Posts Tagged ‘space opera’
Caliban’s War, by James S.A. Corey
Posted on: June 8, 2013
Caliban’s War (book 2 of The Expanse series) by James S.A. Corey
published in June 2012
where I got it: gift from a friend, and it’s autographed! I have the bestest friends in the world!
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This is the second novel in James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse trilogy, so there will be spoilers, some major, for the first book in the series, Leviathan Wakes (review here). Ok, so spoilers is bad news. but the good news is, I think you could start with Caliban’s War first, and then read Leviathan Wakes, and be a-ok.
Picking up about a year after the events of Leviathan Wakes, the landscape of Caliban’s War is more a dark new world rather than a bold or brave one. Holden and crew are sitting pretty in their stolen martian warship, renamed Rocinante, and doing escort duty and pirate hunting for the Outer Planets Alliance. It’s boring, but safe. Relatively speaking. Holden is safe so long as he’s awake. Because when he sleeps, he dreams only of the horrors of Eros. His relationship with Naomi has finally settled into something called a relationship, but she’s getting sick of the “new” Holden; The Jim Holden who shoots first and asks questions later, the one who acts too much like the late Detective Miller. But how could anyone come through the events of Eros unscathed? I was fascinated by Holden’s tacit denial of how he’s handling what he went through by not handling it. His PTSD is the white elephant in the room. Maybe he’ll think twice next time before he decides to play hero. Yeah right.
Meanwhile, we watch as on Ganymede two seemingly unrelated events unfold: a handful of children go missing, and a superhuman crerature slaughters platoons of UN and Martian troops, leaving one survivor.
Unrelated my ass.
Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks
Posted on: March 3, 2013
Use of Weapons (a Culture novel) by Iain M. Banks
published in 1990
where I got it: gift from a friend
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apologies in advance: if you’ve never read a Culture novel, this review may not make any sense to you. The only thing for it is to read a Culture novel, and then you’ll know what all the fuss is about.
People have described Use of Weapons as the ultimate in space opera and as Banks’ best work. As a fan of space opera and a somewhat newbie to Banks’ Culture novels, I have to completely agree. This is only my third Culture novel, and I was smitten with Banks on my very first Culture read. The Culture is a far-reaching post-scarcity society whose citizens have everything they could possibly want. Waited upon by AI drones and whisked across the galaxy in ships run by uber-intelligent Minds, The Culture really thinks they are all that. Often, they try to press their values on everyone they meet, even if that society isn’t interested in that particular brand of decadence. Also, the drones are hysterical, and The Minds have a really twisted sense of humor. I love that stuff! Few things are funnier to me than a drone telling someone to “go fuck yourself!”
A sprawling story that mentions countless planets and conflicts, yet a plot that centers around a single individual, Use of Weapons is the intimate story of one Cheradenine Zakalwe. I’ll admit I did feel a little lost during the first 50 pages or so, but once the main story got going, I couldn’t put the book down. Throwing the reader in at the deep end seems to be a Banks thing, and just going with it, even though I didn’t yet know what “it” was, was the best thing I could have done.
Contracted by Special Circumstances, Zakalwe is called in to do their dirty work: namely, starting wars and political conflicts on planets so The Culture can come in and save the day. Sometimes Zakalwe’s side wins, and sometimes it doesn’t, and Zakalwe spends his evenings wondering if any of this matters in the grand scheme of the universe. He’s a very private man, yearning to tell someone, anyone, of the struggles of his youth. There’s only one person in the galaxy he’s willing to tell the truth to, and an audience with her is his price for his latest job with Special Circumstances.
Today’s post comes to us from nrlymrtl (pronounced Nearly Mortal, not Gnarly Myrtle), webmistress of Dab of Darkness and contributor at Dark Cargo. Thanks to the hardworking folks at Wildside Press who are making a large number of Stableford titles available as ebooks, nrlymrtl has been able to discover and enjoy a new-to-her author. Here’s her thoughts on some of his writings:
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Biologist, Sociologist, Writer: Brian Stableford
by nrlymrtl
In 2012, I discovered Brian Stableford and his Daedalus Mission books (The Florians, Critical Threshold, Wildeblood’s Empire, The City of the Sun, Balance of Power, & The Paradox of the Sets) as published by Wildside Press. The gorgeous, detailed covers on the Wildside Press additions are also an attraction. As a biologist, these books drew me in right away because of the underlying ecological and biological principles as applied to colonizing other worlds. Even on Earth, no matter where we go, we have always had to bargain with Nature, and she has not always been an easy bargainer. Spreading Humanity across the Universe is not only a daunting task mechanically, financially, engineeringly, but also in learning to manipulate new environments and ourselves long term biologically.
