Second in the Sentience Trilogy, which began with Storm Clouds Gathering.
This is a rip-roaring space battle from quite early on, as human-settled plaSecond in the Sentience Trilogy, which began with Storm Clouds Gathering.
This is a rip-roaring space battle from quite early on, as human-settled planets oppose one another in a war based on economies and corruption. The planets have been given names reminiscent of American states - Ginia, Bama, Tensee and so on - while other famous names crop up in humorous references. The sides have adopted the names Yankees and Confederates. The sad loss of life could have perhaps been avoided, but a sentient biocomputer named Halbert and his 'owner' Dietrich have been manipulating the forces to war.
However the Raknii which are like large cats or lions, are invading the space lanes and determined to subdue this new human prey. They don't understand how humans don't concede the battle once Raknii have control of a planet's space, but continue fighting on the ground with a bewildering array of weaponry. A prophecy concerning this leonine race may be revealing itself.
The issues that bothered me in the first book are addressed, with women on an equal footing with men in the fight for their civilisation. While Halbert is ever more manipulative we finally see Dietrich getting out and meeting people, and he explains why he hasn't been spending his great wealth on entertaining ladies. There is a strong female character for us to follow, as Diet gets to know her, and it looks like Halbert will be walking around too by the next book.
Author Gibson Michaels has clearly enjoyed creating this account of space wars and sneaky computers, of predatory cats and all-too human couples. Anyone who likes space opera, cats or SF on a grand scale, should give Defying The Prophet a try. You may do better to read the first book first - I don't think it's absolutely necessary but you'll be missing out on background and a lot of great reading if you don't.
Merged review:
Second in the Sentience Trilogy, which began with Storm Clouds Gathering.
This is a rip-roaring space battle from quite early on, as human-settled planets oppose one another in a war based on economies and corruption. The planets have been given names reminiscent of American states - Ginia, Bama, Tensee and so on - while other famous names crop up in humorous references. The sides have adopted the names Yankees and Confederates. The sad loss of life could have perhaps been avoided, but a sentient biocomputer named Halbert and his 'owner' Dietrich have been manipulating the forces to war.
However the Raknii which are like large cats or lions, are invading the space lanes and determined to subdue this new human prey. They don't understand how humans don't concede the battle once Raknii have control of a planet's space, but continue fighting on the ground with a bewildering array of weaponry. A prophecy concerning this leonine race may be revealing itself.
The issues that bothered me in the first book are addressed, with women on an equal footing with men in the fight for their civilisation. While Halbert is ever more manipulative we finally see Dietrich getting out and meeting people, and he explains why he hasn't been spending his great wealth on entertaining ladies. There is a strong female character for us to follow, as Diet gets to know her, and it looks like Halbert will be walking around too by the next book.
Author Gibson Michaels has clearly enjoyed creating this account of space wars and sneaky computers, of predatory cats and all-too human couples. Anyone who likes space opera, cats or SF on a grand scale, should give Defying The Prophet a try. You may do better to read the first book first - I don't think it's absolutely necessary but you'll be missing out on background and a lot of great reading if you don't....more
Iceapelago 3 concludes the environmental disaster trilogy about a future Ireland becoming flooded and ice-bound. I recommend reading the previous bookIceapelago 3 concludes the environmental disaster trilogy about a future Ireland becoming flooded and ice-bound. I recommend reading the previous books first, but it had been a while since I read those, and I dived into this one no problem. The Portuguese are having to seek a new homeland, and a decade after a major storm, Iceapelago is becoming milder. The people are scattered in just a few island centres, livestock are scarce and food takes all summer to grow and harvest. Winter is quite bleak. A Portuguese captain thinks his ship could lead an invasion force.
We mainly follow two sets of young siblings, determined to find partners on other islands and lead a new generation. Rory from Howth and Malahide, whom we met previously, holds firm as de facto leader and adviser. This is an exciting and shocking book, just as the others were, with extremely sobering scenes and well researched sets of consequences. The paperback is a lovely, substantial book, which as an Irish person, I am proud to have on my shelf. Can we have more hard SF about Ireland, please.
I read an ARC from Fresh Fiction. This is an unbiased review. ...more
Good marks for a government department using a time machine to pluck dying people from the past and bring them to an overpopulated London. Bad marks fGood marks for a government department using a time machine to pluck dying people from the past and bring them to an overpopulated London. Bad marks for the author's conceit in never naming her British-Cambodian narrator, which makes for unbelievably clunky dialogue, and for the narrator being a smoker, in a future where the filthy habit is well known to be toxic. Good marks for researching a genuine character from the Franklin Arctic expedition, though I have to say, it did not feel right to me that she uses this man as a main character, assigning him motivations and an adult romance. Somehow historical people sit easier in historical fiction, kept in context. That said, the merchant woman from the time of Plague was a treat. Bad marks for a forced twist ending and overuse of metaphor. The work did set me thinking about time, objects and people, though I can't like a department that enforces a compromising situation on a female employee.
I read an e-ARC from Fresh Fiction and Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
The start is quite slow, with details about a starship officer about to retire, and the dreadful world war which escalated across the inhabited parts The start is quite slow, with details about a starship officer about to retire, and the dreadful world war which escalated across the inhabited parts of the Solar System. With that behind them, the crew of a dreadnought are left as a museum piece, the younger members having grown up in peacetime. Then a desperate message comes in from a station at the heliopause. Attack is under way.
The battles start fast and dirty, and seldom let up for a page. Aspects remind me of Independence Day and War of the Worlds. Battles are fought in space and on Earth, brave people going hand to hand with giant armoured spiders. The weirdness of a princess armed with a sword fighting spiders amid a room of dinosaur toys will stay with me for a long time.
