Title: Double Share
Author: Nathan Lowell
Voice: Nathan Lowell
Series: Golden Age of the Solar Clipper 4
Genre: Mercantile Science Fiction
Publisher: Podiobooks.com, July 2008
Audiobook: Free Online | iTunes
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives 3.0 United States License

When he graduates from the Academy at Port Newmar, Ishmael Horatio Wang reports for duty in his first assignment as an officer. When he gets to his new ship, he finds things are not exactly the way he’d learned in school. The coffee tastes like used engine oil, the ship has no heart, and the nearest decent tailor is two quadrants away. What’s a new Third Mate to do? Will he be able to trust Billy?

Ishmael Wong signed up on the merchant ship Lois McKendrick when his mother died in a flier crash and found a second family there. The ‘Share’ part of the title refers to what part of the ship’s profit a crewman receives at different levels. Four years have passed since Ishmael left the Mack for the Academy.

Ishmael graduates from the Academy and gets assigned to a ship that is quite the opposite to the Mack. The Billy is a deeply dysfunctional ship run by a sadistic first mate and a paranoid captain with little or no interest in running the ship. It is also one of the ships that takes ‘bunk mates’ further than appropriate. The crew has no coercion. This is what Ishmael has to face straight out school. Ishmael approach it with the ordinary Wang charm and starts to stir things up.

Double share is even better than the books before, and they where good to start with. This is more of a traditional story with a protagonist and an obvious antagonist in the first mate.

An even stronger recommendation than the previous books.

Title: Half Share
Author: Nathan Lowell
Series: Golden Age of the Solar Clipper 2
Audiobook: iTunes | podiobooks.com
Order: Free Online Audio Book
Homepage: Trader’s Diary

In this podiobook: A Trader’s Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper : Book 2 After Ishmael Wang is promoted to the environmental section, he’s caught in a swirl of mystery, doubt, belief, lust and a really nice fitting pair of jeans. He has to come to grips with what it means to be a spacer while he’s still trying to figure out what it means to be a man. Join Ishmael, Brillo, Pip, and the rest of the crew of the Lois McKendrick as they help the newest member of the crew adjust to life in the Deep Dark. Half Share is the sequel to Quarter Share, also available at Podiobooks.com.Note: Some scenes in Half Share involve adult themes, nudity, sex and references to religions not based on Judeo-Christian traditions. Read at your own risk.

Ishmael Wong is orphaned when his mother, an Ancient Literature Professor is killed in an accident. Without any fortune or income he enlists in the Mercantile Marine as a quarter share mess boy. The SC McKendrick becomes his new home and the crew his new family. He is still learning the ropes but he is a very talented young man, open and he has easy to learn.

His ability to plan ahead and quickly integrate in any new group helps when he starts working in environment. Most of this book is about work place problems and how to solve them. I suspect Nathan Lowell worked with human resources at some stage. There is Ishmael’s replacement Sarah Kroog that hides a mystery, his friend Pip with his hidden talents but over all Ish ability to integrate people into his new extended family.

Ishmael is still a naive young man but the females of the crew adopt him and even bring him shopping, it helps that he gets an introduction to the top designer of the station. At times this comes very close to an adolescent boy’s dream world even if there is no sex involved.

The power of Nathan Lowell’s narration is that even if there isn’t much happening in this novel you are still mesmerized by it, it is brilliant. I enjoyed the change from my beloved space operas, count this book also as a strong recommendation and know that the next book Full Share is even better.

It would be wrong to call the people on the Destiny it’s crew, they are a too divided for that. The coup the Civilians tried in the last episode Divided becomes more believable as we understand their concerns over Colonel Young’s decision to abandon Rush on that alien planet back in episode ten. He is deeply distraught by it himself and try to go the extra mile to make everything work. The resentment and mistrust between the two groups are there all the time.

Maybe it is best exemplified with Lt Matthew Scott and Chloe Armstrong. He can barely look at her and goes out of his way to avoid her since she took the other side. And I can understand him, they where in a relation and she knew and didn’t say anything. I would have felt betrayed also.

