Schrodinger's Bookshelf

In the bloody, violent days following the implementation of Order 66, the Jedi have been slaughtered, their temples burned, their fellowship broken by the newly-formed Empire, with the Emperor’s protégé, Darth Vader, tracking down those few to survive and escape. One Jedi, Jax Pavan, has gone to ground in the slums of Coruscant, the city-planet that serves as the very heart of the Empire. Here, among with fellow ex-Jedi Laranth, hardboiled reporter Den Dhur, independent-minded droid I-5YQ and Vader’s own former personal aide Haninum Tyk Rhinann, Jax Pavan has formed a small detective agency. Now the group looks to aid those with nowhere else to turn, enabling the persecuted to flee Coruscant and providing justice for those who can’t, or won’t leave. But things are never as simple as they seem.

When Jax Pavan and his friends are hired to discover who murdered a famous artist, their search takes them from the grungy streets and bars of Coruscant’s worst areas, up into the gleaming towers that house its wealthy elites, with a suspicious, incorruptible cop getting uncomfortably close to shutting down their investigation permanently. Meanwhile, Darth Vader, intent on finding Jax, has employed the notorious bounty hunter, Aurra Sing, to hunt down the former Jedi. And a wild card, Captain Typho of Naboo, has come to Coruscant in order to learn how his former Queen and unrequited love, Padme Amidala, really died, and to avenge her murder at all costs. These three goals will cause the various players to cross paths repeatedly, often in violent and unpredictable ways. Before it’s done, mysteries will be solved, secrets revealed, and culprits uncovered, but at no little cost to those involved. All in all, it’s just another day on Coruscant.

Street of Shadows is Star Wars meets Dashiell Hammett, noir mystery in a space opera setting, and Michael Reaves pulls it off perfectly. He hits all of the beats one would expect of such a book, from the strong-willed, hard-headed detective with a traumatic past, to the femme fatale in need of justice. Only in this case, most of the cast are exotic aliens, the gun fights are replaced by lightsabers and energy weapons, the faithful family retainer is a droid, and the fast cars are really hover vehicles, proving that some themes are universal and can survive transplantation. I’ve been an on and off fan of Star Wars, with the so-called Expanded Universe running hot and cold for me depending on the material and the author, but I’m pleased to say that Michael Reaves does an excellent job of using the Star Wars setting to craft an enjoyable story any mystery fan might just enjoy. If your experience with Star Wars starts and ends with the movies, you’ll at least know the setting and trappings, even if the only characters that carry over from the big screen are Darth Vader and Captain Typho (and it’s interesting to see a secondary character like him get a continuation to his story, such as it is). I do have to give Reaves credit for tossing in one of the most time-honored, clichéd-because-it’s-tradition, mystery tropes there is, one that only hit me after I’d finished the book and put it aside, since it works out quite nicely for the sake of the story. While I can’t elaborate for fear of spoilers, I will say that it makes sense as far as motivations and executions go. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Street of Shadows, because it’s a strong story with memorable characters, and it shows just how well the Star Wars setting can be adapted to allow for all manner of themes. I’ll be looking forward to the third in the series.

Originally reviewed for SF Site, 2008

Time and again, Starfleet has encountered, fought, even defeated the Borg, but always at a great cost. The most recent Borg incursion cost numerous lives, and saw the USS Einstein assimilated and transformed into a new kind of vessel for a much more aggressive, even vindictive breed of Borg. Now the Einstein seems to be on the verge of capturing a form of “quantum slipstream” technology, which would allow it near-instantaneous teleportation across vast distances. With it, the Borg would be unstoppable. But the Admiralty of Starfleet has finally learned a lesson from previous encounters. This time, they’re giving Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise, one of the greatest experts on fighting the Borg, whatever he needs to prevent the machine intelligences from getting their hands on this technology.

