Starts great with lots of mystery and promise in a very interesting far future Solar System setting but it doesn't quite sustain that promise as thereStarts great with lots of mystery and promise in a very interesting far future Solar System setting but it doesn't quite sustain that promise as there is too much of the heroes in impossible situations saved in the last minute by this or that; similarly the villains are a bit too powerfully villainous and the suspension of disbelief gets quite frayed at times. However the main storyline is more or less resolved and the book ends on a promising note so I definitely recommend it as an entertaining read with some imbalance but regaining its initial promise by the end with sequel of interest....more
The best volume in the series since volume 4 which completed so brilliantly the series first part; though in many ways it is just a setup for the finaThe best volume in the series since volume 4 which completed so brilliantly the series first part; though in many ways it is just a setup for the final confrontation (maybe or maybe not of course) with Narthon but it brought back the sense of wonder of those first four volumes that was only occasionally seen in the following ones since; and a truly crazy ending only added to that feeling that finally we are again going somewhere after good but somewhat of the author too much in love with his characters type last two volumes especially.
Highly recommended and definitely exceeded my expectations...more
As an Expanse dropout (after the second book I think), I didn't really expect much from this one though the premise was intriguing - in the vein of saAs an Expanse dropout (after the second book I think), I didn't really expect much from this one though the premise was intriguing - in the vein of say When Heaven Fell (W Barton) which was a big favorite at the time - though as it turned out The Mercy of Gods reminded me considerably more of the latter Rama books, where a few humans - top of the class in their fields like here, though there they were from various such, while here they are a top biology team cracking the mystery of the local alien life on a planet where humans found themselves transplanted 3000+ years back and developed an advanced techonological society - found themselves in a strange new world among lots of aliens, mostly incomprehensible to them and where they have to make a life and purpose - here the aliens are indifferent to hostile and demanding while the Rama ones were more benign, though still indifferent and some quite hostile, especially in the brutal spinoff series...
With great memorable characters and lots of "this is how science works today - at least one of the authors is clearly a survivor of the brutal academic fights for status and grants as the whole brilliant lab team that forms the core of the human heroes reads very real from my academic experience, from the top leader reminding everyone all the time he is the boss, to the jockeying of his senior staff for position in the group, to the do as you are told and do not question us status of the junior researchers, to the fight against competitor groups and to impress the funding administrators" - and interludes from two different alien perspectives, The Mercy of Gods is quite dark and brutal in its own way, but is extremely compelling, a page turner that one doesn't want to put down and an excellent read. Ending at a good tbc moment, the series promises to be a superb one and the next volume is a huge asap.
The second book in the Ascent to Empire saga detailing the fall of the Terran Federation (due to the corruption generated by its long war with the TerThe second book in the Ascent to Empire saga detailing the fall of the Terran Federation (due to the corruption generated by its long war with the Terran League instigated by the alien Rish - the League fares even worse as it happens) and the rise of the Terran Empire under admiral Terrence Murphy whose house of Murphy still rules centuries later at the time of the Fury novel.
Direct sequel to Governor, though it goes a bit slower (as events go not as timeline) and a bit differently than I expected - but it follows the logic of the transformation of Terrence (and many of his friends and subordinates) from loyal sons of the Federation wanting to expose the Rish involvement in the war, so stop it, to improving the treatment of the exploited Fringe worlds (1/10-1/5 of the economic power of the Heart worlds but 2/3 of the Navy and Marines and 90% of the ones doing the dying in the 60 years old war) to reforming the Federation, to realizing that the Five Hundred are so corrupt and bent on utter destruction (including genocide of entire planets of the Fringe) of anyone threatening their exploitation of the Fringe or stopping the war which allowed for their control and massive enrichment (there is a cool sort of speech about this by the actual secretive leader - or at least first among equals of the Five Hundred who usually stays in the background) so only the destruction of the Five Hundred's power by armed force will do...
