Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: sf

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Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Weaponized (Polity #22) 4Stars

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Title: Weaponized
Series: Polity #22
Author: Neal Asher
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 481
Words: 163K

It’s been almost two years since I read Jack Four, the previous Polity book by Asher. I still vividly recall that book though because of all the pooping. Thankfully, in Weaponized, Asher moves away from that. However, what he moves into is as close to body horror as I ever want to get. I’ll talk more on that later.

This novel takes place before and around the beginning of the Prador War. We follow one Ursula as she moves into the ennui stage of life (somewhere around the 200 year mark for most humans, kind of like a very deadly puberty phase of life), then beyond it and then into the present, where she is trying to colonize a world outside of Polity control. Asher slices the story up into Past, Near Past and Present and slices each time line up and interweaves them. So for Chapter 1, you’ll have Present, about Ursula fighting on the planet. Then we’ll switch to Near Past about the colonists discovering whatever they are fighting in the Present. Then we’ll go to the Past which starts with her going through the military and getting kicked out because of the ennui. While it was handled well, I didn’t like it. It was very different from his previous novels and I suspect he did it just to see if he could but I sure hope he’s done with that little “phase”.

The pace here was just as unrelenting and furious as in Jack Four. Which leads into the body horror. This was also a Jain tech novel. By now, fans of Asher know how horrible Jain tech is, how pervasive, twisting and overpowering it is. But instead of the jain changing the colonists over a period of years, it happens within months, days and even hours. They change from humans to whatever is needed to survive, not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. It was degradation on every level. What made it worse is that they chose it, even if they were under the influence of the jain tech. It became so bad that a Polity golem sacrificed herself to set off the entire CTD arsenal in a prador dreadnaught. Ursula STILL managed to survive and the novel ends with her entity being taken to a Polity AI to be studied. It was brutal. Asher does a great job of showing that the Polity is not some benevolent technocracy but just a series of programs weighing what is the best outcome for the greatest number. There have been times it felt like he was promulgating the idea that they were truly benevolent, but either my perceptions have changed or his writing has changed. Either way, it feels much more inline with my worldview and I for one am ok with whatever the reality of the change actually is.

Another fantastic journey into the heart of a future as envisioned by Neal Asher. I continue to recommend this Polity series.

★★★★☆

From the Publisher

With the advent of new AI technology, Polity citizens now possess incredible lifespans. Yet they struggle to find meaning in their longevity, seeking danger and novelty in their increasingly mundane lives.

On a mission to find a brighter future for humanity, ex-soldier Ursula fosters a colony on the hostile planet Threpsis. Here, survival isn’t a given, and colonists thrive without their AI guidance. But when deadly alien raptors appear, Ursula and her companions find themselves forced to adapt in unprecedented ways. And they will be pushed to the very brink of what it means to be human.

As a desperate battle rages across the planet, Ursula must dig deep into her past if she is to save humanity’s future.

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Takeover (Galaxy's Edge #10) 4Stars

Title: Takeover
Series: Galaxy's Edge #10
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Space Opera
Pages: 348
Words: 114K

Much like Legionnaire, book one in the first season of Galaxy’s Edge, Takeover is almost straight up milsf. Because I had more experience with both authors, that didn’t surprise me like it would have a year ago. Doesn’t mean I particularly liked it though.

This was a bridge book with two brand new characters who appear to have zero relation to the characters I came to know in the previous nine books. That connection better get made in the next book or I’m afraid that season two of GE is in for a very bumpy ride. This is not the way I wanted to restart the series. I wanted pure space opera and I didn’t get that.

I enjoyed my read but at the same was disappointed that it wasn’t what I was expecting. I don’t have anything else to say right now.

★★★★☆

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com

Every disaster brings an opportunity.

Goth Sullus and his empire have fallen.

With the Legion and the rest of the galaxy watching from the still-smoldering galactic core, Carter, a former legionnaire turned private contractor, and Jack Bowie, a Navy spy with nowhere left to turn, sign up to work for an enterprising private contractor looking to make a statement on the planet Kublar.

Plans are in motion dating back to the Savage Wars, and as the galaxy rushes to fill in the vacuum created by the fall of the Imperial Republic, the bodies are hitting the floor.

But every plan has a reckoning…

Takeover is the thrilling aftermath of the final, desperate execution of Article Nineteen and the looming rebirth of the Legion and the galaxy itself as the road to Galaxy’s Edge: Season Two begins!

Tuesday, January 09, 2024

Empire’s Birth (Empire Rising #9) 3Stars

Title: Empire’s Birth
Series: Empire Rising #9
Author: David Holmes
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 424
Words: 164K

I enjoyed this, but. Yes, a big fat but.

(And feel free to make all the jokes you want)

There was almost ZERO space marine action. They are mentioned, but pretty much only as elements that are getting their butts (ha, there’s that big fat but again) kicked and being destroyed. Space battles get all the attention this time around and that did not please Emperor Bookstooge. It made the book drag for me. So if your jam is big space battles, then you’ll absolutely love this. But (ha!) big space battles are NOT my jam, so I merely enjoyed this instead of absolutely loving it.

