gridlore | Entries tagged with space opera

The Victory by Dan Abnett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I will admit that when at the end of the last omnibus, having Colonel-Commissar Gaunt rescued kind of disappointed me. I thought the series had reached an appropriate ending, with the 1st Tanith entering a new phase of existence, beyond the legacy of being Gaunt's Ghosts.

I was wrong.

We pick up two years after the events in Only in Death, the Tanith 1st has finally been sent for rest and refit, But two years of inactivity are wearing on them. The planet Balhaut was the site of the Famous Victory some fifteen years prior, and Gaunt gained fame as the Commissar of Hyrkan 8th, rallying them to a crushing victory in the final battle. in the city of Balopolis. Gaunt is ready to be redeployed, ready to get back in the war. . . then a very special prisoner arrives, and he will on;y speak to Gaunt. A prisoner that the Archenemy will do anything to silence.

What follows is a game of one mouse and many cats, with suspicions on all sides. There is unexpected heroism, a stunning betrayal, and a satisfying conclusion. A very different entry in the series, and a very good novel. That's my view of Blood Pact, the first novel.

The second novel is Salavation's Reach and is a more traditional Ghosts story, but with a twist or five. The regiment is packed on a frigate centuries past the day when she should have been scrapped and sent on a raid that could tip the balance in the stalled Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Along for the ride are three Space Marines, and hidden among the regiment and crew is an assassin.

Abnett normally avoids big themes in his books, or rather he hides them very well, but here the theme is family. We have a woman from the previous book who is now adjusting to life as an officer's lady. Reunions both welcome and unexpected, and how close family ties can both help and hinder a unit. One thing I really like was how he showed the regiment preparing for the raid. They had floorplans of the target, and these were laid out in empty hanger spaces so the troops could rehearse every expected step, train on room-clearing, and learn the other guy's job as well as their own. This is what real units do. It was a nice touch.

There are the usual roadblocks, some quite threatening, and we do get a massive space battle, but the raid goes off as planned, and the regiment escapes, except we've lost some long-standing characters. Such is war.

After this, there are several short stories that both deepen mysteries and imply greater threats while showing different aspects of shipboard life. All in all, this is a great addition to the canon, and I shall be ordering Volume 2 of The Victory as soon as I have some spare cash.

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A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A few months after A Memory Called Empire, alien forces massacre an industrial colony of the Teixcalaanli Empire. The Teixcalaanli admiral Nine Hibiscus, tasked with confronting the threat, requests an Information Ministry specialist to attempt to communicate with the inscrutable enemy. That specialist is Three Seagrass, now a senior Imperial official, who smuggles herself to the frontlines by way of Lsel Station. There, she convinces her former associate and still nominal ambassador to the Empire, Mahit Dzmare, to accompany her. Mahit seizes on the chance to escape the increasing danger from factional conflicts on Lsel, and she is tasked by one of Lsel's leaders to sabotage first-contact efforts in order to prolong the Empire's war with the aliens. (from Wikipedia)

Wow. Once again Martine shows an amazing range as the action shifts from place intrigue to a growing war against an unfathomable enemy. Three Seagrass and Mahit must not only learn how to communicate with these aliens, but they also have to resolve how they feel about each other. The tension, intrigue, and potentially lethal factionalism inside the Teixcalaanli fleet come through clearly.

One amazing character is Eight Antidote, the Imperial heir and despite being only 11, a vital part of the story. Like all the characters in the book, he's believable, a kid who wishes he was older while retreating into childhood. He really comes into his own and shows his mettle.

Along with being a ripping good space opera, there are some really deep themes here on language, personhood, and the crushing weight of command, be it of a fleet or the empire or just the assumed authority of an 11-year-old kid. The plot concerning how to talk to the aliens is just fascinating.

I want more. Teixcalaan is a fascinating universe on the brink of wonderful changes. Three Seagrass and Mahit Dzmare are people who deserve more attention, even as they part ways, for now. There is so much more to be seen here, and Arkady Martine is doing a master's job in presenting it. No wonder both this novel and Memory won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

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So, I've been playing with this idea. Take The Odessey, set in space, and make my protagonists drug-addicted bio-sculpted soldiers discarded when they were no longer needed. This is my start. Please, let me know what you think beyond "good job!" I need feedback. What worked, what was clunky, and how y'all see this being better with a few changes.

( Untitled NaNoWriMo Project )

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Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Warning: Minor spoilers for Inhibitor Phase follow.

For thirty years a tiny band of humans has been sheltering in the caverns of an airless, crater-pocked world called Michaelmas. Beyond their solar system lie the ruins of human interstellar civilization, stalked by a ruthless, infinitely patient cybernetic entity determined to root out the last few bands of survivors. One man has guided the people of Michaelmas through the hardest of times, and given them hope against the wolves: Miguel de Ruyter.