A few more characters (including a brutal general who epitomizes the methods of the Five Hundred, some more League characters, and of course Fringe leaders), cameos from some of the favorite first volume characters like Silas or the corrupt politician Doyle - a family friend of the powerful Thakore clan - Murphy's in-laws - who got Terry the New Dublin command - and only a little of Callum and Eira and their first intimate romantic scene that comes to quite a sudden and unexpected end... Oh, and Logan finally gets to exorcise his demons (his, we execute people by lethal injection now part, is really cool)
Excellent stuff and fulfilling my high expectations though in slightly different ways than I thought the story would go. Top of the year, while volume 3 (tentatively titled Dictator) is the next huge asap from D Weber....more
A completely unnecessary book but with enough stuff to make it ok but not enough to make it a required reading; similarly the (new) characters are ok A completely unnecessary book but with enough stuff to make it ok but not enough to make it a required reading; similarly the (new) characters are ok but nothing memorable and the old characters are pretty much the same as in the early Honor novels; as a novella in an anthology this would have been great but as a 400+ page standalone novel it's really not worth getting unless one is a series completetist....more
Finished Exodus: The Archimedes Engine by P Hamilton and it quite surpassed my high expectations as it brought back the inventiveness, sense of wonderFinished Exodus: The Archimedes Engine by P Hamilton and it quite surpassed my high expectations as it brought back the inventiveness, sense of wonder, and great characters that the author first displayed in his Night's Dawn trilogy and which was only partially seen in the rest of his work since.
And this with no ftl, aliens or inteligent ai's but with various kinds of humanity-descended advanced species, the Celestials, regular humans, and uranic humans (the ones that interface between the Celestials and the humans under their dominion) is that a good though the Celestials hand while firm and all-seeing is also quite benevolent in the worlds the action takes place as of now - though of course hints of malevolent Celestials and oppressed humans appear here and there - as the regular humans have high tech civilized societies, though with the usual blemishes, like gangs and drugs, fierce competition that can descend in all-out fights between factions etc).
The Celestials of our story - the Crown Dominion - while seemingly above this, have their forms of intrigue and competition, including powerful fleets that guard their borders against other potential malevolent Celestial races. And of course, the supreme Celestials of all, the mythical Elohim who long ago terraformed the numerous systems of today, are missing in action though their handiwork is still there (they are the only possessors of the Archimedes Engines who can move planets and stars and of the ability to create the interstellar gates through which spaceships move at 99.999 speed of light making the interaction between the numerous worlds of the Centauri cluster possible if still time-consuming for the ones not traveling relativistically).
At the high level, we have Helene-Chione, one of 5 (immortal mindline Helene, Chione being the current body name) Queens of the Crown Dominion Celestials which has seemingly been quite stable and prosperous for millennia, since the 5 Queens and their solar systems ganged up on the 6th which supposedly wanted dominion over all through dark genetic manipulations; but there are rumors of an Archimedes Engine planet hurtling towards them which can destabilize the current arrangement and after all, when 5 ganged on the 6th, 4 can gang up on the 5th on some pretext or another...
While of fairly young body, Helene has numerous consorts and gives birth (well, produces eggs that her consorts carry out to term...) to various children, of which the most promising daughters are groomed as princesses in waiting if something happens to the Chione body or when it ages out after 7-8 decades; but since the mindline can be transferred only at fairly young ages before personality sets in, the process continues as the aged-out princesses become valued members of the court and new such are instated; one is Thyra, single daughter of minor noble Bekket (known derisively as oneshot as usually more eggs are produced by the Queen) but with mysterious abilities of his own; and of course the other 4 of the current in-waiting brood, some true sisters and all from high born fathers, gang up on Thyra at any occasion, but Thyra seems to be a match for any and all of her rivals as she conclusively proves at the First Trial riding a unicorn against powerful modified beasts...
At the (to start) low level we have Finn, uranic son of one of the noble families that rule Gondiar, the human agricultural planet in Queen Helene's system, who is super-bored with his role, associates himself with discontented humans and dreams of flying to the stars with the Traveller families who own spaceships and go exploring and bringing old Remnant tech to the Celestials from dangerous places; to establish enough creed, he flies to the Anoosha the other human planet in the Dominion, an industrial one under a fellow/rival Celestial Queen, gets in over his head in the process and opens the book by being thrown outbound and naked from a high altitude plane... While a drone breaks his fatal fall, he still needs rescuing (as he is thrown naked into a snow-covered area) and we meet human newcomers Ellie of arkship Diligent and Josiah (her many generations ancestors, originally born of Earth 40000 years or so before and recently thawed), now marooned on Anoosha and strangers in a strange land. Finn wants to fly to the stars and would do anything it takes for that...
