Resurrection - Tim Marquitz

Resurrection is the second part in Marquitz Demon Squad series and continues the adventures of Frank Trigg, also known as Triggaltheron. The series is set in a world where God and the Devil have decided to throw the towel and Angels and Demons are now fighting for control. Resurrection is set after the events in Armageddon Bound, the story refers to events in the previous novel several times, but it is also an entirely new case for DRAC. I wouldn't go so far as to say they can be read independently but Marquitz has made them pretty self contained. The first novel was entertaining but sometimes burdened by too lengthy action sequences. In this volume, Marquitz has struck a better balance.

The world has been saved from Armageddon but the work of a DRAC agent is never done. While Trigg is enjoying a well deserved bit of R&R in one of the more questionable bars in Old Town, he stumbles across a group of zombies. Or rather, they stumble across him. For someone with his supernatural powers they are not too dangerous but in large numbers they can still do a lot of damage. After a brutal fight, Trigg calls in his colleagues and an investigation into the origins of this zombie outbreak begins. What seems to be a relatively easy case compared to preventing Armageddon, soon turns into something more complicated when Trigg realizes the necromancer involved, will not settle for animating a few corpses.

One of my complaints about the previous book was that Trigg is a horribly sexist character, who apparently feels the need to describe his physical reaction to every pretty woman he comes across. Perhaps I am getting used to it but it appears that Marquitz has gone a bit easier on this personality trait of Trigg's. The poor man still can't get laid without being interrupted though. As with the first volume, if you are not at least capable of ignoring it, this book will most likely annoy you.

In the previous novel the emphasis was mostly on a struggle between Angels and Demons and factions within those two groups. In Resurrection, Marquitz takes a closer look at necromancy. Zombies are one expression of this but the larger plan calls for the resurrection of someone who, according to Trigg, ought to remain dead. Marquitz is once again expanding the array of supernatural creatures that populate his world. I must admit I don't share the current zombie fetish that is washing over the genre at the moment. Trigg's response to them, a complete lack of fear followed by a moment where he realizes he's screwed if he doesn't move, is very well done though.

Resurrection is more tightly written than then Armageddon Bound. While the first novel was relentless in terms of action scenes, it came at the expense of character development and plot. In this novel there are few more scenes in which Trigg is not fighting, arguing or running away from someone more dangerous than he is, which does the plot a world of good. Trigg is gaining power, his development beyond one of DRAC's foot soldiers takes some getting used to. He likes it when people underestimate him. From the way Trigg is picking up power in these two books I'd say this is something he'll have to get used to.

Although Marquitz' writing has improved in this volume, the final chapter could have used a bit more attention. It reads like the author is ticking off loose ends in the plot one of after another. When I read it I felt the author might as well have added bullets to the text. There's also a hint in this chapter in which direction Marquitz means to take the next book. It was nicely foreshadowed in the text and one of the stronger point of this chapter. The author manages to deliver a complete story and still add a hook to get the reader interested in the next volume.

Marquitz once again delivers a fast paced novel, full of action and Trigg's self-depreciating humour. He has managed to raise the bar quite a bit, resulting in a stronger second novel, that builds on an interesting premiss. There is still quite a lot to uncover in this setting. Most of the struggle between Angels and Demons seems to be limited to one city for instance. As of yet, there is no clue why this would be the case. Fortunately Marquitz clearly intends to write a third book and judging from the final chapter of this novel, I'd say it is going to be a conflict on a scale we haven't seen before.

Book Details
Title: Resurrection
Author: Tim Marquitz
Publisher: Damnation Books
Pages: 200
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: E-book
ISBN: 978-1-61572-397-3
First published: 2011

Leviathan Wakes - James S.A. Corey

Leviathan Wakes is the first novel in a space opera trilogy named The Expanse by James S.A. Corey. Corey is a pseudonym for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. I am familiar with the work Abraham published under his own name, some of which is very good indeed. Corey is his third pen-name. He also writes an Urban Fantasy series under the name M. L. N. Hanover. With ten novels under his belt, Abraham is definitely the more experienced of the two. I haven't read any of Franck's writing yet. I know he has contributed to the latest Wild Cards volume Fort Freak, which is still on the to read stack. Other than that, I only know him as George R.R. Martin's assistant. I didn't know what to expect of this novel, it is quite a departure from Abraham's previous (novel length) work and a new adventure for Franck. As it turned out, Leviathan Wakes is a very readable bit of science fiction. One that might appeal to a larger crowd than just the hardcore SF-fans.

