2011: Humanity's Fire 3: The Ascendant Stars (Cobley, Michael)

Book 3: Out of the Blue Heroics (2/5)

I had read Book Two in about 4-5 days and had little problem following the braided plot threads. The day after I finished Book 2 I started Book 3 and finished it in three days. It would be logical to think that I had a flawless grasp as soon as I laid my eyes upon page 1... and yet, I was shaking my head and putting the book down again and again through the first 150 pages (of 467 total pages). It was a very frustrating 1-star beginning that held little hope of rising from its own ashes. Somewhere along the remaining over-sized and somewhat bloated pages, a dwarf of a phoenix rose and whimpered.

The first third of the book is bogged down by the compound difficulties in trying to understand the character fragmentation of Robert Horst and Julia Bryce and their respective plunges into the hyperspace-tiers/Godhead and the tiernet/Glow. The physical/virtual and embodiment/disembodiment of the two characters in these bizarre landscapes is most frustrating. Eventually, Julia's plot thread begins to become a little clearer while Robert's thread maintains its reality detachment until the very end. If you can follow those two threads alone, then the rest of the book is a cakewalk. Just be prepared for the last second heroics of Kao Chih and Henry and the late and abrupt predictable deaths of two adversaries (will be most displeased). And if you usually have difficulty in following plot lines, don't worry- it seems as if the plot is recapped every chapter as the character perspective is shifted.

Greg is in orbit around Darien for most of the book, trying to out-think various intruders, making alliances with numerous orbital participants and trying to survive the ever-growing military presence of the Hegemony. Theo and Rory are still hunkered down in and around Tusk Mountain while the Knight of the Legion of Avatars sits quietly around his fortress awaiting the arrival of his cybernetic counterparts from the depths of hyperspace Abyss. Kao Chih plays a very limited role in the plots unraveling but the Roug bring their technological prowess to the table to help out here and there. Chel and Kuros, too, play smaller roles while Cat sits upon her moon readying herself for the inevitable battle.

The prologues for Book 2 and Book 3 held a tantalizing clue about the Hyperion AI 150 years ago and its involvement with the great AI presence in the plot. I thought the prologues would eventually be woven into the greater scope of things but, in the end, the prologues were merely bits of interesting data relating to the early strike of the Darien colony. I had high hopes.

Like Book 2, Book 3 has symptoms of "deus ex machina" with the unforeseen, miraculous unveiling of the space-fold bomb (also later unhyphenated as "spacefold bomb") and the Roug smartgun. Not only are a few technological wonders dropped onto the scene, also small-bit but big-moving players are dropped in right as the most incredible moments.

Book 3 is a tad more consistent than Book 2 except for a few things which caught my meticulous eye: sometimes subspace is used to describe a communications network but hyperspace is used for transportation... are the two one-in-the-same? Why can a hyperdrive descend to Tier1 hyperspace but unable to go further to Tier2, and how can an impromptu adjustment allow it to descend even further? Regarding the Enhanced and referring to page 27, how could the Enhanced "undergone genetic engineering in the embryonic stage" yet still be "either an orphan or signed over"? If the engineering was done prenatally, then the Enhanced were obviously pre-selected, thereby they wouldn't have to be orphaned or signed over. Minor, I know.

One additional miff is found on page 127 where Captain Velazquez says he, "Lost over a seventh" of this complement (one-seventh = 14.28%). If the loss was more than one-seventh, why not just say one-sixth (one-sixth = 16.66%) which is a mere 2.38 percentage points more than one-seventh? One-seventh is a strange fraction to use, when "one-sixth" or "half of one-third" would have been equally as useful (sometimes I hate being the author of math textbooks).

Ascendant Stars isn't an out-right dud, a shame I rarely bestow upon any novel I can finish. If you can follow the first 150 pages better than I can AND not mind the continuation of the deus ex machina, then you'll probably enjoy the book more than I did. I look forward to seeing some more science fiction from this author. A one-off, all inclusive novel would be great to see, something which allows for a greater control over consistency in word usage, dialogue, historical background and fraction usage :p

2010: Humanity's Fire 2: Orphaned Worlds (Cobley, Michael)

Book 2: Heavy on the "deus ex machina" (3/5)

I had read Book One, Seeds of Earth, two months ago but I found it hard to start to get into Book Two right from the start. The character appendix in the back of the novel was too limited to refresh one's memory and the additional species appendix was just a terse blurb about the average height, body hair distribution, locomotion and vision of each species. A heftier appendix would have been much appreciated but instead the reader is left with a rather unhelpful few pages.