Also, we have Terence a young and upcoming detective in Santa Rosa, the capital of Gondiar, who accepts an interesting assignment and becomes involved with Celestial and Traveller intrigue which of course can get quite dangerous in itself.
With a layered and complex storyline of which we get successive glimpses only until the powerful finale which leaves the story at a good stopping point (thankfully no planet hopping waterfall ride this time as its sort of analog here is done earlier) the book is an extraordinary achievement in which the author really let fly his imagination.
Best of the year by far and will be hard to top in the promise sequel and duology ending The Helium Sea....more
A bit short and very much a series book that carries the storyline from point A to point B though this time all the 4 POV endings are at reasonably baA bit short and very much a series book that carries the storyline from point A to point B though this time all the 4 POV endings are at reasonably balanced points. Definitely curious to see where it goes next...more
Fast and furious adventure/political sf with a few twists and turns which doesn't take itself too seriously and is quite enjoyableFast and furious adventure/political sf with a few twists and turns which doesn't take itself too seriously and is quite enjoyable...more
Excellent sf adventure with a touch of speculation about the nature of life and existence. With dangerous assassins, uploaded AI personalities, genetiExcellent sf adventure with a touch of speculation about the nature of life and existence. With dangerous assassins, uploaded AI personalities, genetically enhanced humans and set in an interesting near future on Earth, Europa and in between, the novel is very hard to put down once it gets going in the second chapter. Cassie White, an opt (enhanced human) with a compulsion for space, has been forced to work in the deep ocean (sort of) police patrolling for illegal metals mining that was destroying the ecosystem, once her genetics betrayed her in space and she blacked out piloting which lead to the death of her passenger. Also the deeps are not quite space so she needs to take drugs occasionally just to remain sane. In a world where opts like her have been blamed for everything from mass unemployment to conspiracy to genocide the "normal" humans with a deadly virus which supposedly doesn't kill the opts and in which they are marginalized and attacked (Cassie is a survivor of a school shooting targeting opt children, while her apartment has just been vandalized when the action gets going), Cassie just gets by when she is offered a last chance to get into a space on a mission to Europa. And the chance is offered by a powerful ex senator known for his anti-opt legislation and comes with some unwelcome strings. But her compulsion which is more and more unmanageable and her burning desire to find about the fate of her brother missing in an earlier Europa mission leaves her with no choice but to accept; the nominal commander is the husband of the passenger killed by her blackout so Cassie is already on his s..t list, assassins with a secret mission are on board and everyone else is suspicious of her last minute inclusion... But she may have some unexpected if not quite welcome allies of her own with their own agenda of course. And so it goes with such energy that one is compelled to turn the pages...
Discovery continues the storyline from First Strike with the same over-the-top action-adventure stuff, impossible odds, magic technology, beautiful piDiscovery continues the storyline from First Strike with the same over-the-top action-adventure stuff, impossible odds, magic technology, beautiful pirate girls, nasty aliens, and even nastier pirates, as well as all-around bad guys from the supposed allies, so Devin Starn has to juggle dealing with his viral transformation, protecting the captain, fighting in the Red Company against all the above and his dual attraction to Freya and a new pirate girl he saves etc
Definitely interested in the next volume as like the first book, Discovery moves fast and can be read in one sitting ...more
Fun and fast book with the usual expected stuff - (first person narration) the down-on-his-luck tough guy who gets a break and starts proving himself,Fun and fast book with the usual expected stuff - (first person narration) the down-on-his-luck tough guy who gets a break and starts proving himself, over-the-top action, irony and sarcasm, a bit of romance, impossible odds, aliens and pirates etc. Goes really fast so can be finished in one sitting and I definitely plan to read book 2 which continues where book 1 ends.