I reviewed the first book (The Void War) in February of 2023. I’ve been steadily reading this series and enjoying it. But now that the Empire has been officially formed, I think it’s time to take a break for a bit and come back in a couple of months. There are currently 18 books in the series and I’m guessing it’s going to be one of those “never ending” series. I’m ok with those, as long as I know that’s what it is. I just need to space things out appropriately.

★★★☆☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Commodore Happypants gets crowned King of Space England. Then he marries the Empress of Space China and creates the Empire, thus becoming Space Emperor Happypants.

While this is all going on, the evil Karachnids are going around conquering more space civilizations and nuking planets like there’s no tomorrow. Earth is doing what it can do cause problems but until they get united as a species, things aren’t looking too good. It’s up to Space Emperor Happypants to get humanity all on one page, by the scruff of the neck if necessary, and drag them to victory.

Watch out Karachnids, humanity has a Space Emperor and we’re not afraid to use him!

All of My “Empire Rising” Reviews

Sunday, January 07, 2024

The Weapon from Beyond (Starwolf #1) 3Stars

Title: The Weapon from Beyond
Series: Starwolf #1
Author: Edmond Hamilton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 158
Words: 47K

I would have enjoyed this a lot more 15-20 years ago, maybe even 30.

Hamilton either didn’t know that space is three dimensional and thus when giving out coordinates, you need an X, a Y AND a Z or he was using terms that I am quite familiar with in ways they weren’t meant to be used. You can’t navigate space using degrees and azimuths as separate things, because they ARE the same thing. What Hamilton needed was “declination”, the up/down part of describing movement within a globe. So yelling out “they are heading out at fourteen degrees and double that for the azimuth” is absolute nonsense. It is meaningless technobabble, but it’s not really technobabble, but misapplied terminology to what we already do know. This is why authors need to be careful. Because some guy is going to come along and read their book and he is going to know the meaning behind the babble and will simply shake his head in disgust and say things like “this is for kids”.

Other than that, this was a decent SF adventure story about some guy all by himself moving from one group to another. Very macho and heroic and manly. I still need to read stories with those elements, I just need them woven in a bit more subtly. Like I said, 16year old me would have glomped onto this like I did with Wayfarer back in the day.

Finally, the cover. While it’s old skool to the max (this was published in 1967), it actually has a scene from the story instead of just some random picture of a space guy. Covers should be representative of what is inside, not just a lure to get you to pick the book up (they can be both and I have zero issues with the lure line of thought, it just needs to take a subordinate position).

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

Starwolf is a series of three novels by Edmond Hamilton featuring heavy-worlder Morgan Chane. Chane was the son of a human missionary family to a heavier-than-Earth-normal world (higher gravity) of Viking-like aliens. During the years of his life, his parents died and left him an orphan to be incorporated into the Starwolf society. As an adult he felt himself to be as much a Starwolf as his alien companions. After a dispute over plunder with a fellow Starwolf (leaving the other Starwolf dead), Chane flees (under threat of death) from Starwolf society. As a fugitive and hiding his ex-Starwolf status (the rest of the galaxy "declares a holiday when a Starwolf is killed"), Chane becomes part of a "Merc" human mercenary group commanded by a Merc named John Dilullo.

While in intersteallar space Morgan Chane survives a deadly chase by his ex-fellow robbers from Varnan, Starwolves, one of which he killed in a self-defence. On his escape he gets captured by an experienced starship captain, Dilullo from Earth who is leading a group of Mercs (mercenaries) with a mission to a planet called Kharal. Captain saves him, but quickly learns that he is one of Starwolves, well known robbers who raided almost entire galaxy and whom it's usual to kill on spot. Learning about his trouble, captain Dilullo offers him to join his mission to Kharal and share reward. As usual for Mercs, the mission promised to be dangerous so in exchange for his help Captain offered to keep origin of Morgan Chane secret. After landing on Kharal they learn about details, reward, and about enemies of Kharal, the planet Vhol who they are at war with, and who are about to obtain super weapons capable to destroy entire Kharal. Mercs accept their mission and are tasked to find weapon's whereabouts and destroy it before enemies of Kharali can use it. While on the Kharal, Morgan Chane gets jailed for trouble with natives of the planet. While in prison he gest contacted by Captain Dilullo who then tasks Morgan Chane with releaseing a Vhollian officer named Yorolin who was interrogated by Kharalli from the same prison where he was held.

Morgan Chane gets the job done and the team leaves for the Vhol unnoticed with prisoners on board. There, with great effort and trouble they learn about whereabouts of superweapons and set out toward nebulae. Vhol-lans send a cruiser after them. On their way they face Starwolves once again, but luckily appeared Vhol-lans cruiser gets involved and gives a chance for Mercs to escape the battle. By tracing cruiser's path, they reach nebulae's planet where super weapons were expected to be found, but find only enormous intergalactic spaceship wreckage. Mercs captured vhol-lans scientists present at the ship who explained that there was no super weapons and this ship belonged to an ancient powerful alien race called Krii, who accidentally landed on the planet, but survived in stasis for many years and were awaiting their rescuing fellows Krii-s who were expected to appear soon.