The novel is set in a future where humanity has ventured beyond Earth and colonized Mars as well as a whole host of moons and asteroids. Humanity's cradle is still essential to the survival of the species however, the source of many materials that simply can't be produced in any meaningful quantities elsewhere. Its power is only rivaled by Mars, one of the few other places in the solar system to house a significant number of people. Further out, are the miners of the asteroid belt, people confined to small bubbles of air and artificial gravity in the the vast emptiness of space.

Jim Holden is the the executive officer on an ice miner, making runs between the Jupiter's rings and the asteroid belt. It's a dead end job on a rickety old ship and usually quite uneventful. Until that is, they come upon the derelict ship Scopuli, emitting a distress call. What they find on the ship draws the crew into a spiral of violence that almost inevitably seems to lead to war. In the meantime on the asteroid turned space station Ceres, detective Miller is on a missing persons case. Although the police force on Ceres has more than enough problems on their hands once the political instability of the solar system is exposed and Miller is told to let go of the case, he can't shake the feeling there is something fishy about it. Miller digs deeper, at great personal expense.

In there is one thing I admire about the book is the way that Corey has managed to make it a science fiction novel that has so many elements of other genres and sub-genres besides space opera in it that it has a much wider appeal that a hard science fiction novel would have had in today's market. That is not to say there aren't some classic science fiction elements in the tale. Corey spends a great deal of time on the effects of gravity (or the absence of it) to the human body, to the operation of space stations, to warfare etc. There is definitely a bit of Rendezvous with Rama in this novel. There are some nice references to things like space sickness and the trick of deciding which way is up in an environment without gravity that a hard science fiction fan will appreciate but doesn't take a vast knowledge of physics to understand.

On the other hand, the story line of Miller also injects a dose of police procedural into the narrative. It's a combination that can work very well, as Alastair Reynolds showed us in The Prefect, a novel I still consider his best. Miller's past and personal problems are woven into the case he is researching. He's increasingly unable to keep his job and his private life separate, or in fact, keep reality and illusion apart. He's clearly a man headed for self-destruction. Holden on the other hand, is a man who has a completely different way of getting into trouble. Besides being rather direct, he feels qualified to decide which information should be shared with the entire solar system and which shouldn't. Much to the disgust of Miller, who blames him for starting a war. The authors have stated it was not intentional but the parallel with Wikileaks is almost inescapable.

Although the story in Leviathan Wakes is essentially complete, the way the novel was written leaves a lot of possibilities for a series that goes well beyond the planned trilogy. There is quite a bit of attention for world building, an aspect that gives the whole novel an epic fantasylike quality. In this novel, the two main characters are far away from the places where the big political decision are made. They deeply impact the story but the real motivation behind them remains mostly guesswork by the main characters. Throughout the novel you can sense that there are layers of events and decisions that have yet to be revealed. It would be nice if the authors paid a bit more attention that than in the next two books. The action we get to see now is set at the fringes of human expansion but what is going on 'down the well', as the Belters refer to the inner solar system, sounds like it is worth a few pages more than are dedicated to it in this novel.

Leviathan Wakes is a novel that achieves what it sets out to do very well. Entertain the reader. It is a novel that is clearly meant to be a fun ride, without too many complications or being too demanding on the reader. As such, I enjoyed it a lot. It's fast paced, very careful not to let itself get distracted in grand descriptions of the solar system or futuristic technology. Many of the elements in this novel will be familiar to the experience science fiction reader, it is not shockingly original. It is however, a well written adventure with plenty of opportunities for an equally enjoyable continuation of the series. I look forward to reading the second volume, Caliban's War, scheduled for publication in the summer of 2012, already.

Book Details
Title: Leviathan Wakes
Author: James S.A. Corey
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 561
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-84149-988-8
First published: 2011

I Missed the Second Birthday of Random Comments!

Outrageous, I know. I missed it by four whole days. Anyway, Random Comments now passed the two year mark. As I said when the blog turned one, I didn't think it'd last that long. Actually, despite a few recent hiccups, I'm very pleased I've managed to keep it going at a more or less constant pace. Thanks everybody for visiting. My traffic is still not a serious challenge Google's capacity but it is steadily rising. Let's see how we do in a third year.

The Frozen Sky - Jeff Carlson

The Frozen Sky is a novella originally published in 2007 in the anthology Writers of the Furure XXIII. Last year, author Jeff Carlson has made it available as e-book and was kind enough to provide me with a review copy. Like the stories in his collection Long Eyes and Other Stories, which I read a few months back, The Frozen Sky is a hard science fiction story. It's a fine example of a well written novella, a length that in my opinion is very hard to get right. I have seen relatively few examples of novellas that aren't bloated short stories or rushed novels. In The Frozen Sky, Carlson strikes the right balance.

