Whip by Martin Caidin

My rating:

4 out of 5

They called him Whip because that was the way he handled a plane. Small, wiry, always ready for action, Captain Whip Russel was a terror in the air...and the pilots of his Brigade of B-25 bombers were the best outfit in the Pacific in 1942.

With the Japanese at the height of their power, Whip and his boys flew into Northern Australia on a special assignment that was to change the drift of the war - and teach them all a thing or two about victory...and defeat...

***** *** *******

Here we have a perfect example of a book from another of my favorite fiction genres; loosely fact-based tales of men and women who fought on our behalf during the times of war that have come along over the years. Whip is a great rollicking yarn that whisks the reader along on missions against the Japanese in the Pacific theatre during World War Two. I've had a copy of the Corgi paperback edition for around thirty years that I picked up in a book exchange somewhere along the way. I've read it four times that I can recall and have enjoyed it immensely each time. First published in 1976 and enjoying a number of reprints over the years, Martin Caidin has delivered an entertaining book that will appeal to lovers of WW2 history, action and aviation. Caidin has written a number of other fiction titles as well as some non-fiction works on military history. Also, a few sci-fi thrillers have come from him as well; in fact, the popular 70's and 80's TV series The Six Million Dollar Man was adapted from his novel Cyborg. Sure, Whip is a bit pulpy and may not find huge acceptance by today's readers, but it's designed for entertainment purposes with a little factual account blended in there and I'd suggest that most people over that age of 40 would really enjoy reading this.

From the opening lines and the moment when Whip Russel's B-25 bomber squadron thunders overhead Garbutt Field in Northern Australia, the action never really stops. Whip's squadron is on the retreat from the vast invading Japanese forces on the northern side of New Guinea and in the Solomon Islands. While regrouping in Aussie, plans are formed to create a forward operating base high in the jungle hills of New Guinea, a secret base from where they can strike out at the Japs more or less unmolested. They also decide to modify their aircraft to be able to deliver extra blows to the enemy, and edge that no other squadrons or aircraft have. Of course, things don't always go exactly to plan but the results are generally quite impressive. Caidin writes with great detail and things do seem very authentic, I guess due to him having had quite a bit to do with these aircraft and the men who flew them.

A B-25 bomber attacks Japanese frigate

The characters are relatively shallow (I guess) but I'd ask who would want them to be any different for this type of yarn? I liked every cast member in this book and think that they fit the whole story perfectly. The writing style is great, very typical of stuff like this from the same era. It's what I grew up reading so it's real comfort reading for me, a return to the tried and true tropes and yarns that kept my younger mind ticking over and learning about various things that interested me. This is the sort of book that people like me can crawl into when life gets a bit much, make a tactical retreat from the real world for a little while and regroup of our resources. Just like Whip Russel's B-25 squadron. A lot of folks around me don't realize how much they've got books like Whip to thank for allowing me the ability to do this.

Basically, Whip is an interesting and yet sometimes grim World War Two yarn, perfect for military and/or aviation fans who want to immerse themselves in what I was most probably like back in those darker days of our history.

3/5 for concept
4/5 for delivery
5/5 for entertainment
= 4 out of 5

Buy the book HERE (Amazon US)
Download the epub file HERE (The Z-Library Project)

A Star-Wheeled Sky by Brad R Torgersen

My rating:

4 out of 5

Over a millennium in the past, humans fleeing Earth in slower-than-light vessels discovered the Waywork, an abandoned alien superhighway system that allows instantaneous travel from star to star. The problem: there are a finite number of Waypoint nodes—and the burgeoning population of humans is hemmed in as a result. Furthermore, humanity is divided into contending Starstates. One of the strongest is based on an oligarchy ruling families, but still mostly democratic. The other is a totalitarian nightmare. War seems inevitable.

Now a new Waypoint appears. Might it lead to the long-lost creators of the Waywork? If so, there may be knowledge and technology that will tip the balance in the coming war.

Three people race to make it to the new Waypoint—and beyond. These include Wyodreth Antagean, the reluctant son of an interstellar shipping magnate, Lady Garsina Oswight, the daring daughter of a royal family, and Zuri Mikton, a disgraced flag officer seeking redemption. They are facing an implacable foe in Golsubril Vex, a merciless, but highly effective, autocrat from the Waywork’s most brutal regime. Vex is determined to control the new Waypoint and whatever revelation or power lies on the other side.

Now humanity’s fate—to live in freedom or endless dictatorship—depends on just what that revelation might be. And who gets there first.

***** *** *******

After having read and enjoyed some of Torgersen's previous work (the Chaplains War novel and a number of his shorter stories) I immediately elevated this book to the top of my to-read list when I saw its release. I really like his writing style, which possibly has something to do with the fact (which I only found out recently) that one of his key mentors is Mike Resnick who happens to be one of my favourite authors across all genres. Torgersen delivers to us a good story with good characters and an interesting plot, and the world-building is very good. These facets add up to a pretty good novel that is clearly just the beginning of a larger series of books and/or stories. In his Acknowledgements, Torgersen admits that "retooling for long form has been—and continues to be—a process" after a number of successful shorter works (not least his great success in the Analog magazine Reader's Poll), and I feel that maybe I can sense this a little while reading this. While the story ideas contained in it are excellent and the execution is just fine, there did seem to be a slight lull in the middle, just enough to cause my attention to wander a little. But the last quarter really picks up again and finishes the book off nicely, albeit rather abruptly.

