Back on track! Hope everyone had a nice Christmas holiday and enjoyed our little mini series. Now we pick up where we left off with…

BLAST ASTEROID in – Blast Asteroid Returns!

Part 14: Looks like Aurora may have a good idea. Can Blast pull it off and act angry enough to impersonate T’Salb? He’d be upset if his favorite watering hole, The Ragin’ Rocket, ran out of Sector 9 Jump Juice. Perhaps he can channel that anger? The tension is building! What happens next? Read on…

Nova War by Gary Gibson

Nova War
Gary Gibson
Tor, 2009

Nova War is the sequel to 2008’s Stealing Light a book that, surprise surprise, has yet to get a release here in the states.  Nova War dispenses with some of the mystery of the first novel and trading it instead for some serious action.  Indeed things are ratcheted right up to eleven and amongst all the action and excitement I felt that Gibson still managed to do an excellent job in creating unique and memorable characters and wound up with a book that surpassed its predecessor in terms of quality.  If you haven’t read the first book be warned there will be some minor spoilers below.

After having escaped an exploding star in an ancient Magi spaceship machine-head Dakota Merrick and her erstwhile lover and sometime rival Lucas Corso find themselves captured by the insect-like Bandati.  Tortured and imprisoned for their knowledge of the Magi technology Dakota and Lucas find themselves trapped not only between warring hives of Bandati but square in between the arrogant Shoal and their longtime enemies the Emissaries.  As hostilities between the two ancient rivals escalate Dakota, with her special connection to Magi ships, becomes a key figure in a battle that far transcends the scope of human, or even Shoal, knowledge.

In my review of Stealing Light I mentioned Star Wars and while the novel as a whole transcends the more fantasy-based architecture of that series it seems to me that Gibson certainly draws inspiration from some of the more wondrous and adventurous situations that the original trilogy offered.  During an early scene in Nova War I was reminded of The Empire Strikes back and the scene where Han and company take refuge in what they think is an asteroid.  I still remember the sort of “Wow” moment induced when the truth behind  where they were was revealed.  In Nova War Gibson plays upon a similar theme in a restaurant inside the mouth of a giant worm.  I’ll repeat that: a restaurant in the mouth of giant worm.  Gibson does a masterful job of imparting basic knowledge of Bandati culture (where eating is a completely private affair), introducing us to new characters, and providing a thrilling scene of high action.  It is certainly one of the best, if not THE best, action scenes I’ve read all year.

Nova War expands the scope of the Shoal sequence introducing us to new aliens; such as the horrific Emissaries.  While we don’t get any chapters from an Emissary perspective what we go glimpse reveals a species terrifying in their power and with a mad zealotry towards nigh on inscrutable goals.  Hopefully we’ll see more of the Emissaries in future volumes since Gibson dropped just enough hints to wet my curiosity but not enough answers to sate it.  The things Dakota learns from the Magi vessel further expands on the universe that Gibson has created and manages to infuse dire events with a certain amount of hope for the futures of the Shoal’s “client species.”

While I didn’t mention it in my review of Stealing Light, Nova War continues Gibson’s penchant for offering entertaining and evocative names for his non-human characters.  We have, returning from the previous novel,  the Shoal Trader in Faecal Matter of Animals whose name, despite being somewhat humorous still manages to accurately describe his personality.  The bandati’s names are more translations of their personal scents so you get the wonderfully evocative “Scent of Honeydew, Distant Rumble of Summer Storms” (Honeydew for short) and the former ambassador to a human colony “Days of Wine and Roses” (a name that is considered odd by his people).  The bandati names might be tiresome if their scent based communication weren’t carried through in other aspects of the novel but thankfully it is; one particular scene in which Wine and Roses urges haste because of an alarm causes a character respond along the lines of “I don’t hear an alarm only smell something burning” which Wine and Roses responds “That is the alarm.”

Each of the main characters of Nova War are well realized and believable individuals with histories and goals that are unique.  Even that characters that are nominally on the same side often have agendas and goals that don’t mesh with their “allies.”  As a result Gibson weaves a tangled web of politics and personal relationships that creates not only an emotional connection to his characters but also enhances the tension amongst the various factions vying for control of the Magic vessel.  There are no real clear cut mustache-twirling villains here, though the actions some characters take have tragic galaxy spawning consequences their motivations are typically clear and not necessarily evil from their perspective.

Nova War is a thrilling addition to the Shoal sequence and a definite improvement over the already-stellar Stealing Light.  Despite the lack of an official US release I highly highly recommend fans of space opera to hit up Book Depository and Amazon.co.uk (according this news post ebooks are available via panmacmillan.com) and give the series a try.  Gibson, ends Nova War with rather frustrating hints at what is to come in the next volume, Empire of Light (release date unknown), that leave me wishing I had the book right now.  Nova War is definitely on my list of favorite reads of 2009 and I look forward to Mr. Gibson’s future work.

BLAST ASTEROID in – A Christmas Carol, Part 5!

In this hilarious conclusion Blast and the gang have an awful lot of explaining to do – to the big man in red himself. Is Santa Claus so ticked that he’ll never forgive them all? Is Christmas as we know it done in for the Space Patrol? There’s only one way to find out… (read on!)

Merry Christmas from Cook Bros. Comics!!