The story is set in the early 22nd century, a time when humanity is expanding throughout the solar system. Although the search for extraterrestrial life is ongoing, none has actually been found. Until a crawler from Jupiter's ice moon Europa, completely unexpected, stumbles across evidence for multi-cellular life. Quickly an expedition consisting of three scientists is assembled to investigate. When they arrive, they find themselves completely unprepared for what they discover.

Europa is one of the few places in the solar system that may harbour life. A process called tidal heating is theorized to make liquid water possibly under the thick sheet of ice that covers the entire surface of the moon. The existence of this ocean and the possibility of life have made Europa the subject of many science fiction stories. One in particular that comes to mind is 2010: Odyssey Two, by Arthur C. Clarke, in which a monster from the deep takes down an entire spaceship down with it. Another one I recently read is A Spy in Europa, a short story set in Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space setting. In this story, Europa's oceans are settled by an advanced human civilizations. Clarke's portrayal of Europa's environment is a lot closer to what Carlson describes.

The novella is told in a non-linear fashion and contains two main story lines. In one, we find Alexis "Vonnie" Vonderach, the sole survivor of the expedition in terrible trouble, struggling to survive the challenges the moon throws at her. The second is set earlier and slowly reveals what went wrong. Carlson also uses this second story line to give the reader some background information on Europa and the history of space faring. It creates a very nice contrast between the immediate needs of Vonnie in the action packed and often frantic scenes in the first strand of the narrative and the slower, more scientifically oriented second strand.

Carlson creates some pretty fierce creatures in Europa's harsh environment. There may be a touch of the idea that such conditions drive the development of extreme physical and behavioural adaptations. An idea that frequently surfaces in the work of Frank Herbert for instance. I must admit the very thin atmosphere on Europa seems a big ecological challenge to overcome, but life sheltering in the ice, it may just be possible. The image of this huge dome of ice as the edge of the universe for these aliens is a nice one. It might feel a bit claustrophobic for humans though. Carlson's descriptions of the extremely cold ice caves Vonnie finds herself in certainly are.

Another thing Carlson gets right is the way he carefully avoids anthropomorphizing his aliens. Vonnie has serious trouble finding out the driving forces of their behaviour. If there is one area where the novella is perhaps a bit underdeveloped, it is in the understanding of what makes these aliens tick. When the penny does drop for Vonnie, it is the last piece she needs to reach an unexpected conclusion.

The Frozen Sky is a well written novella, looking for a reader not afraid of a generous helping of hard science fiction. As with many shorter pieces, some readers will feel it should have been longer and that is leaves a lot of the background of the story rather vague. Personally, I feel Carlson gets the level of detail right. It is after all, as much a story of Vonnie and how, despite the hostility she meets on Europa, she's still able to defeat the impulse to blindly strike back and realize what must be done instead. When Vonnie reaches that point, the background, fascinating as it may be, has served its purpose. To me at least,The Frozen Sky is a very satisfying first contact story. Recommended for hard science fiction fans in particular.

Book Details
Title: The Frozen Sky
Author: Jeff Carlson
Pages: 62
Year: 2010
Language: English
Format: E-book
First published: 2010

Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson

Midnight Tides is the fifth volume in Erikson's Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series and something of a favorite of mine. By this time the series is already ridiculously complex but Erikson manages to weave a new strand into his tale nonetheless. With the first four volumes going back and forth between events on the continent of Genebackis and the rebellion in the Seven Cities, a return to Genebackis might be what the reader expects. In fact, Erikson will get back to that continent for a while in volume six, The Bonehunters, but this book takes a step back in time and moves us to the distant empire of Letheras. I think this is by far the most interesting place Erikson has created in his series, certainly given recent events regarding the world's economy.

The empire of Letheras has been expanding for centuries. A combination of rampant capitalism, merciless greed and military might has lead numerous peoples to complete cultural annihilation. Now, the empire has turned it gaze towards the lands of six tribes of the Tiste Edur for new resources. In the eyes of the Letheri, the Tiste Edure are uncivilized people. Although the tribes don't have a monetary economy and are few in number, they do posses a dreadful kind of magic. For as long as anyone remembers the Tiste Edur have been divided, always fighting amongst themselves. Recently the Warlock-King of the Hiroth tribe, Hannan Mosag, has managed to unite all six tribes under his rule however. And his ambitions go far beyond the Tiste Edur lands. The two nations are on a collision course, one that will pit not long armies against each other but also dreadful magic and powerful ideologies. It is a clash that cannot fail to attract the notice of the gods.