And that challenge, met not just in a few years, but rather haphazardly some generations later, is what captivated me about these books. So, of course, I had to read up on Stableford. Who is this man, how many more of his books are out there, and how many should-be-sleeping hours can I physically give up to his books?
The more I learned about this man, the more I appreciated him. This Brit graduated with a biology degree in 1969 and went on to study sociology, complete with a PhD thesis titled, ‘The Sociology of Science Fiction‘ in 1979. At over 70 novels, he is still writing and publishing today, so no worries that I will run out of quality reading material anytime soon.
The best books I read this year
Posted on: December 12, 2012
It’s that wonderful time of the year again! When we bake cookies and get cards in the mail and forget that we need extra time to warm up our cars in these cold, cold mornings.
It’s also time to talk about the best books we’ve read this year. I confess, I cheated a little on my list, I didn’t limit myself to books that came out in 2012, I’ve even got a reread on the list. Mostly space opera, a little fantasy and time travel, even a YA book made the list! In no particular order, here are my top books that I read this year, with review excerpts and links to the review should you feel so inclined to learn more about the titles that rocked my world this past year.
Redhead’s Best of 2012
Faith, by John Love (2012) – I read this all the way back in February, I knew right then it would make my best of the year list. An amazing debut from author John Love, Faith is a dark and tense stand alone science fiction novel. The pages drip with a danger and fear that doesn’t quickly dissipate after you’ve put the book down. This isn’t a book for everyone (that’s a polite way of saying it has lots of violence, amorality and swear words), but for those of us that like this sort of thing, Faith is quite the hidden gem.
(full review here, and I got to interview the author here)
Silently and Very Fast, by Catherynne M. Valente (2012) – has anyone been putting out short stories, novellas and full length novels as fast as Valente? she’s the hardest working writer I know, and this year she got to walk away with Hugo for Best FanCast to show for it. it’s no secret that Valente is one of my favorite authors, and the Hugo nominated Silently and Very Fast is certainly her most science fictional piece. With her signature flair for poetic metaphor and lyrical storytelling, this novella follows the life of Elefsis, a house AI who was told fairytales by the human children in the house. To Elefsis, life is a fairytale, and it should have a happy ending.
(full review here)
Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht (2012) – I don’t read a lot of urban fantasy, but when I do it’s a treat for it to be a beautifully written as this series (the 2nd book And Blue Skies from Pain came out later in 2012). Northern Ireland, the 1970s, Liam Kelly would prefer to live a normal life. He’s not interested in getting arrested or learning secrets about his heritage. But all of those things are very interested in him, and in destroying everything in his life that he cares about. Leicht spoiled me for urban fantasy. I am eagerly awaiting future novels in this series.
(full review here)
Cordelia’s Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold
published in 1999
where I got it: borrowed from a friend
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I don’t usually go for these ultra long series, I’m lazy and can’t be bothered to track down every single book and read them in a specific order. Ahh, but if the books can be read in nearly any order (Vlad Taltos, Discworld, Culture, I’m staring at you!), and if a friend offers to lend me the first few books in the internal chronology, how could I say no? Thus, my start of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series is begun.
Cordelia’s Honor is comprised of the short novels Shards of Honor, and Barrayar, which are the chronological beginning of McMaster Bujold’s famous Vorkosigan series. I read them as one long novel, and what better way to get introduced to the series’ titular character, Miles Vorkosigan, than to meet his parents first?
Cordelia Naismith is captain of a Betan scientific mission. She mostly keeps her crew focused on what they are doing and out of trouble. Attacked on a planet, she becomes the prisoner of Aral Vorkosigan, heir to a noble family on the planet Barrayar. Recently out of it’s “time of Isolation”, Barrayar is the complete opposite of Beta Colony. Where the Betans are known as an egalitarian society, Barrayar is steeped in male dominance. The Betans live lives of ease, with access to the best medical technology and mental health services, whereas on Barrayar women still die in childbirth and mental illness or physical ailments are seen as incurable and exploitable defects.
