Sly Mongoose is the third novel of Tobias Buckell. It is part of the same future history as its predecessors Crystal Rain and Ragamuffin, but it is a self-contained story that can be read on its own.

It has been decades since humanity rose up and overthrew their oppressors, the alien Satraps and their client races. Now, the 48 linked worlds of the former Benevolent Satrapy are fought over by humans, once the very bottom of society. The largest of these factions is the League of Human Affairs; once revolutionaries who led the way against the Satraps, they have themselves become the oppressors as they seek to unite humanity under their banner by force and subjugate or destroy the alien races who once served the oppressive Satrapy. Their chief opponents are an alliance of free peoples centered on the formerly lost human colony world of New Anegada. Caught in the middle is the human world of Chilo, a Venus-like planet in the neutral buffer zone between the League and Nanagada. Its people live in huge floating cities, held up by Chilo’s ultra-dense lower atmosphere.

The story begins with fourteen year-old Timas, an inhabitant of one of Chilo’s poorest cities, Yatapek. He is one of the xocoyotzin, boys who periodically descend to the burning surface of Chilo to maintain the automated mining machines that sustain the city’s economy- the impoverished city is stuck with pressure suits too small for Yatapekan adults. The vital role he plays allows his family to share in the life of the city’s upper class- until Timas grows too big, or dies in the blazing Hell he descends into over and over to keep the machines running.

His life is thrown into chaos when a strange visitor from space crashes into Yatapek after making a desperate escape from a dying ship. He is pursued by the Aeolians, Yatapek’s more prosperous neighbors, who say that he murdered an entire starship crew. The stranger himself, a man named Pepper, has an even more horrifying story to tell of the crew’s fate- a fate that may overtake all of Chilo.

Sly Mongoose is the best of Buckell’s novels to date. Buckell’s greatest strengths- fast-paced action and intriguing settings- are on full display. Timas is an interesting protagonist and a well-done portrayal of someone being overwhelmed by the demands placed on him.

The novel is in some ways a return to the style of Buckell’s debut Crystal Rain; the story focuses tightly on a single world and its inhabitants, rather than continuing the wide-scale scope of Ragamuffin. This works out well, since Chilo has more than enough points of interest.

The people of Yatapek are Azteca, who have previously appeared in Buckell’s universe only as antagonists. They have abandoned the rituals of human sacrifice forced on their ancestors by the alien Teotl and sought to make a fresh start. Buckell does a great job portraying their society- poverty desperate enough to drive them to send their children into the hazardous inferno of the surface, leaders terrified that the lower classes will revert to the bloodthirsty ways of their ancestors, the fear and tension of the families of the xocoyotzin who have been given a taste of a better life among the upper classes but know it could end at any time.

While the story is confined to Chilo, the reader does still learn a number of interesting things about the wider fictional universe, some hinted at in previous books and others completely new. The shared setting of Buckell’s three novels has become increasingly intriguing with each book.

The menace to Chilo is called the Swarm- a malignant group consciousness that spreads by infection and turns humans into mindless thralls. They are a very interesting take on the idea of the zombie- they have elements reminiscent of both the modern American movie zombie and the older Vodou concept, built on a science fictional rather than supernatural base. Buckell does a great job of taking something that had become a bit of a cliché and breathing new life into it.

Buckell’s talent for action scenes is well-demonstrated here, with everything from aerial warfare between dirigibles in Chilo’s skies to desperate mass battle with the relentless hordes of the Swarm. Pepper was a powerful presence in Buckell’s first two novels, but here he really comes into his own, and some of his later scenes are among the most thrilling I’ve read in a while. The action is fast and intense, and visceral without being off-puttingly gruesome.

Sly Mongoose is an outstanding book, and one I’d recommend to any science fiction fan. If you enjoyed Buckell’s previous books, or like stories with a well-realized setting and a lot of action, you won’t be disappointed.

In Zoë’s Tale John Scalzi changes stride – this stand-alone novel set in the Old Man’s War universe is told entirely from the perspective of a 17-year old girl, intentionally being accessible to both adults and a young-adult audience.

Zoë’s Tale presents a different view of the events covered in Scalzi’s previous novel, The Last Colony, with the point of view from Zoë, the adopted daughter of John Perry and Jane Sagan, the main stars of The Last Colony. Simply stated, the plot involves Zoë’s adoptive parents being chosen to lead a new colony of humans within a universe where habitable planets are coveted. Politics greatly complicate the situation, and things become ever more dangerous – and through it all, Zoë deals with the same teenage trials common to the more privileged of the human race. Oh, and Zoë is also a virtual demigod worshiped by an entire race of aliens that provide her with two body guards who continually record their experiences to share with the rest of their species. Navigating the tricky ground of writing a story that many readers will already know, Scalzi gets to show us another side to those events, addressing the wants and issues his fans had with The Last Colony and potentially attracting an entirely new audience to his world.

One thing that I love about John Scalzi’s books is that they are simply fun to read. His choice of words makes for fast, easy, and enthralling reading. His humor and wit entertain and even though this might not be the most innovative or mind-blowing science fiction out there, it’s certainly among the most fun to read. Equally impressive is that this book crosses that magical (and often forbidden) line between adult and young adult fiction – I can say it worked well for me, and I imagine it will work equally well for the young adult audience.

Zoë’s Tale is far and away Scalzi’s best book yet. The voice of a teenage girl is always tricky, yet Scalzi, a male in his upper-30s, manages to get it rather right. Zoë is just as snarky, inconsistent, short on judgment, emotional, and remarkable as any teenager can be. She really comes alive through Scalzi’s witty dialogue and uncertain internal discourse – it’s very easy to imagine Scalzi channeling his pride of his own young daughter into Zoë, and I get the feeling that his daughter is his number one audience.

One of the aspects of Zoë’s Tale that I enjoyed most is Scalzi’s treatment of the colonists’ PDAs – think something like the most techno-jacked-up blackberry of today, except that it is much more powerful and important to the every-minute life of people. Due to a need for a complete radio blackout, all of these devices must be confiscated and the colonists must rely on non-wireless technology and their own brains. I recall not thinking too much about this when reading The Last Colony, but seeing this event from the perspective of a teenager lends an entirely greater weight to things. The parallel to the youth of today cannot be missed.