Once the plot gets moving, the bits and pieces from Book One begin to slowly fall back into place. Like Book One, each chapter shifts point of view between the characters and in Book Two we experience about nine perspectives. Like Space Opera ought to be, it's a large platter to eyes and mind to digest. As a means of synopsis, I'll review the nine perspective alphabetically and sequentially:

1) Cat has risen to become the keeper of the forest on the Nivyesta moon, where she witnesses the continual destruction of the forests by invading forces. 2) Chel assumes the role of middle-man between the Sentinel and Greg as the both begin to understand their true role. 3) Greg is the head of the rebel force on Darien and continues to hide and resist the Brolturan forces. 4) Julia and her Enhanced counterparts are raided by pirates and forced to use their minds for the evil purposes an organized quasi-religious cult. 5) Kao Chih remains a pawn in the great game of the galaxy he he finds himself used yet again, this time as he visits his home world. 6) The Knight of the Legion of Avatars is still striving for access to the warpwell through victories and setbacks after arriving on Darien. 7) Kuros, the Sendrukan occupier on Darien, maintains a calm demeanor even amid critical appraisal of his activities surrounding the warpwell. 8) Robert, the ex-Ambassador from Earth, continues his ethereal journey through the scores of tiers of hyperspace in search of deities and salvation. 9) Theo leaves his world of Darien for the realms of space with the captured Tygran soldier and his cohorts who aim to overthrown Marshel Becker.

Some of these storylines cross paths and some diverge through the 603 pages of text but there are two separate lines of activity going on. The one line Chel, Greg, Kuros and Cat limits itself to the planet of Darien is, for about 90% of the book, keeps a fairly low profile with more suspense building that actually getting things done. The other line of activity rests with Kao Chih and Theo, who are traversing the great expanse of the galaxy from base, to planet, to orbital and back again all the while collecting more minor characters amid minor skirmishes and observations... which is exactly the more exciting line of activity where the "deus ex machina" pops in.

OK, it's science fiction. All the sciences of ancient races can't exactly be known to everyone (especially the reader) and these science can seem like magic sometimes, as it has been said by Clarke. But when beams lock-out ship control, when wormholes are spawned between ships, when hyperspace missiles go undetected, when psi-symbiotic motes repel any given attack, when a handmade remote control tricks surveillance, when a pilot casually records and loops video footage... the long combination of the easy use of technology at hand teeters on unbelievability. One or two technological punches through the plot would have been acceptable but the wanton use of it is sloppy.

One more paragraph with minor quips... I felt that the pages from 150 to 160 were inconsistent with the rest of the book. The plot went through a transition from being like Book One to being inconsistent with its precursor. For example: After page 153 the now-dead drone of Drazuma-Ha* loses the star at the end of its name. The once amicable relationship between Greg and Chel begins to feel washed out after they urbanely reunite and exchange cold greetings on page 158. The dialogue between Kao Chih and Silveira seems to be missing another paragraph or two as Silveira refers to something Kao Chih didn't even mention (pages 150-151). Again, minor gripes but a little sloppy.

Not bad at all. A little long winded with all the inclusions of the ever present deus ex machina, but nevertheless it's an eye-opening space opera- it offers a sense of wonder at the array of species, planets, customs, modes of thought and visions of the future. Sometimes it's difficult to understand what the F is going on (like all the oddities down there in Hyperspace) but in the end I'm left wanting more. Bait and hook... ready for Book Three!

2009: Humanity's Fire 1: Seeds of Earth (Cobley, Michael)

Book 1: Almost too much to absorb (3/5)
From September 15, 2011
 

This is my first Michael Cobley novel as I'm sure it's the first of many who choose to begin this trilogy of Humanity's Fire. Like other trilogies (Cosmonaut Keep [The Engines of Light, Book 1] to name one) or quadrilogies (Lords of the Middle Dark [Rings of the Master, Book 1] to name another) I've completed, Seeds of Earth has the same problem of getting the plot off the launchpad when weighed down with a load of new characters, a shipment of proper nouns and crates full of exotic aliens, planets, flora, fauna, honorific titles... I could go on. It's one of those books which is difficult to find a toehold. It's also one of those books which lends itself to be read in one week in order for the reader to fully understand the setting Cobley has just placed.

The 9-page prologue of Seeds of Earth takes place on Mars when the Solar System is under attack by the Achorga Swarm. Plans have been made to launch fifteen arks to save humanity in case the Swarm prevails. The Swarm has been virulently persistent to only allow humanity to construct and launch three arks. Chapter One opens 150-years after the ark Hyperion has made landfall on the planet Darien. The mix of Scots, Scandinavians and Russians settle the hospitable planet and befriend a race of intelligent bipeds who inhabit the breathable atmosphere of moon.

