Enemies (Roc Science Fiction) Review

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Enemies (Roc Science Fiction) ReviewLee Hogan is the kind of author you feel lucky to discover.
I don't give out five stars often but Enemies was such a pure pleasure to read, start to finish, that I'll happily assign it the highest rank I can.
Hogan's world of Belarus is a curious mix of old world traditions and advanced but abandoned technology. She's skillfully given her sci-fi novel some fantasy touches that evoke a mythical Russia without making them feel awkward or forced into the book's reality. People come back from the dead - as electronic avatars, programmed by people brilliant enough to engineer entire worlds back in the heyday of the Alliance. The tiny machines of nanotechnology are referred to as Sprites and have become sentient through a deliberate infection of a virus that brings self-awareness. The extra-dimensional skills of The Enemies and Baba Yaga's intimidating presence add a sense of cosmic mystery without sacrificing the sci-fi elements that let us take it all seriously.
The characters drawn into this mystery are well drawn themselves and strike a reader as capable people, each with their own type of strength to call on in a time of crisis. The technological superiority of the Union to Belarus is never used as a plot crutch and it's a satisfying combination of the forces of history combined with the personalities of those involved that drives the story. The villains are chilling and never one-dimensional, and the relationship the Enemies have with the Belarusians is interestingly complex, frightening and murky. Hogan draws us into the mystery and beauties of her world, harsh but beautiful, deadly but survivable by a people whose stubbornness and pragmatism become traits that you can't help but admire.
Perhaps best of all, you really want to root for these people not only because you like them but because you want to learn more about Hogan's well-crafted, intriguing universe through their eyes. The moment a sequel comes out I'm snapping it up immediately.Enemies (Roc Science Fiction) OverviewIn this extraordinary sequel, the once magnificent planet of Belarus has descended into centuries of isolationism and bigotry. When representatives of the new galactic Union contact Belarus, they claim to have their best interests at heart. But they also harbor a secret mission, related to the Enemies: the brutal alien race beneath the planet's surface.

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The Unincorporated War Review

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The Unincorporated War ReviewI read the first book in this eventual trilogy and was very impressed. "The Unincorporated Man" is the story of Justin Cord, a businessman with terminal cancer, who gets himself frozen in the 21st century and is eventually revived in the 24th. Here he finds himself in a world where everyone becomes a legal corporation at birth and spend their lives trying to attain a majority of their own shares. The human race has by now expanded to inhabit the whole solar system all the way to the Oort cloud. The concepts are very well thought out and the science fiction is definitely of the hard variety with sound extrapolation of today's science several hundred years into the future. There is also a good villain, the evil Hektor Sambianco. This book reminded me in some ways of "The Space Merchants", the classic fifties novel by Frederick Pohl and C M Kornbluth of a future world dominated by big business.
The first book ends with Justin refusing to play the incorporation game, seeing it as slavery by another name. He is exiled to the outer solar system where he becomes somewhat of an anti incorporation messiah in the outer planets which leads to a war with the incorporation dominated inner solar system. This is where The Unincorporated War takes up the story and it's quite a different book in many ways being mostly dominated by epic space battles which I have to admit became a bit tedious after a while. It's also more verbose with plenty written about religious philosophy and I think could have been shorter. Interwoven in the story are the attempted manipulation of humanity by the avatars, self aware artificial intelligences who inhabit the future internet. Still, it's refreshing to see a well researched hard science fiction story like this and the authors deserve a lot of credit. The Unincorporated War has a cliffhanger ending and it's not clear how the story will conclude. Regardless of my slight reservations, I will definitely be buying the third book.
I've decided to give this four stars but if fractional stars were allowed it would probably be a strong 3 1/2. I didn't write a review for The Unincorporated Man but if I had it would have been a 5.The Unincorporated War Overview

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Slabscape: Reset Review

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Slabscape: Reset ReviewSlabscape: Reset had me hooked from start to finish. It explores life aboard an interstellar spaceship and the peculiaralities that occur there. The characters are believable and incredibly well thought out. Dielle's struggle with coming to terms with a new world is the central theme of the book and plays out in a hitchhiker's style comedic fashion. Baker adds humour and whimsy to all aspects of the story and uses it to bring his unbelievably well thought out world to life. And I mean well thought out! The attention to detail in creating the parts of "Slab" (the interstellar spaceship) and the society that lives within it is quite astounding and demonstrates the author's love for his world. He imagines the future of entertainment and the reality TV genre and the futuristic system of government and even how people shower and purchase food.
The second main story thread follows Louis Drago who is a holographic version of a business mogul from back on Earth. He has a traditional cut-throat attitude towards people and business and he makes a wonderful addition to the story as you can see how society has changed, being protected by a the benevolent AI overlord that is Sis.
Slabscape brings all the whimsical comedy of hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy in a refreshing and intriuging setting that is sure to captivate your imagination. I for one am eagerly anticipating the sequel.Slabscape: Reset OverviewTake the most sophisticated A.I. designed mind that has ever existed, encase it in over fifty million cubic kilometres of diamond nano-rods and send it off on a twenty-thousand-year odyssey towards the centre of the galaxy. Then screw it all up by allowing thirty-two million humans to go along for the ride...