The success or failure of Zoë’s Tale resides entirely with its namesake: Zoë. As I’ve indicated above, Scalzi scores a winner with Zoë in this book (in spit of my finding her a bit flat and unconvincing in The Last Colony). She is the every-teenager with all the usual trouble of personal interaction, young love, adolescent angst, with an added danger and the fact that she is literally worshiped by an entire alien species. All this forces Zoë to discover who she is and who she will be – the identity struggle that all teens deal with – and the realization that while she is literally the center of a whole species’ universe, her actions have consequences, and the view outward is of great importance. While Zoë is a remarkable person (perhaps even too remarkable), it works and it’s this success that raises Zoë’s Tale above Scalzi’s other books.

The back jacket copy describes Majestrum by Matthew Hughes, as “Sherlock Holmes meets Jack Vance’s Dying Earth…” H-m-m-m-m. Let’s take a look. This first person narrative chronicles the latest adventures of Henghis Hapthorn, freelance discriminator. Hapthorn is assisted by his integrator, a sort of electronic Dr. Watson, in the broadest sense, who has been transformed into a living, breathing, and definitely, eating creature. Cat-monkey is how I pictured it in my mind, although it is also referred to as a “familiar.” “It?” Is it male? Female? Not sure, but it most definitely is no longer a machine.

The third member of Hapthorn’s feckless crew is Hapthorn himself. Or, rather, Hapthorn’s intuition, which has achieved separate awareness under the same special circumstances described in a previous novel wherein our integrator becomes flesh and blood and sentient. Well, kind of sentient. And hungry.

So the intuition is growing in awareness and power and Hapthorn can foresee the day when he, Hapthorn, the current “I” in this particular body will be nothing more than a daub of logic in the other’s mind. By the way, in this far distant future universe of Hapthorn’s (Ah, Dying Earth-like) the operating system of the universe is making a switch. Kind of like going from Windows to Mac, the universe is slowly reverting to a past state wherein sympathetic association (also known as magic) dominates over logic and reason. It seems the universe fluctuates, switching from one to the other over the millennia in constant change as yin becomes yang and yang becomes yin.

However, certain occurrences in said previous novel have brought about the change faster in particular instances, i.e. integrator becomes cat-monkey and intuition becomes ego.
So we begin the novel with the integrator snacking on expensive bowls of fruit, and Hapthorn worrying about losing control of his body.

Now to the mystery, or, mysteries. First Lord Afre, a member of Earth’s aristocracy in the far future, calls in need of a freelance discriminator (Enter the Holmesian element.). Hapthorn begins his investigation, carefully. Decadent? Jaded? The aristocrats of the far future may be that, but they are more than anything, dangerous. Of course, one does not climb to such a pinnacle nor maintain that perch without having claws. Although, so unaware of the lower classes is Lord Afre, that Henghis must wear a symbol of recognition to safeguard him (Nice touch this!).

A second mystery is carried in by the Archon, the young, somewhat clumsy, and absolute ruler of Earth. Soon, Holmes, er, uh, Hapthorn is embroiled in a case that may well determine the very integrity of the universe.

Majestrum has many fine points. The characters are fey and immoral and somewhat Vanceian, but, to Matthew Hughes’ credit, very much their own people. This novel has the feel of a Jack Vance universe, but the characters are Matthew Hughes's. I particularly like the interplay between Hapthorn and his familiar. The exchanges are often droll and dry, and very funny. Toward the end of the book, Hapthorn requires his familiar to perform what seems to be a dangerous action. The familiar refuses. The dialogue brought more than one laugh-out-loud from me. Very nice.

So the characters are good and some are very real. The mystery is not all that mysterious, and the reader is not supplied with enough information to solve the case. Not bad, but not a true mystery.
The setting tends to be flat. There is just not enough description of the world around our team. Curiously, this might be said to mimic Jack Vance, whose worlds often seem a bit vague, especially when compared to the creatures who inhabit them.

Vance meets Holmes? I will give in to the Vance part with the caveat that Matthew Hughes’s characters are his very own and should be appreciated and enjoyed for this. They are not merely Vanceian pastiches, they are real. And often quite good.

Holmes, no, I think not. But this is not a bad thing. Once again, Henghis Hapthorn, his familiar, and his soon-to-be-ego are individuals their own selves. This is not really a mystery, but an enjoyable story about a detective—I mean a freelance discriminator.

Majestrum is a delightful book and highly recommended. If you like Jack Vance you will most likely enjoy these characters. But also, enjoy them on their own. The plot is above average and combined with Hughes’s excellent writing style, moves along quite well. I enjoyed this to the point where I will go back and catch up on the doings of Hapthorn and also go forward and read the newest book, The Spiral Labyrinth, as well.

Star Trek has always been known for throwing plenty of backstory out there in passing in its episodes, to pave the way for an hour of television. That backstory is then largely forgotten in future episodes since the majority of Star Trek’s run on television has involved stand-alone episodes. That leaves plenty of fertile ground for authors to fill in, which would certainly be a reason why Star Trek tie-in novels are as prolific as they are.

Star Trek Terok Nor tells the story of the occupation of Bajor by the Cardassians. Star Trek: The Next Generation first brought us the story of Bajor in a few of its later season episodes. It then became one of the main storylines of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The very final episode of the show showed us an ending of the story. Day of the Vipers by James Swallow shows us the beginning of the story. Terok Nor, as we learned on Deep Space Nine, was the Cardassians name for the space station when it was under their control. At this point however, the space station that would become the crown jewel of Cardassia’s occupation of Bajor, and later Deep Space Nine, is only a distant dream.

The novel stretches over a ten-year period, from the first Cardassian vessel traveling to make first contact with the Bajorans, all the way through the days immediately following the beginning of the occupation.

Given the timeframe of the novel most of the characters that we meet are new original characters for this story. However a young Dukat, before he becomes the Gul Dukat who is a recurring character all throughout the run of Deep Space Nine, is one of the central characters of the book. In the beginning he is the first officer of the first vessel to visit Bajor. We then watch him move up in the ranks and in power and influence throughout the novel. More importantly to a good story we learn WHY he is driven to move up in the ranks and to make it his mission to see Bajor under Cardassian rule. There is more to the story than simply waking up in the morning, deciding to hop into a spaceship and make a trip at warp speed to begin a long and complex campaign to take over the world of another civilization.