Set in the distant future when Earth is but a distant memory and the topic of legend, the story starts when a new Waypoint in an interconnecting interstellar network called the Waywork suddenly appears. A frantic race begins by rival groups to reach this new portal, find out where it leads to and to then exploit any potential resources it might contain. You see, after the discovery of the Waywork (which was created by an unknown and enigmatic ancient civilization referred to simply as the Waymakers) human space was further broken up into a number "Starstates" which are separated geographically, politically and ideologically. Some of these are in a constant state of tension and territorial dispute and the protagonists in this story are the rival Starstates Constellar and Nautillan. Each one desires the new territory for it's strategic value and whatever the new space might contain, habitable planets being in short supply and a new place for people to settle is quite a prize indeed, one worth going to war over. The ideologies of these two states are quite far removed from one another, the militaristic Nautillan desires to subjugate the other Starstates and to bring them under their own one rule, whereas Constellar (ruled by royal First Families) are generally content to coexist peacefully with other states and to respect each other's ideological differences. What ensues is a tense territorial tussle over the new space, and the new things that are encountered along the way. Straight away it is noted that things are a little bit off, a tad unusual and they realize that there may be new forces or factors at work.

As the story progresses, the characters are built nicely and by the end of the book we have gotten to know a few of them quite well. The characters' depth is fine for this story, but there are one or two personalities that I would have liked to learn more about, but I'm not disappointed enough for it to have depreciated the story at all. Like I said, this is clearly the beginning of a larger story arc, so the characters will obviously grow along with it. Good, because they're a good bunch of players which suit the story well. Again (as is typical for me), my favorite character was one of the less-than-lovely players in Golsubril Vex, an aggressive commander from Nautilan, a single-minded woman who has conquest on behalf of her home Starstate as the prime (i.e. only) objective, no compromises. Her counterpart on the Constellar side is also a woman, Admiral Zuri Mikton and she is almost as fierce, yet she lacks the cruel streak of Vex. Another key character, and also a woman, is the very intelligent yet rather petulant Constellar First Family daughter Lady Garsina Oswight, who is brought along on the expedition officially for her expertise in the study of the Waymakers, but she does kind of manipulate her doting Daddy a wee bit to get on the team. The only other top-level character in here that isn't a woman is Wyodreth Antagean, the rich son of a Constellar shipping magnate who is also an officer in the reserve navy. This chap comes along in both a military capacity and also as the owner of a number of vessels commandeered by the Constellar navy. Maybe Torgersen is trying to make a statement in placing women into most of these powerful positions, a tip of the hat to modern political correctness? He's a reserve military man himself, so maybe he's giving a salute to strong women that he has seen in charge of various things in his own world? Honestly, I don't care at all because I've always enjoyed strong female characters in the stories. However, it is a very noticeable inclusion in this book.

The action scenes are good, really good, and there is no shortage of combat action, both in the vacuum of space and on a planetary surface. They're not usually my sort of thing, but the space battles are quite a lot of fun to read and they keep the pace up in the story. In a nutshell, the combination of action, dialogue and plot is very good, and I'm not quite sure what caused that lull in my interest during the middle section. The ending comes up quite quickly indeed, but we do learn quite a bit of the background story about the earlier days of humanity and how they came to populate the Waywork. However, the nature of the enigmatic Waymakers remains largely unrevealed, waiting for the next book to continue building the picture.

The writing style is excellent, in my opinion, and Torgersen (again) demonstrates his talents with words. For a chap who is not yet a professional author, his storytelling abilities are far in excess of many pro writers that I could name. This guy is one to really watch for the future, and I reckon we'll be seeing some huge best-sellers from him in the years to come. The only thing that seems to lack in the delivery of this book is the element of humour, a dose of light-heartedness or even some cutting sarcasm to break up the tension of the main plot. That would really elevate it for me and probably prompt me to award at least another half a star to the rating score. It's highly enjoyable at any rate, so that's really just nit-picking by me.

I assume that Torgersen is a man of faith, because the concept of belief in something bigger than ourselves, faith in things unseen in another realm of existence, is a recurring theme right through the book. One of the second-tier characters is a chaplain and there is a body of scripture that is often referred to in the story, and the appearance of the new Waypoint seems to fulfill prophecies contained within this. The existence of God is suggested many times and references are made to the scriptures throughout the book. These things (as well as in Chaplains War) certainly point to him being a God-fearing person who ponders the question of our existence not being afraid to consider a higher power. This is a welcome thing as far as I'm concerned, because I do occasionally get ticked off by arrogant atheism (if there is even such a thing) and the anti-faith sentiment that often comes across in a lot of science fiction writing. Why should the idea of an omnipotent something or someone outside of our understanding be so tough to handle? It is a speculative fiction genre after all, supposedly populated by readers and writers with broad minds.

Anyway, to round things off, this book is a fine read and a nice blend of military sci-fi and space opera that is worth picking up if you feel like some relaxing entertainment from one of the more prominent new sci-fi writers to come along in recent years. I'll certainly be keeping my eyes peeled for the inevitable sequel or sequels.

4/5 for concept

4/5 for delivery

4/5 for entertainment

= 4 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)
Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

Paradise by Mike Resnick

My rating:
4.3 out of 5

Peponi, a distant world rich in wildlife and populated by a people without a high degree of technology, is "discovered" by mankind.

Men arrive on the planet, then reap its riches. After years of subjugation, the natives finally begin to push for independence. While armed rebellion is put down, from its ashes a native leader, Bukon Pepon, is able to forge the various tribes together and gain independence from the Human government.

Upon independence, most Men leave the planet for distant shores and dream their dreams of the paradise that Peponi once was. Other Men stay to create a new dream. But both Men and Pepons watch their economy and resources dwindle away as overpopulation, hunting, tribal factionalism, and the introduction of non-native species take their toll. 

***** *** *******

Another thought-provoking and enjoyable read from one of the best story tellers (in my humble opinion) to ever put down a word. In this relatively short novel, Resnick quite impressively retells the history of Kenya, but this time in a far future sci-fi setting, substituting the distant planet of Peponi for the African country and an interesting race of tribal humanoid aliens for Kenyans. It sits within Resnick's wonderful Birthright universe and therefore will most likely please any reader familiar with the setting and probably anyone else who enjoys a good yarn. It moves along a relaxed pace which allows you to take in every word and engage easily with the story. I found it a little amusing, given that this is sci-fi, that I had to remind myself a few times that it’s not an actual historical account. I can only conclude that it seems so real because it's written so well, and making the assumption that it's quite faithful to the factual history of Kenya. The other two books of this Galactic Comedy sub-series of "Chronicles Of Distant Worlds" (Purgatory and Inferno) also tell stories based on other African nations and, if they're any bit like this one, will no doubt be similarly engrossing reads.

