Patrick's Past Reviews

The Saga of Seven Suns is at an end. Tangled threads, woven over the past seven years and seven books, are finally brought together to finish an epic tapestry. And what a fantastic picture has been created.

Amongst his almost triple-digit novels, Kevin J. Anderson has written numerous novels in the Dune and Star Wars Universes. This experience imbues the Saga of Seven Suns, of course, but these novels are more than just a melding of the two … there’s something else there. Call it epic science fiction if you will … grand, sweeping, and quite the adventure.

Elementals clash, Klikiss swarm, robots calculate, and humans and aliens plot. Everything comes to a head and all roads lead to the inevitable end … BOOM … and they all lived happily ever after. (Okay, perhaps not all, and perhaps not all happily. Such is life in this mysterious galaxy.)

Yes, with The Ashes of Worlds, the Saga is at its end. I’m sorry this is so, but after numerous races have faced extinction, and after a few suns have been extinguished, planets laid waste, and a moon shattered, I’d say we’ve had one helluva ride, and I for one could use a rest. Not too long a rest, however, as I’m sure ol’ Kevin’ll come up with something soon to keep the pages flying and us up at night.

--PMH

Imagine if you will a global movement involving millions of disaffected individuals with differing goals and only one real thing in common: a desire to bring the Big System down. The Big System: governments, corporate society, big business, technology ... the stuff on which the world revolves. Imagine these resentful and rebellious people organizing. Call it Daybreak. Imagine them all taking action ... lots and lots of action. In One Day. Then add a bit of terrorist piggybacking and catalyzing. It’s the end of the world as we know it. What are we to do? Directive 51.

• National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51, Directive 51 for short, is a Presidential Directive created in 2007 that claims power to execute procedures for the continuity of the federal government in the event of a "catastrophic emergency." Such an emergency is construed as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." - Wikipedia

It starts out like an episode of 24 with multiple Jack Bauers, and then builds from there. Barnes is an exceptional writer. Directive 51 thrilled me and at the same time it scared me. (I suppose I could do without a bit of the Big System myself. No more credit card bills! Just a bit of light to read by and a few books and I’d be Burgess Meredith in that Twilight Zone episode, only I don’t need my glasses to read. Then again, no movies or TV, no modern medicine or Hulu, no indoor plumbing or grocery stores.) Just how simple would it be to bring modern civilization down? A couple of weeks and a few (thousand) acts of random violence and we’re back to hunting and gathering. Or worse, we trade democracy for anarchy and Directive 51 dictatorship. Directive 51 is a book we’ll be talking about for a long time. Be careful what you wish for, oh you disaffected among us, and don’t go getting any ideas.

Demons rise from the Core every night to feast on any flesh foolish enough to not be hiding behind the only magic strong enough to defeat them – wards. For reasons long forgotten, these symbols, drawn on any worked surface, stop the demons cold in their tracks. Into this world are born three rather extraordinary people. Each will grow and excel in whatever they endeavor to do, each will suffer greatly, and each will play an important part in delivering the people from the evil that consumes them.

The Warded Man is the debut novel for Peter Brett and the first in a reported Demon Trilogy (though the author is on record campaigning for more). Not since Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind have I been this pleased with a debut. The Warded Man is character-driven fantasy at its page-turning best. The three main protagonists are fully-realized people – both magnificent and flawed. Watch them grow up in a world designed to beat them down. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

-- PMH

Long ago, people of Caribbean descent came to Nanagada looking for a world to make their own. Much of what they brought with them has been lost through the years, but evidence of the old-fathers’ ways remains. Them old-father left some pretty interesting stuff lying around. And then there’re the gods, both teotl and loa.

For years the marauding Azteca have been held at bay behind the Wicked High Mountains, but now they’re on the move and the people of Nanagada are preparing for siege. Their only hope lies in the frozen north, a surviving piece of old-father tech called the Ma Wi Jung, but the only man who might be able to access it has no memory of his past … his very long past. And then there’s Pepper. Don’t get me started about Pepper.

Aliens assuming the mantle of the gods, blood sacrifice, assorted old-father tech, long-buried memories, incredibly complex characters, and inspired writing make for a wonderful first novel by the quite talented author of some 25 short stories. Crystal Rain is novel that’s both sense-of-wonder-old-school-adventure-sf and a hint of things to come. And, again, don’t get me started about Pepper. Pepper’s just plain cool, man.

For you ragamuffins always bugging me for something new, here’s your Holy Grail. And mark me words, people: He go be big man someday. And I’ve a feeling that the best is yet to come.

