This is a review for Matriarch, the 4th book in the “Wess’har Wars” series by Karen Traviss. Originally the series was planned to run for 3 books, but Karen decided to extend this through a 2nd trilogy. Now, normally this is (frequently justified) cause for alarm, and for expectations of not enough material stretched across too many pages. Not here, though, I gladly report. Karen kicks off the 2nd half of the story arc with verve, adding another layer of complexity to the set-up for the last two books. Which I can’t wait for now…
Please note - this review is for book 4 out of 6, so will, by neccessity, contain spoilers for what has gone before. If this bothers you then go and read the first 3 books yet (it's well worth doing, it's a great series!) and then come back.
A brief review of The State of The Art by Iain M Banks, a collection of short stories plus the novella giving it the title, all written between 1987 and 1989.
There are a number of Culture stories here, some general SF, Horror, and also some rather Dark Fantasy. Recommended read, as a side order (it’s definitely not a main course!).
Note – you might have gathered that this book did not agree with me, that I didn't like it, and can guess that the subsequent bits displaying my opinions might not be entirely positive. If you're a fan of this series you might not want to read on – any offence taken is entirely your doing from hereon.
Here is a story with major drive, lots of surprises, full of unexpected twists, and with great wisecracks and one-liners by some characters.
Nearly too much for one book here, but how do you end such a yarn and tie up at least most of the open threads if not by burning off a firework of ideas and events? A great book, ending a great trilogy, in conclusion.
Readers beware -
This is the final book in the ‘Engines of Light’ Trilogy, so be warned – this will contain spoilers, at least for the previous two books. If you’re intending to read the trilogy (and it’s well worth doing so, recommendation!) then stop reading now.
Still with me? Ok, here we go…
Gregor, Elizabeth, and Salasso, now a few years older, make contact with a new, humanoid (and, like all species in the Second Sphere, Earth-descended) species, semi aquatic, which they call the ‘Selkies’. They prove to be highly intelligent, and in contact with the Spiders, or, as they call themselves, the Mulipliers; and so we now see the 2nd contact (first one was one Earth, ages ago) between Humans and the Multipliers. They prove to be a fascinating race, not just for ‘uplifting’ the Saurs ages ago, and for providing them with the Skiffs and the Lightspeed drive (their technology is on roughly the same level as the Saur/Human one, but much more refined), but also for their genetic memory, and for their ability to feel and manipulate molecules and atoms directly by using their, er, manipulators (8 legs, with eight hands, with eight fingers, with eight… down to molecular level). They can create everything directly, given the raw materials.
But the exciting news is that they are not hostile, not the least; they want to join the ‘Bright Star People’, who are spreading out from Mingulay following the Cosmonaut’s re-discovery of the Lightspeed drive.
Our three protagonists run ahead of the expansion sphere, to Nova Babylonia, under the suspicion that Volkov might have been up to his usual tricks, ie start a revolution, and build a space defence network against the invading Spiders, as told by the Gods. Which, of course, he has…
So when they reach New Babylon (note the change in name) they find a post-revolutionary society, with the (murdered/executed) Volkov a Hero of the People; but also a police state, with secret societies and organizations, and espionage being rife. The entire place is on the brink of war with neighbouring city-states – yes, the planet has caught Nationalism.
The book starts with a historical overview – less the last two books than the history of the various races involved, the Gods, the repeated ‘uplifting’ of promising species, and the establishment of the 2nd sphere and associated politics, this would have been helpful at the beginning of the first book, of course, but I see why Ken didn’t provide it then, it would have spoiled some of his plotting…
This book has a huge drive, much more than the middle book in the Trilogy (how typical). The story is full of surprised, with bombshells (figuratively) dropping fast and often. It also is frequently misleading, sending you off on wrong trains of though before presenting an unexpected twist.
Another thing which sets it apart from the first two books is that it’s frequently hilarious, especially Matt Cairns gets some great lines that had me laugh out loud. It pokes fun a ufologists, conspiracy theories, a lot of contemporary SF, and MIB (very, very funny again).