The central character, a pleasant chap called Matthew Breen, is a journalist and author, and the book begins with him researching for a book about a famous human hunter and guide on Peponi. The name Peponi means "paradise" in a local dialect and really is a veritable paradise in itself, being a stunningly beautiful planet unspoiled by outsiders up until its discovery by human explorers from the Galactic Republic. While we actually learn very little about Breen himself, we meet and get to know many other very colorful characters throughout the book and it’s these peoples' stories who really make the story. We begin with the hunter's account of his life and experiences as a safari guide for rich off-worlders, and this leads to more interviews with others who also have amazing tales and account of some of the pivotal events that unfold. Breen ends up writing a number of books about Peponi and its people, who range from human land owners to soldiers and mercenaries to native politicians, the first-person narrative bouncing back and forth between Breen and the various characters whom he converses with - a style which I found enjoyable to read and which totally drew me in.

The story is chronological and broken into four main parts, each separated by a number of years and each telling about a distinct phase of the planet's history, from life under human colonization through to an extremely brutal guerrilla war for freedom and then to eventual independence within the Republic and self rule by the natives. The same format continues right through the book, with Breen searching for information and speaking with people as he goes, both formally and informally. He remains impartial and indifferent throughout, telling each side of the story that he hears as fairly as possible. The accounts are fascinating, and the tales told are excellent. I loved reading about the wide variety of wild animals on Peponi, from the huge lumbering Landships which are eventually hunted to extinction, and the fearsome (and superbly named) predatory Bush Devils and Demon Cats. Everything is described sufficiently to allow you to form a solid picture in your mind's eye of the setting and the things within it. The sentient Peponi humanoids themselves are interesting enough, but it is the wild animals which I actually found to be the most interesting parts of the book. In saying that, however, the dialog used is good and the conversations between the various characters are easy to follow, satisfying, informative and easy to follow, i.e. a great example of this writer's skills.

Because it's a retelling of an actual history, you can definitely see the parallels in the fiction and the fact, and not just that of Kenya, but many countries on Earth which have been colonized then achieved independence, for better or worse. But are they better off governing themselves in comparative ignorance, or should they let the colonizing power remain, at least in part? The natives of Peponi ask themselves this question as they attempt to pave a way forward totally unprepared and unequipped for what they must to do to carve out a place in a vast technological galactic society. This fiercely tribal race of people, who never even had the wheel before the entry of humans, has been thrust forward by thousands of years in just a couple of generations and are (quite understandably) a bit dumb-struck by what they see in front of them. You could say that the eventual moral of the story, and the answer to the previous question, is that Peponi and its people need to be left to discover their place in the galaxy in their own time and in their own way, without corruption from outside influences.

Resnick has produced another top-notch and satisfying tale that kept me captivated for its entirety. Inspired by his travels in Africa and his love of the continent and its cultures, Resnick’s story telling is excellent which is typical for him. This is reinforces the fact that he is one of the most awarded science fiction authors of all time, mainly for short fiction but I've found his novels to be some of the best from the sci-fi genre that I can name. While I haven't enjoyed everything of Resnick's that I've read so far quite as much (I'm talking mainly about his more recent work here), he more often than not fails to disappoint me and this is exactly what he has achieved here. It’s a good, solid yarn with a sobering message at its core that will engage the thoughtful and inquiring reader.

4/5 for concept 

5/5 for delivery 

4/5 for entertainment 

= 4.3 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US) 

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

Planetside (Planetside #1) by Michael Mammay

A seasoned military officer uncovers a deadly conspiracy on a distant, war-torn planet…

War heroes aren't usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it's something big—and he's not being told the whole story.

A high councilor's son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated—but there's no record of him having ever arrived at hospital command. The colonel quickly finds Cappa Base to be a labyrinth of dead ends and sabotage: the hospital commander stonewalls him, the Special Ops leader won't come off the planet, witnesses go missing, radar data disappears, and that’s before he encounters the alien enemy. Butler has no choice but to drop down onto a hostile planet—because someone is using the war zone as a cover.

The answers are there—Butler just has to make it back alive…

***** *** *******

This is a debut novel and first of series from a writer who I sure hope we see a whole lot more from, if this engaging military sci-fi beauty is anything to go by. Michael Mammay is a former military man himself and this shines through glaringly in his storytelling, the character profiles and dialogue being some of the most plausible that I've read, like you're reading a first-person account of actual events that occurred. This is a superbly written and strikingly entertaining novel, being a reasonably quick read yet containing enough story meat that people like me (who just said "nerd"..?) can get stuck into.

Set in a future where humanity and its massive military machine has spread to other star systems, discovering various life-forms and planets which are rich in much-needed resources. The planet Cappa 3 is the main setting for this story, both in an awesome space station orbiting above as well as on the surface of the planet itself where huge deposits of silver, which is now one of the most valuable metals to mankind, have been discovered and are being mined. Cappa 3 is also home to a sentient species of its own (the Cappans) who have not all chosen the same side, some ally with the human invaders while others are holding out against them. The human military and their Cappan allies are fighting a constant insurgency war to protect the mining companies, and feeding arms and technology to those Cappan factions who give their support. The main character, and the point-of-view for this first person narrative, is the tad grumpy yet very amiable Colonel Carl Butler who is also a borderline alcoholic. Butler is called in from a relaxed semi-retirement at Training Command by a General, who is a friend and also his former commanding officer, to lead the investigation into the disappearance of a young infantry officer. This young chap also happens to be the son of a high-ranking politician, a fact which lends an extra push to the investigation. What Colonel Butler discovers on Cappa 3 is unexpected and raises the stakes way above just a simple missing-in-action case. As Butler discovers the details of exactly what is going on here the chunkier the plot gets and the more of a situation he realizes he is in. It's left to him to find a final solution and this he does, for better or worse, he's not sure which.