Make no mistake about it, the Cardassians are the villains of the story. But like good villains that aren’t one-dimensional they have motivations for behaving as they do. It is not evil for evil’s sake. In their minds they are entirely justified in doing what they do. Cardassia is a very resource poor world with a population that scrapes by to provide the essentials. In Bajor, they see a world that has a bounty of resources that they under-appreciate to the point of being wasteful. In Cardassian eyes they are lazy, undisciplined, and underachieving as a society and need a “firm Cardassian rule in order to make something of themselves.

Within the overall cultural motivations we have a variety of personal motivations ranging from the desire to best serve Cardassia, to personal ambitions of wealth and power, to motivations of religious faith. On the other side of the coin Cardassia was able to exploit a number of Bajoran motivations as well. Bajor didn’t willingly cede its world over to an alien race. There were segments of their society that welcomes an alliance for a variety of reasons, some personal and some societal. All of these sub-plots swirl beneath the main plot, the one we know from being Star Trek fans, and come together in the climax, in a number of surprising ways. While the end result is anticipated, the events along the way are quite surprising at times.

James Swallow wrote a very complex story and had a very good grasp of all the characters. He gave us a very good cross section of both Bajoran and Cardassian societies, from religious clerics, to politicians and their political power grabs, to career soldiers, to secret operatives, and maybe especially of Mace Darrah. Darrah is a Bajorian Militiaman who is determined to uphold his duty and serve his people as a lawman even as his society and his marriage crumble around him. While Dukat is the central villain of the story, Mace Darrah is the central hero. Given the nature of the story he was never going to have a totally heroic victory in this book. But he did get a nice little personal victory. Perhaps the stage is set for him to make a heroic comeback against all odds. But maybe he will suffer a heroic and tragic death to set the stage for the rise of other resistance fighters, such as Kira Nerys. According to her backstory she is born about 15 years after the end of this book. One would presume that she will factor into the next book based on the timeline, and the fact that she’s on the cover of the next book. Heroes inspire other heroes, so perhaps Mace Darrah will become Kira’s role model. We will see.

Throughout the story kept moving at a fast pace, even as it got more and more complex with the addition of conspiracies and even conspiracies within conspiracies. The story was well managed and was extremely plausible.

Another thing I liked was that not only was the story not Federation-centric but it didn’t cast the Federation in a particularly favorable light. They are not eager to get involved, for reasons from their point of view that are strategically plausible. It’s easy to understand Bajor’s later distrust of the Federation. It goes to show that the Federation isn’t always a bunch of Boy Scouts. Their policies are sometimes dictated by politics and other concerns just as any real organization would be. So while we had plenty of Star Trek science fiction in this story, it also maintained a strong grip on plausible reality. I thought this was a good story that just happened to be told in the Star Trek universe.

My biggest concern coming into “Day of the Vipers” would be whether or not I would care about all the new characters that we would see in the story, especially since the majority of them will probably be ground beneath the wheels of time as the series progresses over a period of about 52 years from beginning to end. For the most part these are forerunners to the characters that are “near and dear. But thankfully Swallow did not create Jar Jar Binks and gave us characters that add to the richness of the Star Trek universe, not characters that are best forgotten. Day of the Vipers was an outstanding beginning of the trilogy. We’ll see if the authors who will be concluding the series give us as compelling of a story. I rate Day of the Vipers as a 7.5.

Chris Keating hated his life. He hated living on a planet covered mostly with water. He hated the smell of rotting seaweed. He hated his job and the fact he was an orphan. However, he despised the Selkies more than all of these hates put together. Modified genetically from human DNA, the Selkies were beings who could live underwater and on land. They had gills, modified hearing, vision and speech, all of which enabled them to be at home in the sea while still looking human. Because they were so at home in the water, Selkies ruled Marseguro, the planet Chris had the unfortunate reality of calling home.

Settled when a starship escaped Earth to flee religious and political persecution, Marseguro has remained hidden from Earth for seventy years. Not anymore. Selkies and humans alike will face their greatest fears when Earth seeks that which was lost to them seventy years ago, causing all involved to come to terms with the realities of prejudice and hate.

Portraying people at their worst and their best, this book challenges readers to revisit their first impressions. The unexpected dives in the storyline only add interest and depth to what could have been a shallow and simple sci-fi tale. Characters face issues of nature vs. nurture, the effects of bullying and the deep seated threads of prejudice, yet readers do not need to acknowledge any of this to enjoy Marseguro. Added to the mix is delightful display of tech that more resembles Star Trek (possible) as opposed to Star Wars (never gonna happen).

I liked this book more than I thought I would when I first picked it up. The author was constantly surprising me, which doesn’t happen often, twisting the usual sci-fi conventions into more than just a shoot ‘em up space opera. Edward Willett has created people, personalities with belief systems and misguided judgments who make mistakes in trying to do what they believe is right. Still what I would consider light reading, Marseguro is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon on another planet. I look forward to the release of the sequel to Marseguro, Terra Insegura, later on next year.

Ragamuffin is the second work by Carribean-born Tobias Buckell, I reviewed its prequel Crystal Rain last August at my blog and was pleasantly surprised how well the writer blended different styles and genres together in an exciting novel. In many ways the novel, although it could be considered a science fiction effort, had a distinct adventurous feel to it. I remember using the word 'refreshing' quite a lot, as it was the perfect word to illustrate that setting. If you have not picked it up, I would recommend you doing so. Later on in the novel, the science fiction elements gained the upper hand. Ragamuffin pretty much continues onward in this trend, yet it almost reads as a book of a whole other series. The first half of the novel is firmly set in outerspace - away from the familiar planet of New Anagada- in a space opera setting. The first part also serves to introduce and add an another bunch interesting characters to the cast, Nashara a technologically advanced human hailing from the planet of Chimson being the most notable addition. This switch of settings actually caught me a bit off guard, but I quickly grew fond of the space opera theme. Admittedly, my experience with space operas is rather limited, I have not read any of the classic space operas in the genre but reading this book did make me want to pick up more examples dealing with these settings. It demonstrates how well Buckell's writing thrives in such an environment and how well he succeeded in making the setting as plausible as possible. In the second half of the novel, there is a reacquainting with our old friends from Crystal Rain, John deBrun, his son Jerome (whose actions play more significant to the overall story than they did in Crystal Rain) and of course my favourite, Pepper. It was in this second half of the novel that things really kicked in higher gear. Not surprisingly, the various plot-lines were tied together in these latter chapters. I won't go into details, but I think it was rather deftly done how these different characters 'clashed' and were forced to cooperate in some instances. It confirmed once again the qualities of Buckell as a writer.