--PMH

Anyone who’s been to the store or interacted with me over the last four years knows of my undying affection for one Black Jack Geary, hero of Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet series. Now, after six paperback originals, our Jacks are graduating to hardcover.

The Lost Fleet is no longer lost, and the Syndic Worlds have fallen, but the peace may be harder to win than the war. The Alliance Government fears our hero, as he could overthrow their regime with a single word. Lucky for them his principles won’t allow him to give that word. For now. Admiral Black Jack Geary. Those who serve with him would elevate him to emperor; those who govern would have him gone. What better way to deal with a thorn in one’s side than to simply remove it? Time to send Admiral Geary on a very important mission: Find the mysterious aliens beyond the frontier and find out why they involved themselves in a human war that lasted a century. If he dies while accomplishing this mission so much the better. After all, a dead hero is a thousand times better than a live thorn, right? He never wanted to be worshiped; he just wanted to do his job and go home. They should have let him. He’s not a thorn. He’s the proverbial hornets’ nest, and they’d best stop poking him with their various sticks. All of that aside, however, he really must deal with those pesky aliens, perhaps settle a rogue Syndic or two, pick up a few prisoners of war, and see what else is out there. Time to get lost again.

Admiral Black Jack Geary, the thinking man’s bad-ass. Dreadnaught is the beginning of a new series that takes the fight to the aliens, among others. It’s also Campbell’s first hardcover. Campbell revisits just enough of the-story-so-far to catch his adoring fans up while providing just the right amount of background to allow you future fans to enter his universe without having to read the preceding books (but you will eventually). I love these books. They’re simply a great Saturday afternoon read. And there are more to come. Thank the living stars.

--PMH

Jim Holden was the XO of a water hauler until his ship got shot to pieces. Now he’s the captain of a shuttle, trying to stay alive long enough to save what’s left of his crew and to find out who killed his ship and his shipmates, and why. Detective Miller is part of the security force tasked with keeping the peace on Ceres, your average spun-up-so’s-there’s-gravity asteroid out in the Belt. He’s been at the job a bit too long and he sucks at politics and he’s a bit dead inside – and way too stubborn to quit when he’s ahead. These are interesting times. The Belters resent Earth and Mars and their taxes, the Martians care for little that doesn’t help to make their red world green, and those who still call Earth their home look up from their gravity well at everyone with quite a bit of haughty disdain. The Solar System is a powder keg in search of a spark and even in space a spark is surprisingly easy to find. Our heroes Holden and Miller are about to have ringside seats to an Armageddon of fire and flesh.

Leviathan Wakes is part science fiction, part thriller, part mystery novel, and part horror – a little something for almost everyone who shops in our Galaxy. So you have your sf – it’s in space in the future and there’s lots of awesome future-type stuff – and possible alien stuff too, right? And there’s lots of war and explosions and political machinations, and that’s all quite thrilling, right? And then there’s a detective (think Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, only in space), and that’s obviously the mystery part, right? So where’s the horror, you ask? Well, some evil sons of bitches found something out on one of Saturn’s moons that would make even H.P. Lovecraft a wee bit queasy – and they’re just arrogant and immoral enough to use it. Curious monkeys. Mix it all together and you’ve got on helluva space opera and the fat lady’s nowhere to be seen. (It’s the first of a trilogy.)

--PMH

Thomas awakes in a lift. He has no memory except for his name. Every month a new boy is likewise delivered. None remember their previous lives. All they know is the Glade, a square of land surrounded by too-high stone walls. Walls with huge doors that open in the morning and close at night. Doors to the Maze. No one wants to be caught in the Maze after dark. Night is when the grievers come. Every day Runners search the Maze for the way out, and every evening they return without the answer. Thomas knows he's destined to be a Runner. He doesn't know why. He knows ... something ... if he could just remember. The day after his arrival, another newbie is delivered, the last newbie ... the first and only girl. She's the last one. Ever. Something about this girl is familiar, but again Thomas just can't remember. Everything is going to change.

The Maze Runner is excellent YA fiction at its page-turning best. An awesome story with many facets. Lord of the Flies. Dune. The Prisoner. Logan's Run. THX 1138. Ender's Game. Total Recall. The Truman Show. Deepwater Black. The Matrix. Harry Potter. Dark City. The Cube. The Island. Idlewild. The Forgotten. Lost. The Hunger Games. The action drives the story and keeps the pages flying and the characters are so real that they often jump off of those flying pages. Group A, Stage 1 complete. Good that.