The other characters in the book, also mostly military personnel, are also very believable and fit the story very nicely. Mammay's character development is adequate yet lacking a lot of depth, the main character excluded. The dialogue is spot-on and is an obvious carry over from the author's own conversational experiences while serving himself. If there was any constructive suggestion which I'd give the author, it would be to build the players up another layer or so, but I don't mean to suggest that the lack of character development in this book detracts from the enjoyment in any way. My honest opinion is that this area is this book's only weakness. I haven't yet read any other reviews of Planetside, but I'd wager that others will have noted something similar. I especially would've liked to meet and explore some of the Cappan aliens and explored their motivations, but I'm making the hopeful assumption that the Mammay will explore this and other areas in the forthcoming books of the series.

The story drives long very well, a very easy book to read and this is really what makes it so gratifying. Its action scenes are excellent, told with sufficient accuracy to keep the techno-heads happy enough and the explosion fans equally so. Again, Mammay's military knowledge shines through in these areas. While perfect for the sort of yarn that it is, the story idea itself isn't anything particularly new or outstanding but the the delivery is top-notch and it's this fact that makes me excited to think of what other work Mammay could produce. The next book of this series Spaceside (due in August 2019) should be another good one if the same formula and general story are followed. The synopsis of Spaceside suggests that it picks up pretty quickly where this one concludes.

It's not often that a book grabs my attention so well within the first few dozen words but this is one such example. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I knew by the end of that first paragraph (about eighty words) that I was going to finish this book and enjoy doing so. I wasn't wrong. I give this one a huge thumbs-up as a quick and entertaining action read.

4/5 for concept
5/5 for delivery
5/5 for entertainment
= 4.7 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)
Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

Deep Space by Robert Silverberg [Editor]

Beyond the rim of the solar system, past the orbit of Pluto, into the uncharted vastness of deep space - here lie stars beyond counting, whole galaxies, a world that is still a mystery to us. Yet, as Robert Silverberg points out, an inexhaustible treasure trove of unbounded possibility awaits those whose imaginations voyage to the stars, and in this book he has collected eight of those possibilities. Among them are a story about a spaceman in a life hutch on an airless planetoid who is held prisoner by a deranged robot; another about a galactic agent who learns that there is a cosmic reason for his distasteful, dangerous job; and one about a robot guarding a treasure, who plays a trick question-and-answer game with those who come seeking it. Then there is the classic story about the strangest space trip of all, that to Far Centaurus. 

***** *** *******

A couple of years ago I inherited my late father-in-law's collection of science fiction books, most of which he had accumulated throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's. Among them is a good number of anthologies and Deep Space is one fine example which immediately caught my eye. I guess it's the combination of the great cover art and the Robert Silverberg's famous and highly respected name. As well as looking good, I must say that it's a very enjoyable  bunch of stories; eight short works all set in deep space and following a variety of themes. Each one of the stories was previously published elsewhere, mainly in one of the many the pulp magazines of the era, and published in this collection in 1973.

Long out of print, but the names of the included authors are legendary, and their pedigree as writers goes without saying. These stories are (I'm slightly ashamed to admit) my first exposure to the work of all of these authors except Silverberg but, now having read at least a very small sample of their work, I can see why these chaps are held in such high esteem. Sure, much of the technical terminology and thought is outdated — just look at the years which these were published — and the language shows its age in places, but the quality of the craftsmanship is beyond doubt. These men were/are fantastic speculative writers and their material is probably just as thought-provoking and entertaining today, many years later.

Below are brief summaries of each story and my quick thoughts. There were a number of editions of this small anthology published over the years and I highly recommend tracking down a copy for a glimpse back into one of the most productive and fruitful times in the history of the sci-fi genre. They don't call it the Golden Age of Science Fiction for no reason, and right here is some more proof.

Enjoy...(if you can find a copy).


Blood’s a Rover — Chad Oliver (1952)
The longest story here, this novella length piece tells of an agent who works for and follows the directives of a huge machine brain on Earth, the centre of human civilization. This great machine guides the fate of humankind based on observations and mathematical speculation. Our agent is sent to the planet Sirius Ten where his mission is to guide its primitive humanoid inhabitants along a developmental path which fits with the [very] long-term plans of the machine. He is merely a pawn in a grand scheme and, with the benefit of age and wisdom, he begins to question the things he sees and does. These are questions which only the machine can answer. His quest is a fascinating one, and he ultimately obtains the answers that he is looking for and things finally make sense, for better or worse.
My rating: 4/5

Noise — Jack Vance (1952)
Quite an unusual and rather surreal story here about a chap who gets rescued from solitude on a planet where he has been surviving inside his lifeboat. The planet has a strange passage of time where the revolutions of a number of suns of varied colours seem to alter the fabric space-time or something. This attunes his senses to ethereal visions and/or experiences of another realm or universe. Unusual and a bit abstract for my tastes but it's well-written and an easy read nonetheless.
My rating: 3/5

Startling Stories August 1952

Life Hutch — Harlan Ellison (1956)
After having his ship pummeled and disabled by the enemy, our main character finds shelter in a "life hutch" which is one of many safe havens placed about space precisely for survival situations such as his. Once inside to wait for rescue, he discovers that the resident robotic servant has gone a tad rogue and knocks him down the moment he steps inside. Even the smallest movement causes the robot to attack him, even after a number of days have passed. He is suffering from multiple injuries so he resigns himself to waiting to die on the floor while listening to the hum and buzz of the of the robot’s processor circuits in the wall of the life hutch. Eventually he is desperate enough to try one last idea to escape what is looking like his certain death if he doesn't succeed. Great fun.
My rating: 4/5