Cordelia’s Honor

(Vorkosigan Saga Omnibus:

Shards of Honor / Barrayar)

Lois McMaster Bujold

I’d never read any of Lois McMaster Bujold’s work before but was told that this is a science fiction author I’d probably like. Cordelia’s Honor is an omnibus with Shards of Honor and Barrayar in it. They were published in the late 80’s and are the prequels to Bujold’s longer Miles Vorkosigan series.

The Premise: Cordelia Naismith is on a survey mission on a previously unexplored planet when suddenly she and her companion realize that their base camp is on fire. They rush back to see their survey ship flying off without them and one of the other members of their team dead. Cordelia realizes they’ve been ambushed by the Barrayarans, but not all of the enemy race is in accordance. She’s stumbled into a mutiny in the ranks and soon is a well-treated hostage in the hands of Captain Aral Vorkosigan who has a stash of supplies hidden some distance away.

My Thoughts: I hadn’t realized that Bujold’s work had romantic elements although I was familiar with her name. This book reminded me a little of Linnea Sinclair’s Finder’s Keepers, because the two books feature a hero and heroine meet while stranded on a planet together and work as a team to survive. I like that situation — throwing two different people together and seeing what happens . In this book, Naismith quickly realizes who Vorkosigan is — also known as The Butcher of Komarr, who is reviled amongst the galaxy, and her academically-inclined world of Beta Colony, so of course, her initial reaction is not favorable, but as they warm to each other she finds out the real story behind his name and a romance soon blossoms. But their time alone together is interrupted by military skirmishes between their two planets as the Barrayarans make a bid for another planet’s resources.

What I liked about this book was that the couple was a little bit older and neither Cordelia or Vorkosigan expected to find someone at that point in their lives. They had both been burned in some way by past relationships and had become accustomed to the idea of being alone for the rest of their lives when they happened to stumble on each other. I thought that their experiences and age meant the protagonists had a dignified air in their declarations and they were both aware of who they were and what others would think of their union. Cordelia is particularly practical about it, but at the same time, the depth of their feelings is not small and I really wanted them to have a happy ending.

I liked Cordelia’s character. She has a calmness in the face of calamity that I enjoyed reading. It’s Vorkosigan who first points it in the book, and afterwards I had to agree. Sometimes she surprised me with her quick thinking, and there is plenty of action going on in this book where she has to use it. Vorkosigan is likeable too but is less a focus. My impression is of an honorable military leader and member of the ruling class who is good at what he does and isn’t always popular with the politicians in his homeland.

There was plenty of quiet moments between the hero and heroine, but then there are also military skirmishes, space flights, chases and escapes. It is full of action and moves forward without me feeling either bored or too flooded by action; there was an excellent balance which made the plot engrossing.  There is also some interesting ideas about politics and war and some grey areas like how perception may be skewed by expectations and prior beliefs, then compounded by limited knowledge of the truth. The science fiction aspects are also there in terms of medical advances, transportation, weapons and transportation, but it doesn’t either overwhelm the reader. It’s part of the setting and used in daily life, and as in our lives, some places are more technologically advanced than others.

Overall: Recommended for SFR fans. If all Bujold’s books are like this, I think I’ve found another SFR author to glom onto. There’s a perfect balance between action and character development that I like, and I plan to make my way through the rest of this omnibus and then onto the Miles Vorkosigan saga.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
Jo Walton @ Tor.com (positive. She has a series of posts on this saga)
Guest review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (B)
Guest review at Dear Author (A)

Links:
Interview with Lois McMaster Bujold about writing the Vorkosigan Saga @ Tor.com
Danger Gal Friday: Captain Cordelia Naismith @ Lisa Paitz Spindler’s blog
First sale story at Dear Author

The Quiet War by Paul McCauley

The Quiet War
Paul McCauley
Pyr, 2009

In a future where Earth has been ravaged by economical disaster humanity is split down two divergent paths.  Down one path are the Outers, exiled first to the moon then to Mars and now settled on the moons surrounding Jupiter and Saturn they espouse the ideas of Ancient Greek Democracy and use genetic manipulation to modify their bodies in ways both practical and cosmetic. Meanwhile, on Earth the powerful Brazilian government, ruled by a class of powerful families, follows a nature based religion predicated on restoring the Earth, or Gaea, to her former glory.  These two societies find themselves at social and ideological loggerheads not only with each other but within divergent faction within each society as well.  It isn’t long before the spectre of war looms on the horizon.

The Quiet War is a novel I really wanted to love but ended up just liking.  Part of the problem is what I felt was a tendency towards exposition that frequently felt unnecessary and often served to jar me out of my enjoyment of the story.  The exposition often seemed tied to Sri Hong-Owen’s perspective to the point where every time the story shifted back to her I’d register and internal groan.  I think part of it was her characterization as somewhat of a cold, purely scientific individual that made reading these portions of the story feel almost clinical.  The chapters I looked forward to most were those featuring Macy Minnot and Dave #8.