Mercs learn that Vhol-lans had one of their cruisers survived the battle with Starwolves and both landed on the planet. They prepared to storm Mercs positions, but soon the fight was interrupted by Krii-s second super-ship appearance. By using some unknown technology Krii-s made all weapons, power plants, and engines on the planet "frozen" and useless. Krii came to save their fellows and what was on the wrecked ship. Once they finished their job, the wreackage gets destroyed by Krii, leaving only trail in the sands and second ship disappears.

Mercs quckly depart for Kharal to get reward and set their way towards Earth.

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

The Smoke Ring (The State #3) 3Stars

Title: The Smoke Ring
Series: The State #3
Author: Larry Niven
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 226
Words: 82K

This was a decent SF story but not one I ever plan on reading for a third time. Twice is enough.

It’s a good sequel to the Integral Trees but leaves enough unexplored that Niven could probably have written a whole series about the Smoke Ring if he’d wanted to. He was more of a hard science fiction’er though, and you need some good, charismatic characters to keep a series going, so it’s no wonder this was the final book in The State.

Honestly, the covers were the best part of these books. At least for Integral Trees and Smoke Ring. They are why I picked them up back in highschool. Even now, I am forced to admit that the covers are what drew back to this re-read. That’s not a total slam on the books themselves, but Niven wrote for a specific type of SF reader and I’m not that kind. The covers mislead one into thinking there will be grand adventures and brightly colored heroes, etc and you just get a family adventure with lots of “how do we do X in low or zero gravity”. That’s just boring to me.

So I’m done with Niven. I won’t be exploring anything else by him. Too many other new-to-me authors to investigate.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia.org

The Setting:

The story is set at the fictional neutron star Levoy's Star (abbreviated "Voy"). The gas giant Goldblatt's World (abbreviated "Gold") orbits the star just outside its Roche limit. While Gold's gravity is enough to keep it from being pulled apart by Voy's tidal forces, it is insufficient to hold its atmosphere, which has been pulled loose into an independent orbit around Voy. This orbiting air forms a ring known as a gas torus. The gas torus is huge—one million kilometers thick—but most of it is too thin to be habitable. The central part of the Gas Torus, where the air is thicker, is known as the Smoke Ring. The Smoke Ring supports a wide variety of life. Robert L. Forward helped Niven calculate the parameters of the ring.

There is no "ground" in the Smoke Ring; it is a world consisting entirely of sky. Thus, most animals can fly, even the fish. Furthermore, since the Smoke Ring is in orbit, it is in free fall. There is no "up" or "down", only "in" or "out" from Voy. Humans moving in the Smoke Ring use a poetic adage to aid their understanding of orbital mechanics - "East takes you Out, Out takes you West, West takes you In, In takes you East. Port and Starboard bring you back"

Most animals have trilateral symmetry, allowing them to see in all directions. Most plants in the Smoke Ring are quite fragile, as they don't have to support their own weight. A notable exception to this rule are the Integral Trees. These are trees that are up to 100 kilometers long. Tidal locking causes them to be oriented radially, with one end pointing in toward Voy and one end pointing out. The ends of the tree experience a tidal force of up to 1/5 g. Each end consists of a leafy "tuft", which is where photosynthesis occurs.

Each tuft of a tree is 50 kilometers from the tree's center of mass. Thus, a tuft is either orbiting too slowly (the in tuft) or too quickly (the out tuft). Since the atmosphere at either end is moving at its local orbital speed, the ends of trees are subject to a constant hurricane-force wind. This wind bends the ends into the shape of an integral symbol: ∫.

The Smoke Ring was colonized 500 years prior to the beginning of the story by a crew of 20 astronauts. Their descendants have adapted to the free-fall environment by growing taller and developing prehensile toes.

According to N-Space, the wings and the method of self-propelled flying featured in the novel were suggested by Isaac Asimov.

Plot:

This book takes place about fifteen years after the end of the original story, when survivors of the Dalton-Quinn tree, a few Carther States jungle dwellers, and two London Tree Citizens have settled on a new tree. This 'Citizen's Tree' has become a stable community which some believe may be too small to survive in the long run.

Kendy, the recorded personality of a citizen of "The State" who exists in the computer of the original space-ship that colonized the Smoke Ring, has become impatient. He decides to re-establish contact with Citizen's Tree. Kendy manipulates a group into making contact with "The Admiralty", a neighboring civilization at Gold's L4 Lagrange Point (which they refer to as "the Clump"). The group explores this more advanced civilization with a mixture of wonder and trepidation.

Although much of the story is a sort of "travelogue" exploring the Smoke Ring and the technology used in the unique environment, The Smoke Ring does spend more time on story and character development than The Integral Trees. One of the drivers for the story follows the latest operator of "the silver suit", the Citizen's Tree's working spacesuit. Few are capable of operating the suit due to its size; due to the lack of gravity, most humans in the Smoke Ring grow too tall to fit into it. The job goes to the occasionally born "dwarves" who tend to develop into humans of Earth-normal height and build. A major sub-plot develops around the latest silver suit operator's attempts to infiltrate The Admiralty to gain information, and The Admiralty's near obsession with capturing the Citizen's Tree's spacesuit.