Ticket to Anywhere — Damon Knight (1952)
A stowaway on a freighter headed for Mars is convinced that the Earth is doomed and everyone has gone insane or soon will be. He seeks out an artefact on the surface of Mars which is actually a portal of an ancient alien interstellar transportation system. The hollow square has been tried a number of times but considered to be an unreliable piece of junk but our man decides to make his attempt at successfully transiting to somewhere. He gets his wish granted and thus begins a random trek across space where he witnesses things few (if any) human eyes have ever seen before. It's a well presented story that's got an uplifting ending that felt good.
My rating: 4/5

The Sixth Palace — Robert Silverberg (1965)
A couple of confident likely-lads plot and attempt to crack the defenses of a robot which watches over a cache of amazing treasures on a small, barren and airless world a long way from anywhere. It seems that some mysterious traveler from ages past had deposited their spectacular collection and left the faceless mechanical guardian. If one wishes to pass through the gate of the treasure trove, they must first answer a series of trivia questions to the machine's satisfaction or else be swiftly slain. The landscape around the gateway is littered with the bones of those who have tried before. Our lads have a crack, armed with a computer full of as much knowledge as they can compile so that they can provide the answers that the machine wants. One is smarter than the other...or at least thinks he is. Again, this is an engaging story that was a lot of fun to read.
My rating: 4/5

Lulungomeena — Gordon R. Dickson (1953)
Probably the best story in here to my mind, this is a wonderfully told yet simple story. A young fellow who is a tad mouthy, continually harasses and accuses an older colleague of lying about his past and his home planet. Caught in the middle is a Dorsai man who does his best to help them settle things one way or another, but he's not able to achieve this, and he defers to a visiting alien visitor of a race who are capable of only being truthful and completely honest. What follows is golden, and great fun to read. This was my introduction to Dickson's Dorsai splinter culture which is central to many his novels and stories. I really enjoyed this.
My rating: 5/5

Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine 1953

The Dance of the Changer and the Three — Terry Carr (1968)
I struggled a little with this one, it being the kind of tale that doesn't really gel with me so much. That said, I must admit that it's masterfully written and, if only for that, I feel that it's worth reading. Located on a  distant planet are exotic metals which an Earth corporation would really like to exploit, and this planet, called Loarra, is also home to an energy-based life-form which uses light and color for communication. The light pulses can be filtered and translated and, in this story, the corporation translator retells a famous Loarran tale of sacrifice and avenging. Like I said, very well written.
My rating: 3/5

Far Centaurus — A.E. van Vogt (1944)
A ship leaves Earth in 2180 bound for Alpha Centauri on a mission which will take five hundred years at a speed of around five-hundred miles per second. Its four crew members are kept in stasis by the use of a drug called "Eternity", whereby each is awakened one at a time at various stages throughout the journey to check on systems and various things. But not all of them make it to the destination and one perishes along the way. On arrival, radio signals are detected and an escort is sent out to meet them from an already crowded planetary system. What the remaining three chaps are greeted with is quite surprising and their hosts are generous yet unwilling to welcome them to any great degree. This is another one which I found a bit hard to follow, and it is the oldest of the collection so maybe it was just a style thing.
My rating: 2/5

Total Rating: 4 out of 5

A Second Chance At Eden by Peter F. Hamilton

From the author of the bestselling 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, a novella and six stories set in the same brilliantly realized universe.

**** *** *******

A truly superb collection of shorter works from an equally superb author. This is one of those books which took me a long time to getting round to reading. It's been literally sitting on my bookshelf alongside my other Peter F Hamilton volumes for a couple of years. Each story adds a little extra to the awesome spectacle that is the Night's Dawn trilogy, whether it's to further explain a particular facet of the Confederation universe, or to give background to a certain plot element. I was forced by circumstance to read this compilation in a rather start-stop fashion, but this proved to be no problem due to the quality of the stories, and I was always eager to get back to it. Any fan of Hamilton and/or the Confederation universe will totally adore this, and I reckon it could be read with no problem at all by a reader with no previous experience of the series or the author. The Confederation universe is a masterful science fiction creation that will go down in sci-fi literary history as one of the best (well it should do!) and this collection is integral and wonderfully complimentary to it. I hugely recommend it.

Following are my thoughts and rating of each story:

Sonnie's Edge

I didn't think that I'd enjoy this one as much as I did, it's exactly what I like which is a simple and engaging story. It's about a genetically-spliced girl involved in the gruesome blood sport of "beastie-baiting", fighting soulless biologically engineered creatures in front of baying crowds. It's introduces and describes the biological technology (bitek) and "affinity" bonds that play a huge part in the Confederation Universe and Night's Dawn trilogy stories. It's a tad brutal, for sure, but fun and interesting with a cool ending.

My rating: 4/5

→ Sonnie's Edge has now been made into a Netflix short film as part of a series called Love, Death + Robots. Check it out HERE. It's certainly brutal but worth it and it's got the same great ending. 

A Second Chance At Eden

The main novella length story in this collection is classic PFH, a whodunnit murder mystery told in the first person from the perspective of a policeman/security chief who has just arrived at the awe-inspiring 10km long living space habitat Eden which orbits Jupiter. This habitat, as well as couple of others being developed nearby, has been seeded and grown from a special type of bitek polyp analogous to coral, and is essentially a huge living organism.Eden is home to a burgeoning society of industrial and philosophical idealists who are relishing life away from Earth's restrictions and prejudices. Eden can be communicated with via "affinity" bonds, and affinity is introduced in some detail in this story. As the story progresses we see how this is central to what will eventually become the "Edenist" society of the Confederation Universe novels.Throughout the story, there are subtle and not so subtle attacks on current established religious thought and practice which are also present in the Night's Dawn novels, and make me wonder about PFH's motivations in this regard. Does he have a particular dislike for religion, with an axe to grind with religious institutions, Christianity in particular? Whatever the case, this does add depth to the story which is as much about philosophical ideas as it is about technological and biological advances.The story itself is an easy read and kept me interested the whole way through, because of both the great story line and also the world building aspect of the bitek habitats and Edenist society. It's a crucial read for fans of the Confederation Universe.