Overall enjoyed it a lot as a fast pulpy solar system action adventure with an ending at a good tbc point. ...more
Very interesting book set in the 25th century on a fairly desolate Earth where bounty hunters, demobilized soldiers from the conflicts on Mars and assVery interesting book set in the 25th century on a fairly desolate Earth where bounty hunters, demobilized soldiers from the conflicts on Mars and assorted locals intersect in generally brutal ways. Woolf, a former soldier but raised in one of the Martian stations is now roaming on Earth in her "worm", a special modular ATV guided by an AI, scavenging and trading and missing her daughter BB who left her some years back for a stabler life, or so she thought. Jar and Bowl are bounty hunters sent by a powerful corporation to recover some rogue scientists and their invention which allows at least in theory to read and immerse in people's minds - the drawback is that to create such a mind map, it is necessary to kill them and suck their memories immediately so to speak, but of course both the corporation and the scientists believe that with one more experiment, the technology will work without that need; the two are willing to use any means necessary, and Bowl at least is a born killer who shoots first and lets Jar ask questions second while being happy to just suck the memories of their victim to carry off world to their masters for more data on this tech; Tin is a young girl, most likely about 12, living with a couple and an autistic girl several years older in a sort of crossroads inn - Hopy the innkeeper may be her father but Tin is not really sure and she generally likes to play in hidden places she only knows; as Jar and Bowl start spreading their mayhem in search of the rogue scientists, Tin survives by chance and is found by Woolf who starts taking care of her in this brutal world, while trying to recover her daughter memories from the two killers. Lots of adventures in a very brutal world, where one shoots first and talks second, survival is hard and death is easy. Great characters and bleak but fascinating world building (there is an appendix with more about the world, the stations, history etc) and narrative pull that makes the book hard to put down. Highly recommended and the promised second series installment is another asap book for me, while this one ends at a good stopping point with a self contained storyline...more
The direct sequel to the excellent The Lighthouse of Kuiper, the book follows two threads -Tharsis (Ambera Chen's nickname) who gets to visit Earth beThe direct sequel to the excellent The Lighthouse of Kuiper, the book follows two threads -Tharsis (Ambera Chen's nickname) who gets to visit Earth before the Euphemism (the apocalyptic movement/event led by scientists who thought that to save Earth it is needed to exterminate the human race and they get quite close to doing it) and actually contributes to events of importance in the future, including the start of the Arran (her own Martian culture, heavily martial, and based on family/clan self-sufficiecy but with strong national service requirements, usually fulfilled by the eldest son of the family - Ambera as the eldest daughter had to fulfill it when her only teen brother lost a leg hunting a snow leopard) culture in a closed time loop, and the newly reborn Landlord of Mars, the Rossen, through whose eyes we get a tour of the culture of the Landlord based heliosphere 800 years hence and of its planets and habitats, as the void drive (almost instantaneous drive within the heliosphere based on shards of consciousness of the Flet, a highly augmented former human pilot - whose back story hinted in the first book is fully fleshed here) starts failing and the Rossen must find the cause until the heliosphere dissolves under the weight of slow fusion based space travel.
Fascinating characters and action, great and imaginative world-building, and a better narrative flow than in the first volume though still not as smooth as it could have been.
Highly recommended for quite imaginative sf and the next book (trilogy final?) The Cathedrals of Mars is another huge asap...more
Very innovative sf set some hundreds of years in the future in a ravaged Solar System loose polity called the Heliosphere where immortal (sort of at lVery innovative sf set some hundreds of years in the future in a ravaged Solar System loose polity called the Heliosphere where immortal (sort of at least) "Landlords" (one for each planetary in-well more or less), try and keep civilization going under the Accords that (sort of) bind them; unfortunately one of them, the mysterious Arcna of the farthest reaches, now supposedly residing in mysterious Noqumiut a fabled, Shangri-La paradise (at least in the beliefs of the millions of her followers) in the Kuiper Belt, is truly mad and every century or so starts preaching about the remaking of the polity to be just, a paradise for everyone, a fulfillment of humanity potential and all the usual propaganda bs, etc etc though, of course, these ravings, called Propagations, that overwhelm the censorship of the Landlords and are widely broadcasted everywhere through mysterious means, only lead to immense violence and bloodshed (not that the other Landlords are much saner though, but their madness lacks the grandiose megalomania of Arcna); after some 70 years of (more or less) peace another Propagation seems on the horizon, though this one may turn even deadlier...