Macy is a microbiologist who typically engineers mud for biomes.  She is brash, forthright and one of the most believable characters in the story.  Through Macy I felt we get some of the more fascinating glimpse of McCauley’s world.  We get glimpses into the world beyond the concerns of the novel at large; tantalizing snippets of the wonderfully imaginative ideas like the religious cult Macy ran away from.  Ideas that are only explained just enough to light one’s imagination on fire.  Overall I found that from Macy’s perspective as an outsider operating in a society not her own the information we learn about Outer culture felt more natural and seemed to flow as part of the narrative.  This stood in direct contrast to the information we learn about Earth from other perspectives which frequently felt as asides that never actually contributed to forwarding the novel’s plot. The other character I enjoyed was Dave #8.  Dave #8 is a clone being raised and bred to fight the Outers.  It is a fascinating perspective and McCauley does a great job of illuminating the diverse personalities amongst the clones particularly with the religious minded Dave #27.  I did feel that the concluding section of Dave #8’s arc was lacking something but given the quirks in his personality seen from the very beginning his final decision has an air of inevitability that is difficult to argue with.   While his early chapters detail the training and indoctrination he receives are fascinating in their detail I found the later sections during his first mission a little less engaging.  Those later section do manage to provide another grounds-eye glimpse at Outer life but the relationship that forms the crux of Dave #8’s internal crisis comes off a bit forced.

The character I wanted to like but just could never get a handle on was hot shot pilot Cash Baker.  Baker, as part of an experimental program to integrate an augmented nervous system with a new fusion engine powered fighter craft, forms the crux of one of the coolest ideas in the book.  Unfortunately,  I never felt this aspect of the story really developed and the final conclusion of this plot line provoked an incredulous “Really?”  Which is shame since it’s hard to get much cooler then a guy who pilots his fighter with his frickin’ mind!

Eventually politics and the exploration of the differences between Outer and Earth society gives way to big set piece type action which is a nice change of pace and made for a thrilling conclusion to the novel.  In the end The Quiet War was novel full of big ideas that were like ambrosia for the imagination but suffered when attempting to tie those same ideas to characters who were emotionally engaging.  While Macy Minnot was a resounding success as a protagonist, almost the very definition of scrappy hero, I never felt the rest of novel’s cast really reached the same level of believability each character seemed designed more the serve a purpose rather then be a person.  The truth I was perhaps let down by own high expectations for The Quiet War my problems with characters aside it is still an exciting read full of thrilling scientific ideas and the beginnings of what could be an epic story.  The sequel, Gardens of the Sun (Amazon , Book Depository) , is out in the UK already and will hit the US from Pyr in March and I’ll certainly take a look when it does.

BLAST ASTEROID in – A Christmas Carol, Part 4!

It’s go time baby! The Dread Loques have hit hard and fast but thanks to Captain Blast’s quick thinking the Space Patrol and the elves were prepared for anything. Or were they? There’s only one way to find out… (read on!)

“George Lucas, according to his biographer, Dale Pollock, wanted to recapature the romance of space that had been kindled in him by early NASA missions, and “Star Wars,” too, follows the rules that Asimov helped set down. But “Star Wars” and the “Foundation” stories, despite the many things, that they share, have fundamental differences: “Star Wars” is about speed, faith, and fairy tales, and the “Foundation” is about size, science, and history. The differences are profound. I remember as a twelve-year-old already steeped in Asimov (and Arthur C. Clarke, Heinlein, and the rest of them) being terribly disappointed by “Star Wars”; it seemed to lack any feeling for the things that made science fiction so important to me.

“I am mellower now, and can see that Asimov and Lucas were striving for different effects in different media. “Star Wars” is an essay in acceleration. Its iconic moment is the jump into hyperspace, the stars themselves accelerated to a vanishing-point blur. In all three original “Star Wars” films, it is the speed sequences that stick in the mind- the final assault on the Death Star, the ice skimmers attacking the great walking AT-AT tanks. While speed is not intrinsic to filmed science fiction (Stanley Kubrick delighted in the apparent slowness of his spacecraft in “2001″), it seems crucial to Lucas. His films before “Star Wars”–”THX 1138″ and “American Graffiti”—reach a climax with cars moving at high speeds.  According to Pollock, Lucas’s key direction about almost everything was “faster and more intense.” The new “Star Wars” film, “Episode 1: The Phantom Menace,” has a set-piece drag race.”

“Written science fiction prefers size to speed. There is an authentic thrill in imagining big things – an odd sort of purity. The  French writer Gaston Bachelard, in “The Poetics of Space,” caught it beautifully: “Immensity is a philosophical category of day-dream. Daydream undoubtedly feeds on all kinds of sights, but through a sort of natural inclination, it contemplates grandeur. And this contemplation produces an attitude that is so special, an inner state that is so unlike any other, that the daydream transports the dreamer outside the immediate world to a world that bears the mark of infinity.” That mark is one that written science fiction endlessy aspires to. It delights in artificial vastness; not just galactic empires but vast structures built out of the raw stuff of space and time, cities and nations uprooted and floating free, cyberspaces that offer infinitv inside a microprocessor.

“The printed word is much better at conveying this sense of immensity than film is. We have to be told, for example, that the Death Star is vast, because usually it looks no bigger than a beachball. The battle station’s interior offers – no vastness at all; its exterior is simply a backdrop against which to measure the speed of smaller spaceships. The “Foundation” series, on the other hand, clearly bears Bachelards mark of infinity. It’s  true that when Asimov tried for size that could be measured or enumerated he could let himself down. Numerically, his twenty-five-million world Empire, covers less than a tenth of a per cent of the galaxy’s hundred billion suns; Trantor, presented as a single city covering a world, is less crowded than Bangladesh. But such slips do not really matter. The sense of scale that drives the “Foundation” series resides in its ideas. The Empire is not just a set of places and planets: it is humanity’s sum total, a great entity that only history can describe and only science can contain.”