When a lone human ship blunders into their system, and threatens to lead the wolves to Michaelmas, de Ruyter embarks on a desperate, near-suicide mission to prevent catastrophe. But an encounter with a refugee from the ship—the enigmatic woman who calls herself only Glass—leads to de Ruyter's world being turned upside down. . .

I really wanted to love this book. I love Reyonolds' writing; he isn't afraid to show us how vast and old the universe is, and how fragile our place in it really is. But this novel suffers from one major problem, and that is that the main character has almost no control over what happens. de Ruyter is dragged from setpiece to setpiece, never fully understanding what is happening and almost never taking charge of his destiny. Which makes it hard to feel for him.

There's also a dependence on characters from the previous books. Look, I can accept that suspended animation and relativistic travel can account for one character living for centuries, but two? Add in flashbacks to the war against the Conjoiners on Mars that never really goes anywhere, and the novel is a beautiful, but muddled work. It's good, but not great.

And I've come to expect greatness from Reynolds.

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Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alastair Reynolds does not deal with small concepts. In this, Book 3 of the Inhibitor series, we're taken on a wild ride of theoretical physics, impossible weapons, and amazing characters.

Let me start by saying that this is absolutely not a stand-alone novel. You have to have already read and thoroughly digested both Revelation Space and Redemption Ark to understand what is happening in this book.

The plot follows several threads spread over time. It starts in 2615 with a crewmember subject to the tyrannical captain of the lighthugger Gnostic Ascension nearly dying and witnessing a miracle on the icy gas giant moon he's named Hela. The plot then jumps to 2675 and the world Ararat, home to the survivors of the events of Redemption Ark. They learn that the Inhibitor War has come to them and that they must leave.

Parallel to this are the events unfolding on the plant Hela in 2727, where 17-year-old Rashmika Elsruns away from her home in search of a position among the great mobile cathedrals that circle Hela endlessly, waiting for the gas giant Haldora to blink from existence briefly. Able to tell instinctively when someone is lying, Rashmika quickly finds herself as an aide to the premier cleric on the planet.

It's when all these plots start to come together that things really get interesting. A lot of people complain that Reynolds' work is too dark in tone, that there's never really a win. I disagree. His vision is probably what we would face if we stepped out into deep space. But along the way, this novel continually builds hope in the strangest of places. Even the epilogue, in its own strange way, offers hope.

I will say that like most of Reynolds' books, this is not a light read. He loves getting into the mechanics of how his universe works, and at one point there is an explanation of string theory and branes that got me scrambling to read a little more on the subject. You have to pay attention to the details, for they are important.

The long-awaited fourth book in the series is finally coming out this fall, which prompted me to reread the series. I'm glad I did, as it is the kind of mind-expanding SF I love, all while obeying the laws of physics.

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Starship Repo by Patrick S. Tomlinson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Some books are just a whole lot of fun. This is one of those books.

Firstname Lastname (a clerical error, it'll be fixed soon, they promise) is a human running away from a miserable life on Proxima Centauri b. Arriving at a massive station, she immediately settles down to picking pockets, playing con games, and stealing air cars. Which leads to her being "recruited" into a ring of repo specialists.

Hijinks follow.

This is a set of caper stories, each bigger and more outlandish than the last, and First finds her place with the crew. Filled with aliens Keith Laumer would have loved, big ideas, and endless comedy, I tore through this book. It made me laugh out loud more than once. There's a Donald Trump joke. It's a fun, easy read.

While it is the second book in the Breach series (and I somehow missed picking up Gate Crashers first) the story and setting stand very well all on their own.

It kind of reminded me of some Traveller games I've been in. . .

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Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

And the final (for now) volume on the Ness sisters has been read.

I have a hard time categorizing this book. On the surface, the premise of the trilogy sounds like a YA book, two sisters run away and become space pirates. But the story goes much deeper than that, and over the three books, we're introduced to a fairly terrifying vision of the future.

As usual, the star is Reynolds' worldbuilding. Set at least 10 million years into the future, when the solar system has been disassembled to created some 20,000 habitats, and the rise and fall of civilization is divided into 13 Occupations, the breadth of vision is amazing. It also allows for the ships of the series to be powered by solar sails, given a Golden Age of Piracy feel to the story.

In this final book, Reynolds tries to wrap up several mysteries while keeping the crew on the run. It mostly works, and most of the plot gets resolved, but the last third feels hurried. A wonderful adversary is found, presented as a terrible threat to the heroes, then dispatched almost without a thought. A great revelation that changes the understanding of the Occupations and humanity's past is dealt with a little too quickly, and the finale is just a little too easily handled.

There's a lot more to this tale, but for now, we have to wait. But still, a rollicking tale of space pirates, hidden treasures, and dark secrets. Roll out the coil guns and spread the catchcloth!