In the previous book, House of Chains, Erikson dedicated a quarter of the text to the back story of a single character. Now, we take another step back to find out the history of Trull Sengar, the flooded realm we first encountered him in, and the actions of groups of Tiste Edur referenced to throughout the first four novels. The chronology of the these books is a bit problematic, with several contradictions cropping up in the text. For me it would make most sense to place the events in Midnight Tides several years prior to Gardens of the Moon but some people insist it is set later.

One of the things I like most about his book is the depiction of Letheri society. It is a culture where money is the most important status symbol and indebtedness leads to slavery. It's the Uncle Sam king of capitalism in overdrive, an economic systems that crushes anyone who plays the game poorly. Erikson shows us the follies of this system, many of which resemble to cycles of boom and bust in our own economy, though the eyes of two of my favorite characters: the apparently destitute financial genius Tehol Bedict and his (unpaid) manservant Bugg. There is a lot more to this comical duo than meets the eye. Their attempt to crash the Letheri economy is a story line that continues into the seventh volume, Reaper's Gale . It's a brilliant bit of satire that never seemed more relevant that these days.

I said Erikson makes things even more complex and he doesn't just do it by adding a new continent, the whole system of magic we've come to know in the previous four books is left behind as well. In stead of Warrens, a rawer, wilder, more primitive magic, tied to Holds can be accessed here. Curiously enough, the Hold of Death is empty, Hoods influence non-existent, meaning the dead can be made to linger. This gives rise to a number of phenomena we haven't seen before in these books. Armies of shades, curses that keep a soul tied to an already dead body, and even people who specialize in cosmetics for zombies. Some of it is utterly bizarre.

The manipulation of death takes another shape in the figure of Rhuald Sengar, younger brother to Trull. Rhuald is the subject of another ploy by the Crippled God, who abused the absence of Hood's influence to gain influence over the Tiste Edur. Rhuald is the character in which all the fractures in the Tiste Edur society come together. From the ancient corruption of historical events to the smaller scale of the conflicts in the Sengar family. Rhuald's bride, his relationship with his brother Trull and his meteoric rise to power all put an enormous strain on him. And that is on top of the manipulations of th Crippled God. It makes Rhuald one of the most convincingly insane characters in the entire series. Disturbing to read about but also a character who evokes pity in the reader.

Midnight Tides is also the book where Erikson starts to explain a few things in fairly plain language. That is not to say he coddles the reader, you'll still be thrown into strange situations that take a while for it to make sense, but for the first time we get a description of what a Warren is (or an interpretation of what they might be at least). He also sheds some light on the troubled history of the Tiste peoples. The prologue of this novel shows us a pivotal point in their history, one that will define the future of the Tiste Edur. Until now, we've mostly dealt with the Tiste Andi and only received hits of the trouble between Dark and Shadow. I don't think I caught the full significance of the prologue, both to this novel and the over all series the first time through. It's worth keeping that information in the back of your mind when reading this book.

New continent, new characters, new forms of magic and new gods. Midnight Tides almost feels like a new start to the series, but Erikson will merge this new story line into the other novels quite quickly in subsequent novels. It is also the first novel that will have the story spin outwards from the Malazan Empire. Not all readers may be pleased by yet another totally unfamiliar setting but I enjoyed the change of scenery tremendously. The fact that Erikson introduces a host of fascinating characters doesn't hurt either. From the comical Thehol and Bugg to Trull Sengar, turn between loyalty to his family and knowledge of an ancient wrong and a new threat to his people, Erikson once again delivers an epic, dramatic and superbly entertaining Malazan novel. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Book Details
Title: Midnight Tides
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 960
Year: 2005
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-553-81314-5
First published: 2004

A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin

I had a bit more time on my hands then I knew what to do with last week so I attempted to write another review. Unfortunately this does not mean I am back. I will try to written another next week but don't expect a resumption of my two reviews a week schedule just yet.

Earlier this year, HBO aired the television adaptation of Martin's A Game of Thrones. It turned out to be huge success. I've only seen a few episodes but they appear to have stuck quite close to the original book, something that, given the scope of the series, can't have been easy. Filming for the second season, based on A Clash of Kings is under way and with the fifth volume in the series, A Dance with Dragons out in July, 2011 is turning into a very good year for Martin. I was about 650 pages into A Dance with Dragons when my girlfriend decided to steal it from me (truth be told, it was a birthday present). It will be a few more days before I can continue that story so in the mean time I consoled myself with a reread of the second book. It was A Clash of Kings that definitively hooked me on this series, the point in the story where the plot just explodes into so many directions that it is almost inconceivable that Martin will be able to pull them all back together again. Still, given what I have read of the fifth book, he may be able to pull it off.