My rating: 5/5 

New Days Old Times 

There's a definite darkness that hovers over the events of the Confederation universe stories, and this shows this with a tale that will sound all to familiar to most. It shows that human self-imposed boundaries and prejudices have no barrier in the vastness of space. Set on the planet Nyvan, seventeen light-years from Earth which is part of a rapidly expanding human expansion outward to numerous colony planets. While most of these colonies were begun with noble intentions, it appears that those prejudices eventually rise to the surface. Again, this story pokes an accusing finger at faith institutions and spiritual belief which is a hallmark of this collection and the Night's Dawn series as a whole. A sobering short story that introduces us to another facet of the Confederation universe along with more information in a world-building sense that I enjoyed in one sitting.
My rating: 4/5

Candy Buds
I had a little trouble getting my head around this one at times, but it's a fine enough story and easy to get into. I needed to re-read portions to fully grasp the twist at the end. If I had any advice for someone who is about to read this story, that would be to pay extra close attention to the details or you may miss things as I did. Again, there are some really cool depictions of affinity bonds and also of Confederation colony world society. Not a favorite of mine, it lacked the "bigness" that I like in scifi but it's typically well written and the plot good enough to keep me on the hook.
My rating: 3/5

Deathday
Very good and very engaging story in which we closely follow a man on a quest driven by emotion to slay an unusual alien creature with which he appears to share a sort of connection. It's set on a world which has not quite lived up to expectations for the man, and this adds to his disillusionment and fanatical devotion to his goal. A story that moves along at a good rate, and has a very intense ending.
My rating: 4/5 

The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa

One of my definite favorites of this collection, which I'm actually surprised about, but most of the sci-fi boxes are ticked for me somewhere along the way in this story. Essentially a tale of a man on the run from his former employers, who arrives on a planet to hide and ends up living with the unusual woman Tiarella and her daughter on an idyllic island. The story that follows is quite an interesting one, in that things are being manipulated toward certain ends. There's plenty of bitek and affinity stuff in these pages and it's a very good expose of a typical Confederation society, which makes it a great part of this collection.

My rating: 5/5

Escape Route

An excellent story, again ticking most of the sci-fi boxes. The Lady Macbeth and her crew are central elements of the Night's Dawn trilogy and here we're introduced to them in a great yarn. Her captain and crew are hired to head out to a remote system to recover minerals from a debris field, but all is not as it seems (as you'd expect). While prospecting, they discover a derelict alien vessel which turns out to be ancient, and inside is some interesting technology. This changes the stakes entirely. The story also gives us a possible clue to the background of the Sleeping God and the methods employed in the epic conclusion of the Night's Dawn trilogy. A well-paced story that was for me the the easiest read of this collection, the balance of character, plot and action is spot on for my tastes.

My rating: 5/5

Total Rating: 4.6/5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

A CONVERSATION WITH ERIC BROWN

Anyone who follows my book reviews will know beyond any doubt that Eric Brown is one of my all-time favorite authors of any genre. Eric writes some of the easiest to read and entertaining science fiction stories that I've yet to find and he is equally adept at the shorter forms just as he is with novels. He's also moving more and more these days into crime stories and this has become a successful spin-off from his sci-fi work.

Anyway, click HERE to read an interesting recent interview over on GJ Stevens' interesting blog.

To learn about Eric Brown's books, check them out over on Goodreads HERE and if you're keen to read some of my reviews of his books from this blog click HERE.

The Singularity Trap by Dennis E. Taylor

The number one best-selling author of the Bobiverse trilogy returns with a space thriller that poses a provocative question: Does our true destiny lie in ourselves — or in the stars?

If it were up to one man and one man alone to protect the entire human race - would you want it to be a down-on-his luck asteroid miner? When Ivan Pritchard signs on as a newbie aboard the Mad Astra, it's his final, desperate stab at giving his wife and children the life they deserve. He can survive the hazing of his crew mates, and how many times, really, can near-zero g make you vomit? But there's another challenge looming out there, in the farthest reaches of human exploration, that will test every man, woman and AI on the ship - and will force Ivan to confront the very essence of what makes him human.

***** *** *******

No doubt about it this is a good book, a very enjoyable and easy to read novel from an author whose work I’ve become quite familiar with over the last year or so. I’ve actually sampled Dennis E. Taylor’s writing three times, these being in the form of his enjoyable and popular Bobiverse trilogy. Anybody familiar with that series will easily get into this because the writing style and feel are very similar, which means that (again) Taylor’s skills shine through in the same way and the result really is a nice one.

In this stand-alone story we journey with the crew of a future asteroid mining ship sometime in the 2100’s when Earth is a worn-out husk of a planet on it’s last legs environmentally, hence the human race is forced to look outward to space for resources and potential homes. The main character is a likeable but somewhat unlucky chap called Ivan who, while investigating mineral ore deposit on an asteroid, spots something curious on another rock drifting nearby. He goes for a look-see and this leads him to come into literal contact with some interesting alien technology. This tech has been lying dormant for a very, very long time just waiting for an unwitting member of a new sentient client species onto which it can latch to carry out it's plans. This alien mechanism is pre-programmed with tasks which are part of a much larger galactic scenario into which the human race is about to be drawn. How it transforms Ivan is really rather dramatic. Once he is able to at least partly comprehend the technology and it’s plan, Ivan attempts to reach a compromise with the controlling computer mind in the hope of securing the future of the human race and for life as we know it. As you can expect, there is a number of curves and twists along the way, not least being the metaphorical landscape of our planet and solar system which throws the usual Earthly political and military tensions into the mix. It’s a fun and reasonably interesting story that moves along at a fine clip and has good hard sci-fi elements as well as well done military stuff and good action scenes. I liked the blend of sub-genres very well as I did with Taylor's prior books.

