Neal Asher is a British SF writer who divides his time between Essex and Crete, and who meanwhile has 21 novels (18 of which are set in his Polity universe, where The Human also belongs) and 8 collections to his name. Of course, these numbers also depends a bit on how you count, so give and take a few... let's just say that he's been prolific, and is showing no signs of slowing down.
The Polity is, in a nutshell, an AI governed (who took control of human affairs during the 'Quiet War') sphere of human (et al) influence spanning the thickness of the galaxy, but not containing all of humanity spread across the stars, in contact (sometimes even without too much conflict) with alien entities and their spheres of control.
The Rise of the Jain trilogy deals with, as the title states, a resurgence of the believed-dead ancient alien race called the Jain (nothing to do with the religion of the same name, a rather unfortunate naming IMHO), and the developments, struggles, and outright battles this brings. The books in the trilogy are called The Soldier, The Warship, and The Human. As this is the review for the final book in the trilogy it will, without any doubt, contain spoilers for the previous two.
Neom is a tech wonderland for the rich and beautiful, an urban sprawl along the Red Sea; and a port of call between Earth and the stars. Now, that of course is the mammoth metropolitan area in the story, which on the one hand is set quite a bit into the future, but on the other hand in a recognisable extension of our world. In our world, our time, Neom is an airport, some building sites, and a dream in a Sheikh’s head, displayed to the world in a website and a number of promo videos. But what a dream it is!
This is Lavie Tidhar’s second novel set in his ever expanding ‘Central Station’ universe (the post-script sets out a number of short stories which also loosely connect). He is a British Science Fiction, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Award winner, his work spans literature, SF, Fantasy, Graphic Novels as well as editing the Best of World SF anthologies.
In contrast to Central Station, the earlier novel that this is based on, Neom is much less of a Patchwork Novel. The story segments are still playing off each other, are trading topics and threads like a well-versed chamber orchestra. But the hand-overs are much smoother and much more hidden in the flow and telling of the story, though.
Well, here's a refreshing and surprising change - not only is Critical Mass by Peter Watts not in itself a dystopian story (although it's set in a world with pandemics, and the climate going to pieces - no idea where he might get ideas like that from), but it also has what I consider a rather positive and upbeat ending.
Plus - the main protagonist is a fading artist, and his struggles with his gradual loss of relevance - never mind the fact that someone is on the warpath and trashing his pieces out in the world - is again an interesting departure from the author's more usual soldier/scientist/outcast templates.
Published in the July 22 issue of Lightspeed Magazine - see link below to read the story, or listen to it.
The art piece on the right is by the Israeli artist Eli Shukry, and only associated with the story in my mind.
Well, here we go again with a non-fiction volume, and on a topic close to my heart. Robert Zubrin's (and Richard Wagner's) The Case for Mars - The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must was originally published 20 years ago - a duration which used to be an eternity in space developments and progress, and which seems to have mainly seen stand-still now, at least on the human exploration front. But a disclaimer first, before everyone gets offended - I'm an interested (very) amateur, so my reading and opinions here are based on my limited knowledge from outside the space industry and science community, and without the historic background other people have. If you know more than me then I'd be more than happy to add your opinion/explanations (as long as printable) to my efforts - the contact form is on the left, and worked last time the spammers tried! Dr Robert Zubrin in an American aerospace engineer, and space advocate, with a heavy personal investment in getting human space exploration re-started, and humanity to Mars. You can find substantial materials by him on the Internet and in print, and there are presentations by him on the topic on YouTube should you be interested after reading this!
Back to the book at hand - this kicks off with a foreword by Arthur C Clarke, including his address to the future Martians which was sent with the Russian Mars Lander in 1996. He closes with: "The choice, as Wells once said, is the Universe - or nothing... The challenge of the great spaces between the worlds is a stupendous one; but if we fail to meet it, the story of our race will be drawing to its close. Humanity will have turned its back upon the still untrodden heights and will be descending again the long slope that stretches, across a thousand million years of time, down to the shores of the primeval sea." Beyond that we get a Foreword, a Preface, 10 chapters of core content, an Epiloge, a Glossary, a list of Notes and References, and an Index; making this a very well appointed and structured book indeed.
Nnedi Okorafor is a US-born writer with roots in Nigeria; she writes both fantasy and sf, with her writing reflecting both the country and society she lives in, but frequently, especially in topic and setting, her African roots. Besides being a successful writer she also is a professor at the Chicago State University. She has been nominated for, and has won, a number of awards, most notably the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature for her first book (Zahrah the Windseeker), the Hugo and Nebula awards, and the World Fantasy Award for best Novel with Who Fears Death. Noor is her 14th novel, with yet another one (Akata Witch 3 – Akata Woman) scheduled for publication in January 2022.
Nnedi emphatically considers most of her output to be Africanfuturism (ie to concern itself with the future of Africa and its people) and not Afrofuturism (which concerns itself with the future of the African diaspora in the USA), and Noor clearly falls under that definition.
I also feel I have to include a disclaimer here – I am totally utterly caucasian in background and upbringing. Not African, not of African descent, and not even American. This means that my knowledge of the cultural background of this story is minimal, so there will be, by definition, loads that I misread, or plainly miss due to this. So take this review as what it is – a read by somebody not familiar with the setting, and thus really only valid for other readers approaching this story from a similarly alien angle. All errors, by omission or commission, are by default mine.
It's the Laundry Files, Captain, but not as we know them. This is either the 10th book in the Laundry Files sequence (although some might count this differently, too), or the 1st one in a new series – Laundry Files: New Management.
The author, btw, is of the latter view, and sees this as the first in a trilogy. None of the main characters from the original run of stories appears in Dead Lies Dreaming (except the Elder God who is now British PM), but this is very clearly set in this world, and after the events in The Labyrinth Index. It makes for an excellent jumping-on point – whilst you won't have the background information of how things got to be the way they are you actually also don't need that background, and could just start fresh with this, and what follows from it (the next book is announced for Jan 2022, and titled Quantum of Nightmares). Which does not mean that you shouldn't read the rest of the series, which is excellent. Just that you don't need to do so beforehand!
Charles Stross is a British writer living in Scotland, with 31 novels to his names (series, and publication history are complex, country/continent-dependent, and your count might vary), plus chapbooks, shorts, novellas, collections... I have read a good part of it, and generally find it stimulating, engaging, and more-ish reading. That other people share that view reflects in a series of Award-wins, including several Hugos. The Laundry Files, the series which defined the world this story is set in, now runs to 10 books, and a number of novellas filling in parts, and is based on the basic premise that magic is like formal math, that formal math is a way to perform magic, and that computer algorithms (and their proliferations) has brought on a huge increase in magic in the world. There's more, of course, which derives from that.