The first book centred around the murder of John Arryn, the Hand of the King and one of the most powerful nobles in the realm, who died taking secret and potentially dangerous information into his grave. In the end, the next hand, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell figures out what is going on and looses his head in the process. The genie is out of the bottle however, no matter how hard the Lannister family tries to pretend Queen Cercei's son Joffrey is the legitimate heir to the throne of the now departed King Robert, several parties smell blood. In the north, Lord Eddards bannermen scream for revenge and name his son Robb King of the North. Stannis Baratheon, Robert's younger brother feels he is the legitimate heir, now that Cercei's infidelity has been 'proven'. His younger brother Renly feels he'd be a much better king however, and raises support for his own attempt to seize the Iron Throne. On the Iron Islands, Lord Ballon Greyjoy, painfully subjected to the rule of Robert after a bloody rebellion a decade ago, sees an opportunity to become independent once more and proclaims himself King of the Isles. In the blink of an eye, the Seven Kingdoms have five kings instead of one. Blind to the threats massing on their border in the north, the emergence of a new trio of dragons across the sea and even the turning of the season, Robert's once unified Kingdom plunges into war.

Where A Game of Thrones offers a more of less complete story arc, we leave that approach behind us in this second volume. Martin is now fully committed to the series and it is immediately apparent that he is not going to be able to contain it in the originally envisioned trilogy. The first book provides us with the Casus Belli, in this book, things escalate to an incredible mess. Martin masterfully peels back the cultivated mannerisms and the gloss of chivalry of the long years of peace under King Robert and reveals a rawer, wilder and in many cases crueller face of the Seven Kingdom's nobles. Years of prosperity and peace lost in the blink of an eye, as the forces driving the Kingdoms apart are suddenly released. To keep his story from completely running away with him, Martin does not pay as much attention to the story line of Daenerys. If there is any part of the book that could be considered weak, it is probably her tale.

The story is mostly told from the same points of view as the previous book. Martin has lost one (obviously) and adds Theon Greyjoy to cover events on the Iron Islands and Davos Seaworth, who is in the service of Stannis Baratheon. I must admit, neither are favourites of mine. Davos is a fairly stagnant character. A man converted to Stannis' harsh sense of justice, his loyalty appears unshakable. I always thought this conversion a bit strange, Stannis is not a man to inspire such feelings in people, as Martin makes abundantly clear in this book. The author does more with Theon's character later on in the series. In this book, he strikes me as a selfish and spoilt little prick who is about the have a head on collision with the world.

The star of this second volume in the series is without a doubt Tyrion. Every time I read one of his chapters I wonder how much of Henry Munce he put into Tyrion. Born in the snake pit that is the Lannister household Tyrion has no illusion about the world and his place in it whatsoever. A number of painful lessons in the past have taught him what a dwarf, even a high born one, can expect in the world. Deep down inside he still wants justice and despite his open cynicism and self depreciating comments, he feels it is the best policy. His handling of the situation in King's Landing is his chance to put it into practice and it mercilessly exposes his weaknesses. I thought Martin showed the extend of Tyrion's control over the situation in this part of the story very well. Although quite a lot of what Tyrion tries to do appears to be successful, he is walking on eggshells. Could it be that the world wise and well read Tyrion is a bit naive in the ways of governing a nation?

What Martin does not show us in this book is the campaign of Robb Stark against the Lannisters. Although the Lannisters appear to be loosing, Robb wins all of his battles, his strategic position is not getting any better. As his mother Catelyn puts it, he wins all his battles but somehow he is loosing the war. Not that A Clash of Kings is short on battle scenes, the Battle of the Blackwater is one of the largest in the books and certainly a fitting climax to the novel but it is interesting that Martin passes up on the opportunity to show what Robb is up to. It's a clever bit of plotting to keep Robb away from the main story for a bit. Martin uses it to great effect to deliver one of the shocks A Storm of Swords is known for. It made me wonder why Martin decided not to make Robb a point of view character though, except for Rickon and Robb, all of Eddard's children are.