The food is bad, their tools are bad, living on the Destiny is not so great. It is almost like a wish come true when the Destiny unexpectedly drops out of FLT. There seems to be an unexpected star in the way, one that appeared here after the seed ships passed by (Destiny is preceded by automated ships that plant Stargates on the worlds ahead). To everyones surprise the sun is orbited by a single life bearing planet. That planet has no affair being there, it takes millions of years for a planet to form. Rush theorizes that it is an artificial planet, but there is no signs of intelligent life. Eli suggests some kind of Genesis device (From Star Trek).

They send the one working shuttle down to check out the planet. It has a remarkable resemblance to the lakes and woodlands of Canada and the previous installments of Stargate. The world is hospitable and the fruits edible which a foolish Greer proves with a bite. That is the single most unbelievable part of this episode. Ronald Greer is supposed to be a Master Sergeant. The backbone of any army is it’s NCO:s. With their Master Sergeants on top. They are supposed to be the ones making people jump when an officer orders it. Or the morale is so low that even he succumbs. They also discover a gigantic obelisk, over 2 km high in a valley on the planet as they leave.

The ship lays out a course around the obstacle that will take it around the sun in a bit over a month. Most of that time will be out of shuttle range of the planet. They decide to send down the people that want to go, to explore the planet and the obelisk during the month Destiny will be out of range.

From the beginning i noticed that the crew all seemed to be suffering from bad health, TJ looks like she is about to throw up,  Scott is suffering from bad skin or bad tools and Rush is having stomach pains, probably from the operation when they removed the alien transmitter.

At the beginning down on the planet the tension is bad between the civilians and the military personnel, but Scott steps forward and try to mend fences. It soon becomes like one of those team building exercises, they build together, play together, and explore together. Even Scott and Chloe seems to reconcile a bit after he walks in on her taking a nude dip in the lake. A very short Kodak moment there, I wonder if the water in that lake was cold? TJ become more and more peculiar down there, showing signs of throwing up, walking away to be with herself and such. Just when you start to think that it is something wrong with the planet she reveals to Chloe that she is pregnant and has been pregnant since she came aboard the Destiny. And that morning sickness is a good sign. Chloe has to promise not to tell anyone.

The ground team doesn’t learn anything about the Obelisk beside that one night it shoots a great beam of light up in the sky probably to the creators of the planet. Some start to think about staying on the planet, there is one guy that becomes almost religious and tells everyone to trust the aliens to come and help them.

Meanwhile on Destiny they decide to repair and explore the ship, FINALLY! As the main engines is down they can now use the surplus energy to extend the shield and start to repair damage to the ship and the second shuttle. They find what appears to be some kind of warehouse. When they open a box they find what appears to be a shut down robot. Rush decides that they should leave it for later. That is something I am looking forward to see more of in future episodes.

When destiny once again comes into range they are faced with a dilemma. Some of the ground team wants to stay. TJ is one of them that wants to stay. She tells TJ and Chloe she is pregnant and she doesn’t want to raise a child on the ship. Lt Scott seems taken by TJ’s state. He deduces that Colonel Young is the father but he still wants to stay behind and help TJ. For me it seems like he has feelings for TJ, and Chloe is not to happy about it.

The discussions rage back and forth. Rush wants Young to order a military detail down and force them to return at gunpoint, which is relatively ironic considering they rebelled against that last episode. In the end Young takes the second shuttle down and offer them it to have as protection if they surrender their military personnel. There is a tense scene where Tamara has the opportunity to tell Everett she is pregnant but she decides to return to the ship instead taking most of the group with her. Chloe and Scott also return.

I got the feeling all of the people returned, but I am not sure. We will see if we have two working shuttles, then they all went back.

Interesting that Destiny leaves the system without finding out who the aliens where. There is a good chance we will find out down the way.

What I like best with this episode was at the end. The crew of Destiny sitting down and eating together, showing joyful signs of camaraderie. They had hell of a team building down there. The one thing that has bugged me most with the show before has been the overblown dramas they have had, that reminded me of shows like Big Brother and Survivor where you put people together with the sole purpose of creating conflicts as entertainment.  I have hope we have left that behind now. I like drama it’s the fire that keeps the engine going, but it should be believable drama.