Aral Vorkosigan is Cordelia’s social opposite, but they believe in the same things – respect, dignity, honor, doing the right thing at all times. I can’t say there wasn’t any Stockholm Syndrome going on here, but when Cordelia is eventually able to return to her homeworld, she learns she’s changed too much to be welcomed home. One thing leads to another, and the only safe place for her is the path that continues her relationship with Aral Vorkosigan.
Cordelia’s Honor is incredibly dense. McMaster Bujold crams about 1200 pages of plot and characterization into a few hundred pages, showing us, through Cordelia’s eyes, the corrupted royal house of Barrayar, it’s bloodthirsty noble families, and Cordelia and Aral’s attempts at a normal life. She’s a foreigner, he’s the guardian to the young Emperor. The one thing they can never have is a normal life. McMaster Bujold is most definitely following that time honored philosophy of coming up with the worst possible things an author can do to their characters, and then doing it, again and again, in ever more tragic and horrific ways, keeping the reader turning pages and biting nails.
The Skinner, by Neal Asher
Posted on: October 17, 2012
- In: Neal Asher
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The Skinner, by Neal Asher
published in 2005
where I got it: borrowed from a friend
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So often in science fiction, immortality is found through technological means – we upload, or become cyborg, or some such. How refreshing to come across a biological method of immortality in Neal Asher’s The Skinner, and that’s just the first of many refreshing concepts presented in this unique space opera.
Discovered around a thousand years ago, the planet known as Spatterjay is unique in the universe. The environs of the planet are so harsh and the poisons coursing through the bodies of its indigenous species so volatile that every life form on the planet has evolved to survive. Nearly every life form on the planet is teeming with a native virus, that for all intents and purposes, makes its victims immortal. On Spatterjay, the most valuable commodity is permanent death.
If you could survive any injury, how would it change how your life? To the citizens of Spatterjay, decapitation puts a crimp in one’s afternoon, not one’s life. Those with a weak stomach may want to skip The Skinner, as Asher has quite a bit of magnificently disgusting fun putting characters through the physical ringer.
The story begins with the arrival of three off-worlders. The depressed yet curious Erlin who is searching for a famous ship captain who keeps a monster’s head in his sea chest; Keech, the cyborg corpse cop who has a score to settle with the remaining pirates who were involved with enslaving the citizens of Spatterjay; and Janer, who tries to convince every one he’s a simple tourist employed by a hive mind. And circling high above them all are the snarky subminds of the Artificial Intelligence who manages the government of Spatterjay. And we can’t forget the semi-intelligent long-necked large-winged living Sails, who are an integral part of the fishing industry on Spatterjay. If you read The Skinner for no other reason, read it for the Sails.
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
Posted on: July 3, 2012
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
published in June 2011
where I got it: purchased new
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Be warned, this is a slightly spoilery review.
People keep trying to shoot Jim Holden . First, while on a routine rescue mission his ship was attacked and he barely survived with his life. Then, taken prisoner by the Martian Navy, he and his remaining crew stole a ship and escaped, and then got shot at. A lot. Everyone wants Jim and his crew, and no one will tell them why. No one will tell them what was on that first disabled ship they tried to board to save souls or salvage, no one will tell them who blew it out of the sky, and why everyone who witnessed it is dead.
An ex-Navy man from Earth, Jim Holden realized he was too idealistic for the Navy of the inner planets. After a few bad experiences, he signed on as XO with an ice hauling crew doing the Saturn – Belt run, and he’s been in heaven ever since. With the few surviving members of his crew and now answering to Captain, Holden’s got to find out who is least interested in killing him, and he’s got to find out fast.
oh, and his crew? Probably the best part of the book. I’m not sure which I liked better, the perfectly done characterization or the hilarious and dry dialog. Acting XO is Naomi, who doesn’t do so well under pressure but does keep Jim from being completely stupid; Alex the weak stomached pilot; and Amos, the brawler mechanic who swears creatively and reminded me of what Jayne could have grown up to be, which made me like him even more.
Meanwhile in the carved out asteroid Ceres Detective Miller looks for a lost girl. Her parents contracted his employer to find her, and he got stuck with the gig. He does his normal routine, check out her apartment, peek through photos, read her e-mail, see who she’s been hanging out with. When clues begin to materialize, Miller is violently taken off the case. Shortly afterwards, Ceres erupts in riots. The organized crime element of the place has just taken over.