This book plays with some similar ideas as the Bobiverse series, number one being with the essence of humanity, are we human only because of our flesh and blood bodies? Or is it our personality or soul or consciousness (or whatever) that truly makes us the beings that we are? It's an interesting idea and fantastic food for thought for people like me who like to ponder such things - how "post-humanism" might actually be a thing. I guess this is probably the key reason why the main subject matter of the story appealed to me and why I found it to be an enjoyable read. Along with this are the excellent writing skills of the author who could probably make a mediocre story line a decent read.

In summary, whether or not you've read any of Taylor's previous work, I'm sure that if you like your sci-fi yarns with plenty action and events, as well as interesting and generally plausible scientific ideas then you'll probably click with this book. If you read and enjoyed the Bobiverse trilogy then you'll definitely click with this book. It's good.

4/5 for concept

5/5 for delivery

4.5/5 for entertainment

= 4.5 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

The Spacetime Pit Plus Two by Stephen Baxter & Eric Brown

Spacetime Pit Plus Two collects three collaborative stories by two of science fiction's finest writers. Never before published in one volume, the triptych showcases the authors' ability to create narratives on a vast scale, and yet never to lose sight of the all-important human element.

In the award-winning The Spacetime Pit, spacer Katerina Wake crash-lands on a primitive alien world and faces certain death unless she can harness her ingenuity, and technical know-how, to bend the destiny of an entire race to her will...

Green-Eyed Monster follows Richard as he wakes up after a night on the tiles to find himself inhabiting the body of a toad – and that's just the start of his troubles...

In Sunfly, Onara and her people live on a world very different from our own – a vast ribbon encircling a sun. But a change is coming to the land, a mysterious narrowing that threatens not only the stability of her world, but the very order of everything she has taken for granted.

***** *** *******

What a gem of a collection this is! Mind you, I shouldn’t be surprised given that the three stories contained in this book are a collaboration between two of Britain's best sci-fi authors. They are quick reads which flow very well, testament to the skill of their creators. Both Baxter and Brown will need no introduction to readers familiar with contemporary sci-fi literature, and anybody new to or exploring the genre should really have a look at this as a fine sample of their work. Apparently, according to Brown in the Introduction, The Spacetime Pit began when he and Baxter met to work on some ideas back in 1995 after which it won the 1996 Interzone magazine readers’ poll for best story. This success obviously encouraged them to continue working together on stories whenever time would permit and I'm exceedingly glad that they did because it's a really good piece of work. In summary, this is an excellent little collection that is a quick yet superbly enjoyable read. I can think of no better way than to spend a couple of hours on a lazy afternoon. Anyway, I shall wax lyrical no more, so here is a quick rundown of the stories:

NOTE: I always try not to, but there's the possibly of some minor spoilers ahead (but no plot giveaways) so don't read on if you’re sensitive to such things.

The Spacetime Pit

Eric Brown himself describes this as "a grim tale that spans billions of years, but has the dilemma of a human being at its very core" which is a perfect description. An explorer of a world one hundred light-years from Earth becomes marooned and has to think creatively to try and get herself off the planet and back up to the orbiting station in which she is based. She has a survival pod which enables her to enter extended periods of total stasis and she uses this ability in her attempt to create a situation in which she can recover from her predicament. The world-building in here is excellent and the style used is slick and easy to follow.

My rating: 4.5/5

Green-Eyed Monster

A more humorous story here, largely told from the point of view of a toad (yes, an actual toad). In a nutshell, a chap experiences through a bit of alien intervention, "bodily transmogrification" and sees his life and surroundings from a series of new perspectives. I enjoyed this one mostly due to the sheer unusual nature of it and also for how human the story was - even from the point of view if a toad. The ending is great. A nice lighthearted story that will make you chuckle occasionally.

My rating: 4/5

Sunfly

I rate this as the real jewel of the collection, absolutely wonderful as a quick absorbing read with a great "sense of wonder" element that drew me in deeply right from the first words. Set on a huge ring-world type structure which is facing impending and catastrophic change, it's a journey of discovery for the main character as she discovers truths about the amazing world on which she lives. This one felt like classic Eric Brown and this is no doubt the main reason why I connected with it and enjoyed it so much. Brown has a real knack with this type of story and those of you familiar with his work will have an idea of what I'm talking about. If you like Brown's work, you will enjoy this. Heck, you'll enjoy it even if you've never heard of either Brown or Baxter, it's a fine sci-fi adventure with a good conclusion. An excellent story.

My rating: 5/5

Total Rating:

= 4.5 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW: Abandoned (Donovan Trilogy #2) by W. Michael Gear

The second book in a thrilling sci-fi action adventure, set on Donovan, a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the planet's colonists.

The struggle for survival sharpens as resources dwindle, technology fails, and the grim reality of life on Donovan unfolds.

Supervisor Kalico Aguila has bet everything on a fragile settlement far south of Port Authority. There, she has carved a farm and mine out of wilderness. But Donovan is closing in. When conditions couldn't get worse, a murderous peril descends out of Donovan's sky--one that will leave Kalico bleeding and shattered.

Talina Perez gambles her life and reputation in a bid to atone for ruthlessly murdering a woman's husband years ago. Ironically, saving Dya Simonov may save them all.

Lieutenant Deb Spiro is losing it, and by killing a little girl's pet alien, she may have precipitated disaster for all. In the end, the only hope will lie with a "lost" colony, and the alien-infested reflexes possessed by Security Officer Talina Perez.

On Donovan, only human beings are more terrifying than the wildlife.

***** *** *******

After reading and thoroughly enjoying Outpost which was the first novel of this series (see my review HERE), I needed no extra encouragement to pick up the next book of the trilogy at the very first opportunity. Again, it's a quick-moving beauty that follows on directly from the first book with more of the same "space-western" style action set on the faraway planet of Donovan. This planet is full weird and wonderful ecology which is resisting human attempts to plunder its resources, and we're given more alluring clues about this fascinating place as the engaging story progresses.