Living in ignorance about the fate of the earth and the two other arks, the tiny outpost somewhat flourishes. Politics plays a big role in Book One, but not to the extent of what MacLeod includes in his novels (but you can bet they both emphasis the Scottish accent!). I'm not sure why a small outpost needs eight-story building with elevators. I ask the question: Did they strip the ark of the elevator of did they manufacture it? And if they stripped the ark, why did they put the elevator in something as unimportant as an apartment building? Much of the description of the infrastructure of the colony seems unrealistic for only be in operation for 150 years. The citizens also travel by dirigible. I'm getting sick of dirigibles.

Lemme see... only two of the cast have idiosyncrasies enough to be sympathetic with:
There's Kao Chih who's on a long, long journey from his domain (no plot spoiler here) and keeps running into difficulties including a menacing human, menacing pirates and menacing droids. Seems like deep space is a scary place to traverse... honest enough Kao Chih just keeps going in honor of his ancestors. However, one niggling detail remained: when the craft left its main port, it had six days of food for the two crew members. Later, it's quoted as having enough food for three months and nine days at quarter rations for one person. I can't massage those numbers!
Then there's Earthspace ambassador who carries around a virtual simulation of his dead daughter and plays chess with her, even when there's company around. Sounds kind of a disappointment to the government of Earth.

The writing style isn't as grandiose as Banks or as techy as Hamilton... it lays somewhere in between, but I much prefer the lengthy prose of Banks above all others. That said, Seeds of Earth doesn't have loquacious paragraphs like much of modern British Space Opera uses. The vocabulary isn't as challenging as Revelation Space or The Algebraist, but still maintains a certain sophistication. One more niggling point was the 3-time use of the word "concertaed" when describing the operation of a door (which fondly reminds me of Delanay's "the door dilated").

It's definitely NOT bad. It's just unfortunate the the trilogy has to start somewhere! Judging from the conclusion of Book One, I predict that books two and three will be at least 4-star reads. I've already bought Book Two and I've pre-ordered Book Three. How's that for eager!

1969: Beyond the Beyond (Anderson, Poul)

Two gems at the end of a dusty road (3/5)
From November 22, 2010

With a remarkably terrible beginning to a collection of short stories, I almost gave up hope with Anderson's collection in Beyond the Beyond. I've haven't come across many of his stories in anthologies but because I'm a fan of his linguistic and space opera novels (twelve to date, thank you very much), I decided that a peek into his short story talent might be worthy the effort to hunt down and peruse.

It's only with the last three stories did I begin to enjoy the collection. The Sensative Man has a spy-thriller tone to it with some psychoanalyzation throw into the mix. The Moonrakers in a decent look into the future unfolding of human civilization in the solar system which naturally must include space pirates. Finally, the cherry on top is a story ala Tau Zero; Starfog is heavy in science, astronomy and language and you may even find yourself admiring the minor love story unfolding.

Certainly, there are a large number of short story collections which trump Beyond the Beyond, but this is a keeper for the sheer sake of the last two stories... but mainly Starfog, which has etched into my memory so soon after its completion.

Memory (1957) - 3/5 - Bygone unknowingly colonialists of a galactic empire find themselves in company with a mysterious amnesiac man who is later recaptured with his hopeful wife by the militaristic crew of an empire ship. 36 pages

Brake (1957) - 2/5 - Extremists aboard a vessel inbound to Ganymede pose as passengers and act mutinously to gain control or hold the vessel as hostage from the captain, who isn't taking this kind of thing lightly. 45 pages

Day of Burning (1967) - 1/5 - A supernova is approaching a once studied planet with its' scope of cultures but that datum is dated, where the archaic language is annoying and the dragging politics can... zzz, zzz, zzz. 42 pages

The Sensitive Man (1954) - 3/5 - A man from a psychodynamic institute is kidnapped by a conniving organization who wish to use his skills for world domination but how will the psychodynamist psychoanalyze the psychos? 54 pages

The Moomrakers (1966) - 4/5 - The tri-pillar economies of Mars, Asteroids and
Earth are pinned against one another in a bid to deal with or destroy the pirates which seep the earnings from the respective governments. 33 pages

Starfog (1967) - 5/5 - A seemingly human race appears on an isolated yet inhabited planet and say they have originated from a stellar cluster; a mystery which calls for an educated Ranger and a probe into their culture and history. 56 pages

1964: Three Worlds to Conquer (Anderson, Poul)

Must Read Anderson; Erelong be Smitten (5/5)

I'm a well seasoned in reading Anderson novels, this being my fourteenth. It also happens to have become my favorite Anderson to-date! Tau Zero ranks a close number two and Brain Wave a respectable number three. Three Worlds to Conquer has an intrinsic "oldie" feel to it, perhaps because of its 143-page thickness, its nebulously painted cover or simply because the plot has certain Golden Age qualities to it. Regardless, I'm very fond of this novel as it exudes a certain sexy nostalgia for science and space exploration, something missing in modern science fiction.