So it’s off to an unexplored section of space, one filled with a thick cluster of carbon planets and quantum energies. But Picard’s still breaking in some new command crew, including a new second officer, chief of security, science officer, counselor, and contact specialist, still trying to find the right chemistry that’s been lacking ever since he lost stalwarts such as Troi, Riker, and Data to other ships or destruction. There’s no shortage of friction as the new crew tries to bond with the new crew, especially in the case of T’Ryssa Chen, a half-human, half-Vulcan with a decidedly unprofessional attitude towards discipline and obedience. Of all the crew, she’s the one most determined to prove herself, and the one least likely to succeed, but her own private demons won’t let her quit now.

Things get really complicated when the Enterprise learns the secret of the carbon planet cluster and the quantum slipstream, especially when they come into direct contact with the assimilated Einstein. The arrival of old allies means that the Enterprise is not alone in this fight, but will it be enough to stop the Borg once more? Defeating the Borg has always required sacrifices, and this time is no different.

There is a lot going on in Greater than the Sum. On the surface, it’s yet another battle between Starfleet and the Borg, a theme which one would think has run dry by now. However, the current “relaunch” of Star Trek: The Next Generation novels has focused fairly heavily upon the Borg over several books, and hopefully it’s with an eye towards putting that particular antagonist back on the shelf for a while afterwards. As they point out in the book, they’re running out of tactics and tricks, since the Borg always adapt and overcome each new technique and vulnerability in turn. Don’t get me wrong, it makes for great storytelling, but one can only run with it for so long. But so there’s the overall Enterprise vs Borg conflict, which naturally draws upon the long and strange history Picard and his older crew have with them, and this story even draws upon several classic episodes to bring back some unexpected, though not unwanted, guest stars.

There’s also the ongoing subplot regarding Picard’s attempts to rebuild a command crew with the same energy and bonds of camaraderie as the “classic” TNG lineup. With Data destroyed, and Troi and Riker off commanding the USS Titan, and Worf now serving as the First Officer, that’s freed up some important positions, and over the past few books in the series, we’ve seen Picard run through a number of replacements, especially in the security chief and counselor positions, none of whom have worked out for various reasons. I have to say, the previous ones were pretty much unlikable, and I wasn’t sorry to see them go, as was likely the point. I’m really hoping, crossing my fingers even, that the latest crop of crew will last, and aren’t destined to be redshirted anytime soon. We don’t see much of Counselor Hegol Den, or Lieutenant Jasminder Choudhury, but what we do see fills me with hope, as they seem to be quite interesting and personable in their own ways. As for the new contact specialist, T’Ryssa Chen? She’s a piece of work. Flighty, unprofessional, easily distracted, impulsive, passionate, occasionally disrespectful, with a tendency towards babbling and inappropriate humor, and she feels like a very real person. She’s someone who rings true and familiar, and even as she seems utterly unsuited to the Starfleet way of life, you can’t help but want her to succeed and improve… as long as she doesn’t overshadow the other characters, which is always a worry when introducing these original characters to the mix. I’d say that while in some ways, she borders upon being a Mary Sue, Christopher Bennet wisely splits the overall story among the rest of the cast, enough to prevent this from happening.

The last major theme, and this is an odd one, is a relatively new subplot about love and family, and creating new life. Picard and Crusher (now married after all these years) are ready to have kids, only Picard’s waffling, so long as he has got Borg to fight. As other characters pop up, the theme plays out over and over again in different ways, human and alien, until decisions are made and conclusions reached.

Originally Reviewed for SF Site, 2008

Two centuries after mankind died out, its legacy continues, as all manner of self-aware robots have spread out to conquer the solar system, building outposts and cities from Mercury to Eris, and beyond. Some made in the image of their creators, others built for very specialized jobs, they’ve created a society all their own, as complex as any humans ever formed. From living hotels and spaceships to decadent slave-owning aristocracy, they pursue their dreams and schemes. Enter Freya, one of a dwindling number of femmebots, robots originally designed to bring pleasure and companionship to their human masters, now obsolete and purposeless in an all-robot universe.