Wow, it was a great episode even Rush and Young seemed to become more friendly at the end. Wonder what next week brings?

Colonel Young gets the surprise of his life when he uses one of the stones to report back to Earth when he instead ends up on an alien spacecraft. An alien arrive and wave friendly to Young before walking off. Meanwhile on Destiny Young’s mental guest goes bonkers and attack the group assisting Young.

Stargate Universe impress with a strong return after a long hiatus. According to people involved in the show it’s going to get even more intense in the following episodes.

Synopsis: Using the communication stones, Col. Everett Young (LOUIS FERREIRA) prepares to file a report to Earth regarding the recent untimely deaths on board the Destiny. But upon initiating the device, his consciousness is diverted into an unknown being. Worried about the repercussions of the connection, Young puts the communication stones temporarily off limits.

Soon after the malfunction, an alien vessel appears in Destiny’s path and demands surrender. The standoff doesn’t last long. The alien vessel launches an attack and captures Chloe (ELYSE LEVESQUE). Realizing this is more than a coincidence; Col. Young must use the stones again to get aboard the ship and try to rescue Chloe. He quickly realizes, however, Chloe isn’t the only prisoner aboard the ship.

We ended with Colonel Young and Rush fighting it out on an alien planet which ended with Young returning alone to Destiny and Rush alone outside a locked alien vessel.

They have definitely upped the game this part of the season if this episode is any guide. There is evidence of more money, a bigger budget all over this episode.

The acting was also over all excellent this episode. At the beginning Young is shaving himself and have a tough time looking himself in the mirror. He really gets to show emotions here.

There are also a lot of promising plot lines to wind up during the rest of the season beside the aliens. Love is stiring both here and there, so far with a great deal of obstacles. Doctor seems to have a crush on Young and still she flirt with the guy Jane liked and she cries her eyes out. There is a civilians against military conspiracy with Rush in the middle of it. There still is mistrust and insecurity among the crew, but to my relief it felt normal, not like it was created just to emphases conflict.

The whole abduction scene was a bit stupid, If aliens drilled a big hole in the ceiling in my ship, I wouldn’t walk up and peer up in it unarmed. Otherwise it was well thought out and believable.

I am not the only one happy that Young orders the stones off limits (finally).

The ship is in pretty bad shape as shown in the battle with the aliens. Wonder how they will solve that.

Rush claims he doesn’t remember what happened on the ship and he lets Young off the hook for now. They wanted Destiny according to Rush. I am not sure Rush is Rush, he behaves more peculiar than usual. Rush and Young have a man to man talk was promising and somewhat entertaining.

And yes, Young is into crafts, mending his socks.

Next time will be different…

Title: Wolf Star
Author: R. M. Meluch
Cover art: Romas Kukalis
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: DAW (January 2, 2007)
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Series: Tour of the Merrimack 1
Order: DAW | Amazon US, UK | B&N | Sfbok

The U.S. Merrimack was the finest battleship in Earth’s fleet, able to withstand the best the Palatine Empire could throw at them. Only her sister ship, the Monitor, was her equal. So when the Palatine forces secretly captured Monitor, Merrimack’s security was compromised-and that was just the opening salvo of a whole new stage of war between Palatine and Earth.

A time paradox was created towards the end of The Myriad and the Universe protected itself, reseting to a different timeline with slightly different reality. Rom didn’t die here either, and they did break free from Earth just like before. But here the Hive hasn’t attacked. The Palantire Empire and Earth are at war. The plot: USS Merrimack is on a deep strike mission into Roman territory to find their new Slingshot facility and destroy it. Slingshot technology allows a ship to instantly skip space between slingshot and catcher stations possibly bypassing hundreds of light years held by the enemy. Earth have the technology and have been using it to bypass the Romans and expand towards the center of our galaxy.

Unknown to them their sister ship USS Monitor have been captured by the Romans and they are now herded into a trap.  The space battles here are just as good as in The Myriad but different when they are human to human. Much is about warriors facing warriors.