Rear cover synopsis:
"JUPITER: where no human could live- but where men had strange allies... and stranger enemies! GANYMEDE: where human settlers lay helpless under the guns of a spaceship directed by a madman! EARTH: freed from a planet-wide tyranny, but facing total destruction for space!
The destiny of these worlds were strangely linked- and in the hands of a man sentenced to instant death!"

Excellent synopsis for a novel! It pulls no strings, doesn't promise anything it can't deliver and offers little hint as to the greater scope of the plot. I tend to read the synopsis AFTER I've read the book because I like to be surprised by the content of the novel... somethings the damn synopses give away everything or promise too much. To further expound:

Mark is a contact specialist of sorts who is in contact with an alien race on the surface (!) of Jupiter. Having created a new language between his own tongue and the aliens tongue, Mark is the best at what he does. He is also skeptical of the arrival of battleship USS Vega at the mining base of Ganymede. The admiral spins a lengthy story of how earth government (controlled by the almighty USA of course) had fallen to rebels. The battleship is on the moon for the sake of taking control of its mining facilities in order to process materials for nuclear weapons so that they can oust the rebels with brute strength. Lorraine is a collaborator with intentions of sabotaging the tyrannical hold the admiral holds over the colony. When Mark and Lorraine conspire together, plans for escape and control grow rapidly.

In a parallel plot, the alien in contact with Mark is named Theor. His Nyarr clan is becoming close to being invaded by the larger, more brutal and uncivilized Ulunt-Khazul clan. The communicator (a neutrino communicator beaming conversations up to Mark) fails to impress the heathens after Theor fails to contact Mark. Thus begins a sea-battle and land-battle amongst the two clans. When Theor is captured, his relationship with his "mind-brother" Mark will be called upon for the sake of both individuals.

I think Anderson had a great thing going with the Theor plot line and having a human plot in parallel to this only strengthened each plot.

Three Worlds to Conquers suffers from one early SF element which plagues other novels but leaves this book without damaging effects: that of the "I got a sudden idea" syndrome, where crafty plans for escape or retribution are fabricated from thin air, bless the ever-whimsical protagonist capable of this feat! One more minor quirks which you'll come across is the 1960s fixation on the infinite wonders of pharmacopoeia. There's always a pill that'll fix something (effects of gravity, banishment of fatigue, unexpression of emotion, etc.). One last irk is one exclusive to Anderson, himself: he loves to use archaic Middle English or Olde English words throughout his early novels be it in dialogue or narration. Here's a short list of annoying words: behoven, erstwhile, yonder, erelong, belike, lest, beset, nigh and (my favorite) thundersmitten.

If you can look past the points above and suspend whatever science knowledge you have about the atmosphere and surface of Jupiter, then you're in a for a excellent action-to-the-last-page novel,easily read in one or two days.

1974: The Dream Millennium (White, James)

Millennial colonists plagued by nightmares of death (4/5)
From June 30, 2010

James White continues his characteristic plot scheme by involving a doctor and medical science throughout the storyline even though it takes place outside of the Sector General universe. Rear cover synopsis: "Earth was a polluted, dying planet. Violence was rampant and civilization was doomed. If Man was to survive, John Devlin had to find him a new home somewhere in the galaxy. He had 1,000 years to look - and 1,000 years to dream. But all his dreams were nightmares..."

Leaving Earth on a 1,000 year journey to ten solar systems with possibly inhabitable planets, the 200+ colonists of the craft enter a cooldown, where they agelessly sleep away the years only to be occasionally revived every hundred of so years to exercise and to remember. It is during this cooldown when Devlin experiences fantastic dreams of others' lives; of royalty, of saurian origin, of revolution, etc. Why is it that Devlin remembers each dream so vividly and why is it that he can recall pre-departure events just as clearly? His recurrent awakenings probe this mystery as the recall becomes stronger and as he discovers the body of one of his fellow colonists frozen to the cold steel of the bulkhead in an apparent suicide.