On the downside I feel that the book tries to do a bit too much for one book of that size, some strands go unexplored, and there are some abrupt shortcuts where topics could have been explored and explained, or where parts could have done with more work and details for my taste. I guess the main reason is that Ken wanted to close the story arc, and, having seen the 2nd book and it’s much lower pace/drive, I appreciate that he had the guts to wrap up most of the open thread in one, energetic effort instead of dragging the story out over another few books.
One of the changes which stems from this is that there is significantly less political discussion and discourse, if that’s a good or bad thing depends on how much you enjoy this kind of thing in the beginning (I didn’t mind overly). What you get are the consequences, ever more clearly spelled out than in the earlier books. And, despite of what we know about the Author’s political leanings, it isn’t all that clear where (or with which character’s approach) his sympathies lie – a lot of points seem to be ambivalent, or in-jokes.
I can strongly recommend the book, which I think can be read on its own without a huge loss of enjoyment due to lack of background; but the entire series is well worth reading, so start with the first book, they are quick and engrossing reads, and you will enjoy yourself with one of the current stars of UK SF!
I have to admit that I found The Line of Polity by Neal Asher well and truly entertaining: Masada, a non-Polity world without breathable atmosphere, is ruled (with an iron fist) by the Theocracy, who live in cylinder worlds orbiting it, and who control the population with a grid of Laser arrays around the planet. You step out of line, and you’re dead. God’s will, obviously. But the Polity is expanding, and the ‘Line of Polity’ will be drawn across it soon, thus subsuming the world to Polity AI rule. You can see why the Theocracy is unhappy about this. The Underground (Rebels, living literally underground due to the Laser arrays), on the other hand, can’t wait for the Polity to intervene…
One strand of the story follows the pond worker Eldene, as she, with the help of ECS Agent/Undercover Rebel Fethan (a cyborg, nevertheless), escapes from her ‘work supervisors’ and makes the long and dangerous way to the mountains and the Rebel’s cave systems. Under way we are being introduced to Masada’s native flora and fauna – there’s some classic Asher there… Another strand starts on Cheyne III (yup, the world where Gridlinked starts, too), where Thorn, now an ECS agent since the death of his fellow Sparkind soldier Gant, mucks up an undercover assignment when he runs into Deacon Aberil Dorth of the Theocracy (same one!), and is rescued by John Stanton, of all people. John takes him to the Lyris, his space ship, and after a stop-over on Elysium to load some serious contraband, they descend on Masada to deliver these weapons, drones etc to Lellan Stanton, John’s sister, who leads the rebel force. ECS Agent Cormack, accompanied by Gant (who had a memplant into a Golem chassis after his death) and Scar the Dracoman is on the tail of Skellor, the rogue genius scientist who has linked himself to a Crystal Matrix AI, and who has working Jain technology linked to himself. Not something ECS will tolerate, not at all. On board of the Polity Dreadnought ‘Occam Razor’ they are called to the aid of some survivors from the Runcible station ‘Miranda’, which was destroyed using a Nano-mycelium, Dragon’s weapon of choice for such attacks. Soon they find Dragon, but are taken over by the Skellor/AI/Jain symbiont, and are rescued by Dragon himself, who takes them, for reasons of his own, to Masada… Now guess where the action really starts! :-D
This is a review for The World Before, the 3rd instalment in the Wess’har Wars series by Karen Traviss; a story around Human behaviour towards other species and the general environment (our track record isn't great, to say the least), and the alien races they meet, who have a very different viewpoint on this, plus the technology to back it up. The World Before is only the 3rd book (after City of Pearl and Crossing the Line in what is now planned to be a 6 book series, but the drive of the story and the quality of the writing are such that this is indeed a great and very enjoyable book, and a huge promise for what is yet to come in the 2nd half of the series.
Beware: This review contains spoilers for the first two books – if you’re planning to read the series (and I strongly recommend you do!) then don’t spoil your fun, unless you don’t mind knowing some of the main plot elements yet to come.
Engine City