On to the reviewing part. I can safely conclude that this was a very satisfying read, providing me with a lot entertaining hours spanning over the 300 odd pages. The prose was good and enjoyable but not mindblowing. When it comes that aspect of a book, I tend to enjoy the (what I consider) more difficult prose to access, the darkly poetic styles wielded by Steven Erikson and R. Scott Bakker come to my mind, but it is not a mandatory thing in order to really enjoy the book overall. I can still enjoy a book quite a lot even when there is no real groundbreaking prose to speak of. Of course, when there is groundbreaking prose to speak of, it naturally is as an especially satisfying bonus which usually results in a higher level of enjoyment. In this case, the prose was certainly solid enough and supported the story nicely for me to enjoy the novel overall. One of the strengths of this novel is the characterization, especially Nashara the newest addition to the cast, was portrayed in an interesting way. The novel benefited quite well from another 'strong' (in terms of personality) character, because she can kick ass ladies and gentlemen. When the advanced technology came into play, it produced some amazing scenes that left me grinning like a madman. The stucture of the short chapters (at times barely one page) also enabled Buckell to switch point of views in high rate, thus every character got plenty the attention and polishing he/she deserved. This in turn affected the level of characterization in a positive way.

However, with regard to the short chapters, there was one downside. Although the characterization did benefit from the point of view switching, the pacing certainly did not. The pacing was actually the only really major drawback of this book. I mentioned earlier that in the latter parts of the book the characters met up with each-other, needless to say the frequency of the chapter switching increased there as well. It resulted in a rather fragmented sequence of action scenes, it almost felt too 'jumpy'. It was as if Tobias Buckell had trouble keeping all the balls in the air at the same time. It was also difficult to gain a clear view of what was exactly going on at the same time, I imagine these parts would have improved in quality when the author would have chosen to settle with one character to describe the action from. The plotting was mostly OK, Buckell tied up most of the plot lines quite nicely like I said earlier on, but there still was one plot line that seemed pretty pointless in the end. Thinking back to it, I can't actually recall what purpose it served other than a more thorough introduction to the ruthless methods of the alien Satrapy make use of when controlling humanoids all over the universe. When push came to shove, the boy and the girl featured in the plot line were cast aside as characters without any importance. I do hope that Tobias Buckell has something up his sleeve for them in the next novel Sly Mongoose (which will be published in 2008) otherwise the whole thing seemed a precious waste of time. So far there is one thing that Tobias Buckell has succeeded in pulling off in both novels, quite an accomplishment really, and that is in giving each respective work a kind of Caribbean flavor that makes it stands out as an unique work from the rest of the pack. It is fun to see how his Caribbean background is gradually incorporated in the story and setting, with the Ragamuffins (who talk in some sort of Caribbean version of English), who could be dubbed as the Caribbean Space Cowboys, being the perfect examples to illustrate that.

So in short, Ragamuffin was an enjoyable novel with memorable characters to whom I look forward meeting again in the next novel Sly Mongoose. The rapid switching from different point of views in the latter parts of the novel does result in a bit awkward pacing, but the solid characterization, the unique Caribbean flavor and the craftly executed space opera setting fully make up for this major drawback. An accomplished second novel by a clearly talented author.

- Lawrence
The Gravel Pit

The titular heroine of Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife series returns in Kris Longknife: Audacious.

As the story opens, Kris has arrived on the planet of New Eden, ostensibly for some long-overdue rest after a tour of duty in the Rim Territories. Unfortunately, her hopes for peace and quiet are brought to a halt by a series of assassination attempts. Kris is quickly drawn into not only a struggle to stay alive, but also to discover who wants her dead and why she was sent to New Eden in the first place.

"Audacious" stands alone fairly well, despite being the 5th in a series. I hadn't read any of the previous books, so that was a plus for me. As a whole, "Audacious" is a pretty decent read - Shepherd's naval background shows itself in the verisimilitude given to the military aspects of the book. Kris herself is a strong female character, although there isn't much character development throughout - the book focuses on action, with some interesting sci-fi twists thrown in.

The central storyline could have used some work, however. It seems rushed and some of the plot threads aren't developed clearly (the kidnapping, etc.). Perhaps more explanation of the antagonist's motives would have helped. I'd also have to say the prose and dialogue are readable but were rough at times. That said, it excels as a page-turner with some good action scenes.

Exodus is book one of three of a Hellgate: London series based upon the video game of the same name. I generally stay away from discussing plot of the book in a review, but if one is going to read a book based upon a video game, they should know a bit about it. Unless of course they are reading it strictly because they are fans of the video game.

In 2020 London, the Knight’s Templar is alive and well, having staked out a large and advanced operation in the London Underground. Their duty is to train and be ready to defend the world from demons if and when they should attack the world. They have been vigilant for hundreds of years, and now they design and train with the most advanced weapons and armor that technology and magic can create.

The hero of our story is Simon Cross. After years of a life defined by training and living secretly in the London Underground, he decides that there is more to life than giving it over to some myths and legends that he no longer believed in. So he left London and went to South Africa, where he was a safari guide.

When news reports said that London had been overrun and decimated by aliens, Simon knew what had had happened and that the stories were real. He knew he had a duty to perform. He also knew that is father was still in London.

What would Simon find in London other than possibly a quick death?

I will reiterate that this book is based on a video game. I’m not familiar with this game but I imagine that it’s similar to Halo, Half-Life, Doom, Quake, or any of a host of first person shooters. The Knights are clad in high tech armor augmented with magic, and rely on weapons that are the same. There is much combat in this book. Scenes of combat, carnage, death, and destruction fill the book. There is nothing upbeat or cheery about the apocalyptic London landscape. In that regard it is a video game. If you don’t want a book that focuses this heavily on these elements this one won’t be for you.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some interesting characters. Simon became progressively more interesting as the story went on. There was also the development of a nemesis and possible villain for this series, as well as a couple mystery groups with unknown intentions in this world that is being newly re-written. I wouldn’t say there were any bombshell surprises but the story continued to build up and move along as the book progressed. Character concepts were not incredibly original but they worked well in this setting. I saw a lot of Raistlin in Warren, our rising villain, not that I minded. That said, the story was not dull. I did find myself rooting for the main character, and pitying the circumstances of the villain even as, through desperation and manipulation, he became increasingly more and more unlikable as the story went on.