With a lot of jargon that is sometimes difficult to follow and breaks the narrative flow and quite claustrophobic on occasion, the novel is still very innovative with an original setting and interesting characters - Caleb Ross, the Landlord of Mars, a former sergeant who reincarnates at 24 every time he dies with little memories of his previous lives, Ambera Chen aka "Tharsis" from her middle of nowhere homestead, a young lieutenant in the Arran (the Martian civilization) army who gets entangled by chance in all and through whose eyes we travel from one end of the Heliosphere to another, major Lanin, a dutiful Arran officer, the previous commander of Tharsis and of the newly reincarnated Landlord, tDaer, the newest incarnation of the genetic Daer line of Iapetus, a young idealistic researcher who is willing to skirt the Accords and defy the Landlords to show humanity the way towards the paradise promised by Arcna, a Jovian princeling in for money and power, another Jovian but a fanatic follower of Arcna's teaching and of course various other Landlords who interact with the main characters in colorful locations throughout the Heliosphere.
With an ending that is partly a cliffhanger, and partly a resolution of the main plot, The Lighthouse of Kuiper is worth persevering through, ignoring the jargon when necessary as most of it becomes clearer as the novel progresses as it is packed with interesting ideas, world-building characters, past history and of course adventure, fights, tragedy, and even a little romance.
Highly recommended and hopefully the immediate sequel The Ariums of Earth will be as good as this one...more
Excellent stuff as in the first volume, mil-space opera with lots of stuff going on in an interesting universe where the human society is split into fExcellent stuff as in the first volume, mil-space opera with lots of stuff going on in an interesting universe where the human society is split into full citizens who have full rights and responsibilities, so, for example, they have to be ready to duel for their life at any moment and can get wealthy and live for centuries due to expensive rejuv but also can get very poor and die in misery, and demi-cits who are protected and regulated so they live normal but restricted lives, though they can choose once in their lifetime to become full citizens with the risk and rewards entailed (and of course the choice is irrevocable as once a citizen, you are a citizen for life which of course can be very short);
Ending at quite an interesting tbc point, The Silent Hand is a more sprawling novel as it follows essentially 4 threads - the present ones with Saef (the hero), Inga (the heroine and the hero's protector), and Loki (the illegal AI saved by Inga with a fondness for pets) and respectively Winter (the imperial chief spy to whom the hero reports), Bess (the clan leader of the hero, almost assassinated in the previous book and now recovering, and Ramos (a recent citizen who chose the risk and rewards rather than than the sure life of demi-cit, who gets involved even deeper with the spy business) both excellent, but also a ground war on Delta 3 with imperial legionnaires and later marines (this was kind of the least interesting storyline for me) and then the past story of Inga starting in her childhood when the Sinclair-Maru family saves her and her siblings from poverty and abuse, while she pays by accepting to train to be a special operative for them.
The usual battles against the odds, conspiracies, unexpected traitors and allies, twists and turns, and by and large a page-turner as the first volume with the next volume another highly expected novel....more
Best of the series so far (to some extent because finally there is no Earth action as that one really detracts from the storyline, but also because thBest of the series so far (to some extent because finally there is no Earth action as that one really detracts from the storyline, but also because there is a lot of action on Chandra which is sf at its best) ending at a very good tbc point and making book 5 a huge asap ...more
On the campy side and with shaky history, but energetic and lots of fun, so when I got seriously into it, I couldn't really put it down until the end.On the campy side and with shaky history, but energetic and lots of fun, so when I got seriously into it, I couldn't really put it down until the end.
The major issue I had at the end was the lack of balance between the first part which takes most of the book and the last quite short part which happens a few years later and which felt rushed and incomplete.
Hopefully, the promised sequel will rectify that as I quite enjoyed the novel overall, though with a better narrative balance, it would have been superb....more
Read all the 4 Eden books back to back as the storyline is very compelling and this one and number 4 are superb as the Earth part which is duller is mRead all the 4 Eden books back to back as the storyline is very compelling and this one and number 4 are superb as the Earth part which is duller is minimal here. The war for Eden starts in this one....more
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