there is based on DNA just like we are. How that came to be is not answered in this book but there is enough resolution anyway.

There are some great scenes when Glenn and Patrick jump the fence and go native among the local sentients. Exploration and learning to know the world is something I enjoy reading about and here R.M. pull out all the stops. When the mammoths were attacked and the fox princess storyline are some of my highlights.

But there wouldn’t be a military science fiction unless there was some strife and battle. It so happens Zoe is under siege by some mysterious space traveling invaders which gets both U.S.S. Merrimack and others to the scene.

The Ninth Circle can probably be read alone but there are references and characters you will enjoy more if you start from the beginning. This is military space opera with a roman empire in conflict with the US of A. Pirates, first contact, ancient mysteries and assorted banter is an enjoyable mix I do recommend.

We can probably expect the next novel in 2012 although it has not been announced yet.

Book Information

The Ninth Circle (Tour of the Merrimack 5) by R. M. Meluch (Daw 2011) – us uk

On the distant world of Zoe, an expedition finds DNA-based life. When alien invaders are also discovered, Glenn Hamilton calls on the U.S.S. Merrimack for help. But the Ninth Circle and the Palatine Empire have also found Zoe. Soon everyone will be on a collision course to determine the fate of this planet.

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The Recollection by Gareth L. Powell [Book Review]

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Sep 222011

Love, Trade, Wars and Aliens

One day Arches starts to appear, first there are only a few but then more and more. Ed was having a fight with his brother when the brother was swallowed by one of the first. It was first later Ed learned that the Arches went places, places light years away. This story has wormholes but no faster than light travel. Time stops for people while they travel between two arches but they only move at light speed.

The interesting part starts when Ed and his brother’s wife Alice themselves enter an arch to search for the lost brother. Their complex motivation and feelings add spice as they travel through the arches and meets people and aliens there. They discover the nature of the arch network piece by piece.

At the same time there is a parallel story some four hundred years into the future about a female starship captain down on her luck betrayed by the man she believed loved her. They have kind of a Romeo and Juliet past. Their trading families are enemies.

The stories keep switching back and forth and it is quite obvious that they will meet up at some time.

Gareth paints the world as we move along in what the characters see but also in news lists at the beginning of some of the chapters in a way that feels natural and inspire further thoughts.

This quest to find the lost brother and the trade war between former lovers Katherine Abdulov and Victor Luciano would be enough to make a good story but there is more, much more.

The Recollection has mysterious ancient aliens with a gigantic diamond starship on the run from an equally ancient weapon, and a mind-boggling destiny beside a deeply satisfying human story.

The Recollection is an impressive debut by new-to-me novelist Gareth L. Powell. It was an immersive read I can really recommend to every fan of good space opera. This is obviously a part of a bigger tale even if a series is never mentioned. Even so it is pretty standalone. I wonder when the next book in this universe will be out because there are obviously more story to tell here. Hope it is soon.

Book Information

The Recollection by Gareth L. Powell (Solaris 2011) – Amazon UK | US

When his brother disappears into a bizarre gateway on a London Underground escalator, failed artist Ed Rico and his brother’s wife Alice have to put aside their feelings for each other to go and find him. Their quest through the ‘arches’ will send them hurtling through time, to new and terrifying alien worlds.

Four hundred years in the future, Katherine Abdulov must travel to a remote planet in order to regain the trust of her influential family. The only person standing in her way is her former lover, Victor Luciano, the ruthless employee of a rival trading firm.

Hard choices lie ahead as lives and centuries clash and, in the unforgiving depths of space, an ancient evil stirs…

Gareth L. Powell’s epic new science-fiction novel delivers a story of galaxy-spanning scope by a writer of astounding vision.

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The Departure (Owner Trilogy 1) by Neal Asher [Book Review]

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Sep 202011

Bourne Identity Space Opera

Welcome to a future where a lot of things have gone wrong. Democracy is a thing of the past. The bureaucracies of the world have taken over. The Commission sounds suspiciously close to the European Commission which I guess is not something Neal Asher is fond of. The environment is unpleasant and overpopulation needs a final solution. At least that’s what the people in power seem to be planning. Rebellion is hard since the Commission controls orbital laser weapons that can destroy any riot in seconds. They also dispatch robots troops straight out of the war of the worlds to pick up any ringleaders for torture and brainwashing.

It is a chilling world where people are classified after their usefulness to society. Zero-assets are more or less dumped to fetch for themselves. Usefulness is of course assigned by The Commission.