Captain Ferragut plays  a major role in this novel too. Agustus is missing to a large extent since USS Merrimack doesn’t have a Roman Liaison Officer here. He is here though, just fighting for the other side. I think I am not alone in hoping for more Ferragut Agustus interaction in the coming books, that was a good part I enjoyed with the first book.

Calli Carmel is one of the main characters here, and her daring exploits as an undercover Roman is tense and funny. Kerry Blue and Cowboy’s story takes another twist in this installment of the Merrimack universe, still entertaining. Colonel Steele is still carrying the torch for Kerry and causing all kinds of merriment to the reader. Even the Captain is on the brink of indulging in relations. I am in awe of Rebeca’s ability to recreate the same characters but with a different history and still make them as good as in the first book. Only thing I miss is Agustus but I expect him to be back in book three.

If you thought the Hive was gone, you thought wrong, before it is all over they will be back and the Merrimack’s luck will turn, and turn, and turn many times before the magnificent finale.

You could call Wolf Star an entertaining do over of The Myriad and I liked the Myriad a lot. The Time paradox resets the world and the reader gets to explore the same charming characters’ alternative history once again before going where they never gone before.

Wolf Star is another great space opera by R. M. Meluch with fantastic characters and epic combat scenes. It made me happy to read the story and I am even happier now when I have the two next books in the series. Happy reading!

When humans and their Jao overlords joined forces in a desperate battle to save the Earth from the malevolent race called the Ekhat, the relationship between the two species was changed forever. Two years later, humans and Jao are learning to work in an uneasy alliance. Then, in a distant nebula, three Jao ships detect signs of another sentient species during a battle with the Ekhat. Only one of the ships returns, with most of its crew or injured.

Earth’s Preceptor Ronz suspects the unknown species was actually the Lleix, a name out of the Jao’s past, and an ancient shame from the period in their development when they themselves were still ruled by the maniacal Ekhat.

Ronz sends the Lexington, a massive ship built on Earth and crewed by both human and Jao, to investigate. The Lexington dwarfs any ship ever built by the Jao and even outmasses Ekhat ships, which may enable it to survive the attack that destroyed two of the three Jao ships. But if the expedition does find a surviving remnant of the Leleix, will the survivors trust the Jao? And should they?

The Authors

Eric Flint has written some of my favorite science fiction series 1632 and Wages of Sin. One of his strenghts is collaborations as in 1633 and Crown of Slaves with David Weber. I haven’t read his Belisarius series written with David Drake, but I have it on my to-read list. Eric Flint is noted as the editor of the Baen Free Library, and I love Baen Free Library, I have found a number of new authors and series there. His website Ericflint.com is one the best sites on the net for Snippets from new books not only from Baen.

K. D. Wentworth is author of seven novels according to wikipedia, including Black on Black and Stars Over Stars for Baen, and more than fifty short stories. Her latest novel is This Fair Land (Hawk), an alternate history fantasy of the era of Columbus. I haven’t read anything else by her but I am inclined to do so after reading the Jao Empire books.

Format and Information

Hard cover : 448 pages
Cover art by Bob Eggleton
Published by Baen (US) / Simon & Schuster (UK)

Dedicated to the memory of Jim Bean by the authors.

The cover art is beautiful and depict some kind of biological looking ship thing in front of a sun being approached by a more traditional spacecraft.

I started enjoying this book long before it was published thanks to the snippets on Eric Flint’s place on the web.

World building

The world building in this book is good and it is refreshing in that it doesn’t assume human superiority. Interaction between alien societies is a central theme of the whole series.

The new integration of humanity into Jao society is both challenging and reason for us humans to feel proud. The Jao was uplifted by the Ekhat to be their perfect servants and now they start to develop individuality and creativity under the ‘bad’ influence of their human partners. That’s like giving a loaded gun to a kid, just much more amusing.

The Lleix starting with their rigid ritualistic and yet artistic society is masterfully depicted. They have been running from the Ekhat and the Jao for a long time, some of them expect the end of days any day now especially with the Ekhat incursion into the nebula. So it’s understandable that they are far from trusting of the Jao.