This focuses on the story of Kendy and the original mission. The chain of events that led to the colonization of the Smoke Ring through a "mutiny" on the ship is explored. After retrieving the crew's own records of the events, Kendy realizes that the crew had not mutinied at all, and that he had forced them off the ship, believing this to be in keeping with his orders from Earth. This was apparently blocked from his memory, and he suffers a form of breakdown when he learns (or re-learns) the truth.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Foundation and Empire (Foundation #2) 5Stars

Title: Foundation and Empire
Series: Foundation #2
Authors: Isaac Asimov
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 218
Words: 77K

When I read this for the first recorded time in 2008, I only gave it 3stars.

https://bookstooge.blog/2008/11/12/foundation-and-empire/

I don’t know if that was because I was comparing it to my emotional attachments reading this as a teenager back in the 90’s or what, but it didn’t impress me that much. This time around, I am fully impressed.

Part of that I know is because of my continuing one man war against the Sandersonization of books. Some books should be long, but not EVERY book needs to be long. Foundation and Empire consists of 2 novellas that together make up a very short book. I LIKE that. Spare me the details and give me the broad strokes so I can fill in the details for myself in my imagination. GIVE ME THE FREEDOM TO USE MY IMAGINATION IN READING!!!!!!!! Nor does every book need to be a pared down tale like this. But the pendulum is swinging away from this side and so I rail and declaim and shake my fist. And accomplish nothing but disturbing the air around me.

However, another part is because this is just a fething good story. Another Seldon crisis happens and the Foundation is protected by the social forces that nobody is aware of. And that gives them all a Happy Feeling as they think they are now invincible. Only to have the Mule come along and literally kick the Foundation to the ground and take over. But it introduces us to the idea of the Second Foundation, which has been mentioned before but never given any page time. Now, the groundwork has been laid for it to come to the forefront.

I am glad I am re-reading this trilogy and having such a smashing time of it. I just love, love, love when I re-read a book/series and it gets better!

★★★★★

From Wikipedia.org

The General

General Bel Riose of the Galactic Empire governs the planet Siwenna. He comes across myths regarding the Foundation and attempts to confirm them by coercing the aid of Ducem Barr, a Siwennian whose father Onum met the Foundation trader Hober Mallow decades ago. After further research through visiting Foundation territory, Riose determines that they are a threat to the Empire and declares war upon them, both to fulfill his duty to the Empire and satisfy his personal pursuit of glory. Barr is familiar with Hari Seldon's psychohistory and through it is confident of the Foundation's inevitable victory, an assertion Riose repeatedly disputes.

Riose captures and interrogates Lathan Devers, a Foundation trader who reveals in private to Barr that he allowed himself to be taken in order to disrupt Riose's operation from the inside. Devers is met by Ammel Brodrig, Emperor Cleon II's Privy Secretary who was sent to Riose in order to keep an eye on the general. Devers tries to implicate Riose in an attempt to overthrow Cleon. However, Brodrig betrays Devers to Riose. Barr knocks out Riose before he can subject Devers to more effective interrogation and Devers and Barr escape in the latter's ship. Barr only cooperated with Riose to prevent the discovery of a planned Siwennian uprising in the event of the Foundation's triumph over Riose.

Devers and Barr head to Trantor in an attempt at turning Cleon II against Riose by implicating the latter in a conspiracy to overthrow the former with the help of Brodrig. However, in their attempt to bribe their way up the chain of bureaucracy, they are caught in the act by a member of the Secret Police, but manage to flee the planet before they are arrested. During their escape, they intercept news of Bel Riose and Brodrig's recall and subsequent arrest for treason (both are later said to have been executed), which leads to Siwenna's rebellion and the end of the threat to the Foundation.

During the festivities celebrating Siwenna joining the Foundation, Barr explains to Devers and the Foundation's top merchant prince Sennet Forell that the social background of the Empire made the Foundation's victory inevitable regardless of what actions they and Bel Riose took, as only a strong Emperor and a strong general could have threatened the Foundation, but an Emperor is only strong by not allowing strong subjects to thrive, and Bel Riose's success made him into a threat that Cleon II needed to eliminate. With the Empire nearing its end and the Second Foundation not expected to be met until centuries later, the Foundation anticipates no further opposition. However, an internal conflict between the Foundation's merchant princes and the traders is foreshadowed.

The Mule

Approximately one hundred years later, The Empire, after its final phase of decline and civil war, has ceased to exist, Trantor has suffered "The Great Sack" by a "barbarian fleet," and only a small rump state of 20 agricultural planets remain. Most of galactic civilization has disintegrated into barbaric kingdoms.

The Foundation has become the dominant power in the galaxy, controlling its territory through its trading network. The outline of the Seldon Plan has become widely known, and Foundationists and many others believe that as it has accurately predicted previous events, the Foundation's formation of a Second Empire is inevitable. The leadership of the Foundation has become dictatorial and complacent, and many outer planets belonging to the Traders plan to revolt.