Oliver Morton, “In Pursuit of Infinity”. The New Yorker, May 17, 1999. p 87

Image: Azerbaijan Death Star Hotel

I have, over the years, had the varied pleasure of encountering many fascinating and well-known individuals. Few, however, stick in the memory quite so vividly as Lafayette Ron Hubbard. I made his acquaintance some years after the success of my Inspector Wenis detective thrillers, when I had moved on to Science Fiction. I first met Hubbard at a dinner held by Unlikely Stories, a speculative fiction magazine to which we were both contributors.

Hubbard

While I would be hard-pressed to say that we hit it off right away, I found him for the most part to be agreeable company, possessed of a certain charm. His work ethic in those days could hardly be faulted. I suspect this to be at least partially down to his impoverished upbringing (described in the poem ‘Old Mother Hubbard’), which gave him a powerful sense of the value of money.

Indeed, it was while discussing the subject of money with Hubbard that he introduced me to his “new science of the mind,” the so-called “Dianetics.” I was inquiring as to the whereabouts of my wallet and walking stick, when he very suddenly explained that he had developed a new concept that would change the world. I listened politely, waiting for a point at which I could interrupt and press the wallet issue. At length he finished and asked me what I thought.

I told him that I thought the theory was interesting, but had flaws (you must remember that he had not yet completed the book at this stage). Most notably, he did not seem to have properly developed the concept of “thetans,” which he described as being “highly collectable.” He seemed to grow agitated at my criticism and called me a “god-damned English faggot” before belabouring me with my own walking stick. This, it is fair to say, was something of a test of our friendship and we lost contact soon after.

I heard no more from him for some years, when I received a call in the middle of the night. “Edwin,” said L. Ron (for it was he), “you’re the only one I can trust.”

“With what?” I asked. “And by the way, I was just wondering if you’d had time to look for my wall-”

“The bastards are out to get me, Edwin,” he interrupted. “Some journalist son-of-a-bitch has leaked the Xenu story!”

“Oh,” I said. “I meet so many people called Xenu, remind me of it.”

“You know, the story about how thetans came to be, with the atom bombs and the volcanoes and shit. You know, the big secret!”

I just feel there are better ways of keeping a secret.

“I didn’t realise that was a secret, old boy. I mean, the volcano is rather on the front cover of Dianetics.“

“No it’s not!” he snapped. “Why would you tell a lie like that?”

“I’m not lying, Ronald, there is a volcano on the cover of this copy of the book that you sold me.”

“You’re as dishonest as a Chinaman,” snarled Hubbard. “I’ll sue that bastard journalist!”

“Really? Don’t you think that’s a bad idea?”

“Why? I’ll destroy him! I’ll eat his testicles! I’ll –”

“Yes, but Ronald, nobody likes a litigator, particularly not a wealthy one. If he wins, he looks like a bully. If he loses, everyone laughs. Aside from that, what are you going to sue this journalist chappie for? I mean, if this Xenu story of yours is a secret, you’ll give the game away if you sue him. You’ll lose money, Ronald. Money.”

“God damn you, you God-damned English faggot!”

I took this as a prompt to continue. “But you see, Ronald, what you accuse them of will surely make the truth of the matter public. If you sue him for libel, then you’re effectively saying that you have no such story, which in turn you will have to demonstrate in court. If you sue him for, I don’t know, copyright theft, then you prove that you do have such a story, and your secret is out.”

“Well, I’ll sue him for copyright theft, because it is true!”

“What? No, look, Ronald, I think you’ve got this all wrong. And I’d like to make the additional point that any legal action you take will propel this journalist’s claims into the limelight. Honestly, you’re making a real hash of this. I suggest you simply drop the matter and wait for it to blow over.”

There was a rhythmic thumping sound at this point.

“Ronald, are you beating the telephone?”

“Take that, you English faggot!”

“Ronald, look, it’s very late. Take my advice and sleep on it.”

Anyway, he didn’t, and now everyone knows the Xenu thing. I’d say he was a bloody idiot, but made a fortune out of that stuff anyway, so more fool me.

You know, if Hubbard can do it, maybe I can as well. I think I’m going to start my own religion. It shall be called “Awesometastics” and there will be one commandment: “Thou Shalt Not Be Beastly To Other People.” I think that covers everything. I shall keep you updated on this.

EDIT: I would like to say that all of this entry is a lie. I am a compulsive liar and nothing in the above should be taken as truth. I am not being coerced in any way, and Tom Cruise is not behind me with a gun. I would like to say that I am THEY’VE GOT ME HOSTAGE SEND HELP IMMEDI

If you can verify this strange tale, please feel free to do so at edwinbannister@hotmail.com. In the interests of not getting anyone sued, I suppose we’d better assume this is all fiction.

Seeds of the Earth by Michael Cobley

Seeds of the Earth
Michael Cobley
Orbit UK, 2009 (MM, Jan 2010)

Seeds of the Earth is the first in a new space opera series by Michael Cobley.  The cover features a nice one line quote from space opera master Iain M. Banks describing the novel as “Proper galaxy-spanning space opera.”  A statement that couldn’t be more true.  Seeds of the Earth is very old school with a large cast of characters and a diverse and wonderfully vibrant phalanx of ideas that makes for an great read and excellent starting point in jumping from my epic fantasy reading of November into the stars and beyond.