I admit that I was dubious of reading a book based upon what looks like a first person shooter video game. The concept of demons overrunning London didn’t seem like a particularly appetizing plot to me. But the two main characters in the story were interesting enough to me that they overcame that. I think I would give the other two books that will be coming in this series a read to see how the saga ends. I’ll give this book a solid 7 on the ratings scale.

VALIANT as a universe began with the Solar: Man of the Atom and Magnus: Robot Fighter, two former Gold Key titles given new life and chosen to draw the first breath in a universe that would in its early years rival the creative height any other company – large or small – would reach. It is against our nostalgic sensibilities to makes such claims, but there is a magic to early VALIANT that I relate to in feeling – obviously not industry or social impact – but in terms at being in its bare roots gee-whiz science fiction and kindred to the magic of Ditko Spiderman, or Kirby and Lee Fantastic Four, or O’Neil and Adams Green Lantern; explorative works of wonder that still catered to our sense of the reality around us. With VALIANT it was a universe; and featured a not always linear manner of storytelling but fit with a tight continuity and if Magnus and Solar were the lungs that initiated breath in the setting with two era-essential storylines (Steel Nation and Alpha and Omega respectively) then RAI was its heart.

I wasn’t able to get these books when I was younger as when I became aware of the top-notch storytelling the prices of VALIANT back issues simply exceeded my weekly allowance. VALIANT was on fire, and caught in the speculator boom of the early 90’s when coupled with a miniscule print runs really priced these out of my range excluding reading about them in Wizard Magazine, cementing spots in their Top Ten hottest comics (this was when Wizard was a comic book magazine and practiced some form of journalism in its pages) feature.

This TPB collects and chronicles the first four issues of Rai, the first major original VALIANT character, as well as the pivotal issue #0. These do not account for his first appearance as they would occur in the pages of Magnus as the secondary story in a flip-book format in that title. It is there where the story of Magnus and Rai joining forces to defeat an alien invasion was chronicled, a victory that’s ramifications would include the country of Japan to be cast into the atmosphere orbiting the earth and its god-like patron to depart for love. Japan now floating above the rest of the world, not cut off but instead just serving a Tokugawa-like, symbolic and active isolationism but also has the more immediate impact on the central character. One cannot even pretend there has been no change, you live in the same place but the horizon seems different – it is gone – and you cannot run from it, there is no place to go and Rai would not want to but the comfort of knowing you can is a unknown presence you are not alerted to until it is no longer an option.

Rai is the traditional guardian of Japan, a responsibility of blood that served Grandmother – the robot that effectively maintained and managed the country. Their robo-obachan lost, Japan enters a scared new world and the symbol of the old world is going through personal crisis, he finds himself without a master, a ronin, and left without someone to dictate his cause he is forced to confront his identity not just a role. He struggles to find his place in a civil war, in his family, in the world he helped save. The people of Japan are shown to be in two rival social-political camps during this transition period and the country is in involved in a civil war between what could be considered the legitimate government, a government of the people, ran by humanity for humanity and that of those who yearn and try to facilitate the return of their mechanical god. It is all however, not so simplistic – yet certainly fundamentally – at the heart of it all are just individuals who seek power for themselves. What is left is a country that doesn’t know which to embrace more; its past, present, or future, a dilemma that is personified and magnified in Rai’s personal life by his father (the previous Rai), his wife, and his infant son. We see choices and not too subtle political and social options played out, we see the development of a drug culture and how one governs individual self and how to fit that into government. In the end you can’t help anyone or stand for anything until you are satisfied with doing either for yourself.

It is an interesting project for Micheline who probably has more quality runs on several glamour titles than anyone who is not more of a household name helming some classic Iron Man work with Bob Layton that’s probably the definitive run for many not to mention being the writer during Spiderman run that saw the creation of Venom that was also the mega-popular McFarlane Amazing Spiderman era. He offers an unfixed view of Rai, VALIANT readers had already been introduced to him, and while he is clearly a noble-hearted figure at his core he does not offer him to us on a pedestal, we make our choice, as Rai himself does. As a reader, it wouldn’t be an unfair observation to label Rai’s personal struggle to border on incessantly whiney and bordering on annoyance on par with the worse examples that occur currently in comics, you find yourself wanting him to take any advice just to give him a direction – we pity him, we are annoyed of him, we root for him, and before we know it, we care. In many ways he is Peter without Ben, with power and conscious of responsibility but not the direction or anchor mimicked by his free floating nation.

The art for the first four issues was supplied by Joe St. Pierre and the third issue sports one of the great covers of that decade, a traditional beast created with a future technology attempting to swallow Rai whole. While VALIANT certainly had high profile (or those that would become such) and even legendary figures working for them in various degrees like Steve Ditko, Barry Windsor-Smith, Frank Miller, Dave Lapham, Bob Layton, Dave Lapham, Rags Morales, Sean Chen, Bart Sears, Joe Quesada, Bart Sears, Paul Gulacy among others, their early accomplishment was a brand of storytelling that seems almost a vintage novelty in today’s market: that art and writing combined to make a greater whole – the story. The art tells a story, it’s not just splash art around dialogue; it’s a synergy between two skills to craft story, the very essence comic books and the first issues of Rai like the rest of the Pre-Unity VALIANT aren’t only worthwhile reads but also combines with the others to create a unique corner in the medium that represent the most impressive attempt at a superhero universe outside of the big two.

Forgive me a moment as I practice the very height of arrogance, I will quote what I said in May when I made this comment at my blog about VALIANT:

"People ask me about the television show: Heroes. I dig it, I really do - and the reason why is that it’s essentially Valiant-lite, they keep you in reality, revel in it, but understand wonder is a fundamental ingredient, it is not the escape it is the diving into the exploration of, and reestablishment of what can and cannot be real."

