|
|
Fantasy/SF/Horror Book Reviews
Scattered Suns: The Saga of the Seven Suns Book 4
by Kevin J. Anderson
Warner Books, July, 2005
Hardcover, 476 pages
ISBN: 0446577170
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
|
Amazon.co.uk
In this fourth entry in the fantastically addictive epic SF series from
Kevin J. Anderson, the unbelievably violent
and massive war between
the hydrogues and the faeros shows no signs of abating. And the violence
is spreading. The new Mage-Imperator of the Ildiran Empire, Jora'h,
is facing a civil war as well as potential destruction by the hydrogues. His only
hope is his human-Ildiran daughter, who is sent on a risky mission of peace.
Meanwhile, the human worlds are also facing annihilation, both from internal
and external threats. Terran Hanseatic League Chairman Basil Wenceslas
has grown quite mad with power, refusing to listen to anyone who doesn't agree
with his every idea, and branding anyone who disagrees with him a traitor.
Perhaps the most terrifying threat of all are the robots called the Klikiss,
who have already wiped out one civilization, and seem quite enthusiastic about
destroying humans -- and all flesh and blood life-- for an encore. Basil
won't listen to King Peter, who has always thought that the Klikiss shouldn't be
allowed to be integrated into human civilization.
Kevin J. Anderson's epic SF series is so vast in scope, with so many
characters and worlds, that the story would have fallen apart by now in
a lesser author's hands. But Anderson easily and skillfully weaves all the
different threads together, to jaw-dropping effect. He also manages
to make each of the main plots equally interesting.
Anderson neatly avoid the "mid-book sag" effect that seems to afflict
so many multi-volume epic series. Scattered Suns is just as thrilling
and inventive as the first three books in this excellent series.
--Claire E. White
The Traveler
by John Twelve Hawks
Doubleday, July, 2005
Hardcover, 456 pages
ISBN: 038551428X
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
|
Amazon.co.uk
Brothers Gabriel and Michael Corrigan couldn't be more different from
one another. Michael is driven to succeed in business, and is willing
to go into business with the Mob to make a buck. Gabriel is more interested
in his freedom: he works as a motorcycle courier to make enough money
to skydive and take care of his bikes. But both brothers share a secret legacy:
their father was a Traveler, one of the rare men in history who could
separate their consciousness from their bodies to travel to other dimensions.
Travelers have always changed history because of their unique perspective to
see our world in its true reality: Joan of Arc, Jesus Christ, Muhammad
and St. Francis of Assisi were all Travelers, who led movements for the betterment
of mankind. But there has also been a group opposed to the Travelers, called the Tabula.
Now, in the electronic age, the Tabula keep track of all citizens through their
credit cards, internet use, grocery discount cards and property records. There
are only two Travelers left: Michael and Gabriel. And the Tabula will do anything
to capture or kill them. Only the Harlequins -- trained protectors and assassins -- can
save the Travelers. Maya has been raised as a Harlequin by her legendary father.
She must find Michael and Gabriel and get them to the person who can train them
in their abilities before the Tabula gets to them. Because this time, the Tabula
is willing to use a Traveler to enforce their Orwellian view of the world: one in
which everyone is constantly monitored and has no freedom at all.
The Traveler has received an almost unprecedented amount of publicity; fortunately
for readers, the book is excellent. The first in a projected trilogy, John Twelve Hawks'
cautionary tale of how our privacy is being eroded a little bit every day is absolutely
chilling. Hawks (a pseudonym for the author who lives his life off the Grid)
excels at writing paranoia-laced action scenes, and he keeps the pace blistering.
The Travelers are both interesting characters, but it is Maya, the tough as nails
Harlequin, who will capture readers' imaginations in this delightfully paranoid
thriller.
--Claire E. White
Return to Book Reviews Index
**
To visit the archives of fantasy/sf books reviewed in The
IWJ, please
click here.
| |
|