An external threat arises in the form of a mysterious man known only as the Mule. He is a mutant and can sense and manipulate the emotions of others, usually creating fear and/or total devotion within his victims. With this ability, he takes over the independent systems bordering the Foundation, and has them wage a war against it. In face of this new threat, the provincial Traders join with the central Foundation leaders against the Mule, believing him to be the new Seldon crisis.

As the Mule advances, the Foundation's leaders assume that Seldon predicted this attack, and that the scheduled hologram crisis message appearance of Seldon will again tell them how to win. To their surprise, they learn that Seldon predicted a civil war with the Traders, not the rise of the Mule. The tape stops when Terminus loses all power in a Mule attack, and the Foundation falls.

Foundation citizens Toran and Bayta Darell, along with the psychologist Ebling Mis and "Magnifico Giganticus," a clown fleeing the Mule's service, travel to different worlds of the Foundation, and to the Great Library of Trantor. The Darells and Mis seek to contact the Second Foundation, which they believe can defeat the Mule. They also suspect the Mule wishes to know where the Second Foundation is as well, so that he can use the First Foundation's technology to destroy it.

At the Great Library, Ebling Mis works until his health fatally deteriorates. As Mis lies dying, he tells Toran, Bayta, and Magnifico that he knows where the Second Foundation is. Before he can reveal its location, however, Bayta kills him. Bayta had realized, shortly before, that Magnifico was actually the Mule, who had used his powers in every planet they had previously visited. In the same way, he had forced Mis to continue working and find what the Mule was looking for. Bayta had killed Mis to prevent him from revealing the Second Foundation's whereabouts to the Mule.

The Darells are left on Trantor. The Mule leaves to reign over the Foundation and the rest of his new empire. The existence of the Second Foundation, as an organization centered on the science of psychology and mentalics, in contrast to the Foundation's focus on physical sciences, is now known to the Darells and the Mule. Now that the Mule has conquered the Foundation, he is the most powerful force in the galaxy, and the Second Foundation is the only threat to his eventual reign over the entire galaxy. The Mule promises that he will find the Second Foundation, while Bayta asserts that it has already prepared for him and thus that he will not have enough time before the Second Foundation reacts.

All of My Asimov Reviews

Saturday, December 02, 2023

Imperator (Galaxy's Edge #4.5) 4Stars

Title: Imperator
Series: Galaxy's Edge #4.5
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 323
Words: 104K

Ahhh, this was fantastic to return to the Galaxy’s Edge universe again. The Star Wars That Could Have Been. I read the final book of Galaxy’s Edge: Season One (Retribution) back in February of ‘21. I then read many of the spin off series and the final Galaxy’s Edge book I read was Angles of Attack in August of ‘22. Since then I have been patiently waiting for Anspach and Cole to finish up Season Two of the main Galaxy’s Edge series and then had to wait for an opportune time to slide it into my reading rotation.

So imagine my surprise when I came across a Galaxy’s Edge book I hadn’t read it. It was labeled #4.5 and fit between books 4 and 5 (duh, but you can’t be too careful). So I decided to kick off my reading of Season Two with this prequel. It was a good refresher course all about Goth Sullus and his history and what he was afraid of the entire time. I also felt that it introduced The Big Bogeyman so that I remember who/what that is, which is what I’m assuming S2 will be all about. If I had read this when I supposed to, I suspect I would have forgotten most of this by now.

This is the story of Goth Sullus, aka Caspar Sullivan, the Man who would be Emperor with a power no one can resist. He has sought this power for the good of the galaxy though, as it just won’t act like it should, ala how Caspar thinks it should. We go from the time his parents were killed to the attack on him as Emperor by his own Elite. His search for the power leads him to a planet where a twisted Yoda-like character named Urmo trains him in the ways of the Crux.

This was not a linear story at all but at the same time it was. We follow three different time lines of Caspar’s life and each time line is linear, but how and when we jump from one to the other is apparently random. But the authors handled it in such a way that I never felt confused about which timeline I was in nor did I get story whiplash jumping from one to the other. They handled it admirably well.

Caspar’s life is ruled by fear, even once he becomes Goth Sullus, and that fear is what drives him, motivates him, spurs him on. It’s not a good fear either and it makes him become the man that is capable of being Goth Sullus. All in all, this was a great character study of a weak man who was given much power.

On a side note, I’ll be using the Details code for the synopsis so there will be no repeats of Season One where some of those books had six page long synopses. You will not have to scroll through that this time around. On my honor!

Finally, that cover. Oh, is that total Star Wars vibes or what?!?!? Ahhhh, it is a soothing balm to my soul. Here’s the big version:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/fi/h345vxf9k8kn5qr9t64qt/Imperator.jpg?rlkey=pz9ewzhlj27xnmc6r9mvhf5zo&d

★★★★☆

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com

Warrior. Slave. Survivor. Emperor.

As a crumbling Galactic Republic falls to the relentless assault of a merciless foe, so begins the rise of an enigmatic emperor intent on saving a corrupt galaxy-spanning civilization from itself… and from something much darker that lies beyond the reaches of the known.