Which brings us to a weakness in the TPB. Understanding and applying it as a piece - a significant piece - of the tapestry, it’s a fundamental cog in a project that‘s whole is better than the parts. RAI#1-4 are real nice reads, but isn’t a brilliant example of comic book storytelling, it is part of a greater dream. The VALIANT fan cherishes the pieces with the benefit of the image of the whole picture, and no matter how nice some won’t be able to appreciate a piece of the frame completely especially how the fourth issue ends. What you get in Rai is not only the next piece in the grand scheme but you get the contrast with the Magnus character, two that are as close to being reflections of each other but are still opposites.

Holy blood, holy grail…

The VALIANT universe was rendered to readers via titles that were published simultaneously at two different parts of the timeline, present day (and in real time) and in the far future (4001). The blood of a future Rai is one of and perhaps the most significant binding element of the two threads, as the remnants of the nanotech that resided in a character of the present day VALIANT setting, a former mob hitman Bloodshot, through history will be over what wars were fought for and why revolutions would begin and affect entire generations of the VALIANT universe. It became a real sangreal and openly desired by one of the most powerful men on earth, Toyo Harada whose corporation would come to control the majority of the world and himself was an Omega Harbinger, a being of almost unsurpassed natural ability and power – and one of the two or three most potent minds not just in the world, but in its history. The last arc of the collection is Rai#0, a time jumping mosaic piece that tells the story of the Blood of Heroes and works in a manner much like Brad Meltzer’s zero issue for the recent JLA relaunch – it casts the possible and inevitable, creating different perspectives running in both directions of the timeline. We witness heroes fall and heroes born, of legacies earned and lost and of familial bonds that spanned centuries. It is a piece that is often the subject of differing opinions and represented a transition period for the company’s creative infrastructure, for myself however, it remains the fulcrum, an issue that echoes the greatness that was and a view – even if fractured and tainted – of what could have been, an issue on reflection that is a memorial of VALIANT’s rising sun in the process of burning out. Still hot – but not the light in the industry it once was.

Jay Tomio
The Bodhisattva

Doyle is an experienced space traveler who has agreed to do one more test run of the galactic space ship Gaea-02. Life on Earth has become unbearable with the shortage of drinkable water. The solution is to send the ship to a far off planet covered in water, a trip that will take ten years. Doyle has agreed to spend six months training the new pilot and then retire. But life didn’t work that way. When he wakes up from his three month hibernation he and the crew discover that a nuclear war has occurred on Earth. They have a deadly decision to make.

I was pumped to read this story. Here is a debut author creating a new world, with innovative technology and a different take on science fiction. His first chapters showcase deep emotions and relationships, not just “shoot’em up” space opera. I was a little disappointed. P.D. Gilson gives us a great back story and allows the reader to meet each one of his characters, explaining their viewpoints through the use of flashbacks into their past. However, the potential greatness of the book was lost due to very jerky transitions and a lack of depth to the plot.

This is a lightweight story. What you see is what you get, much like an episode on television. The bright, almost cartoonish characters never really take on a life of their own. Their actions are predictable and stereotypical. The cadence of the book did finally pick up towards the end and the author managed to surprise me with his wrap-up. But the promise of the first chapters was never delivered.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading the book. I liked meeting the characters and I hope there will be a sequel. It is a nice way to spend a couple of hours, but I doubt I will ever read it again.

My latest review is “The Elysium Commission” by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. This was definitely something new for me. Most of the science fiction that I read tends to be short stories, or genre science fiction, whether it be Star Trek, Star Wars, The X-Files, or another of the popular science fiction universes. So again I have an opportunity to read something new. That’s always a thrill.

This story is set far in the future, a thousand years or more. Humanity has expanded to other worlds and left Earth beyond. Technology has advanced to the level where it seems that almost anything is possible. That however is merely the backdrop of this story. It may be the 31st century or maybe the 41st century, but at its heart this story is a detective novel. Blaine Donne is a retired military special operative, now turned “problem solver”. When he receives a very profitable assignment from a mysterious client, he ends up with much more than he bargained for. Not only does the assignment turn dangerous but his client may be more than she seems to be.

As Blaine takes a couple other cases it turns out that they may all link together to reveal something elaborate and sinister. As the stakes get higher Blaine races to get answers before he himself becomes a target.

I really liked this book. The story was told from first person perspective, from a pair of perspectives. That gave you a bit more knowledge than Blaine himself has, but not much. The limited perspective worked very well for this book and turned it into quite a page-turner. The chapters were short and seemed to keep moving things along.

The cultural setting in the novel was very much French inspired, even down to an emphasis and critique of food in numerous scenes. A meal or party was not just a throwaway scene. The food was always noteworthy, for better or for worse, even when it was a backdrop to more serious affairs.

Our great futuristic detective novel also had other perks. There was blossoming romance. Blaine Donne also reminded me of Batman. That’s all I’ll say. Read the book. But don’t read the dust jacket. I didn’t. I just plunged into the story. It wasn’t until afterwards that I looked at the dust jacket. I was disappointed to find that a lot of the mysteries of the story were unveiled right there on the front. It seems to me that would have taken a lot of fun out of the journey from cover to cover of this fine story.

“Demands of Honor” is book two of the Errands of Fury Star Trek series. This book is set in the Classic Star Trek era. In an interesting twist though, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and company were secondary characters in this story. The focus of this story was Michael Fuller and his Starfleet Security team. Typically the role of the redshirt in the original series has become stereotypical that it is now a running pop culture joke. This book puts them in a role other than cannon fodder.

Also in the forefront was political drama as the Federation and Klingon Empire teetered on the bring of war. Council Member Duras showed that his family’s penchant for sneakiness and treachery stretched farther back in time from the Next Generation Era. The crew of the I.K.S. D’k Tahg had no doubt that he was up to something. The question was what, and would they be able to find out before it was too late to do anything about it?

Errand of Fury was an appropriate title for this novel. Several characters confronted the demons of their past. First Officer Karel on the D’k Tahg sought to avenge the death of his brother. Michael Fuller was still haunted by the death of his son in battle against the Klingons.

As the Federation and Klingon Empires stared each other down, the primitive race of Klingon inhabiting a dilithium rich planet in System 7348 were caught in the middle. The younger Adon and his clan sought to save their race from an act of treachery. He too had a personal score to settle.

The focus on different characters in the Star Trek universe was a two-headed monster. It was a breath of fresh air. The Enterprise has a crew of several hundred. Presumably all these Star Fleet personnel are highly trained and competent at their jobs. Yet it seemed to be Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Chekov, Scotty, and Uhura getting all the action, leading all the missions, etc. The security personal? They go on an away mission and they die. “They’re dead Jim!”