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Look to Windward Review

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Look to Windward ReviewLook to Windward is the seventh book in Banks' science fiction universe based on a utopian society of advanced artificial intelligences and the humans (and other organic life forms) that originally created them, loosely termed the Culture. With each book, Banks has built his plots out of the interstitial area where the idea of this utopia fails, typically in its dealings with other, different societies, through its para-military/intelligence arm called Special Circumstances. This time, the Culture has interferred in the "advancement" of another society, failing miserably, and then must deal with the diplomatic fallout from their actions. That the other society, the Chelgria was a predator-based race with a rigid class structure and a warlike demeanor, makes this all the more difficult.
On this backdrop is placed several interesting characters: the Chelgrian Ziller, a composer who has ex-patriated himself because of his support for the rebels who attempted to overthrow the class structure, and wishes to have nothing to do with his old society or race; the Chelgrian emissary, Quinlan, whose despair over losing his wife in the war between the traditionalists and the rebels will drive him to commit the unthinkable; and the orbital Mind known as Masaq', who has hosted Ziller for years and asked the composer to create a new symphony based on the fading light of two suns--suns that went nova two thousand years ago when Masaq', as a warship, set off a chain reaction that destroyed them and the two orbitals around them.
As in his other novels, this one has several storylines to follow that eventually come together by the climax. Each storyline is given its own chapters, which some people find difficult to follow but I've always enjoyed, although it makes keeping track of the story much more difficult when the time spent reading the book occurs over weeks rather than hours.
It's not that Banks brings anything new to science fiction in his Culture novels; even the Culture itself can be found by looking at some mixture of Cordwainer Smith and Isaac Asimov. His ideas are culled from the classics as well, as in this book the orbital is roughly Larry Niven's "ringworld" mixed with John Varley's world-mind Gaea from his Titan trilogy. But what Banks can do better than those four, and a host of other published SF writers, is create believable characters whose motivations mesh with the unlikely locations and situations he sets for them. There's a reason why this type of SF is called space opera, but in Banks' hands it refers not to the televised soap operas but the sturm und drang of classical music. Yes, there are exaggerations here, but when a Banks' character has amnesia, it becomes a thematic device, not just a crutch to get you from one chapter to the next.Look to Windward Overview

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Surface Detail (Culture) Review

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Surface Detail (Culture) ReviewIt is perhaps appropriate for a book that centres around the battle for the afterlife to begin this review with a confession: this was my first encounter with Iain M Banks' Culture series of science fiction novels. At first, I worried that this put me at a significant disadvantage as for the first 100 or so pages, I spend most of the time being completely confused about what was going on. However, as the strands started to come together, it became apparent that this is partly Banks' style and indeed it's one he uses in his non-science fiction books too. Keep going, it does come together.
As in his non-sci fi works, Banks juggles stories and characters with dazzling effect. He takes a number of characters whose stories may or may not ultimately come together and switches between their stories. And just when you think one line of story is not going anywhere in particular, he twists it round and it all makes perfect sense. The confusion is compounded by the fact that he is covering both the `Real' and `virtual' worlds, and particularly in the virtual worlds, characters may take on different roles and identities. Sound confusing? Well, it is at first but it's also highly entertaining, not to mention clever.
To the uninitiated, the Culture is a fictional interstellar enlightened, socialist, and utopian society operating amongst other, less benevolent and lesser civilized civilizations. This is at least the eighth book to feature the Culture, which first started with Consider Phlebas featuring the Culture's religious war against the Idiran Empire. We are told that the events of Surface Detail occur a millennium and a half after this war.
Surface Detail begins when Lededje Y'breq, a tattooed slave (surface detail, you see?) is attempting to escape from her evil owner, the rich and powerful Veppers who has made his family fortune in virtual war games. He's like an evil cross between Bill Gates and Hugh Heffner.
Meanwhile, in another part of the galaxy, a war rages over the right for Hell to exist. At first the Culture is not directly involved in this war being fought out in a virtual environment with the antagonists agreeing to abide by the outcome in the Real, which strikes me as a very good way of settling disputes. But that will change as the virtual war spills over into the Real.
This is terrifically bad news for the galaxy, but great news for the reader as it brings into play the Culture war ship `'Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints'` and it's avatar Demeisen introducing that classic sci fi fall back of entertaining computers communicating with humans. It maybe a well-used trick, but it affords great opportunity for humour. And if you think that ship's title is good, how about the `'Sense Amidst Madness, Wit Amidst Folly'`. I know that in the current economic climate cuts are likely in Defence spending here on Earth, but surely we can put something aside to re-name some of our Navy with these names!
There's double-crossing aplenty, action, revenge, love stories, virtual and real action, tech and humour and some terrific characters. But what sets this book apart is the quality of the writing and the depth of the author's imagination. Amongst all the mayhem, Banks raises some interesting questions about identity, death and the whole point of Hell.
Fans of the Culture series will need no encouragement to grab this latest installment. Sure, it can be confusing at times and Banks does rather leave some stories hanging (although he presents a little potted outcome of the characters at the end) but it's a wonderful trip and I for one will be eagerly diving into the earlier books.Surface Detail (Culture) Overview