Just as the reins of power fall into his iron-fisted grasp, an assassination attempt by a hidden cabal within his own inner circle jeopardizes every plan he has set in motion for his Dark Legion, his Imperial Navy, and his ultimate conquest of the stars. But the assassins have no idea who they are actually dealing with… or what he has become.

Imperator is a darkly heroic epic that spans the boundaries of time, space, friendship, and one man’s quest for a power that never should have been found.

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Farsight (Warhammer 40K: Tau) 3Stars

Title: Farsight
Series: Warhammer 40K: Tau
Author: Phil Kelly
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 124
Words: 39K

I read this novella as a buddy read with Dave and Markus. We did our conversing via Whatsapp and it worked out quite well for me. I installed it on my computer instead of just using my phone, so it became an instant messenger. Which allowed me to tickety tack away whenever a thought crossed my mind. It also allowed the other two to discuss various Warhammer 40K books and storylines well beyond my knowledge. It was quite enjoyable, just watching others who knew a subject well to be able to talk about it.

This was definitely NOT a place to start if you have no knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it isn’t a good place to start for anyone, even those who might be familiar with the Empire of Man. The Tau are aliens and Farsight is a very historical figure. But if you don’t know that going in, as was the case with me, you are forced to wonder why we spend all this time with this apparently random character. If you have a grasp of the history, I’m sure this was a very exciting story.

For me, I was confused completely on my first read through. I complained a lot to Dave and Markus and Markus started talking history. That helped build a framework for me when I read through this again. Without that framework, I’m not sure that even a second read would have been enough.

Overall, while I didn’t dislike this story, I was so at sea for most of it, that it put a real damper on my enthusiasm to read further Tau novels. I’ll read them, but my expectations are quite tempered.

★★★☆☆

From the Publishers:

The oxide deserts of Arkunasha are red with spilt blood. The orks of Waaagh! Dok have invaded en masse, and the besieged tau settlers are on the edge of extinction. When the famous general O’Shoh arrives to shatter the greenskins at the head of a high-tech army of battlesuits, the tau expect an easy victory, but the battle-hungry orks outnumber the tau four hundred to one, and the planet’s vicious rust storms have a devilish appetite of their own. Can the rising star of the fire caste solve the riddle of Arkunasha’s haunted past before Dok Toofjaw’s monstrous cyborgs conquer the planet completely?
It's one of Commander Farsight's defining battles – and features some audacious action sequences, including a vicious duel in a medical chamber that will make you look at Farsight in a whole different way. The story also has all sorts of hints to the origins of Farsight's famous companions, "the Eight"...

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Empire’s Doom (Empire Rising #8) 3.5Stars

Title: Empire’s Doom
Series: Empire Rising #8
Author: David Holmes
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 426
Words: 166K

Normally with this series, I write a comedic (for me) review where I mock everyone’s name and make light of all of the circumstances. This won’t be happening for this volume and if the future books are as serious, I’ll simply be reviewing these as any other series.

This was a brutal book. While it was obvious what Holmes was doing, it didn’t mean it didn’t hit me any less hard. James’ wife Susannah dying partway through hit me like an express train. Especially since it was all politically motivated by scumbag politicians. If I had been James, I’d have taken my proto-space navy and nuked Earth myself.

Which brings up the ending where the aliens do just that. In the little chapter headings where the writer of the history (ie, this book, in the year 3000) blabs, it was always evident to any halfway observant reader that this event was going to happen. It wasn’t a surprise and for that I am glad, because I don’t know if I could have handled reading about Earth getting nuked 1800 times with no forewarning. The anguish that James feels as he watches it happen was as real to me as anything could be. I could imagine it, because it would be like September 11, just on a world wide scale. What keeps it from being overwhelming, emotionally, is the knowledge that the Empire arises from this and that humanity isn’t broken.

It also made me grin because the aliens assume that this event will break the Spirit of Humanity and that we won’t be in the fight as the Bad Aliens go to fight the Good Aliens. All I could think was “Oh boy, we are SO going to kick their butts!” The Bad Aliens were just as self-centered and egotistical as you could wish for in an Enemy of Humanity. It will be a joy to see them destroyed. None of this “Fear of the Other” bullshit that I see waved around like a white flag of social surrender as we try to understand the poor dears who just nuked us, because really, they have feelings too and aren’t really bad, just misunderstood. *&^%% that. These aliens want us dead or enslaved and will accept nothing else.

So I am looking forward to more of this series as Humanity gets off the ground and starts swinging in the big space bar room brawl that the bad aliens started. I’m hoping for some serious haymakers...

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

The UN ignores James’ warning about the invading aliens. He begins preparing for the inevitable invasion even though this means breaking all existing laws. He is helped by a large group of individuals and groups that believe his message and expect the worst.

On the run and hunted, James must begin a proto-defense force that is strong enough to defend Earth and to help their alien allies.