This is the world where this electrifying story takes place. Saul is a man with extraordinary skills and intellect but who can’t remember what the things you put on your feet and walk in are. He wakes up in a box on the verge of incineration but escape bent on revenge. We get to follow his trail through what is left of Europe and Russia as he learns the world again. In a way this reminded me of a story by A. E. Van Vogt named Tyranpolis (aka Future Glitter from 1973) where the hero instead has a scientific breakthrough in an all-seeing kind of technology while Saul here goes for the AI interfaced brain that Neal seems so fond of (See Gridlinked).

The Yin of the story is a woman called Var who probably is Saul’s lost sister. She struggles at the abandoned colony on Mars where the political officer is trying to kill off all none essential people to make the resources last longer. Her story and Paul’s take turns in a way that fits well with the story and keep the reader interested.

There is a lot of good action down on earth and up at an orbital fortress but you never feel that the ending is in any doubt which is a bit sad in an otherwise excellent story. I can live with that and still enjoy the story but I have a high tolerance for characters like that.

The Departure is a good first novel in the Owner trilogy and the significance of that name for the series intrigues me. I want to know what happens next. I don’t think The Departure is for everyone but it is a good standard fare science fiction with a bit of social critique and a lot of action.

The next book in the series Zero Point will be out next year probably around the same time as this one.

Book information

The Departure (Owner Trilogy 1) by Neal Asher (Tor UK 2011) – Amazon US | UK

Visible in the night sky the Argus Station, its twin smelting plants like glowing eyes, looks down on nightmare Earth. From Argus the Committee keep an oppressive control: citizens are watched by cams systems and political officers, it’s a world inhabited by shepherds, reader guns, razor birds and the brutal Inspectorate with its white tiled cells and pain inducers.

Soon the Committee will have the power to edit human minds, but not yet, twelve billion human being need to die before Earth can be stabilized, but by turning large portions of Earth into concentration camps this is achievable, especially when the Argus satellite laser network comes fully online . . .

This is the world Alan Saul wakes to in his crate on the conveyor to the Calais incinerator. How he got there he does not know, but he does remember the pain and the face of his interrogator. Informed by Janus, through the hardware implanted in his skull, about the world as it is now Saul is determined to destroy it, just as soon as he has found out who he was, and killed his interrogator . . .

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The Pandoran Age Chronicles by Dante D’Anthony [Book Review]

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Jul 202011

Great Ideas but Flawed Execution

This is an omnibus version of The Pandoran Age: The Rise of the Taloned Sire and The Pandoran War written by Dante D’Anthony. I have had mixed success with self published stories before but I liked the blurb on this one so I decided to accept a review copy from the author.

I almost felt sorry for accepting when reading the first part about this psychic and his art deco brass android. He researches this nuclear wasteland of a planet and I didn’t understand what that was about until far later in the book. Then it continues with a passenger space liner that eventually leads up to something more engaging.

Not meeting the main character in the beginning of the book is something doesn’t work so well for me. Thing is that when we eventually meet the main protagonist on page 61 I like him and in general the rest of the story. It is somewhat implausible like most space opera and the plot is sometimes not as coherent as I should have liked. I suspect some parts might have been short stories the author tried to tie together.

The plot that caught my interest is about Vince and how he finds an old Cyborgian warship and names it The Taloned Sire and how he then tries to make a living out of it. But it is also about a threat to all sapient races in the galaxy from extra-dimensional beings that feed on fear. They were drawn to our galaxy when the Cyborgian Central Command nuked all Arcturian worlds killing billions in minutes. Now they are about to attack in force and Vince learns about them piece by piece. Will they be able to fight back? Unfortunately that is something we have to wait on book three to find out.

The world building is a bit sketchy and the only character that really worked for me was Vince. I think the author wanted to have multiple point of view characters but I didn’t catch that with Sal the psychic or any of the other ones.

I am not saying this is bad. It was quite entertaining after the first 60 pages and I would love to know how it all ends but it has flaws that might put off readers. I like the Big Ideas and the mixture of genres here. The illustrations were okay but I could have survived without them too.

The Pandoran Age Chronicles is entertaining space opera with some flaws. The ideas are great but I am afraid it is lacking in execution. I would recommend it if you like the ideas in the blurb and can survive the flaws. I am not a writer or editor but I think this could have been a great book with some reshuffling, added segues and editing.

Book Information

The Pandoran Age Chronicles (Omnibus The Rise of the Taloned Sire, The Pandoran War) by Dante D’Anthony (Chronos Production 2010) – review copy from author – Amazon US | UK (1,2)

An adventure across galactic civilization in the 4000’s. Since the interstellar gateways have been created, they have been both a marvel and a curse. They are a marvel of technology, a curse of political contention.