-- PMH

Reality TV show SeaLife, on board the good ship Trident, answers a beacon for help from just about the most remote piece of land on Mother Earth, an island in the South Pacific that’s been isolated from the rest of the world for half a billion years, give or take a week or two. When our intrepid heroes hit the beach, however, they find no one in need of rescue. Instead they find an alien, and quite deadly, environment. Seems evolution’s taken a radically different direction than from that we all know and love ... and the flora and fauna of this continental fragment are decidedly hazardous to one’s continued existence. So dangerous are they, in fact, that if even one member of one species were to escape the island, all of Earth’s other inhabitants, animal, vegetable, and perhaps even mineral, would be in dire jeopardy. Cry havoc ... and let the fun begin. If you like James Rollins or Michael Crichton (with less math), Fragment is for you. While Fahy never scrimps on an explanation for his wonderful weird world, he does that explaining in a fashion that any reader can fathom. A quite enjoyable eco-thriller-page-turner that pushes all the right buttons.

-- PMH

Teenaged Carmen’s on her way to Mars ... the adventure of a lifetime ... with her parents and her annoying little brother. Mars has its moments; it’s kinda cool, sometimes cold, and most of the colonists are nice. Most of them. Okay, all of them, except the Dragon; she’s just mean, mean and jealous. So, to get away for a while, Carmen goes exploring. By herself. Alone on not quite completely airless Mars. Bad idea. Can you say First Contact? Marsbound is like an old-school Heinlein juvenile with a more modern perspective ... and big potato shaped Martians with multiple limbs and a collectedly odd sense of humor.

-- PMH

Mankind almost snuffed itself out many years ago. If things remain as they are, the survivors of that Conflagration will just keep repeating the same mistakes. Technology is still known to those in Sofi, and the idealists among them have hatched a plan. It’s time to get the hell out of Dodge. They’ve built a spaceship that will take them away from all of the corruption and backwards thinking. They will escape to a new world and start over. But first they must leave, and take the best and the brightest and like-minded with them. No easy task, this. Then, once on the way, they must keep their plans in line. Humans are human, after all, and human nature has a tendency to rear its ugly head in spite of the best of intentions. I have been a fan of James P. Hogan for a very long time. His novels never fail to entertain and enlighten me. Migration is no exception. Yes, we are human, with all of the baggage that comes with being human, but to hope for a better world is human too.

--PMH

James Patrick Hogan (27 June 1941 – 12 July 2010) was a British science fiction author. Rest in Peace, my good friend.

Starts out with a chase. Sandman Slim vs. the Nouveau-Vamp with a ‘tude. Then it gets exciting. Seems our hero has turned to bounty hunting to make a living. Bounty hunting of a most supernatural kind: Vampires, and Hellions, and Jades, oh my! When ol’ Lucifer comes to town to make a movie (based on his life no less), he needs him a bodyguard, oh yeah. Who ya gonna call? Why our boy Stark, of course. Duh. It’s not a bad gig, though, and there are fringe benefits ... like a little female companionship courtesy of one Brigitte Bardo. (Who are you to judge? Were you celibate in Hell for eleven years?)

Back among the living and becoming more human every day. Not that that’s particularly a good thing for our man about town Stark, slayer of monsters and Devil’s wingman, down and out in the City of the Angels, always caught between a roc and a hard case, always. No breaks for the Sandman. Oh, no. Bring on the zombies, baby. Zombies. What happens when a half-angel gets bitten by a zombie? Well the angel side’s not especially affected, of course, but the human side ... well, that’s quite another story. Dig it.

--PMH

Another Pass draws near – the Third Pass. Pern begins to prepare. Of watch-whers, kin to the Dragons of Pern, little is really known. They are nocturnal, yes, and they share some of the attributes of their larger cousins, but few have bothered to delve any deeper. Miners have, of late, been training these watch-whers to work in the mines where their abilities are very highly prized. So much so that a mining camp will wager a winter’s coal just for a chance at one. It is in one of these camps that our story takes place.

Dragon’s Kin smacks of being the first in a watch-wher series, akin to that of the HarperHall. Has Anne passed the Dragon Torch to her son Todd? Maybe, maybe not, but if so, Dragon’s Kin shows that the series will lose nothing in the Pass. It would seem that blood runs true and that Todd has much of the same talent that has made his Mum the Queen of Dragons.

--PMH

March 1946. The war’s over but for the shouting. Young scientist is called to the Pacific, and away from decommissioning the German chemical and germ warfare program. Witnesses nuclear blast and thwarts plot to unleash a doomsday weapon.