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Theories of Flight (Samuil Petrovitch) Review

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Theories of Flight (Samuil Petrovitch) ReviewSamuil Petrovich is a scientist who has just discovered how to make anti-gravity. He works and lives in Metrozone, which used to be London, England before Armageddon changed the world. Unfortunately, Metrozone is being torn apart. Can Petrovich save his beloved city?
One of my main criticisms of Equations of Life was the difficulty in understanding the world set-up. As I expected, this is not an issue in the second book. Not just because I am familiar with it now, but the outside world plays a very small part in the book. It is really concentrated on the happenings in Metrozone itself.
This story is just as action packed as the first, maybe even more. It moved very quickly and had lots of heart-pounding moments. There were a few appearances of people from the first book, and I found it fun to be able to recognize them. I really loved Maddy, his love interest from the first book. It this one, they are newly married. She didn't feature prominently, but she was always on his mind, and everything he did was for her. It was very sweet.
My second criticism of the first book was the frequent use of Russian words and phrases. This was not an issue this time around. There were still a few Russian words, but I'm pretty sure they were all expletives, and not too difficult to figure out. Somehow having the profanity in a different language helped convey the meaning without being vulgar. Something I very much appreciated.
Overall, a very good story, and a great follow-up book. There is a third book coming out as well, and I am have to add it to my reading list. If only to discover the conclusion to the trilogy.Theories of Flight (Samuil Petrovitch) OverviewTheorem: Petrovitch has a lot of secrets.Proof: Secrets like how to make anti-gravity for one. For another, he's keeping a sentient computer program on a secret server farm - the same program that nearly destroyed the Metrozone a few months back.Theorem: The city is broken.Proof: The people of the OutZone want what citizens of the Metrozone have. And then burn it to the ground. Now, with the heart of the city destroyed by the New Machine Jihad, the Outies finally see their chance.Theorem: These events are not unconnected.Proof: Someone is trying to kill Petrovitch and they're willing to sink the whole city to do it.

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The Clone Elite Review

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The Clone Elite Review"The Clone Elite" is the fourth in the series from Ace scifi author Steven L. Kent. It's more of the same...but that's a good thing. The story of interstellar civil war expands to intergalactic invasion as a mysterious army of aliens takes the Milky Way by storm.
Kent further develops the conflicted cloned character of Wayson Harris in a heroic tale where the fate of humanity is held in balance. There are new enemies (both foreign and domestic) to kill and lots of new hardware to help do the job.
"The Clone Elite" weaves a compelling plot that explores more of clone culture. The introduction of a new extra-galactic alien threat and the inventive path that the characters use to defeat it, provides for a very entertaining read.
If you're a military scifi fan, this series is a must read. I already can't wait for the next three books!The Clone Elite Overview2514 A.D.: An unstoppable alien force is advancing on Earth, wiping out the Unified Authority's colonies one by one. It's up to Wayson Harris, an outlawed model of a clone, and his men to make a last stand on the planet of New Copenhagen, where they must win the battle and the war—or lose all.

