The Story Continues ...

Graham McNeill's False Gods continues the story of the Horus Heresy, and what a story it is turning into. Picking up shortly after Horus Rising finished, we are once again shown events through the eyes of Garviel Loken as Horus's crusade begins to change direction and evolve into something else all together.
We are also introduced to Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters, and Fulgrim, Primarch of the Emperor's Children, and we get to see how different to Horus they are. Angron, barbaric and bloodthirsty and Fulgrim, proud and patrician. And of course we see Horus as he begins to question the Emperor's plans for the Imperium, and how Horus is now beginning to think that he should play a larger role in the Imperium's future. Loken, meanwhile, is caught between his duty as a Space Marine, and his feelings that something very wrong is going on.
In the final part Horus begins to make his move against the Emperor and enlists the help of some fellow Primarchs and the Mechanicum and so the die is cast. As Horus states, 'I will set the Emperor's Imperium ablaze and from the ashes will arise a new Master of Mankind.'
I'm very much looking forward to reading the next part of the story. Great read.

Clones

Karen Traviss knows how to write military science fiction, and this is very evident in the Star Wars Republic Commando series. While these books take place within the official Star Wars timeline the books stay away from the well known characters and this is to their benefit. Instead we get to know these overlooked characters from the movies, the foot soldiers. While not as wild as ARC (Advanced Recon Commando) troopers, the clone commandos are more skilled than regular clone troopers.

Doing the work deemed to hard for ordinary clone troopers, the clone commandos come to the rescue. We follow Niner, Darman, Fi and Atin as they get a chance to display their unique talents for battle, courtesy of their genetic father Jango Fett, and the special training from Fett's hand-picked associates.

The books also look at the human side of the clones, and tries to show what is going through the minds of individuals grown for one purpose only, to fight and die.

Well worth picking up and reading if you are a Star Wars fan or like military science fiction.

So it begins ...

The Horus Heresy is the biggest event in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and Games Workshop are now telling the full story of how this happened. The story begins in Horus Rising by Dan Abnett and is told through the eyes of one of Horus' loyal Captains Garviel Loken, leader of the 10th Company of the Lunar Wolves. We follow the Lunar wolves as they continue the Great Crusade the Emperor has sent all the Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines) and their Primarchs, like Horus, on.

Horus has just been named Warmaster as the Emperor has decided to return to Terra (Earth) to let Horus prosecute the Great Crusade as he sees fit. But this new found power and prestige has started to change Horus as his idealism begins to be slowly warped.

As the short preface states:

"The vast armies of the Emperor of Earth have conquered the galaxy in a Great Crusade - the myriad alien races have been smashed by the Emperor's elite warriors ... First and foremost amongst these are the primarchs, superheroic beings who have led the Emperor's armies of Space Marines in victory after victory. They are unstoppable and magnificent, the pinnacle of the Emperor's genetic experimentation. The space Marines are the mightiest human warriors the galaxy has ever known, each capable of besting a hundred normal men or more in combat ... Chief amongst the primarchs is Horus, called the Glorious, the Brightest Star, favourite of the Emperor, and like a son unto him. He is the Warmaster."

The parallels with Milton's Paradise Lost are very evident, but Abnett does a good job of not making it seem like a simple retelling.

Overall Horus Rising is a pacy story that left me wanting to read the rest of the books in the series. Fans of Warhammer 40,000 will enjoy the background material these books contain, and fans of military science fiction will also get a kick from this book.

War against Chaos

Ian Watson understands one thing about the Warhammer 40,000 universe and that is the fact that the universe is baroque. The only thing standing between humans and their complete destruction are brave individuals who root out the insidious influences of Chaos.

The Inquisition War deals with one such individual in Inquisitor Jaq Draco and his brave companions who help in this endless fight against the ruinous powers. Draco finds himself travelling across the Imperium of Man as he tries to end a conspiracy that threatens everyone with complete enslavement.