The first third of the novel has a bizarre yet wonderful scope involving Delvin's awakenings aboard the craft, his life prior to recruitment and his vicariously realistic dreams. This is entirely rich and vivid; unlike anything White has produced (this being my 7th White novel). The plot is more like a John Brunner novel, involving characters in extraordinary circumstances amidst the stars. The fallacy springs about midway through the novel when the majority of the text starts to focus on the vicarious dreams; life after life after life, only to end in death each time. The spotlight is taken away from the great millennium journey and its righteous goal of establishing a human colony on a distant star when Earth itself is dying.

I can see White's noble approach to probing one man's mind, his dreams and his meaning to the greater extent of the mission at hand. But the repetitious mini-lifetimes doesn't add much depth to the purpose of the very same dreams, which is made a little more clear towards the end of the novel. This journey inwards versus the journey outwards is a decent attempt but overshadowed by Pohl's Gateway, which is pristine in inwardness/outwardness. However, as far as a White novel goes, this is one of his more thoughtful and unique novels.

1988: Federation World (White, James)

Dry dialogue and lube-less action (2/5)

I'm a big James White fan. His Sector General series is a eye-widening look at a huge array of exotic aliens and how they cope with their interactions in times of calm and chaos. While the dialogue is often quite droll and the predicaments predictable, James White still injects some fun into the novels, Final Diagnosis (1997) being the best part of the series that I've read. Lesser know are James White's non-Sector General novels... and of which I've been after for years since reading Final Diagnosis. I've now read 7 of the 11 and I can say that they generally tend to be better written than the Sector General books.

Rear cover synopsis:
"The Federation of Galactic Sentients had a mission. As new planets and species were discovered and assessed, the deserving of their populations were invited to move en masse to the fabulous Federation World, a modified Dyson Sphere located in the galactic core.
But not all of the Federation inductees were suited to the idyllic life of the World. Martin and Beth were two of he rare ones chosen instead for the demanding job of First Contact. Their training was extensive, but all too soon the two Earth-humans were out on their own with all of the amazing technology of the Federation at their command.
Martin knew that training was no substitute, for experience. In First Contact, his first mistake would likely be his last..."

White's non-Sector General novels of The Watch Below (1966), Tomorrow is Too Far (1971), and The Dream Millennium (1974) are all maturely written with shared attributes of thoughtfulness and uniqueness- very clever stuff. On the opposite of the coin, there is the dud novel of Lifeboat (1972) which read like an emergency pamphlet on an airplane- dry and informative. Along similar lines, Federation World comes off as dry and informative.

Federation World isn't a fix-up novel but it certainly reads like one.
1) After Martin and Beth have been selected as First Contact specialists and go through their training, they are prepared for their first mission (38 pages).
2) Visiting a bipedal, four-armed race with a master/slave society bent of matters of "hearsay," Martin must decide whether of not to allow the society to continue as is or to instruct the leaders to change course in order to meet demands for Citizenship appraisal (55 pages).
3) Immediately after this intervention, Martin and Beth must appraise the elusive intelligent subterranean life on a vacation-like planet: breezy, bountiful and eerily quite. The xenophobic burrowers have no sight and rely merely upon their heightened sense of touch for communication, subterranean navigation and technology (55 pages).
4) The next 135 pages, or nearly half of the entire novel rest with the contact made on a planet already visited by the Federation. Martin and Beth are to re-assess those who still dwell on the planet three generations after the initial contact, descendants of the once Undesirables. Indeed, what Martin witnesses on the planet is an de-evolution of society from the Undesirables. This race, hard-lining the need to return obligations, teeters on the brink of self-destruction.

While five aliens are on the cover of the novel, only three are covered with the most inventive being the burrowers. The other aliens have their quirks but ultimately don't seem alien enough. They have human ideas, human reflections in their speech and are easy to converse with. I've always had a problem with books which treated translation of alien languages as a simple delineation of logic from a few given words. Ugh, what a crock! Even some Earth languages are difficult to translate to English, and those are both terrestrial! So I hate the way White handles the language with such ease as having the computer translate everything into impeccable yet dearly dry English. The dialogue alone kills any enjoyment of this novel.

One additional factor that capsizes the enjoyment of Federation World is the inclusion of an action lengthener, such as "Wait, we have another problem.." or "Oh, one more thing....". It seems like a cascade of folly for the the hopeless First Contact specialists. Pragmatic and tactful as they are, you wouldn't want to invite them to a dinner party as they'd just drag it out to a ridiculous degree and bore you the entire time.