Seeds of the Earth opens with humanity’s first contact with the alien Swarm.  Or at least the tail end of that conflict as we more or less witness the departure of three human colony ships (note: I read the prologue while I had a fever of 103 and, for shame, didn’t go back and re-read it after).  The novel picks up a century and a half later on the human colony world of Darien where, after struggling with the rogue AI of their colony ship, the humans have settled in a peaceful coexistence of the nature loving Uvovo.   The discovery of an ancient Uvovo ruin dating back thousands of years to a conflict with a powerful and mysterious enemy sets off a chain of reactions that thrusts Darien and its human and Uvovo inhabitants straight into danger.

More to follow with potential spoilers…

Seeds of the Earth is full of ideas that ooze cool.  When it comes to the colony world of Darien these ideas help to evoke a vibrant picture of the planet’s geography, culture and society.  We learn, for example, that the people of Darien are composed of Scottish, Scandinavian and Russian stock as an experiment in blending what the old Earth government believed would be national and ethnic background most likely to live and work well together.  Thus throughout the novel you get a sampling, and frequently a mix, of dialect and names that lends a familiar feel to the people.  At the same time that mix of culture and dialect lends something of an alien and unique feel to the world as well.  Tossed into this cultural mix are the Uvovo short humanoids from the planet’s forest moon who worship a great sentient forest.   The uvovo have helped the colonists on Darien to adopt their nature friendly policies.  Of course we also get glimpses of the Uvovo culture as well and their sylvan and mystical feel lend a stark and welcomed contrast to the more technology heavy people and societies glimpsed elsewhere in the novel.

Early in the novel the Darien colonists receive a message, and later an ambassador(s), from Earth and her “allies” the Sendruka Hegemony.  The incorporation of the previously isolated Darien into the greater sphere of Human and Sendrukan influence has a distinctly familiar feel.  The sudden influx of news and information that is available to Darien is perhaps similar to what may have occurred in the years following the introduction of the telegraph, or the introduction of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.  I suppose what I’m trying to say is that the sudden introduction of Darien into the greater world of intergalactic politics seems to bear a certain historical precedence.   The brief though evocative experience readers get when first reading about Darien combined with the knowledge readers are given regarding Human and Sendrukan goals is precisely enough to create an atmosphere of tension and foreboding.

Each of the various factions in the novel is typically given a description casts them as either a good guy or a bad guy.  There are hints of nuance, a human purity faction on Darien or the non-AI assisted humans, but they are mostly just that; hints.  The villains are clearly villains and the heroes are clearly heroes.  I don’t have a particular problem with this and, as I said, there are glimpse of other individuals and powers who are shaded a bit close to the gray but by and large the  lines between hero and villain are pretty clearly drawn.  It is entirely possible that as the series progresses we will see these elements explained in more detail.

Cobley employs a variety of perspectives for his novel with each chapter titled by the character it follows.  All the characters are interest and well drawn.  Perhaps the most enjoyable and dynamic is Kao Chih who is the only character that gets to explore outside of Darien and its environ.  Robert Horst, the human ambassador from Earth, is perhaps the character I’d like to have explored a little more.  He is a troubled figure, still grieving over the death of his daughter with loyalties divided between his fellow humans on Darien and the orders given by his superiors and Sendruka allies.  His increasing reliance on the companions of an AI avatar of his daughter is fascinating but there is so little time spent with him that I was never certain if that reliance was the result of his own grief or some outside party.

My favorite idea, and I won’t explain it too much since I don’t want to spoil anything, is Cobley’s vision of subspace.  Something about it just fired my imagination right up and I’d love to see more of that.

As the first book in the Humanity’s Fire series Seeds of the Earth doesn’t end with any kind of definitive conclusion.  It instead ends with perhaps more questions then it started with.  Oddly, I didn’t find this to be much of a problem for me.  Seeds of the Earth feels the part of a greater story, as it should, and I am content in the knowledge that there will be questions answered in the next volume The Orphaned Worlds, due out in April 2010, and I’m excited to where the story goes and what new ideas Cobley will explore (which will hopefully be more subspace, in fact a whole novel set in subspace would rock).  If you’re look for a solid new(ish) entry into the space opera genre then look no further than the Seeds of the Earth.  It is, as many great sci-fi and fantasy tends to be, only out in the UK at the moment but Book Depository is listing a new edition due out in January 2010 for $5.99 with free shipping which, as far as I’m concerned, is a steal.

I should also note that Michael Cobley has some fine taste in metal.  He lists Opeth (perhaps my favorite band ever) and Paradise Lost amongst the band he listed while writing the book.  Kudos to you sir and might I recommend you check out the ’states own Agalloch for some excellent black/doom metal.  You can read more about Cobley’s writing and impeccable music taste over at his blog Interstellar Tactics.

BLAST ASTEROID in – A Christmas Carol, Part 3!

Holy smokes those Dread Loques really are a comin’ and the want SC no matter what it takes! Are they really gonna snatch the big man? There’s only one way to find out… (read on!)

BLAST ASTEROID in – A Christmas Carol, Part 2!

So it looks like ol’ Blast is going to do get to help out the Man in Red! Is he going to be able to fool not only his trusty Space Patrol crew, Santa’s Elves, but most importantly the Dread Loques?! Where does this adventure take us next? Well the North Pole of course, but what will happen there? There’s only one way to find out… (read on!)

Today is my very first print release day! To celebrate, I am offering two autographed copies (one each) of STARJACKED.

The contest works like this: Comment here between December first and Decmeber sixth (when my freebie short story STAR SONG will be posted at www.thesamhellion.com for download –yes, I said FREE:-) ) and you will be entered to win one of the copies.