James’ wife Susanna is killed by the UN in a bungled attempt to arrest her as bait for James. The aliens arrive and despite the best efforts of the UN Navy and James’ adhoc space navy, the Earth is nuked hundreds of times. The book ends with the aliens retreating, sure that the destruction of our homeworld will have broken humanity’s spirit. Oh how little they know.

All of My “Empire Rising” Reviews

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Foundation (Foundation #1) 5Stars

Title: Foundation
Series: Foundation #1
Authors: Isaac Asimov
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 234
Words: 70K

Foundation is one of those books/series that I read in highschool, then again in Bibleschool and then yet again as an adult. When I read Foundation back in ‘08. I only gave it 3stars. Looking at my review, I don’t give any indication of why. I suspect I was expecting some sort of epiphany experience and when that didn’t happen, I blamed it on the book.

This time around I had more experience with a wider range of Asimov’s work. I’d seen him at the top of his form and I’d seen some of his better left forgotten stuff too. This was a collection of very dependent short stories and I loved every single second of it.

With just a few words Asimov sets the stage for 1000 years of future history. We meet Harri Seldon for all of 4, maybe 5 paragraphs and yet when his hologram appears again, he’s one of the most real characters in the stories. Trantor, the planet city, the Empire itself, are all sketched in with a very light touch and yet we are told enough that our imaginations can fill in all the gaps (well, if your imagination hasn’t atrophied in todays bookish culture).

Asimov’s strength has always been “The Idea” and he works that to the fullest here. I loved it.

★★★★★

From Wikipedia

Called forth to stand trial on Trantor for allegations of treason (for foreshadowing the decline of the Galactic Empire), Seldon explains that his science of psychohistory foresees many alternatives, all of which result in the Galactic Empire eventually falling. If humanity follows its current path, the Empire will fall and 30,000 years of turmoil will overcome humanity before a second empire arises. However, an alternative path allows for the intervening years to be only 1,000 if Seldon is allowed to collect the most intelligent minds and create a compendium of all human knowledge, entitled the Encyclopedia Galactica. The board is still wary, but allows Seldon to assemble whomever he needs, provided he and the "Encyclopedists" be exiled to a remote planet, Terminus. Seldon agrees to these terms – and also secretly establishes a second foundation of which almost nothing is known, which he says is at the "opposite end" of the galaxy.

After 50 years on Terminus, and with Seldon now dead, the inhabitants find themselves in a crisis. With four powerful planets surrounding their own, the Encyclopedists have no defenses but their own intelligence. At the same time, a vault left by Seldon is due to automatically open. The vault reveals a pre-recorded hologram of Seldon, who informs the Encyclopedists that their entire reason for being on Terminus is a fraud, insofar as Seldon did not actually care whether or not an encyclopedia was created, only that the population was placed on Terminus and the events needed by his calculations were set in motion. In reality, the recording discloses, Terminus was set up to reduce the dark ages based on his calculations. It will develop by facing intermittent and extreme "crises" – known as "Seldon Crises" – which the laws governing psychohistory show will inevitably be overcome, simply because human nature will cause events to fall in particular ways which lead to the intended goal. The recording reveals that the present events are the first such crisis, reminds them that a second foundation was also formed at the "opposite end" of the galaxy, and then falls silent.

The Mayor of Terminus City, Salvor Hardin, proposes to play the planets against each other. His plan is a success; the Foundation remains untouched, and he becomes its effective ruler. Meanwhile, the minds of the Foundation continue to develop newer and greater technologies which are more compact and powerful than the Empire's equivalents. Using its scientific advantages, Terminus develops trade routes with nearby planets, eventually taking them over when its technology becomes a much-needed commodity. The interplanetary traders effectively become diplomats to other planets. One such trader, Hober Mallow, becomes powerful enough to challenge and win the office of Mayor and, by cutting off supplies to a nearby region, also succeeds in adding more planets to the Foundation's control.

All of My Asimov Reviews

Sunday, October 08, 2023

The Misfit Soldier 1Star DNF@28%

Title: The Misfit Soldier
Series: ----------
Author: Michael Mammay
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars DNF#28%
Genre: SF
Pages: 270/76
Words: 89K/25K

DNF’d at 28% for the usual reasons.

★☆☆☆☆

Thursday, October 05, 2023

Mutineer (Empire Rising #7) 3.5Stars

Title: Mutineer
Series: Empire Rising #7
Author: David Holmes
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 389
Words: 151K

I enjoyed this even though it wasn’t the transition of power from Awesome-Admiral Happypants to Ensign Mighty Niece like I thought. Das Admiral is front and center and takes a mighty hit from the bad politicians. He’s hurt, he’s down but he’s not done, not by a long shot! There’s dastardly politicians still to kill. There’s dastardly Really Bad Aliens to kill! There’s thrills and chills as new good aliens pop out of the woodwork like weevils from a biscuit!

Das Space Battleos gets biggemized, to the point where thousands of missiles get fired but thankfully we don’t have to follow every single one to their destruction. We do still get “then X missiles made it through and exploded and destroyed/damaged X ships”. So if that’s your space jam, bring your own toast.