One interesting part of the story is how technology evolve when Jao and human technology merge.

Plot

The plot is pretty straight forward, go to the nebula, contact the Lleix, save them from the Ekhat that are sure to return soon while pretending to be human so you don’t freak out the Lleix and help them evacuate. But of course it’s not that easy.

Characterization

The characters are easy to love and the general optimistic outlook is refreshing. Of course you find the usual competent individual that is so common in Space Opera. We also have a nice overlap in characters from book one. But we are also introduced to a few new ones.

There is good character growth especially for Tully that has to take charge of a company and Caitlin who has to handle first contact negotiations with the Lleix.

The practical jokes, long tales and banter between the humans and the Jao is delightfully entertaining.

My View

The Crucible of Empire is an entertaining story of first contact and mixing of cultures that begs for more, I can’t wait on the next novel. If you like interesting aliens and space opera this is definitely a book for you, start with The Course of Empire book one in the Jao Empire Series.

Captain Ean Tephe is a man of faith, whose allegiance to his lord and to his ship is uncontested. The Bishopry Militant knows this — and so, when it needs a ship and crew to undertake a secret, sacred mission to a hidden land, Tephe is the captain to whom the task is given.

Tephe knows from that the start that his mission will be a test of his skill as a leader of men and as a devout follower of his god. It s what he doesn t know that matters: to what ends his faith and his ship will ultimately be put — and that the tests he will face will come not only from his god and the Bishopry Militant, but from another, more malevolent source entirely…

Author John Scalzi has ascended to the top ranks of modern science fiction with the best-selling, Hugo-nominated novels Old Man’s War and Zoe’s Tale. Now he tries his hand at fantasy, with a dark and different novella that takes your expectations of what fantasy is and does, and sends them tumbling.

Say your prayers…and behold The God Engines.

Info

Format: Hardcover
Length: 136 pages, novella
Illustration and cover: by Vincent Chong, please check out his website, the illustrations are wonderful. 

Plot

You have to have faith to be a starship captain, since your engine is a captured and defiled god. The first line of the book is “It was time to whip the god” – just like that. Captain Ean Tephe has a strong faith and his religious superiors uses it and him when their god come under assault from new and strong gods. They send him on a mission to find converts to strengthen his god with new faith. A mission that will challenge his faith and his grasp of reality in unexpected and sinister ways.

Idea

The main focus of the story is faith. How strong faith might move mountains, but also the difference between reflecting and challenged faith compared to blind faith that doesn’t allow challenges. I am not sure that is what John intended, but I feel it has something to tell us all about the follies of blind faith. I should add that this is not a religious book even if it is about faith, there are no identifiable religions in it.

Characterization

One of John Scalzi’s strength is his vivid characters and his uncanny ability to make you feel what they do. I like Ean, I understand his motivations and I chill to the bone like he does.

World building

There is something gothic over the world John Scalzi conjure. A dystropic interstellar empire run by a militaristic church, serving one God that has conquered and captured other gods to be used to power the starships that keeps it together. It is not a world I would like to live in but it is an interesting world I would like to read more about.

My View

The God Engines is a chilling horror story set in a world with living manifested gods, so it has to be fantasy? Well, maybe, there is a lot of  Space Opera and science fiction in this fantasy story. I think it’s magnificent and I love the inventiveness of the story, using gods as engines! I am just sorry it is so short, the plot could easily have been made into a full length novel. I say convinced that it would be easy for John Scalzi, him being such a fantastic writer (nudge, nudge).

A Sizzle Reel is an eye-catching video showcase that condenses a large collection of media into a thrilling and effective communication piece. 

SLINGERS from Mike Sizemore on Vimeo.

Synopsis from Mikes blog (might change):

Slingers is set in the year 2960 A.D., following mankind’s first interplanetary war. Humanity is now clustered into a finite, but still vast section of the universe known as Enclosed Space. Humanity won the war with an aggressive alien enemy, but at a cost. The way back to Earth is now cut off by an impassable barrier – a side effect of the blast that finally pushed the enemy back.