A sprawling space opera, Leviathan Wakes is what happens when you take humanity and fling them through the solar system. People born in low gravity are longer limbed and skinnier, people born in heavy gravity are more squat. Instead of everyone looking alike and hating each other, we now look very different, and still hate each other. Tensions are high between the Inners (Earth and Mars) and the Outer Planetary Alliance (everything from the asteroid belt on out). To start a full scale war, all it would take is one little incident. Kill some marines, blow up a science station, impound a few water haulers, anything that you can blame on any group you don’t like. Add into this mix a depressed alcoholic detective and an ice hauler crew who don’t have a death wish, and you’ve got the recipe for one helluva Space Opera.
Particle Horizon, by Selso Xisto
Posted on: June 30, 2012
Particle Horizon, by Selso Xisto
published in 2012
where I got it: received copy from the author
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How deep into the foundations of the universe can we truly observe? What will we see when we get there? Famous researcher Dr. Baghdarasian has made learning those secrets his life’s work. The phrase “particle horizon” refers to how far we can see with a microscope.
As the story opens, we get some minimal background about the current state of humanity. With Earth as the center of our civilization, we’ve colonized planets and moons all over the place, even hollowed out a handful of asteroids and very small moons. Once outside the solar system, humanity is generally split into two psuedo Empires: the Union which follows a strictly atheistic culture and has no room for any type of religious faith; and the Alliance, a very religious culture with no room for any kind of doubt in their deity and priests. The two cultures are polar opposites with no space for anything inbetween, so of course there is a lot of tension between them, not to mention the pressures their citizens are under to conform.
The space navies of both cultures have converged on the hollowed out asteroid of Angelhaven, where a battalion of Alliance Lightbringer troops have attacked the main city. Angelhaven is also the home of Dr. Baghdrasarian and his android daughter Una. Una was designed with what amounts to a quantum computer for a brain, and until now she’s never really paid attention to the numbers she’s been crunching. Her father has discovered something amazing. Something that could change the course of humanity’s future, and both the Alliance priesthood and the Union governments desperately want to get their hands on it, or on Una, who stores the secret deep in her mind.
Player of Games, by Iain M. Banks
Posted on: May 8, 2012
Player of Games (a Culture novel) by Iain M. Banks
published in 2008
where I got it: library
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A story about a guy playing a game? Something like an overcomplicated chess tournament? sounds boring, doesn’t it? Well, this is Iain Banks, he doesn’t do boring. And Azad is far more than overcomplicated chess. Azad is quite literally the game of a lifetime.
Subtle and darkly funny are descriptors that come to mind when I think of Player of Games. It’s central conceit sounds ridiculous at first: Win a board game, become Emperor. But as I’m coming to learn, with Iain Banks nothing is simple, and nothing is ever as it seems.
thanks to a little case of blackmail, Jernau Gurgeh finds it might be best to leave the Orbital for a while. It’s with nearly perfect timing that he receives an invitation to learn a new game far from home. And not just any game, but the game that an entire empire was named for, a game whose winners shape the future of the worlds on which it is played. A famed game player, Gergeh has a record of winning nearly every game he sits down to play, and an uncanny ability to quickly learn new systems and rules. If any Culture citizen is capable of even understanding the complex game of Azad, it’s him.
Fool’s War, by Sarah Zettel
Posted on: April 30, 2012
Fool’s War, by Sarah Zettel
published in 1997
where I got it: borrowed from a friend (thanks E! I’ll get it back to you right soon!)
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With so many new books that feature female protags who kick ass, sometimes it’s hard to believe books like that have been around for a while. Sarah Zettel’s Fool’s War is one such book, and in classic Zettel fashion, this is a space opera that will get you thinking about things you weren’t expecting, and keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. If you are a fan of Kameron Hurley or Elizabeth Bear, or just looking for some damn good space opera, this will be right up your alley.
In this far future, we have colonized a number of star systems, and we have FTL ships and Artificial intelligences. Due to a large enough number of AIs that have gone rogue and slaughtered entire colonies, many ship owners are leery of allowing any kind of untethered AI access to their systems.
Katmer Al Shei is a partner in a timeshare transport ship. Basically, she has the ship for 8 months, and then her brother-in-law has the ship for 8 months. The beginning of the book and the set up for our main plot line has her taking possession of the ship, collecting her small crew, recruiting a new pilot, and accepting the gift of a contracted Ship’s Fool. Fools – part entertainer, part psychoanalyst, part ship’s counselor, these are the only people who are guaranteed to keep your tightly wound crew members from going crazy in their tight quarters. Katmer’s new Fool, Evelyn Dobbs, promises that she’s one of the Guild’s best.
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