The Bad Politicians left a bad taste in my mouth. Just like they should. But I still didn’t enjoy that aspect of the story, even though it was very necessary. Going number two is ALSO necessary but it doesn’t mean I have to like it, or like hearing other people talk/write about it.

But don’t worry, this series is Number One in my books!

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Awesome-Admiral Happypants (because there are lots of admirals but only the most Admiral’y of them all gets to be in charge with that title) saves humanity from a bunch of bad aliens, finds even more good aliens, and finds the Really Bad Aliens.

Politics gets involved, Awesome-Admiral is court-martialed by jealous incompetent and totally stupid Politicians and the Powers That Be blow off the new good aliens and pretend that the RBA’s don’t exist.

Awesome-Admiral doesn’t take it lying down and goes to his wife’s space system to start preparing humanity, along with his niece, Ensign Mighty Niece. Of course, she’s some sort of lowly officer now, but she’s going to stay Ensign Mighty Niece from hereon out in my books!

The End!

All of My “Empire Rising” Reviews

Saturday, September 23, 2023

The Integral Trees (The State #2) 3Stars

Title: The Integral Trees
Series: The State #2
Author: Larry Niven
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 171
Words: 73K

I read this 30+ years ago as a young teenager. The library paperback had that cover and I can tell you that the reason I liked this story so much back then was because there were seven foot tall women taking their shirts off every other chapter (or so it seemed).

This was an adventure story in a very different SF setting than any others I had read. A smoke ring surrounds a star and giant trees and debris survive in this ring instead of planets. Having read A World Out of Time the other month, the connections to the State make a lot more sense.

However, Niven still seems obsessed with women taking their shirts off and people having sex in low to zero gee.

I do plan on reading the sequel, but after that, I suspect I am done with Niven. And I certainly won’t be re-reading these books again.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia.org

Twenty astronauts aboard an interstellar "ramship" colonized the Smoke Ring five hundred years before the story begins. Their descendants have adapted their cultures to the free-fall environment. Without gravity, even those who live in integral tree tufts are much taller than Earth-average humans, having grown up in much weaker tides. Many people are able to use their longer, prehensile toes as another set of fingers. The small number of devices left from the original crew are coveted items in Smoke Ring societies.

Quinn Tribe inhabits the "in tuft" of Dalton-Quinn tree. They normally subsist on the tree's cottony foliage, augmented by hunting and a flock of domesticated turkeys. But since the tree passed near Gold six earth years ago it has been falling toward Voy, nearly dropping out of the Smoke Ring. As a result, the tribe suffers a severe drought. The tribe's leader, the Chairman, decides to send a party of nine up the tree, ostensibly to hunt and re-cut tribal markings into the trunk. The group consists mostly of people with disability and people the Chairman dislikes, including the Chairman's son-in-law (and rival) Clave, and Jeffer, the Scientist's apprentice.

When they approach the midpoint they notice that the tribal markings are different; upon reaching it, they are attacked by members of the Dalton-Quinn tribe who live at the other end of the tree. During the battle a massive tremor splits the tree in half, causing the in tuft to fall farther toward Voy (killing its inhabitants) and allowing the out tuft to find a new equilibrium that is closer to the Smoke Ring's median. The seven surviving members of the Quinn Tribe and one of the attackers jump clear of the shattered tree and are left adrift in the sky with only a few "jet pods" (high pressure seed cases that provide a temporary thrust when opened) as their only method of propulsion.

Before dying of thirst, they hook a passing "moby" (a flying whale-like creature) which takes them to a "jungle," which is a floating mass of plant life. They cut loose, crash, and find themselves in the middle of a battle between the Carther States, who live in the jungle, and slave-runners from London Tree. The group is split when six of them are captured by the slavers; the other two remain in the jungle.

Carther States counter-attacks some weeks later, and the Quinn Tribe group is reunited. During the battle they steal London Tree's CARM (Cargo And Repair Module), a small spacecraft—a relic of the original settlers. The CARM is still functional due to careful management and its robust design; its solar panels provide electricity to electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen, which it stores automatically and then burns for propulsion as needed. London Tree's "Navy", bow- and spear-armed warriors, use the CARM to conduct long-distance military actions and slave raids on a scale impossible for wingless humans in a zero-g environment.

Not fully understanding how to pilot the CARM, the Quinn and Carther warriors engage its main rocket motor, which accelerates the ship at several g, enough to prevent the crew from reaching the controls to turn the motor off. The CARM is propelled up into the thinnest part of the gas torus before running dangerously low on fuel. As a result, they become the first Smoke Ring inhabitants in centuries to see the naked stars.

Unknown to any of the inhabitants of the Smoke Ring, Discipline, the ship in which their ancestors arrived, remains in orbit, and its AI autopilot, Kendy, has been attempting to watch their progress. When Kendy sees the CARM dangerously far from the habitable area of the Ring he contacts them. With help from the on-board computer and after some interaction with Kendy, the occupants of the CARM eventually safely return to the Smoke Ring. Unable to reach any of the trees that they know, they decide to settle on a new tree, which they dub "Citizens' Tree".

- All of My Reviews for “Larry Niven”