Plethoras of governments have been established throughout nearly a quarter of the galaxy since the advent of hyperdrives, yet only two truly matter. Firstly, the Transhuman Cyborgian Central Command Economies-CCCE. Mankind’s oldest civilization, CCCE is centered around Earth with their capital world at Deneb 4. Secondly, the Arcturian Republics: a few dozen worlds and worldlets. The Arcturian Colonials defined the aspects of their era more than any of the galaxy’s societies to that point; optimism, technology, and benevolent order. It shone in their architecture, which soared, their economies, which roared, and their sense of life with its easy freedoms. They achieved it without the all-encompassing grip of the Imperials and their Transhuman Overlords, the continual strife of the Oligarchies and Kingdoms, or the horrific mysticism of the Marauder Cult at the galactic core

And then, there is War. Refugees form desperate communities in the Sagittarius Spiral Arm of the Galaxy-the Outworlders. The Galaxy then is in the midst of a strange Dark Age.

A young Outworlder smuggler chances upon a derelict starship.

A psychic Historian empath sees visions in the ruins of a spaceport.

A fleet General finds inexplicable deletions from deep space logs.

An upscale Art Dealer wakes from a cyberspace sentence to find her sentience inserted into a clone of herself-a thousand years after convicted for spying- the authorities this time want her services on a mission, offering full pardon.

Star Trade Guildsmen, Wildcat pilots, Transhuman Imperial Overlords ruling a hive mind, Syndicate Warlords-the usual suspects of Spacers and Art Deco androids. Hauling heavy-metal Star yachts through mysterious nebula, and dark Herculean stations-none of them expect to be pulled by fate into the center of an impending intergalalactic conflict seventy million years old, least of all with each other. Yet the haunting evidence of extradimensional beings has been mounting for centuries. Now they are arriving in force, and a divided humanity is ill prepared.

The Pandoran Chronicles is a mix of genres with nods to some of the greats of Science Fiction. Asimov’s Galactic Empires and robots. H.P. Lovecraft’s extradimensional horrors. Stephen R. Donaldson’s grimy spacers in the Gap series, and Samuel R. Delany’s poetic mix of the mythological and Space opera.

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Hell Ship by Philip Palmer [Book Review]

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Jul 192011

Alien Cultures Clash

Philip Palmer is new to me but he comes highly recommended so I had high expectations. Hell ship lived up to my expectations for the most part.

A mysterious vessel travels the universes and destroys all life in them. One survivor from each race is taken to the observation deck to watch their world destroyed before being made a slave forever. The slaves live in an artificial world inside the ship. This is the story of Sharrock who just saw his home world explode. He swears vengeance like all the survivors. Trouble is that Sai-Sai the ruler among the slaves is all for happiness and live the day. So she tries to convert him to acceptance and her way of life. Their struggles are the heart in the story. This is where Palmer does a good job of characterization.

The third point of view character is Jak an Explorer and former trader. He sees the ship from outside as he strives to destroy it. The social life of Jak and his fellow aliens are amusing and might hold a few pointers for real life.

You know characters are important to me so another part that I liked was the flashbacks into the pasts of the main characters which made them make sense. Sai-Sai’s makes one of those inner journeys that are at the center of good tales. Jak does too but to a lesser extent. For him it is more about equality.

The hard sciences are not important here. Palmer writes about the characters and the story they create. He does a great job at it. This makes it so sad in the end when he jumps over major resolutions in bylines and implications. The whole book was well written up until the ending and would have been five out of five if it wasn’t for a rushed ending.

Bottom line I liked Hell Ship. It was an engaging read about aliens, clashing cultures, secrets revealed and the fight for freedom. But it has, in my opinion, a weak ending, though not a catastrophic one. Hell Ship has a lot of things going for it so I would recommend you to read it but don’t expect too much.

Book Information

Hell Ship by Philip Palmer (Orbit 2011) – Amazon US | UK

The Hell Ship hurtles through space. Inside the ship are thousands of slaves, each the last of their race. The Hell Ship and its infernal crew destroyed their homes, slaughtered their families and imprisoned them forever. One champion refuses to succumb. Sharrock, reduced from hero to captive in one blow, has sworn vengeance. Although Sai-as, head of the alien slave horde, will ruthlessly enforce the status quo. But help is close. Jak has followed the Ship for years and their battles have left Jak broken, a mind in a starship’s body, focussed only on destroying the Ship. Together, can hunter and slave end this interstellar nightmare?

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