Some people who enjoy horror books will probably relish parts of the story more than I did; my eyes skipped over several patches. Well written, with suspense, gruesomeness and detailed planning. This is an unbiased review.
I enjoyed this romance between opposites, not so much a Romeo and Juliet as the cessation of a war between folks who should have got along all that tiI enjoyed this romance between opposites, not so much a Romeo and Juliet as the cessation of a war between folks who should have got along all that time. I'd have liked more description of the Colony and its domes. But the great part is that we follow plumbers and pipe engineers, just the sort of folks you'd need in newly constructed habitats. I'm deducting a star because people are shown handling and sitting near fissile materials, which might be in a lead lined box when lying around but not while being handled (and they are hot to touch). Nobody gets tested for radiation poisoning and asked how long they think they will live. Maybe cancers are treatable? All that seems to concern anyone is the danger of explosion. I'm all for reading another instalment, with invention, romance, intrigue and danger. This is an unbiased review. ...more
A mix, as with any collection or anthology. Some of the stories are great. Largely I'd read those before, but the best new one was 'Sur', about a turnA mix, as with any collection or anthology. Some of the stories are great. Largely I'd read those before, but the best new one was 'Sur', about a turn of 20th century expedition. In this tale, a group of nine women from South America went to Antarctica. What did they do there during the summer? What would you have done? Well done those ladies.
Many of the stories clearly reflect the author's upbringing in a family of anthropologists. All the Hainish tales display this and sadly most of them, apart from 'Semley's Necklace', seem to be excuses to propose different ways of arranging who sleeps with whom. It's Joanna Russ all over, only with more men. The stories wound down and got less interesting, and the wise move was leaving 'Sur' to the end so we finish on a happy note. Of course I'll read more by the author, and it's good to see Gethen playing a part in the outside galaxy.
I read this book from Raheny Library. This is an unbiased review....more
All of Baxter's books which I have read, apart from his short stories, are about the end of the world. And about giant engineering, geo-engineering orAll of Baxter's books which I have read, apart from his short stories, are about the end of the world. And about giant engineering, geo-engineering or terraforming projects. But mostly they tell of the end of the world. The last remaining mammoths being hunted down and their safe ground shrinking. The Ice Age about to flood Doggerland as it departs and releases water. The Doggerland resilient people being overrun by Bronze Age Hittites. The return of the Ice Age, and civilisation shrinking.
This book is no exception. A cheerfully British, but not idealised, astronaut heads off on a mission with a small crew, but soon finds he is the only one left. That was glossed over, got out of the way, because we just need one viewpoint as John keeps making use of the Tau Zero effect to skip further forwards in time, until he returns to Earth and finds a civilisation which can help him outlast even greater segments of time. They also learn that poking powerful balls of plasma with sticks is not a good idea.
Interspersed is the tale of a young woman Mela, whose Iron Age world platform is literally crumbling away at a steady rate, like cliffs falling into the sea each year. Up in her sky are hundreds of other earth-type synthetic worlds, but she can't get there. The unbelievable point is that nobody ever asks if they could go anywhere. Remember Land and Overland? I think someone would be developing space travel but they don't get any further than barges being towed.
So John zooms from one spectacular disaster to another, over vast periods, while in a smart move, the years and days and square kilometres count down for a trapped young woman he hasn't even met. Maybe he will. If he does, we know it'll be right at the end of the world.
Plenty of moral ambiguity - is it right to farm people, just so there is a vast number of humanity spread over a long period? Will human nature always revert? Is it right to dismantle planets and asteroids for materials which, once used, are gone? (We're doing that with coal. There will never be more coal, because when the trees fell originally, nothing had evolved to rot them. And helium. It escapes the atmosphere.)
Someone asked me if the book was worth persevering and I said yes, it is, and there's a rush as events telescope. Don't expect a thriller or a romance, it's straight SF and a seat at the world's end. I believe it's Baxter's best book.
I borrowed this book from Raheny Library. This is an unbiased review....more
This thriller is a major accomplishment, entertaining and educating. We follow a female archaeologist, mostly at odds with her wealthy father. She preThis thriller is a major accomplishment, entertaining and educating. We follow a female archaeologist, mostly at odds with her wealthy father. She prefers the deserts and colleges of her calling. Sarah teams up, at first unwillingly, with a more popularly famous male archaeologist, and learns that few others can be trusted.
We also meet Gabriel, a traveller out of his time and place, in a past century's nomadic Bedouin life, who becomes accepted and revered as a saint. In modern day, Sarah is tracking down his records and bones, in a mountain monastery in Ethiopia, but various interests are determined to stop her.
Each section of the story is deeply described, with regard for traditional lifestyles and beliefs. Then we learn of a modern-day existential threat, if despoliation of our environment gets further out of hand.
I would have been happier if the author didn't keep saying, in narration and through her characters, 'man' and 'mankind' when humanity and human life should be used, especially by a woman. The story may feel a little long, as Gabriel's action necessarily progresses at a camel's pace, but I found it well worth coming back to the read, and the story speeds up greatly near the end.
I was sent an e-ARC by the author to read in my own time, and I chose to write a review. This is an unbiased review. ...more
Project Hail Mary is a re-run of The Martian with even more fun. Rocky, a spacefaring engineer, shows up to chat with Ryland Grace, the grumpy scientiProject Hail Mary is a re-run of The Martian with even more fun. Rocky, a spacefaring engineer, shows up to chat with Ryland Grace, the grumpy scientist / science teacher sent on an Earth-saving mission. But Rocky and Grace can't breathe the same air, let alone talk the same language. How to make this work?
I love the tale, which will be worth re-reading. This is an unbiased review. ...more
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