The same characters are present, plus a few new ones and the development of these players seem to step up a notch. As is often the case with me, I found that my favourite characters were the not-so-nice ones. There's a number of scoundrels in this story but their contemptible and underhanded deeds really do spice up the story nicely. To be honest, I'm expecting book three to be quite climactic because this one definitely seemed to be mostly concerned with continuing to prepare the scene by offering many more small yet supremely tantalizing hints about motivations and plans. The world-building is again excellent and W. Michael Gear's skills have really come as a pleasant surprise to me, his use of adjectives being superb and easily understood yet not overdone. Each time that I sat down to read this I was immediately drawn into the setting and to the people therein, the real world becoming faint and blurry until I came back out again. This is the mark of great storytelling and it usually doesn't really bother me all that much how good the story is if the author can successfully drag me into their yarn where I can almost become part of it. This book is very much like (while being of excellent quality) that even though it's told in the third person and past tense.

So, if you've read Outpost, you will get into this and probably love it as I did. If you haven't read Outpost, then you need to because it's required reading to set you up for this book. Book three Pariah is due out mid-May 2019 and you can quite safely bet your last SDR (the unit of currency on Donovan) that I will be getting it for myself. I might even write a review of it for you if it's any good, but somehow I think it'll be another beauty if the first two are any indication. A great book.

4/5 for concept

5/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 4.7 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW: The First Protectors by Victor Godinez

My rating: 4 out of 5

The last thing Ben Shepherd wanted was another war. But sometimes the universe won’t take no for an answer.

His body and spirit mangled by a lifetime of combat, Shepherd has retreated to the desolate desert of New Mexico to heal his wounds and dodge his demons. All he wants now is peace and quiet.

Both are shattered one starry night when an alien ship crashes nearby. Out of the ship crawls the last, dying member of a conquered civilization. It’s been shot down by an extraterrestrial enemy, the vanguard of a ravenous force hunting for a new homeland. With its last gasp, the wounded alien injects Shepherd with a high-tech serum that gives him near superhuman powers.

Now, with a new body but a soul as fractured as ever, Shepherd becomes the reluctant leader of the human resistance against the coming invasion. With enemies on all sides, the man who couldn’t bear the guilt of seeing one more friend die in battle now finds himself charged with protecting the entire planet.

***** *** *******

From my very first look at this, I was determined to get hold of it, as were a number of other like-minded readers whom I know. It sounds great, a worn-out soldier receiving a dose of something from a dying alien which will help him to lead the human race in a desperate defence of our beautiful blue planet from another more advanced alien species bent on taking it for themselves. In this book, which is obviously the beginning of a planned series, we’re promised a fast-paced and action-filled caper which blasts us across Earth and Earth-space and that's what we get, pure and simple, a fun military flavoured sci-fi adventure that makes up with pure entertainment for what it lacks in detail and description.

Admittedly alien invasion is in no way a new idea but it just continues to work so well. I certainly enjoy it and I'll wager that it'll remain a solid and popular sci-fi trope forever. The idea has been done and done well by so many authors [probably most have had a crack at it at some stage] in the genre, but it will never fail to grab the imagination of those who like to ponder the likelihood of extraterrestrial beings and wonder what form those beings might take. Whether or not said lifeforms will be benevolent or malevolent is an interesting thing to ponder and in this first offering from Victor Godinez we are introduced to one of each type. Our leading character, a tired and injured Navy SEAL, is injected with a high-tech serum which transforms him into a "super soldier" with superhuman abilities and with these he leads the battle against the invading aliens. As well as Ben's powers, humanity is given an incredibly vast quantity of technical data which enable the production of machines, gadgets and weapons that amount to a technological leap of hundreds of years. This knowledge is required if we're to have any hope of holding off the invaders. The tech and weaponry is probably the best aspect of this story and lovers of such things will enjoy the explosions. The descriptions for this sort of stuff were fine, possibly even a tad too much, but that is obviously the author's thing and that's fine by me, and lovers of cool shit and shoot-'em-up romps will get right into this. The plot is simple but certainly adequate and contains enough intrigue which has an enticing little twist right at the end which (I think) sets up where the next episode of the story may be headed.

It's well written, especially the action scenes, and I found it to be an easy and swift read with the pages bolting past at a rate like I've not experienced for some time. While this is definitely not a bad thing, I cannot help but suggest that Godinez may have overlooked some details, which would've greatly enhanced his story for me, for the sake of fitting the epic action into his word count. Probably the final third of the book is a big final battle and I admit to beginning to yawn just a little toward the end. Having said that, the quality of the action and it's writing kept me hooked no worries at all. But, to shift back to the negative again, I was waiting and waiting for some decent detail about the alien species which (unless I missed it) never materialized. At the beginning of the book, we have a basic description of both alien species but this isn't built upon to any real degree and this was disappointing especially since we see so much of the invading aliens during the big battles. We don't get "inside the heads" of any of the ET's. Sure, we learn a little of the background of why the aliens have set their sights on us from information furnished from the massive information transfer, but it's not enough for my liking. Hopefully, book two will fill in some of these gaps.

From a pure entertainment standpoint, The First Protectors is hard to fault, to be honest, and I devoured it easily. I just wish that the information level had been lifted slightly above the point of where it currently sits, that is I wanted a bit more detail of the greater story picture rather than being focused on us down here a so much. But for the kind of entertainment that it is, and what the author no doubt was trying to achieve, it's pretty good.

It would've probably have been a 5 out of 5 book for me had I been disappointed with the lack of detail about the aliens, etc. As it sits, it's not too bad at all and I will be watching for Godinez with great interest. He's yet another fresh new name to appear in the science fiction field in recent years and hopefully destined for great things. I just hope that he doesn't rush into the next book but rather takes the time to give us a little more "flesh and blood", even if it's at the expense of a few technical details or deafening explosions.

3/5 for concept
4/5 for delivery
5/5 for entertainment
= 4 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon)
Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)