Just make sure I have your email address so I can contact you.  That’s it.

Each comment will be assigned a number and I will pick one at random out of a hat.

If you’re not sure you want to win*g*.  Check out the trailer.

Click ->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMVs7F8FQWg

Blurb below. Or check out the Sci-Fi/Futuristic Romance page for a link to the except.

In the lawless fringes of deep space, pirate Tia Sen inspires both respect and fear. She has a rep for being hard as plascrete, tough as Amalan leather, and as strong as she is beautiful, but she has a secret. For years she has courted death, freeing children captured during raids. When she rescues a brave mechanic from a nearly fatal beating, she risks more than just her heart.

Emotionally scarred by the murders of his wife and unborn child, Rork Al’Ren wants nothing more than to eradicate every bit of pirate scum in the galaxy. But when his undercover mission goes sour, he finds himself Tia’s personal slave and falling in love with the very person he’s sworn to destroy.

But Rork doesn’t have the luxury of love, a powerful new weapon threatens the stability of the universe and if he can’t convince Tia to surrender it, the Union of Planets will be overwhelmed and war will rock the galaxy.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/starjacked

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving!! Figured I could share a goofy Thanksgiving sketch I did before it’s too late. Now it’s time to put it in cruise control and ride out the rest of the holiday season. Enjoy your Black Friday and all that good stuff! –Shawn

BLAST ASTEROID in – A Christmas Carol, Part 1!

Yep, we’re leaving you hanging there for a few weeks while we interrupt our regular story for a Blast Asteroid Christmas Carol Holiday Special webcomic! How do we kick this mini series off? Well Blast always seems to get himself into huge adventures, whether he wants to or not. When it comes to the holidays it doesn’t get any more huge than the big man in red himself (Santa! *duh!*)! How does this fine story begin? There’s only one way to find out… (read on!)

Webcomics – oh Yeah!! Today, just like every Wednesday we bring you Blast Asteroid in – “Blast Asteroid Returns! Part 13″ So when we last saw Blast and the gang they were trapped in jail by T’Salb and feeling more than a little concerned. Well, Blast has other things on his mind but, you know, that’s how he rolls. How are they gonna get out of this stinky mess? Are we really working the poop joke angle? What happens next? Read on…

Eric Bana gives Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto some hair care tips.

(Paramount) Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison, Rachel Nichols, Faran Tahir. Directed by J.J. Abrams

Even icons from time to time must reinvent themselves, if for no other reason to remain relevant in changing times. That is even more true for those having to do with the future.

The Federation starship U.S.S. Kelvin is investigating strange readings at a black hole. To the surprise of the ship’s captain (Tahir), a gigantic spacecraft of unknown design emerges from the singularity and without any provocation at all, opens fire on the starship, crippling it. The captain is forced to come aboard the unknown ship and is escorted to its captain, a Romulan named Nero (Bana),  who proceeds to ask the Federation representative some rather odd questions, the strangest being what stardate is it. The answer drives Nero berserk and he murders the captain and once again opens fire on the Kelvin.

The second-in-command (Hemsworth) orders an evacuation of the doomed Kelvin, paying special attention to his wife (Morrison) who is in labor. He intends to join her, but the ship’s automated functions are out of commission, and they are needed to gain critical time for the crew of the Kelvin to make their escapes. He realizes with sickening horror that he must remain aboard to run the ship manually. The young lieutenant saves his crew by ramming the dying starship into the unknown spaceship, crippling its weapon systems and propulsion. The name of the young hero? George Kirk.

Years later, his son James (Pine), born the day of his death, is adrift in Iowa, drinking in dive bars, picking up every woman he can and generally just lashing out at the world. While attempting to pick up a pretty Starfleet cadet named Uhura (Saldana), he gets jumped by a number of cadets, holding his own for awhile before getting his tush handed to him until Captain Christopher Pike (Greenwood) stops the fracas and clears the bar. He talks to the young Kirk about his father, and the difference he made to the 800 lives that were saved by his sacrifice and invites Kirk to join the Academy.

At first Kirk is reluctant to join Starfleet but eventually relents. On the shuttle ride to San Francisco, he meets an irascible divorced physician who is joining Starfleet to rebuild a career that had been essentially stymied in his divorce. The medico’s name is Leonard McCoy (Urban).

Already at the academy is a young half-Vulcan named Spock (Quinto). Tormented by young Vulcans for his half-human ancestry, Spock elects to follow the Vulcan disciplines of logic and dispassion of his father Sarek (Cross) with the blessing of his compassionate mother Amanda (Ryder). Despite this, Spock elects to decline admission to the Vulcan Science Academy (the first Vulcan ever to do so) and join Starfleet. After graduating from the Academy, he devises the notorious Kobiyashi Maru test, the infamous “no-win” scenario.

In the meantime, a brash young Ensign Kirk is blowing through the academy in a mere three years, still picking up women wherever he goes including a beautiful young Orion ensign (Nichols) who has come up with a rather ingenious solution to Spock’s test, landing him in hot water with the Academy dons. Unfortunately, an emergency comes up that relates directly to Kirk’s past, one that will bring all the disparate elements and characters together and forge together a crew that is destined to become a legend, while a man from the future (Nimoy) holds the key to the lives of Spock and Kirk.