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The Unincorporated Woman Review

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The Unincorporated Woman ReviewContains Spoilers
I'm a little past the halfway point in Unincorporated Woman. And so far it has not disappointed. I got into this series last December when I went to the book store to buy a book, and my only criteria was that it be science fiction and thick. The Unincorporated Man (1st) book fit that criteria, and after reading the back cover blurb, I had to get it. And I am glad I did. The Unincorporated War (2nd book) was more of a military sci-fi novel-IMO, whereas the 1st book introduced us to a very interesting concept. The Unicorporated War continued that story though and was just as good as the first book, with one hell of nailbiter for an ending. The Unincorporated Woman is a bit heavy on the military action, yet comes across as a kind of blending of the first two books. By this, I mean in style only, but not in story by any means. The Unincorporated Woman, so far, is a very solid continuation of the story set up by the first two books. And if you do like military sci-fi, there is a space battle in this book that will absolutely keep you glued to your seat. Can't wait to finish this book, and start the next one when it comes out, which can't be soon enough.The Unincorporated Woman OverviewThere's a civil war in space and the unincorporated woman is enlisted! The epic continues.The award-winning saga of a revolutionary future takes a new turn. Justin Cord, the unincorporated man, is dead, betrayed, and his legacy of rebellion and individual freedom is in danger. General Black is the great hope of the military, but she cannot wage war from behind the President's desk. So there must be a new president, anointed by Black, to hold the desk job, and who better than the only woman resurrected from Justin Cord's past era, the scientist who created his resurrection device, the only born unincorporated woman. The perfect figurehead. Except that she has ideas of her own, and secrets of her own, and the talent to run the government her way. She is a force that no one anticipated, and no one can control.The first novel in this thought-provoking series, The Unincorporated Man, won the 2009 Prometheus Award for best novel.

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War of the Gods Review

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War of the Gods ReviewThe text begins interestingly enough, albeit somewhat ponderously, as Poul Anderson, one of the greats of Science Fiction & Fantasy, essays once more to travel the mist-shrouded roads of Faery. Writing at least since the fifties (I enjoyed his stuff going back to the sixties), Anderson's "voice" seems to have mellowed and subtly altered with the passing of the years. Never one of the most moving or most profound of tale spinners, he was always, nevertheless, the consummate storyteller. Still this present tale lacks the energy and vitality of his earlier saga-like excursions. While The Broken Sword leaped with life and blood and darkness and Hrolf Kraki's Saga (basically a translation of a legendary Danish-Norse tale, with some additions by the author to make it more contemporary) charged onward from episode to episode until crashing mightily on the rocks of it's own climactic shore, this new tale seems oddly stilted and self-conscious. The language does not pour forth, carrying the reader over the unsure ground of fantasy, as Anderson was wont to do in former days, and the characters he has given us here seem paler than in the past -- and not nearly as interesting as their predecessors were. The protagonist, Hadding the Dane-King, for instance, moves sluggishly from one odd episode to another, always winning his battles and defeating his foes, never seeming to be in any serious danger at all, a circumstance which ultimately seems to tell on him as much as it does on us. And the people around him, as well as his enemies, never seem to be quite worthy of the attention he lavishes on them. Fostered by giants of old Norse legend and lover to his own foster mother (or sister) who adopts human form to be with him, guided by a mysterious one-eyed "wanderer", Hadding ought to be more multi-faceted than the invincible, noble hero we are given. Through much of this tale only the relatively easy-read prose (despite the incorporation of archaic words and forms to set the mood) and the intrinsically promising subject-matter (for those of us who like the Norse thing) keeps you reading. Written stolidly and with far more description than one is likely to find in the real Icelandic and Norse stuff, the tale yet retains the sleepy, dream-like presentation of events and images which is so characteristic of this material in its original form -- a form in which giants are never quite giants as we understand them (for they seem larger or smaller depending on their surroundings) and gods walk about like magicians. Nevertheless, Anderson has here created a tale which, surprisingly and for all its apparent faults, does stand up -- and admirably so, in the end. It is a story of sadness and, finally, understanding -- sketched against a backdrop of adventure and fighting and killing. The last part of the book redeems the slowness and awkward-seeming "forced" prose that went before as the truth of the tale is relentlessly brought home -- how a single life may be more than its appearance alone and how the worlds of fantasy and reality may intersect afterall. It's just a story, Anderson says in his afterword and, indeed, it is that -- but a story which reached me in a largely unexpected way. It takes an historical legend from much earlier times and revives it in a manner which does honor to the source material from which it is drawn while yet placing it in a perspective we moderns can grasp. As The Broken Sword was, no doubt, a young man's breathless and headlong tale (Anderson himself once suggested this in a foreword he'd written somewhat later to that book), so this one is the work of another writer entirely -- one who has lived his life and seen the fullness of it and its inevitable denouement. This one goes deeper than it seemed at the first. And redeems itself, and all of us, for that.
Stuart W. Mirsky
Author of The King of Vinland's SagaWar of the Gods Overview

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