Saturday 25 September 2010

The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds

Another Revelation Space novel this one is set in the fabulous Glitter band of Yellowstone when it is at the height of its power and influence. It is half detective novel and half space opera. Tom Dreyfus is a cop. One of the prefects tasked with keeping the peace in this collection of independent asteroid habitats and in particular with protecting the integrity of the democratic voting system which governs the band. What starts out as a straight forward vote tampering case legend out to have much more serious consequences as a malign super-intelligence makes a bid to takeover the entire Glitter band. Great Sci Fi Entertainment as can be expected from Reynolds.

Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Set shortly after the end of the First Law Trilogy this is another delicious tale of treachery and revenge from Abercrombie. The main protagonist is a mercenary general who's reward for vanquishing all rivals to the Duke of Talins bid for a Kingdom is for her brother to be murdered and herself mutilated and left for dead. She vows revenge on the duke and his cronies who perpetrated the evil deed. This is a stand alone novel but there are plenty of tie ins with the previous First law books. Good Stuff.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Black Man by Richard Morgan

Sci Fi novel from the writer of Altered Carbon that shares the same gritty feel even though it is not set in the same story world. The main protagonist is a genetically modified "He-Man" who was bred and trained to be a super soldier before public unease about genetic variants led to him and his like being ostracised and exiled to Mars.
Contains lots of pithy stuff about the nature of humanity and about the changing needs of society as we moved from hunter gatherer society into more organised groups.

Pretty good with a solid sci fi detective story underpinning Morgans musings.