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The Ark by Patrick S. Tomlinson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a serviceable novel, using the old "last remnants of humanity are fleeing a dead Earth" trope to frame a murder mystery. Detective Bryan Benson got the job after retiring from the Ark's main spectator sport, Zero, a ball game played in zero-g. Normally, the police forces on the Ark don't have much to do.

But a missing member of the crew leads Benson down a path of intrigue and cover-ups, climaxing in a plot to end the Ark before it can reach Tau Ceti G. It's not a convoluted plot, and there are plenty of scenes where Benson is basically led by the nose, but it works as light detective fiction.

My big problem was the lack of development of some important characters. Benson's fellow constable and clandestine girlfriend is barely expanded beyond the bare-bones we need for her to operate. Another hundred pages would have allowed for more character development. I see what Tomlinson was going for, a sort of noir detective thriller, but those depend on strong characters, and it kind of failed here.

The ending hangs several interesting questions for the next books, so I'll be picking them up. But do not expect a great, deep SF novel, This is a fun detective story.

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A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This novel won Best Novel at the 2020 Hugo Awards. It's easy to see why. Here's the summary blurb"

"Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

"Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation."

The Teixcalaanli people and state are vivid and well-written. You get the grandeur of this mighty empire and that scheming banality of its power players. The book is a mystery wrapped into a court intrigue covered in a looming threat. Mahit makes an excellent narrator as someone familiar with the ideas of Teixcalaanli culture, but unready for the full force of reality of the city/world/empire that is Teixcalaan.

I also appreciate a space opera with actual opera in it, as poetry and historical epics are vital to the empire's identity. There is relatively little action, and it works in this tale. The real action is figuring out what everyone's motives are and how they relate to the previous ambassador's death.

This was a stunningly fun book to read. I am eagerly looking for ward to the sequel being released in paperback (just no room for hardbacks on my shelves) to learn more about this fascinating universe.

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In the Black by Patrick S. Tomlinson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another fun book by Patrick S. Tomlinson. This time we have the crew of a warship that is part of a corp[orate-sponsored fleet playing tag with a hostile alien ship, the crew of that alien ship, and the CEO of a transstellar corp[oration suddenly having a very bad week. It all moves quickly, the action is well-written, and he explains his universe without long pieces of expository text. The alien Xre, for example, a reintroduced and we learn about them and their culture just be following the story. The leader has just molted and is bothered by having to wait for a new shell to grow. Their society is more collective, with several references to a lost homeworld and the fall of a royal caste.

You care about these characters, even the aliens. Sometimes their motivations feel a little forced, but there are many times when leaders are forced into hard decisions. Tomlinson has a talent for bringing characters to life with very few brushstrokes.

My only real problem here was the number of current references in a book supposedly taking place a few centuries from now. Two characters have lunch at Chili's. A character listens to "Immigrant Song" in the shower. For the latter, you could simply mention that the character had a passion for late 20th-century music. But you can introduce a casual dining restaurant without making us wonder how the chain survived three or four hundred years.

Finally, this is a complete novel that leads into the next book. The CEO's tale, which is the B-polt of the book, is clearly going to be near the fore in the next book. But you can read this one and be happy with a good space opera tale.

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It is the distant future. Humanity spread to the stars, founded a glorious empire, and long ago that Emire fractured. Now, the Successor State squabble and fight border wars, while Earth has become a backwater. People make quasi-religious pilgrimages there, but it's not really that important.

Four centuries ago, a rapidly expanding alien empire took Sol almost without a shot. As they allowed travel and trade to continue unimpeded, no one really cared. Life went on. But in the last twenty years, things have changed.

A new faction has emerged, preaching a New Empire of Man, and regaining Earth is a matter of manifest destiny! Seeing the opportunity to gain more territory, and possibly claim the new Terran Throne, the Successor States are mobilizing for war! But they still don't trust each other.

In case you don't recognize it, this is the start of the First Crusade in 1096 set in shiny space opera. Plenty of space (no pun intended) for different governments, epic personalities, strange tech, and an alien menace more concerned with trade and spreading their faith/philosophy than fighting, but they are more than capable as warriors.

I've dedicated the rest of this year to working on my long-neglected novel Sideways Solutions, but this might be an idea I play with.

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C’mon in! Sit down! This will just take a few minutes. First of all, I’m supposed to welcome you to the TransGalaxy family. So welcome. I hate that part, after all, you’ve already signed the contract, right? I mean, the recruiter made sure you did that first thing before sending you to me, right?. You’d be amazed at how many potentials walk in here without a signed contract. Anyway, you signed, you’re part of the family. For five years, with an option to extend. Wish my marriages worked like that!

That’s a joke, son. Relax! Let me pull up your file and get you set up with a ship. Hmm. . . Kid, none of my business, and we’re happy to help folks start over, but ‘John Smith’ is hardly a good fake name to go by and. . .