The Star Trek franchise has been in decline for several years now, with an over-saturation of product that eventually seemed somewhat formulaic in many ways. Star Trek reboots the franchise with the original characters as seen through fresh new eyes. Director J.J. Abrams balances a delicate line of maintaining the spirit of the original series while adding additional elements of action and epic scope. Thus his new re-imagining of Star Trek will please not only hardcore Trek fans but also more general audiences.

Electing to go with a cast of young actors while steering clear of big name actors (Bana as Nero is the most recognizable face in the show other than Nimoy, and Bana is nearly unrecognizable in any case), and they come through in spades. All of the major crew members (Cho as Sulu, Pegg as Scotty and Yelchin as Chekov, as well as Urban and Saldana) have extremely pivotal scenes and establish their characters nicely.

Much of the success of Star Trek rests on the shoulders of the two leads, and they pull through splendidly. Pine captures the essence of James Tiberius Kirk without the quirks and mannerisms of William Shatner. He nails the bravado, the charisma, the independence and the compassion of Kirk but at the same time manages to render him human and fallible. Like Shatner’s Kirk, he is rash and sometimes prone to egotism, but at the heart of him is his brilliant intuition and willingness to risk. Pine takes an epic character and makes him accessible.

Quinto, best known as Sylar on the hit TV show “Heroes” makes a marvelous Spock. He radiates icy calm that masks the boiling inferno below the surface. Spock is heavily conflicted but chooses not to come to terms with his conflicting natures; instead he subverts his more human aspects in favor of the Vulcan stoicism. Quinto also has an uncanny resemblance to Nimoy as a young Spock, and fills the boots more than adequately.

There are plenty of breathtaking special effects, not to mention some intense action sequences, the best of which is a parachute jump onto a drilling platform high in the atmosphere of Vulcan. Visually, this is a movie that will rock your world.

But is it Star Trek? That’s the question most Trek fans were hoping to have answered. I have to say, yes and no. The original television series in many ways was less action-oriented than this is. Yes, there were plenty of fistfights, phasers set on stun and epic space battles in the original, but the themes had to do with things that were important to series creator Gene Roddenberry; man’s inhumanity to man, racial tension, drug abuse, gender inequality and the supreme waste and ultimate uselessness that is war. Here, we are being re-introduced to the characters that the producers hope to rebuild the franchise with and the movie is more about that than taking on issues.

However, the foundation has been laid and hopefully in the future we’ll see stories more in tune with the high bar that Roddenberry set. Given the outstanding box office returns the movie had, it is inevitable that there will be at least one or two more installments in the movie series if not more. The action and special effects will get the bodies in the door; the characters will bring those bodies back for more. Abrams has hit a home run with the new Star Trek. Now, the question becomes can he do it again?

WHY RENT THIS: Breathtaking special effects and heart-pounding action sequences drive the movie. Young actors bring established characters back to life with fresh perspectives. Pine makes a fabulous Captain Kirk and could be a future star.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: The overall tone that Trek-haters despised is still present here.

FAMILY VALUES: Some scenes of brief sexuality and some violence; also there is a nightmare-inducing creature during the Delta Vega sequence. Otherwise, fit for most young audiences (but not for the very teeny tiny).

TRIVIAL PURSUITS: The seven years gap between this movie and Star Trek: Nemesis is the longest in the franchise history.

NOTABLE DVD FEATURES: There are three different home viewing versions of this so far: a single-disc DVD which is essentially just the film, a 2-disc Special Edition DVD which contains some deleted scenes including Abrams’ take on the Klingons, and a 3-Disc Blu-Ray which contains a humongous number of featurettes, as well as a 360 degree view of various Enterprise and Romulan sets. There is also a feature on Gene Roddenberry’s legacy.

FINAL RATING: 8/10

TOMORROW: Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Valor’s Choice by Tanya Huff
Mass Market Paperback: 409 pages
Publisher: DAW; 1St Edition edition (April 10, 2000)
ISBN-13: 978-0886778965

Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr is a proud member of the Confederation interstellar military. She travels to far off planets and fights against The Others, a race bent on destroying or conquering every other sentient species in the universe. When the Others bumped up against the peaceful aliens of the Confederation, the Confederation realized they needed troops to help fight them off. As they themselves had lost the art of war centuries ago, they recruited the still mostly planet bound human species to be their shock troops. That was about a hundred years ago, and the humans, along with the di’Taykans and the Krai, have created a military force to be reckoned with. Staff Sergeant Kerr is one of their finest products.

When Torin and her company are tapped for ceremonial duties on a new planet the Confederation is hoping to recruit, she knows things won’t go as planned. The Silsviss are a lizard-like race that weeds their excessive number of males out by sending them into battle against each other. And Torin and her Sh’quo Company of Marines are there to convince them that the Confederation is a powerful force that would be a worthy ally for the Silsviss planet. Of course, nobody told Torin or her Marines that this would involve being shot down in a game preserve and fighting off scores of hormone-crazed adolescent Silsviss males.

Torin is a Staff Sergeant’s Staff Sergeant. She is the balancing point between the enlisted men and women on the ground and the officers in charge of her people. She must be seen to know all, see all, and be psychic besides. Staff Sergeants don’t make mistakes, at least not where their Marines can see them do it. When Torin wakes up in bed next to her company’s new Second Lieutenant, nobody will hear about it from her. It’s up to her to make sure Sh’quo gets through this ceremonial duty without too many people dying and no one finding out she’s actually human and not infallible.