I have always thought of A Clash of Kings as my favourite book. I don't think A Dance With Dragons will change anything about that. Martin is still too busy pulling together the sprawling story to deliver a novel that works very well on it's own. I think I should reread A Storm of Swords again though. After this reread I've seen a lot of things Martin starts in this book that will have major repercussions in the next. I'm not sure I was quite as aware of that when I read A Clash of Kings of the first time in English a number of years back. I may change my mind after a reread of the third book. Still, A Clash of Kings is the book that got me hooked on this series, the book in which Martin unveils his world in all it's complexity and terror, and the book that raises it above the ordinary multi-volume epic fantasy series. It is the second volume in a seven book series however, don't expect a neat ending like A Game of Thrones had.

Book Details
Title: A Clash of Kings
Author: George R.R. Martin
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 741
Year: 2003
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-00-647989-8
First published: 1998

Random Comments Needs a Time Out

Or rather, I do. Something has come up in my private life that makes focussing on books and reviewing pretty much impossible. It doesn't need to be discussed on this blog but getting my act together may take a while. All outstanding promises for review will be met, may take me a bit longer than anticipated though. Don't expect too much activity in the next month or so.

Troika - Alastair Reynolds

With the space shuttle program almost concluded there seems to be a sense that that window of opportunity for the human exploration of space is closing. There is no successor for the Space Shuttle, NASA's budget is shrinking, the US is dependent on other nations to get people up to the International Space Station and exploration of the solar system has completely shifted to robotic probes and Mars rovers. The premise of whole libraries of science fiction novels appears to be increasingly unlikely and that clearly worries a lot of people in the field, including former ESA astronomer Alastair Reynolds.

Personally, I think the drama over the last space shuttle missions is rather US-centric. It can't be denied that the space race between the USSR and the US is over and out competing the other super-power no longer gives the US space industry a boost, but there is a lot going on in other nations. In a multi-polar world, the nature of space exploration has changed. Interest in space exploration won't disappears overnight, even if the US is no longer the leader of the pack. Whether or not we can spare the resources in the long run is another matter. In a way, Reynolds deals with both these matters in his Hugo-nominated novella Troika.

In the near future the USSR has made a comeback. It is once again one of the leading nations in space exploration and when a mysterious alien object appears in the solar system, it is one of the few nations capable of investigating it. The structure of the object and the way it suddenly appeared in the solar system baffle the scientific community. When probes have discovered everything they can, there is only one way left to find out more. Go out and have a look. Three Cosmonauts are sent out on a long mission to explore the object. A mission that will face its share of problems.

There are two main story lines in this novella. The first introduces us to a man recently escaped from an institution for the mentally unstable, which in this second USSR includes people who say things the government would rather not hear. He is on his way to the nearest city where he hopes to find a disgraced astronomer. This story line is a classic example of an unreliable narrator, carefully designed to make you doubt whether or not he has lost his mind.

The significance of what this man tries to achieve is mostly worked into the second story line. This one takes us back a number of years to the manned mission to the alien object. This part of the story, Reynolds approaches as classic of the science fiction genre, a Big Dumb Object story. I use approaches here, because unlike classics like Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, we do eventually find out the purpose of the object's visit to the solar system and its message is alarming.

There is a tremendous sense of loss and missed opportunities in this novella. Especially in the story line dealing with the escaped patient, it appears to be completely irrelevant whether or not his mission succeeds. He knows nobody is interested in his message. He is mostly doing it for his own piece of mind. It's not surprising he doesn't like Prokofiev's Troika playing on the radio. Too much of an upbeat composition. Prokoofiev's music and the plot of this novella contrast in interesting ways.

The more cynical reader will probably consider this novella a bit of propaganda for space programs in general, and manned space flights in particular. It's warning us that turning our backs to space, despite the economics of its exploration, is a serious mistake. As the Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky once put it: "The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever." Whatever your opinion of the matter, it won't settle the question whether or not space exploration is worth the billions invested in it, especially since there is plenty of work still to be done on Earth.

Troika certainly provides food for thought along those lines and it does so in style. This novella is carefully crafted and works to an interesting twist in the plot at the end of the story. It's well-written and most certainly well-timed piece of writing. It's a novella that celebrates sense of wonder science fiction but also wonders if that drive to explore, through science as well as fiction, has perhaps passed. For me, Troika worked very well, both as a warning and a piece of literature. It faces some stiff competition for the Hugo but I think it would make a fine winner.