Watson is a wonderful writer, and he really brings out the gibbering nature of the followers of Chaos, and the constant threat to humans from them. In fact role players who are playing Dark Heresy could use this wonderful collection to find many ideas for their own campaigns.

I'll let Draco speak for himself:

"What does the name of inquisitor mean? Many people would answer: destroyer of mutants, hammer of heretics, scourge of aliens, with-hunter, torturer. Yet really the answer is: a seeker of truth, however terrible the truth may be. As a member of the Ordo Malleus I am already a secret inquisitor. Yet the truth I must disclose involves the revelation of an even deeper, more sinister secrets than those known to members of our covert order."

A fun read, especially if you know anything about the Warhammer 40,000 universe and setting.

Fun read

Neal Asher's book Prador Moon is a fun space opera novel that leaves you wanting more. Part of this is helped by the fact that the novel itself is only about 200 pages long, and this short space allows Asher's prose to zing, as we see the Polity encounter the first ever space faring alien species. And what a species they turn out to be, massive crab-like creatures who are nearly indestructible and called the Prador.

Sure it is full of Asher's trademark violence, and tough characters, but it also manages to make both sides of this conflict real, as we have different narrators, Prador and Human. As always Asher will raise issues with the reader, but then gives his reader's space to think about it in their own time without preaching to them if they so choose. Or they can concentrate on the many characters getting gutted in various vicious ways.

Overall another great read, from an author who never fails to deliver.

Evergence

Sean Williams and Shane Dix's Evergence series is well worth reading. Set in a far future it is full of action and intrigue, space opera with ideas. Williams and Dix aren't afraid of mixing interesting concepts with their action scenes, and the series never becomes a race from one fire-fight to the next. They will continually throw something thought provoking or interesting in your way.

The main characters we meet are Morgan, Cane and The Box. Morgan is a intelligence officer on a special and secret mission that involves various powers in the universe. In her care is The Box, a portable A. I. who is being hunted, and who seems to have an important roll in the future of humanity. Finally Cane is a mystery man found floating in space, who has no memory of his past but has skills and abilities beyond normal.

The three books in the series are a great read, and would be enjoyed by any fans of science fiction.

Future crime

Stone by Adam Roberts deals with a criminal in a future utopia.
When we first meet our protagonist being held in a prison in the centre of a star, and has just been sentenced to execution by having the nano machines in our protagonist's blood removed. (The nano machines keep citizens from harm and allow them to lead very long lives.) Before long the main character, Ae, is contacted by a mysterious stranger who promises to break Ae free in return for doing a small favour. The favour is that Ae must wipe out the population of a planet without harming the planet itself.
This short book (under 300 pages) is a very good and interesting read. Roberts is an author who likes using Science Fiction to explore ideas and this book is no different. The fact that it is short means it flies along without much padding and this helps the story to move along.
Well worth reading.

Undead Empire

Scott Westerfeld has written a great space opera called The Risen Empire. The Risen Empire is run by the Undead Emperor who has been in power for sixteen hundred years, and has the power to grant immortality on selected members of his court who join the elite class known as the Risen.

The Risen Empire is opposed by their eternal enemy the Rix who exist to turn planets into compound minds run by an AI.

The story starts with the Rix capturing the eternally youthful Child Empress and events unfold from there. This story is full of battles, political intrigue, thrills, spaceships and amazing technology. In other words all the ingredients that make up space opera of the Star Wars type.

A fun read you can enjoy without having to worry about any hard science.

In the army

Death's Head by David Gunn is a fun, adventure filled, brain-in-neutral kind of book. There is always an action scene around the next page, and the hero is the hard-as-nails bastard you expect in a science fiction military novel.

Sven, our hero, is so tough that he survives being whipped as punishment, and witnesses the slaughter of the garrison he is stationed at. After being held captive by aliens he is rescued by the galaxy's elite special ops force the Death's Head. He joins them and is sent on a special mission.