Flash forward to today. Scientist is now in his mid-eighties and most beloved professor at Cornell University. His sixty-odd-year-old chickens have come home to roost. Now it’s up to his young colleague and his granddaughter to save the world. Fungus and plague and nanotechnology, oh my!

Spiral reads like a movie: visual detail, vivid characters, cutting-edge tech, and a page-turning plot. If you miss Michael Crichton as much as I do, give Paul McEuen a Saturday afternoon. You won’t be sorry.

--PMH

For Takeshi Lev Kovacs, formerly of the Envoy Corps, Altered Carbon begins with a death - his. Death, however, is hardly ever permanent in this brave new galaxy. He wakes to find himself on Earth, the birthplace of his kind ... and a bit of a backwater really. Seems a very rich and powerful Meth (short for Methuselah) wants Kovacs to solve his murder (that “death is hardly ever permanent” thing again). The police think it was suicide, and anyway, they have much better things to do with their time than to involve themselves in the affairs of some not really dead Meth. So Kovacs finds himself the private detective on the case in a dark future where your body’s just a rented sleeve and the seat of your soul is a cigarette butt sized “cortical stack” in the back of its neck.

Altered Carbon surfs the SF private eye wave that seems to be making a resurgence of late. Call it SF noir if you will ... and it’s real cool, man. Morgan mixes his noir and his tech seamlessly and with abandon. Think Blade Runner in bullet time. One minute you could almost believe you were reading a Philip Marlowe or Harry Bosch novel, the next you’re in Futureworld, orbiting Planet Kaitain in the Galaxy of the Obscure. One minute you’re being accosted by a couple of hired thugs, the next you’re purchasing particle weapons from a mandroid whistling Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Never @#$% with an Envoy; he’ll RD you for sure.) Oh, and if anyone out there could let me know where I could score some Merge Nine, I’d appreciate it.

--PMH

In Stan Robinson’s dream, Galileo was visited by far-future humans, inhabitants of the Jovian moons, who occasionally guided him in his experiments and sometimes brought him forward to their time to visit his discoveries. The question is with all of this meddling; will the time-line be altered? And will Galileo allow himself to be used as a pawn in their future machinations? In addition to trips forward in time, we are also treated to Galileo’s life and times, and his battles against the dogmas of his day. Seek truth and face the consequences ... and the inquisition ... or be safe and accept the status quo?

Stan’s writing is such that I often doubted what I remembered from my history of science courses, and I often found myself wanting to consult those texts. What is real and what is Stan? Only an author of Stan’s ability can write history and make it his own, and make it this believable.

--PMH

For most of you this review is in no way necessary. A simple “The release date is March 1^st!” is more than enough. But The Wise Man’s Fear deserves all the praise it gets, so here goes ...

The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two. The story continues. Our hero Kvothe is still at University, still up to his eyeballs in debt, and still on many a sh*t list. Trouble is his middle name. Kvothe Trouble Bloodless. Herein is told more of his education, of his continuing pursuit of a certain young lady leagues out of his league, and of his search for the truth behind the mythic powers that be and the reasons behind his family’s death. Along the way he faces many a trial, by fire and mercenary and Fae, oh my! And a bit of court intrigue that might make even a Borgia blanch. Truly an adventure to get the blood of even the most jaded among us boiling … and freezing, oh yes. It ain’t easy being a legend, oh no.

Meanwhile, back at the bar, in present day (two), things set in motion in Kvothe’s youth are coming back to haunt him ... and those around him ... and the rest of the lands.

The story is long and involved, but it is neither as long, nor as involved as it could have been. What others might explain, and explain, and explain some more ... in a hundred or so pages ... our friend Rothfuss does in just a few (see chapter fifty-two, for example). The story’s all there, yes, but we move quickly to the good parts ... we cut to the chase. And what a chase it is.

For those of you who worried that Day Two couldn’t possibly live up to Day One, you may now put those fears aside, wise or not. The promise made by The Name of the Wind is more than honored in The Wise Man’s Fear. Oh, yes. Can’t wait for Day Three.

--PMH

 

Up-and-coming Hollywood agent Tom Stein is assigned the job of his lifetime ... agent to the alien Yherajk. Friendly, oh yes, but thoroughly alien, thank you very much, and a wee bit on the smelly side. (Ever leave a tuna fish sandwich in your gym locker? Yummy.) It's our boy Tom’s job to make their "We come in peace!" not end in pieces. They really are friendly; you know ... just great big blobs of gooey otherworld goodness. Let the fun begin.