The show takes its name from a group of people thrown together on board an experimental spacecraft that is capable of Slinging itself to any point in space. In theory it’s the only craft capable of getting home. In reality the crew are using it to carry out a series of high tech heists and get even with those who are now exploiting their positions in the post war hierarchy.

Dominic ‘DM’ Monroe, a special ops war veteran becomes the de facto leader of this small team of thieves who rail against the decision by military command to just ‘stay where they are and make the best of it’. They’re determined to get home and if that means breaking a few rules and picking up a lot of enemies along the way then so be it.

Mighty impressive sizzle. hope it make it to the small screen. Something to look forward to in 2010

The cast is great, many of the actors i like from other series. What is it with all these new series, why do they make it so hard to love these characters. I want to watch characters I care for and like. It’s the same mistake Lost made.

I have sad news, John Brosnan died in 2005. He might have finished the sequel, the net is ambiguous about it (I have ordered it, it might arrive in a month or so). Edit: Not availabel December 2009.

The good in the sad is that I found Mothership wonderful. It is like a really good Dungeons and Dragons novel with a beautiful damsel in distress, flying dragons, swords minus the sorcery, a humongous generation spaceship, evil scientists and an alien invasion.

The books main character Jed is a failed jester and a coward, he is blackmailed to accompany Prince Ken (sans Barbie) on a mission to find the reason behind the Day of Wonders.

Oh, I almost forgot the background. The worlds of the solar system built the afore mentioned ship out of the moon to flee from the unstable Sun. A failed social experiment, by someone who read The Lord of The Ring too many times, forces the passengers to a medieval tech level under the oppressive rule of the Elite. Now something has happened to the Elite, their technological toys loose all power one day, and it doesn’t come back.

One of my favorite books.

This is true Space Opera. It starts in the far future when humanity have conquered the stars and inhabit thousands of planets. Senator Chromis Pasqueflower Bowerbirdpropose a program to memorise Bella Lind, the hero that started it all. Then it shifts back to 2057.

Rockhopper is a nuclear powerd mining ship, one of many that fuel earth’s space economy with a steady stream of comet raw material. Bella Lind is the captain of an elite crew of 150 or so. They call their work Pushing Ice.

So when Janus, one of Saturn’s ice moons breaks orbit and heads for the stars, Bella and her crew are the only ones that can reach it in time before it leaves the solar system.

The mission is voluntary and most of the crew is behind it. But the company has lied to them and faked their fuel situation. It is a suicide mission, they will not be able to return after reaching Janus. But Svetlana, Bella’s best friend and the ships chief engineer starts to suspect the truth. Bella confronts her former lover who is the CEO of the company but due to lack of proof she decides to continue the mission. This leads to a break with Svetlana.

The book focuses to a large part on the conflict between Svetlana and Bella. That deep friendship can turn to extreme hatred.

The Rockhopperend up slip streamed with Janus and heading for a mysterious alien cylinder some hundred light years from earth at 99% of light speed. Svetlana blames Bella and with a majority of the crew behind her they exile Bella while they try to survive on Janus.

But that’s only the first step of their travel. They are propelled at near light speed to a gigantic alien meta structure in the far future. Someone is collecting civilizations at the end of time.

The circle closes both with the future history of Man as their memento reach Bella and with Bella’s and Svetlana’s friendship. It’s a truly epic story. The painful conflict between two good friends is so well told you can feel their anguish.

I finished this on the flight back from London. It’s good to be home.

Singularity Sky is an imaginative story. The spaceships of the Festival arrives at Rochard’s World and starts to drop phones down on the repressed people of The New Republic. That’s the real story.

In between The New Republic declares war on the Festival, and plans to send a fleet trough space and time to before the Festival arrives to ambush them. With them are Martin,an engineer from Earth on a covert mission and Rachel, another agent, but from United Nations. She is there as a Military Observer to make sure they don’t break any international laws. Like travel back in time. Martin and Rachel obviously attract each other. Two really likable characters.

The society Charles paint is one of the more imaginative ones I have seen lately. A good book, 4 out of 5. You should read it.