Don't stop reading if you've read all this before in a million other books. I never said it was original. What it is is a fun read, that won't make you think too hard, and sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered.

Ilium

Dan Simmons always writes interesting stories. As I read my way through Ilium and Olympos I marvel at his vision and ability to make you think.

In this series humanity has developed into humans and posthumans. The posthumans though have left earth and the remaining humans are unsure what this means.

Meanwhile on Mars resurrected Homer scholars find themselves tasked by seven foot tall Greek Gods to observe and record the siege of Troy which is being fought in a recreated Mediterranean.

Also robots working on Jupiter's moons decide to find out what has happened to the posthumans and set of to Mars to investigate the millions of giant statues being carved around the landscape.

This series is well worth reading. Get yourself a copy and read the words of a true thinker.

The Problem with Science Fiction

Richard Morgan is a great Science Fiction and Fantasy author, who is also passionate about the genres within which he writes. This piece from his blog shows that and I encourage people to read it. It can be found at the following address.
http://www.richardkmorgan.com/article_soundfury.htm
For the record I happen to agree with his points about the in-fighting within Science Fiction.

The Gap Conflict

My rereading of science fiction novels continues with the Gap Series by Stephen Donaldson. Though I sometimes wonder why every few chapters or so. Donaldson does not present a favourable picture of humanity in this series, with characters engaging in the lowest acts in order to get ahead.

Rape, murder, pillage, violence this is not a positive view of the world. Donaldson seems to like bringing out the worst in his characters, and I find myself putting the book down every few chapters to read something else. But I keep coming back, Donaldson is a good writer and the books do fly along. The series is modeled on Wagner's Ring Cycle and there are many links between the two works.

I will keep reading, I want to finish the series and I do recommend it to others, just don't be surprised if you need a shower afterwards.

Second time around

A little while ago I talked about re-reading books I like and this is one of them that I have been reading lately. Dan Simmons Hyperion series has been the focus of my re-reading and I must admit that each time I read it I get something new from it.

Simmons wears literary influences on his sleeve with this novel, named after an unfinished Keats poem, and structured like The Canterbury Tales, Simmons sets out to tell an amazing story.

The book revolves around the planet Hyperion and a group of pilgrims who are summoned to the planet because the Shrike is waking up from the Tombs of Time.

The pilgrims decide to tell their stories during the journey to the Tombs and the novel is set out in sections as each pilgrim tells their tale and why they are connected to the Shrike.

This is a fantastic book and is full of ideas and makes the reader think long after they have finished reading it.

This is well worth reading and look for the rest of the series to experience the full scope of this story. The other books are Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and Rise of Endymion.

Saga of Seven Suns

Kevin J Anderson writes science fiction. He writes different types of science fiction. He is at his best when he is writing space opera though, and the Saga of Seven Suns is just that.

Starting in book one called, Hidden Empire, the series is at least six books long now with no signs of finishing yet.

If you like large series with lots of characters, political intrigue, dangerous actions and general skulduggery, then this is what you are after. Anderson likes to work on a large stage, and the Saga of the Seven Suns is a LARGE stage. Be prepared to remember lots of character names, and places.

Overall though I do like these books and can say fans of science fiction should enjoy them as well.

Science Fiction Samba

Brasyl by Ian MacDonald lives up to the quote on the front by fellow writer Richard Morgan. Morgan says "F**king brilliant. I'm as jealous as all hell - it's a beauty.' I couldn't agree more. OK I'm not jealous but this book is great.

MacDonald weaves the story around three strands set in 2006, 2032 and 1732 in Brazil, and Brazil is the main character. This tightly plotted story takes the reader on a ride through the backstreets of this magnificent country as we follow the protagonists around. MacDonald has an ear for dialogue which translates well onto the page.

Be warned though there is a lot going on within the pages of this book, but once you start the momentum will speed you along.

The war on terror is over ... terror won.