On the other hand, when you read a Star Trek book you’re expecting to see certain characters. It was strange to see the senior officers confining themselves to the bridge of the Enterprise while there was a lot of action going on in an away mission. The storyline justification for that seemed odd, when circumstances in the show didn’t often keep Kirk confined to his ship. So I found myself mainly wondering when the Security personnel would meet their seemingly inevitable demise. Would they be the sacrificial lambs to add gravity to the plot as things teetered on the edge of war and the plot switched back to the main characters? Since these are “temporary” characters, it was hard to really care about the characters. Whether these characters would die, heroically or tragically or whether their demons would get the best of them and add fuel to the plot fire did make the story “interesting” but not a classic. It wasn’t a bad book, but it was short and pretty predictable. But if you’re a fan of Redshirts and yearn to see them have a life expectancy of longer than about 5 minutes you'd definitely enjoy this book.

My latest review is the Star Trek Novel “Burning Dreams” by Margaret Wander Bonanno. The story focuses on Captain Christopher Pike, captain of the USS Enterprise before Captain Kirk. It expands upon the events of the events of the original pilot for Star Trek, The Cage, and The Menagerie, which picked up that storyline and provided Paramount with a chance to use the unaired footage from the original failed pilot.

Bonanno does a good job of flashing between story elements that are happening in different timeframes. A large part of the story is presented to us via recollection, which was also used successfully in Strangers From the Sky, which I have reviewed previously. Mr. Spock was the focus of the contemporary storyline. It is set about 54 years after he had last been to Talos IV, risking a Federation death sentence to return his former Captain Pike to Talos IV, where the grievously maimed Pike could live out the rest of his life in the illusion of being healthy and able bodied. Spock is summoned back to Talos IV once again. Once again he is willing to risk the Federation death penalty. The reason why would tie in with the rest of the story, provided by Christopher Pike’s recollections of his life as he continued to live a productive, but illusory, life on Talos IV

Christopher Pike has always been an intriguing character. He was the Star Trek captain who could have been had Paramount greenlit “The Cage” rather than deeming it “too cerebral”. The re-shot pilot of course cast William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, and made Mr. Spock (the only returning character from the original pilot) the First Officer. That was the appeal of the book for me, filling in that missing history, taking the promising stories left by “The Cage” and “The Menagerie” and running with it.

I wouldn’t say it was an emotionally deep book. One doesn’t feel really attached to Christopher Pike. It’s more of a “history of Christopher Pike” showing the events in his life that led up to and shaped those very brief snippets that we saw. While I was left feeling more informed about the backstory of Christopher Pike he was not fleshed out in a way that makes me extremely curious to read anymore Pike stories. I felt like this was closure, and everything that I needed to know about Christopher Pike I learned here.

This was a Star Trek story that wasn’t a classic James T. Kirk story. Even Spock was a secondary character. I did like how it stuck firmly to being a Christopher Pike story, not relying on meetings with other more well known characters to make it more “appealing”. The sequences with Spock helped to explain how he had developed the loyalty toward Pike to risk a death penalty not once but twice, to go to the quarantined Talos IV system on Pike’s behalf. In both novels I’ve reviewed, Margaret Wander Bonanno fills in backstory of the Star Trek universe, using a parallel story in a more familiar Star Trek time period as a backdrop. I like that a lot, adding to the richness and fullness of the universe.

I think if Captain Christopher Pike, the first captain of the Enterprise, intrigues you this book would make a good read. If your history of the Enterprise starts with James T. Kirk in the captain’s chair you’ll probably find more entertaining Star Trek book’s on the shelf, as Kirk is not a part of this story at all.

It was late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning that I finished my previous book and posted a review. Here I am back again less than 48 hours later with another review. I started “Star Trek: Strange New World 9” at about 1 AM. I expected to turn a few pages just to get a little taste for my latest book before going to bed. But I kept turning pages. And turning. And turning. I finally put it down at 3 AM out of necessity for sleep, not out of desire to stop reading.

That’s maybe the highest compliment that I have for this book, and I have a number of them. 47 hours. Work shifts. Grocery shopping. The routine of life. But 381 pages read. Despite everything else, I still tore through this book. If I’d have been able to read it cover to cover in one sitting I truly would have.

“Strange New World 9” is the ninth installment of this annual collection of short stories, representing the winning contributions of non-professional authors to the Strange New Worlds short story contest.

Beginning to end, these stories were outstanding.

The book was sectioned into the original series, the Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager, Enterprise, and Speculations. There was something for everyone, from the lighthearted to the deeply profound. Ferengi,, Vulcans, Klingons, Tribbles, Borg, Jem’Hadar, the Prophets, genetically engineered supermen, and more surprises – it’s all there. Whatever your Star Trek fancy you’ll find it here, unless it’s the techno-babble that you fancy. These stories are about the characters, not starships and phasers, and EPS conduits.

Where this collection of short Stories differed from the “Constellations” collection of short stories that I reviewed a couple months ago is that where “Constellations” stories were written in the spirit of an episode of the TV show, the “Strange New Worlds” went beyond the TV show. In many ways they picked up where the TV show or the movies left off, or filled in gaps in series history. For example, I think the best storyline that Star Trek has ever done is the Dominion War in the late seasons of DS9. Granted, this was one of the few storylines that Star Trek has done, as the original series, and The Next Generation stayed away from story arch. I loved the entire Dominion War arch. Of course it was extremely Deep Space Nine-centric. I’ve always been fascinated with what the Enterprise was doing during the war. It was the flagship of the Federation so of course you knew it was heavily involved out there in the unspoken Star Trek universe. There are two stories that give us a taste. The war though was not the whole story. It was just the canvas that each story was painted on.