Agent to the Stars is Scalzi’s first book and a very enjoyable read. Also known as "The book that wouldn’t die," it was first an on-line-only book ("just to see if I could do it"), then it was a limited edition hardcover (now quite expensive). Three years plus and half a dozen books later and now it’s an edition we can all get our gelatinous mass around ... er ... hands on (finally).

-- PMH

Humanity’s gone. Died out. Our artificial intelligences, androids, and robots remain, however, going about their business, happy as their programming allows. Civilization, albeit artificial, thrives. Freya Nakamichi-47 is one such intelligence, a female (very) android designed for her One True Love’s pleasure … but said One True Love hasn’t been around since before she was initialized. What’s a fembot to do? Why, she hires herself out as a “courier,” of course … a Friday for a post-humanity universe.

As hinted at above, Saturn’s Children is very Classic. Freya/Friday … Heinlein yes, yes, and even not-so subtle nods to PK Dick’s Electric Sheep and Asimov’s Three Laws. So perhaps it is a veiled love letter in novel form, but I ask you: Stross, Heinlein, Dick, and Asimov? What’s not to love? Take all of the weird and wonderful of the four, update, tune up (and perhaps tone down), and you’ve got one hell of an awesome ride … Venus and Mercury and Mars, oh my, then and on to Callisto and off into the Deep Black to meet one’s destiny. A Very Modern Space Opera worthy of all the capital letters (even if the author might balk at it being so labeled).

--PMH

The time is now, or more correctly, the immediate future … 2025. Thanks to modern science, Robert Gu is young again, and not suffering from Alzheimer’s. It’s sink or swim time; get with the program and fight for what was lost or be exiled to Rainbows End.

Old Robert wasn’t the nicest person during his previous life, and even now tends to alienate those around him. Despite this behavior, his granddaughter Miri still works behind the scenes to help guide his education. And what an education it is … Robert’s back in high school, Fairmont High to be exact. Fast Times indeed. He and fellow classmate, Juan Orozco … <sm> an average kid with little real talent but with some grasp of what Robert will need to make it in the digital world</sm>*… team up to get by, in the classroom and out. And if that wasn’t enough, then there’s the Elder Cabal. There are angles and affiliations everywhere. And the fate of the world might just weigh in the balance. …tricks are for kids.

Vinge’s characters are real, but it’s the world they live in that’s the real mind-blower here. In this world, only hinted at (alternately) in the Hugo Award-winning novella, “Fast Times at Fairmont High,” Vinge blasts the reader with one day-after-tomorrow concept after another. Smart clothes (wearable computers!), virtual overlays, digitized libraries (no!), retreads, grand conspiracy, SHE, JITT, targeted bioweapons, YGBMs, world domination … and on and on and on. And you’re Alice in Wonderland … down the rabbit hole and circling the event horizon. Vinge’s a master storyteller in his prime … not a button left unpushed. Overly high praise you say? Just read it and see. … see how they run.

*Silent Message: Me—> You: <sm> A REAL book. Vinge: Future history: nominated/wins(?) another Hugo/Nebula … way cool/cold. EOF.</sm>

--PMH

Starts simple enough: Terrorist group Autumn Rain takes down the Phoenix Space Elevator. Simple? Hardly. Who could possibly destroy something supposedly impossible to destroy? And who is Autumn Rain, really? Not your average terrorist group, oh no. Way too organized and technologically sophisticated to be Third World. Suspicions run riot. Was it the East? Was it a faction within our own government? Now it’s up to our heroes to take Autumn Rain down. But things are a bit different in the 22nd Century. People too. Razors and Mechs and Handlers, oh my. We’re on the threshold, people, and Rain’s gonna fall. Big-time. Think multiple-viewpoint Richard Morgan mixed with a bit of William Gibson ... on speed.

-- PMH

Fourteen-year-old boy wonder Jack Morgan and his K'da poet-warrior pal Draycos are back for the sixth and purportedly final installment of this most awesome young adult adventure series. (It doesn’t really have to be the last one, right o Tim? There’re still stories to tell and hungry readers to read them. Right?)

This time out our heroes finally meet their destiny in a head-on collision with their many enemies and … The Death. How will they survive? Will they save the day and Draycos’s people? Will I get to sleep before 3AM? (Okay, that last one isn’t actually a part of the book, but that very same book did keep me up late.)

A very satisfying conclusion to an excellent series. A kid with his own spaceship and a dragon as his best friend? I ask you, what’s not to love? Let’s hope Tim the Enchanter doesn’t call it quits on this universe.

--PMH