BREAKING NEWS
A nuclear device has just been detonated at Leuchars airforce base in Scotland.
The motorway outside Birmingham has just exploded.
A refinery at Grangemouth has been blown up with two more being destroyed within minutes, and three fuel-depots also being attacked across the country.
Rioting has broken out across Britain with Muslims and Asians being targeted.
The authorities have yet to release any official statements but news services are blaming France, China or Syria.
Groups claiming responsibility include Al Qaeda in Europe, People's Mujahedin-e-Khalq of the British Isles, the Scottish Republican Socialist Army and Hezbollah of Syria.
British troops may be recalled from overseas postings in Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan.
Theories abound across the Internet as people try and come to terms with this disaster as 5/5 goes down in history as a day of infamy just like 9/11.
To find out what happens next read The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod, you will not be disappointed.

In a Galaxy Far Far Away...

The Star Wars Universe has been given new life in the myriad novels that have been published. Set during the films, before the films and after the films a lot of has happened to the familiar cast of characters since Return of the Jedi finished the movie saga.
SPOILER ALERT!
Controversy has been courted by these books when they killed Chewbacca, and Leia and Han's youngest son Anakin. Luke married a Sith assassin who was trying to kill him, and various members of the Solo family have turned to the dark side and come back.
But any fan of the movies will enjoy the books. It is good that Lucas is happy to allow the universe he created to grow and evolve. This is not to say that he hasn't got a firm hand guiding the ship, but with publishing these novels the adventures continue and it is fun to revisit a group of characters who feel like old friends.

Personal Favourite

My all time favourite book is Dune by Frank Herbert. I suppose this says a lot about what I like to read, but don't judge me just yet. I have a university degree in English Literature yet here I am advocating a science fiction novel. All I can ask is that you hear me out.
So what is it I enjoy about Dune? I marvel at the setting, and the universe that Herbert has constructed. The planet spanning civilisation, that at its heart is just as nasty as our own world. Hobbes would be proud of the picture that Herbert describes with life being nasty, brutish and short.
I also love the political machinations described in the novel, everyone has their own best interests at heart, and is not afraid to use or crush others to get what they want.
I enjoy the characters and how they interact with each other. The dialogue and motives are believable if you accept that the universe Herbert has described actually exists.
But most of all I enjoy the pace and flow of the story. Herbert's writing has a spark that is difficult to describe but is very effective. The recent prologues written by Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert are good but still lack something that only Frank Herbert's writing could convey.
So in the end I urge people to dip their toe into this wonderful book, and if they do they may find that they want to dive straight in.

Bank On It.

Iain M Banks is an amazing author of grand science fiction told within a coherent overarching setting, yet each book can be read independent of the others. Banks also has some of the best space ship names ever committed to paper. (I won't spoil anything by telling you some but Banks is imaginative.) Banks is also good at setting the scene of his stories, and the reader is quickly swept up in the vistas he describes.
A Banks novel is always going to include complex, but not confusing, storyline with politics and war all playing a part in driving the plot forward. When reading it is easy to sit back and let the words flow over you like a river that sweeps you along.
If you don't like the sound of Banks' science fiction, you could try his general fiction published under the name of Iain Banks. These too are well worth reading, with their supernatural twists and family dramas.
In other news Star Wars turned 30 this month. (I can't believe I'm only a few months older than Star Wars.) So Happy Birthday and hopefully people will continue to enjoy watching this landmark film.

Reynolds Rules

Anyone looking for good science fiction and who also likes space-opera then you can not go past Alaister Reynolds. Writing on a grand scale, with world shattering events, Reynolds is a master of action, while making the reader think about philosophical issues. Revelation Space, Absolution Gap, and his latest The Prefect are all great examples of this.
If you pick up one of his books be prepared to be taken on a ride that will leave you breathless, and not just because you had to carry these 500 page tomes home! Don't be afraid by the size of these novels though, trust me, they will fly.