This collection was everything that I like in a collection of short stories. Every story with an exciting new setting, characters, and mood. Most of what I liked about it was that it was fresh. This is a review so I imagine that I am free to indulge in speculation and blind opinion. I think what I liked most about this collection was the freshness. I opine that this is because, as a result of this book being the product of a short story submission contest, rather than a professional novel under the guidelines of usual guidelines, storylines didn’t have pass through the judging eye of the caretakers of the Star Trek Universe. Stories didn’t have to meet the standard of being “canon” to the established Star Trek universe. There were ground rules to the contest of course. Grounds for disqualification included:

a) “any story focusing on explicit sexual activity or graphic depictions of violence or sadism,
b) any story that focuses on characters that are not past or present Star Trek regulars or familiar Star Trek guest characters
c) stories that deal with a previously unestablished death of a Star Trek character, or establish major facts about or make major changes in the life of a major character…
d) Stories that are based around common cliches, such as “hurt/comfort”…or “Mary Sue” stories…”

(From Contest Rules, Section 8 : “Story Disqualifications", page 371)

But beyond that, I think the authors were free to have fun. They didn’t have to worry about being told “No, Commander Data can’t be on Earth during the Dominion War, as in your story, because it was already established in book blah blah blah that the Enterprise was patrolling the Bajoran Wormhole”.

It was exciting. It was fresh. It dared to explore “Strange New Worlds”. It explored them boldly enough that I will be watching out for Strange New Worlds 10, and probably 1-8 as well in my future book buying ventures.

My latest review is Star Trek: Mirror Universe – Obsidian Alliances. The book features the novellas “The Mirror-Scaled Serpent” by Keith R.A. DeCandido, “Cutting Ties” by Peter David, and “Saturn’s Children” by Sarah Shaw.

As the name implies, all three stores are set in the Star Trek Mirror parallel universe. This universe, a cruel and dark version of the Star Trek universe, was first seen in the Star Trek Episode “Mirror, Mirror”. Deep Space 9 returned us to the universe a number of times.

In this book, we get a look at the mirror Voyager crew, as they encounter Kes and Neelix from the “real” universe. “Cutting Ties” gives us the first look at the mirror universe versions of the ‘New Frontiers” crew. “Saturn’s Children” returns us to the saga of Intendant Kira, Smiley, Bashir, and the other Deep Space Nine characters.

I really enjoyed all three of the novellas. This was my first read of Keith R.A. DeCandido’s material. All of his characters were delightfully wicked. I’m not sure that anyone from that universe had any redeeming qualities. The characters I was rooting for were Kes and Neelix to be able to escape from there and return home. Supervisor B’Elanna was delightfully hedonistic and brutal, even as she loathed her ‘half-breed’ Klingon status. Chakotay was the captain of the rebel vessel Voyager, with Tuvok as second officer. Harry Kim was a psychotic security expert or interrogator with a death wish upon as many Klingons as he could get his hands on. By the time the story ended, that was a lot of them. Seska betrayed the Alliance to join the rebellion and had her own agenda even now. Kate Janeway was a fiery engineer who also had her own agenda. This story was a whole lot of gleefully reading of bad things happening to bad people. For me that was a lot of the fun, as there weren’t many in the story that didn’t deserve what came to them. Almost everyone got some measure of what they had coming to them. The rebels aboard Voyager weren’t much better than the Alliance that they were fighting. So, no happy endings (and how can you really have a happy ending in the mirror universe) but this serves as a great springboard for further stories, as Kes’s telepathy has major implications for the universe.

DeCandido did an outstanding job with the characters. He managed to blend some of those character traits that made the characters so recognizable on the TV show, and twist them in that mirror universe fashion. I’ve intended to read some of his work for quite awhile to see what he brings to the Star Trek table. I think that he brings characters, dialogue, and engaging plot that is worthy of my personal upper tier of Star Trek writers. I certainly look forward to reading more of his work to see if he does rise up there with, William Shatner/Judith and Garfield-Reeves-Stevens, Diane Duane, Peter David, and a couple others. Room in my penthouse of Star Trek writing may be getting a bit more crowded, and I personally am very pleased by that.

Speaking of Peter David he wrote “Cutting Ties”. I always like his work and this story had its own fascination. I’ve read only one “New Frontiers” novel, so I didn’t have a lot of preconceived notions about how the “real” characters should act. I didn’t need a solid baseline for Captain MacKenzie, although one previous well-written novel gave me a bit of one, to realize that ‘Muck’ was radically different. I liked that character. He was almost a 'Star Trek barbarian", or “Wulfgar meets Star Trek” if you’re an R.A. Salvatore person. “New Frontiers” focuses on a lot of never before seen Star Trek races. The Mirror version of course was no different, so it was refreshing to see a whole different angle of the universe. The mirror Romulans haven’t really been seen before, as they’re as reclusive in that universe as in the “TV universe”. But we get a look here. This story had a number of plot twists and turns, and it was exciting until the last page, as it wasn’t clear until the end how things would turn out. Don’t worry though, if you want some carnage, this is the mirror universe so you’ll get it.

“Saturn’s Children” by Sarah Shaw was the final story of the book. This story was her first professional fiction credit, having previously written fan fiction. I’ve seen some very talented fan fiction writers, and it’s nice to see someone go from fanfic to “professional”. She did a very good job with this story, and handled the characters very well. The Deep Space Nine crew is the most well fleshed out of the mirror characters from TV. Intendant Kira is perhaps the most prominent of all those characters. She’s devious, she’s conniving, she’s cruel, and hedonistic. That’s a pretty large character to take on, and Shaw did it very well. I could see Nana Visitor in my head as I read. She nailed that character, along with all the others. The Intendant had fallen on some hard times, but she’s always got a plan for turning things around. It was fun to watch that unfold. That’s a character that always “wins” in the end. She was the star of the show and I expected her to somehow rise out of the ashes with her typical flair. Miles “Smiley” O’Brien anchored the other half of the story. He was the most honorable, sympathetic character in the whole book. He was the hope for an honorable rebellion, fighting for a bright future. Zek (not the Grand Nagis of the Ferengi in this universe) and Julian Bashir represented the cruel, “the cure is not much better than the disease”, Alliance. Again, you can look for bad things to happen to bad people. One expects a collection of “dirty deeds done dirt cheap” in the mirror universe. Sarah Shaw lives very well in this universe. If this is her first professional venture, I look forward to many more.

In conclusion, this book represents the Mirror Universe very well in 3 stories. If you like the Mirror Universe you’ll like these stories, as they were written very vividly and capture all those elements that we love to hate among these bad, bad people. If you don’t like the Mirror Universe…give it another shot. And if you don’t like one story, there’s another one only 160 pages or so away. That’s the beauty of short stories/novellas.