Freya’s at her wits end, contemplating an end to her existence, when circumstances conspire against her, bringing her into the employ of the Jeeves Corporation as a courier. Her first mission is to transport a simple, much-coveted, highly-illegal object from Mercury to Mars. Disguised as one of the aristocracy, she sets out on the first leg of a journey that will take her much further than she ever imagined. As Freya’s pulled deeper into a conspiracy that spans decades and planets, she’ll learn a dark secret about her own robot lineage, deal with some of the most dangerous androids alive, and be forced to choose her destiny. It’s definitely more than she was originally programmed for, and it’s only getting worse…

Saturn’s Children is what happens when Charles Stross, already one of the most imaginative, cutting-edge science fiction authors out there, mixes up some James Bond and Honey West, and filters the whole thing through Robert Heinlein’s Friday. Stross paints an interesting picture of a future where androids have inherited the solar system, where they’ve created a society all their own, yet they can’t escape their own programming, or the influence of the humans they outlived. These androids act like people, full of desires and fears and needs — needs for company, for freedom, for living space and sustenance — but every time you start to relax and forget that this setting is entirely devoid of humans, Stross finds a way to remind you. He draws from a Japanese influence in part, populating the universe with bishojo aristocracy, their chibiform servants, femmebots, and of course all sorts of specialized robots that defy easy description. It’s familiar, and very alien.

The plot might seem a little convoluted as it meanders from planet to planet, with layers of a grander set of schemes being peeled away over the course of the book, but ultimately, it all works out quite nicely. It’s one part Maltese Falcon (i.e. ‘hunt the MacGuffin’) one part complicated power play, and a heavy dose of putting the heroine through the wringer. There’s a rather distinct subtheme of sexuality running through the book, which comes as no surprise given that the protagonist was built as a concubine and pleasurebot, but at the same time, it’s somewhat disconcerting. I’m not sure if this is because of the heavy Heinlein influence (when I think of Heinlein, I usually think of his juveniles first and foremost, rather than his more adult work), or simply because these are robots with sex drives. I guess even though humanity’s gone, some of our remnants are anatomically correct. (And some are just… okay, you don’t have to be shaped like a human in order to find pleasure, it seems.) Obviously, this is a thought-provoking element of the book. If someone’s uncomfortable with robots having sex, does that make them a robophobe?

It’s actually interesting that Freya, who’s about as close as one can get to appearing human, is a target for bigotry and bias, since most robots (and robot is actually a dirty word for them) manage to simultaneous hate, fear, miss and worship their long-gone creators. She represents the thing they fear, the thing they’d have to serve if humans ever came back, and so her reception suffers as a result. Again, there’s a lot to think about here.

Saturn’s Children may be one of Stross’ more accessible works, when compared to The Atrocity Archives or The Jennifer Morgue, and it’s deceptively straight-forward on the surface. Stross does space opera, à la Heinlein, what’s to complain about? But it’s as thoughtful, complex, and bizarre as any of his works. He’s outdone himself with this one. It’s friendly and inviting, but once it’s pulled you in, it starts to really play with your perceptions. When I started this review, I wasn’t exactly sure what I thought of this book. I enjoyed it immensely, but I was never able to fully relax with it, for whatever reason. Ultimately, I’d have to say that he’s done a superb job at telling an exciting story that makes you think afterwards. It’s a sexy, strange, space opera/spy thriller that delivers a kick, and Stross is definitely at the top of his game here.

Originally reviewed for SF Site, 2008

At first, Carmen Dula is thrilled to have the opportunity to travel to Mars with her family, where they’ll be part of opening up mankind’s next great frontier. Once reality sets in — that space travel is long, dull, cramped and uncomfortable — she’s not quite as excited, even with the new friends she’s making along the way, and not even the attentions of the handsome pilot of the John Carter of Mars — their home for the next six months — can entirely cure the feeling that she’s giving up everything she knew for an experience bordering between boring and deadly. But since you can’t exactly turn around if you change your mind, Carmen sucks it up and sets herself to doing the best she can. And thus her journey takes her up the Space Elevator on Earth, to the spaceship in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit, and then to Mars itself.

There, she finds that even millions of miles from home, people are still the same as always, and the colony administrator in particular takes a very visible dislike to Carmen. Events happen, and before she knows just what she’s doing, Carmen has gone for an unauthorized walk out on the Mars surface, where she discovers something impossibly new and different: humans are not alone on Mars. But these aliens come in peace, or so it seems… that is, until a deadly disease strikes the children of the colony.