Book Details
Title: Troika
Author: Alastair Reynolds
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Pages: 114
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-59606-376-1
First published: 2011

London - Edward Rutherfurd

London (1997) is Edward Rutherfurd's third novel. I reviewed his début Sarum (1987) last year and concluded that he has gone on to write better books. I'm skipping his second novel for the moment. Ruska (1991) is the odd one out in his bibliography so far, it's the only one that is not set in an English speaking part of the world. I've read it a number of years ago and I may reread it at some point in the future. Given the size of these novels, London weighs in at over 1300 pages in mass market paperback and that is a few pages less than Sarum, I decided to read London first. Like all Rutherfurd's novels, London takes the Mitchener approach to historical fiction, in this case covering twenty-one centuries following the lives of a number of fictional families.

Where Rutherfurd covered ten-thousand years of history in his first novel, he takes a slightly less ambitions approach this time. After a brief section detailing the geological history of the region, the story kicks off in 54 BC with Ceasar's invasion of Britain. It ends with an epilogue set in 1997. The period up to the Norman invasion in 1066 takes up less than 200 pages, a lot of which seems to be tied to archaeological finds in the region. I suspect it would be interesting to visit the Museum of London with these sections as a guide. The emphasis of the novel is on medieval and early modern history of the city. Given the enormous amount of historical material available on this topic Rutherfurd could probably have written another book as big as this one. It's obvious a selection had to be made and Rutherfurd has chosen to stay very close to developments in the city, not letting himself get distracted by events in the rest of the world.

London is one of three novels set in relatively close to each other in the south of England. In Sarum he covered the Salisbury Plain region, in London the city of that name and in The Forest (2000), the first book by Rutherfurd I've read and still something of a favourite of mine, the New Forest region. One of the things that struck me, now that I've read all three, is how careful the author is not to repeat himself. The history of these places is of course tightly linked to that of England as a whole. Major decisions by kings and parliaments affected the whole nation and sometimes reached far outside the borders of the Kingdom. It would have been easy to focus on these periods of upheaval that most readers would remember from their history classes. Although Rutherfurd doesn't ignore them completely, he shows that there is a wealth of historical material that is much less well known but, for a lot of readers, will fit in nicely with what they do know of the history of England.

One of the parts I thought particularly interesting was the section London Bridge, which in part deals with the Peasant Rebellion of 1381. It was a curious affair really. The rebels could have razed the city and the King would not have been able to stop them. It's very hard to adopt the mindset of a medieval peasant but I guess it shows how deeply ingrained the feudal structure of society was. Despite Ball's preaching it would take centuries for the last remnants of it to disappear from the legal system. It's the King overstepping is bounds in the existing framework that triggers the rebellion as much as a desire for greater freedom that causes the rebellion. What the leader of the rebellion did to cause his eventual death is still a bit of a mystery. Rutherfurd gives us his own interpretation of what might have happened here, one of many instances where his fictional characters play a small part in the history of the city.

A second part that receives a lot of attention are the religious conflicts in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Rutherfurd pays a lot of attention to the slightly absurd events that lead up to the establishment of the Anglican Church and the consequences of its inability to decide whether to seek reconciliation with the Catholic Church or develop into a full-fledged protestant form of Christianity. The religious struggles in England took quite a different path than those in on the continent. Rutherfurd pays attention the the Puritans in particular, and the influence they had on the development of what would become the United States.

The City is portrayed as a place of trade for almost its entire history. There's a lot of attention to the workings of guilds, trade and the rise of finance and banking that has made London one of the financial hotspots of the world. The rise and fall of generations of merchants, the ways to make or loose their fortune, is the backbone of the story really. I guess we see London more as a city of finance these days, in this novel Rutherfurd makes the link between them very clear. The brief mentioning of the South Sea Bubble of 1720 forms a nice link to Rutherfurd's most recent novel New York.

If there is an overarching theme to the entire novel, the treatment of women is probably it. Throughout the novel there are plenty of instances that detail the place of women in society and Rutherfurd makes it clear that for most of history, a woman's options were limited indeed. Forced marriages, being considered property, the risks of childbirth and sexual violence, not much is spared the female characters in this book. Rutherfurd sticks to the historical framework. These women know their place in society, know what they can expect and to a large extend accept this, or at least don't attempt to stretch custom and law beyond what could be reasonably expected. It's interesting to see how views of what would make a good wife or husband shifts over time. Personally I think it is one of the strengths of this novel but that is something not all readers will agree on. One of the last sections of the novel, The Suffragette, partly deals with the struggle for women's right to vote. Reading this novel I got the feeling Rutherfurd was building up to this.