The Staff Sergeant is an utterly confident woman. She knows what needs doing and she’s not afraid to get dirty doing it. She can shoot, march, and strategize as well or better than anyone, and with her eyes closed. At least, that’s the picture she must present in order to keep her people confident and unflappable. As a leader Torin is charged with upholding morale and getting them through even the most dire situations as intact as possible. What this means as she is unable to show any weakness, even that of normal emotions, for fear of letting her people down. We only learn about her emotions through her inner monologues, but that is more than enough to admire Torin for. She truly cares deeply for everyone under her command, and for the officers who depend on her. She just doesn’t let that get in the way of her job.

Valor’s Choice is a fantastic example of Military Science Fiction. You’ve got guns, troops, aliens, and lots of gore. Huff manages to instill a very human or at least human-like quality, to all of her species. They are thinking and feeling people, not just killing machines. Even as they are cutting their enemies to pieces, they retain those aspects that make good soldiers and good people. Dignity, respect, loyalty. There are three more books in the Valor series, and I suggest you go out and read every one. War isn’t pretty or heroic. Most of the time, it’s just soldiers out there doing their jobs. Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr does hers better than anyone else.
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Check out Tanya Huff’s website or follow her on Twitter @TanyaHuff

Happy Webcomics Wednesday! Here’s BLAST ASTEROID in – Blast Asteroid Returns!
Part 12: As T’Salb’s plans start to sink in with Blast and the gang the realization of what he may have planned starts to materialize. Blast starts to think about more important things while T’Salb needs to work out a few kinks in his… muscles. He’s looking for a workout you could say. What happens next? Read on…

I find the early stages of writing a new novel to be the most exciting. At the beginning, anything is possible. You get to really exercise your god complex as you create characters, events, even whole worlds. But it’s all downhill from there as you slog through daily word counts, week after week, dragging your imagination through the muck of Consistency, Realism, and Internal Logic. To compound the misery, you occasionally realize you have made a critical error and have to go back to rework something you thought was finished.

But it isn’t that bad if you can figure out your mistakes before you actually make them. For example, I recently realized that the novel I had just finished planning and was about to start writing in earnest was wrong. Very wrong, in fact, in many wrong-ish ways.

First, I designed it as a science fiction story, only it wasn’t. Just the other evening, I realized that my story was actually a space opera, science fantasy, whatever you prefer to call it when the “science” is an excuse for escapism rather than a vehicle for exploring Big Ideas.

Having realized that I was about to write a fantasy story, I decided to do it properly. I got rid of the spaceships and robots and aliens and spacey things. This meant losing all the technical explanations for why the plot worked, and it also meant losing many of the important elements of my characters’ back stories. Which was annoying.

But I carried on. I recast the story as a sort of alternate history, or historical fantasy, which meant research, and lots of it: European history, African history, Central American history, maps, explorers, religions, wars – the lot. I had to rename most of the characters, and replace several of them with completely new people, none of which were even slightly robotic.

And seeing as how I removed all the sciencey bits and replaced them with fantastical religious elements, I had to rewrite everyone’s back stories, especially since the Martian Crusades would no longer figure prominently in my tale.

The result: A completely different book with much deeper themes, with more accessible characters and concepts, which will probably appeal to an entirely different audience. And that is a very good thing indeed, because the new audience is larger and more likely to want to read the book.

It seems unlikely that, of all things, an author would discover that he or she is writing in the wrong genre. Normally, you might realize that you have placed a character in two places at the same time, or something equally logistical, which can be fixed with minimal effort.

But I am pleased at having to suffer through this exercise because the new version of MERIDIAN will be much, much better than the old one. Now, it’s not only a book I want to write, but it’s actually one I would like to read as well.

Everyone Love’s Webcomics Wednesday! Here’s Blast Asteroid Returns, Part 11! HOLY SPACE! Cap’n T’Salb is back* and he’s ticked! What does T’Salb have in store for Blast Asteroid and the gang? The Killbots are ready to strike and they got one thing on their digital minds – make that three things. What happens next? Read on…

*See Blast Asteroid in – Heads or Tails

Day One of the NaNoWriMo thing and the characters have already sparked a craving for Turkish Delight. This is a problem. My supplier isn’t open until Wednesday; it’s currently Sunday. Do I hold out or consider a substitue, and meanwhile what is Lindeth doing? He certainly isn’t helping me remember the name of his cousin-in-law’s ex-wife. I know I’ve written that down somewhere and put the sticky note in a very safe place.

On a tangent, I am rosily surprised. The bouquet of roses I got last Saturday are still presentable despite being dropped a few times, carted around a beach, run down a vineyard slope, left on a table for a couple of hours, subjected to hot car rides (Audi Q7 is way over-rated), packed on a plane, then on a tram with a swipe at some little girl in the way (mostly accidental), and finally stuck in a vase for a week, water refreshed once. Huh.

For a new novel, I am researching a certain type of movie that I can only describe as 1970s Rock n’ Roll Space Operas (often with amusement parks, haunted houses, and costumed heroes)
Here’s the list I have so far, but if you can think of others please list them in the comment box:

• Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Phantom of the Paradise
• KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park
• Ziggy Stardust (concert film)
• Flash Gordon

Happy Humpday folks, for your webcomic reading pleasure we bring you Blast Asteroid in “Blast Returns, Part 10!” So Blast and the gang have made it to the planet where Aurora’s being help prisoner! One thing about the future, you can get where you wanna go and get there fast. So who’s crazy enough to hold her captive in the first place and why? There’s only one way to find out ’cause it’s the big reveal! Read on…