Years later, once the wrinkles have been smoothed out between humans and Martians, and a special place has been established where the two species can learn from one another, a deeper, darker mystery is revealed, when intelligent signals are received from one of Neptune’s moons. It seems that the Martians weren’t native to Mars after all, and what’s more, there’s a very specific reason they were placed there, and left to wait for us. Now a plan millennia in the making is about to come to fruition. If Carmen and her allies can’t figure it out in time, it could spell doom for an entire race. Ours.

Marsbound is what I’d call an odd duck of a story, being as it is several very different segments pieced together to create a longer narrative. First you have the story of Carmen’s trip from Earth to Mars, which is very much concerned with the day-to-day minutiae of realistic space travel, and it’s here where Joe Haldeman takes his time to show off the nuts and bolts of a very plausible space program, from the immense Space Elevator stretching from its origination in the Galapagos Islands up into Earth’s orbit, to the ship that carries our heroine and her family to Mars. It’s claustrophobic, dingy, and all too real, unglamourizing space travel and humanizing the people who’ll ultimately be making the trip to help expand the colony. There’s no doubt but that Haldeman, who’s always been a realist and a hard science man, is doing his best to help prepare us for the reality of space travel, as opposed to the fantasized versions which most science fiction writers prefer to work with. In this fashion, he reminds me of Ben Bova, who also excels at integrating human concerns with realistic science fiction. At any rate, there’s a lack of real action in this segment, which focuses on the nitty-gritty details and the reactions of the protagonist to the various changes. It doesn’t let up when we get to Mars, either, as Haldeman projects what a starting colony out on the edge of a new world might be like, how it might function, and what duties will need fulfilling. It’s intriguing, especially since Haldeman has an engaging voice and manages to conveys all of this information without dropping too far into exposition mode.

The next segment picks up at the point when Carmen encounters the so-called Martians, and here’s where the story begins to truly take on its more fantastical elements. We delve into the mystery of a race that’s very much like ours in some regards, and absolutely different in others. This takes us all the way from the moment of First Contact, through the plague which threatens the human children, and ends when that particular issue has been resolved. Shorter than the first segment, it’s got a lot more action and imminent danger to it.

The third and last part of Marsbound picks up several years later, after a new space station, Little Mars, has been built and populated by teams of humans and Martians as they try to understand one another. It’s an odd jump, given that the first two thirds of the book took place over one continuous length of time, and the last third hits fast forward. For any other author, they might have been tempted to make multiple books out of this; Haldeman clearly knew how much time and effort he wanted to invest in this, and didn’t give in to the impulse to expand any further. As for this part of the story, it delves into the mysteries of the Martians’ origins and true purpose, reveals the existence of other intelligences even further out in the solar system, and sets up a clear and present danger to humanity which has to be solved post-haste. There’s an almost breakneck abruptness to the way this unfolds, and the story ends pretty soon after the resolution of the immediate problem, which is a shame in my opinion. Haldeman’s one of those authors capable of setting up fascinating scenarios with engaging characters, enough so that you enjoy spending time with them, so it’s something of a letdown when the story ends.

On the one hand, I found Marsbound to be a compelling, fast-paced read; once I started, I couldn’t put the book down. Its realistic take on space travel, and its grounding in believable science, all told from the viewpoint of a fairly sympathetic character, make for a great read. On the other hand, the pacing seemed off, and the ending almost violently sudden, and I was thus left feeling like something was missing. This may in part be due to its earlier publication as a three-part serial in Analog magazine, which would certainly explain the distinct endings and beginnings between each of the segments. It makes me wonder if it might have been possible to do a little more editing to smooth out the rough edges, and make it more of a fully streamlined book, rather than three portions joined together. However, Haldeman’s one of the great science fiction authors, in my opinion, so maybe I hold him up to standards I wouldn’t expect of a newer generation, so what would be an excellent book from anyone else is just very good coming from him. Despite my moments of disappointment, I found Marsbound to be quite enjoyable, and I’d even be willing to recommend it as a YA book for those teen readers in search of good SF. And definitely, despite any dissatisfaction I might have with the minor technical details, I can’t fault the storyline or the energy, and certainly not the science involved. You can bet that when Haldeman releases another book (I’ve read that he’s working on a sequel to Marsbound) I’ll be there to read it.