On the whole I thought London was a better novel than Sarum. It's more balanced I suppose. Rutherfurd doesn't need to make to many large jumps in history since there is plenty of material from the Norman Conquest onwards. It makes the ride a bit smoother. I thought the way Rutherfurd managed to keep the attention focussed on the city, always using the outlook of London's citizens on events in the wider world in his story very well done. With twenty-one different sections set in different periods and using different characters, the novel is still quite a challenging read. It helps to have some knowledge of the general history of England. Even if you know more than a bit, there is still quite a lot of new things to learn in this novel. I enjoyed reading this book a lot but I have to admit, Rutherfurd's way of telling a story is one that doesn't suit all readers. If you are tempted to try it, London is probably a better introduction to his work than Sarum.

Book Details
Title: London
Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Arrow Books
Pages: 1302
Year: 1998
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-09-920191-7
First published: 1997

Armageddon Bound - Tim Marquitz

Armageddon Bound is the first book in the Demon Squad series. The author kindly provided me with copies of this book and the sequel Resurrection. I'll be reviewing the second book sometime next month. Both are available as paperback and e-book in various format from publisher Damnation Books. Without any prior exposure to this author, or publisher for that matter, I had no idea what to expect. Armageddon Bound turned out to be a testosterone-driven and absolutely action-packed novel.

Imagine a world where God and Lucifer have decided they've had enough. After a brief chat they both decide to walk away from the mess that is our world and leave it to sort out its own problems. A bit of a let down if you've spent eternity serving either one in the capacity of Angel or Devil. Some of them feel Armageddon can't come soon enough. Time to start over. Not everybody agrees with that vision however. Frank Trigg, also known as Triggaltheron in the many circles of Hell, is one of those who'd rather stick with the old world. Part of an organization known as Demonic Resistance and Containment (DRAC), he actively tries to prevent Armageddon from occurring. A job that becomes a lot more dangerous when a powerful Angel decides to side with the pro-Armageddon forces. As if that isn't enough, Trigg also has to deal with a vengeful ex. Life is going to be interesting for Trigg for a while.

Trigg is quite an unusual hero. His uncle is Lucifer, the big man himself, and once, he was even offered the job of Anti-Christ. For reasons not made clear in this novel, he turned down this offer. Still, his heritage offers some benefits. He is immortal for one thing but as Devils go, not particularly powerful. Perhaps not entirely surprising, Trigg is drawn to the darker side of life. He spends most of the novel in the bad part of town and is not one to walk away from a good brawl. In fact, he takes a lot of punishment in this novel.

One of Trigg's qualities not all readers will appreciate is his tendency to describe the assets of just about every female character he comes across, and his physical reaction to them, in detail. He is single, apparently a fan of Jenna Jameson and, although currently in a dry spell, has had a turbulent sex life in the past. I thought Trigg's trouble with his ex-wife, and really, he should have seen it coming, to be entertaining but for the most part, the rather crude descriptions employed don't really add to the bad boy image Trigg likes to cultivate. Then again, lust is one of the seven deadly sins.

Except for a stray vampire most of the creatures we come across are biblical. We don't get to see heaven but hell appears to be mostly modelled after Dante's vision of the place. Interestingly, we don't get to see any of the souls spending eternity there. It's a rather quiet place when Trigg gets there. The author chose to tell the story from a character who is part Devil but clearly not all evil. It's interesting to see how he transforms the eternal battle between good and evil into something of a power struggle were both parties do things they ought to be ashamed of. There is something ironic about a Devil preventing Armageddon and Marquitz uses this to full effect.

Another striking feature of this novel are the action scenes. Marquitz has his characters engage each other with an explosive mixture of magic and fire arms. These are intense scenes of mayhem and destruction and are the main attraction of the novel. Truth be told, Trigg has quite a bit of trouble holding his own in the company of more powerful Devils and Angels. It makes for a very fast paced novel, especially since Marquitz does not forget to to make Trigg aware of the fact that time is running out.

Armageddon Bound is an entertaining but somewhat light read. The concept of God and Lucifer raises some interesting questions that could have given the novel a bit more depth. How does the knowledge that nobody is listening to your prayers any more influence religious communities for instance? We see angels and devils trying to bring about Armageddon but no ordinary humans seem to have any role in the conflict. It seems to me there is material for some interesting social developments and perhaps a cult or two here. That being said, as the fast-paced, action-packed novel it aims to be, Armageddon Bound works very well indeed.

Book Details
Title: Armageddon Bound
Author: Tim Marquitz
Publisher: Damnation Books
Pages: 155
Year: 2009
Language: English
Format: E-book
ISBN: 978-1-61572-001-9
First published: 2009