Originally reviewed for SF Site, 2008

Until recently, Sirantha Jax was a superstar. Possessing a rare gene which allows a select few to jump ships through “grimspace,” and thus vastly shorten interstellar travel time, she had it made, having made more jumps and discovered more planets than anyone else working for the Corp. But all jumpers burn out sooner or later, so she knew her time was finite. And then came the crash on Matins IV, an accident only which she survived. She was locked away, interrogated and tortured and left to rot. When help came, in the form of a telepathic pilot named March and his ragtag crew of malcontents, Jax escaped and joined them, seizing upon her only chance to stay alive.

Of course, now that she’s free, it seems as though nothing at all is going the way it was planned. No sooner does the motley group, including a cranky mechanic, a pacifist savant, a mild geneticist, and the aforementioned telepathic pilot, reach their destination, then violence erupts as a deal goes bad. Surviving that, Jax learns that her new friends are dedicated to defying the Corp and developing their own breed of jumper to crack the Corp’s monopoly on interstellar travel. They need her, because they might have the key to preventing the inevitable burnout. She needs them because of the implacable, unrelenting bounty hunters set on her path. And so begins a series of wild, perilous adventures that take Jax and her allies across the known worlds, from backwoods colonies to alien villages to a pirate’s paradise, and finally to an ultimate reckoning against the Corp itself. Meanwhile, Jax can’t help but get unsettlingly close to March, whose powers let him see past the attitude and bluster and scars, and right into her heart. But some heavy sacrifices will be made along the way, including their potential happiness, especially as they try to figure out what really happened to cause the crash on Matins IV. Will they be able to see this quixotic quest through to the end?

Grimspace is the sort of science fiction adventure that grabs you right from the beginning with an action-laced escape sequence, and proceeds to fire the afterburners for a long time afterwards, carrying the reader from one perilous situation to the next until you’re well and truly caught up in the story. It’s one thrill after another as our heroes fend off Corp security, a treacherous rival clan, and bloodthirsty alien critters, all before they have a chance to relax for a few minutes. And after that, well, it’s surprises and twists and turns from one planet to the next as they challenge the odds and occasionally suffer unacceptable, necessary losses. Swept up in Jax’s story, I couldn’t put Grimspace down until I was done.

Sirantha Jax is a fascinating protagonist. Fearless, foul-mouthed, brash, independent, and severely broken on the inside, she won’t let anyone — or anything — mess with her for long. She’s got good reasons to hurt, but she doesn’t wallow in her pity unnecessarily, accepting the need to change and grow as her experiences teach her, thus proving that at the core, she’s really quite a strong character. Her chemistry with March is fun to watch, as she takes her measure of the telepath and gives plenty of attitude in return. Her relations with the rest of the tight-knit crew are equally fun, as she deals with their quirks and issues. My favorite of the secondary crew has to be Dina, the rough-and-tumble mechanic who always has an insult, snarky comment, or pointed truth to offer her friends, even as she works miracles with the ships that they use and abuse in their line of work. If Ann Aguirre ever decides to focus on Dina as a protagonist, I’ll be one of the first in line to pick up the book.

Grimspace reminds me a lot of the cult-favorite TV series-turned-movie, Firefly, in terms of attitude and atmosphere and the ragtag band of hard luck adventurers struggling against the system. It also reminds me, in some way I can’t quite finger, of S.L. Viehl’s Stardoc series, especially when looking at the way Jax and March deal with one another, from their first uneasy interaction to their growing partnership. Put these elements together, along with all the other influences that Ann Aguirre has drawn upon, and you have a rip-roaring, attention-grabbing debut from an author who definitely has a lot of potential. I’m already hooked, and I’ll be eagerly looking forward to whatever Aguirre does next.

Originally reviewed for SF Site, 2008