Really? John Smith III is your real name? Hell, you want something better? I can set you up easy enough, I know some people. . . hey, no need to get touchy, just offering! I’m so used to new hires getting creative with their names. You caught me by surprise there. Almost refreshing not to be speaking with another “Jason Starkiller” or “Nebula Jones.”

So what do we have? Hm. Eight years in the Colonial Legion as an Assaultman qualified on this weapons system and that instrument of destruction. . . son, you are aware we’re a shipping line, right? On-board ship security? We usually use ex-Federation security goons for those roles. Frankly, you’re more “seek and destroy” than “protect and serve,” know what I mean?

Hey, no need to look down, my boy! Know why I fly the Assignments desk? Because I have an eye for talent, for putting the right people in the right job. And you, you fine young fellow, you, are going to be a hit as a Delta Bulldog.

You don’t have a clue what I just said. OK, here’s how it breaks down: TransGalaxy is the biggest name in interstellar transport. We serve over a thousand inhabited star systems belonging to seven intelligent species besides humans, along with sanctioned contacts with the occasional intelligent machine cluster. Shipping is broken down into four basic classes.

Alpha is the top of the line, the big luxury passenger cruisers and high-end bulk transports. Those are the ones you see in the ads. Top of line everything. Crew standards are insanely high. These ships go only to systems that meet the 3S standard: settled, stable, and safe. Ever see that old series Action Aboard!? Shot on the ISCV King Richard, one of our Alpha liners. Yeah, that was a real ship.

Then you have your Beta ships. Almost as good as the Alphas, but smaller and working the areas that are still mostly safe with less-critical cargoes and passengers not needing the red carpet treatment. Crewmen on a Beta are busting their asses to get good enough evaluations to move up to Alphas. Still a good slot.

Up next are the Gammas. Gammas do the less profitable regular runs to colony worlds that are close to the fringe. Gammas also do hazardous jobs like refinery tows and the like. Work hard in the Gammas and you can go places! I myself spent almost 12 years pushing a Gamma along the edges of Stork space. Yeah, that’s where I got the artificial arms and eye.

Now you’ve been slumping down in the chair as I’ve told you this and you’re thinking “what the hell does being a Delta mean?” I’ll be honest. It’s not all glory and big tips like an Alpha, but that five-year hitch will fly by because as a Bulldog, you’ll be right on the edges of known space, going to places most people have never heard of! Yes, it’s dangerous, but with great risk comes great rewards! Company bonuses aside, the, um, high rate of turnover in most crews means you could quickly find yourself captain of your own ship! Stop laughing. What was that?

Fine. Deltas tend to die a lot. Happier now? But I’m not lying about the opportunities! Now, let’s see who needs a warm body. . . Ah! The Driver Carries No Cash just docked and needs, well, a new crew. Mostly.

Mr. Smith! Pleasing stop shouting, you’ll disturb my coworkers! You signed a contract, sir, and TransGalaxy will enforce all the terms of it to the letter! I can assure you that the ship’s artificial intelligence was purged after the incident you are referring to, and we’ve had no trouble since then. What happened this time? Let me see here. Huh, that’s a new one. Cargo escaped and ate most of the crew. Odd, since it was hauling mineral samples. But you see why this is the job for you, right? Had you been there, your combat skills would have come in handy, yes? We call these ships and their crews Bulldogs because they might be ugly, but they never give up! Docking Bay C-54, Bulldog Smith, your captain is waiting for you. Good luck! Our security team will help you find your way and see you safely aboard.

Oh, on your way out, could you send the next prospect in? It’s a busy day.

Bulldogs is a space opera game of blasters and swashbuckling, as the crew of a tramp freighter tries to make a credit her and there working on the bottom of the food chain. TransGalaxy isn't picky about the crews they hire for their Deltas, so long as you have a pulse (or functioning power plant, or ichor ducts, or whatever) and are not actively being chased by the cops when you sign up, TG will take you. Because odds are you'll be dead before they pay out the end of contract bonus.

Obviously, this will be a game with a humorous bent. Think Quark, Red Dwarf, Buck Godot. We will be using the FATE-derived system, which I will share on request. You'll need to be able to log in with a sound device, and a camera would be nice. I may ask for donations to my account to help me buy the cool things to make the Roll20 experience better.

I plan on having a session twice a month, 3-5 hours. Days and times are open for negotiation. We will need to meet for a character creation session as it's a cooperative thing in FATE. Looking for 4-5 players, and I'm pretty sure one slot is already filled (Hi Logic!) Hopefully we'll get this rolling in September or October.

Questions? Answers? I'd like to keep them in one place, so no matter where you read this if you could leave a comment on my Dreamwidth that'd be great. I do allow anonymous commenting, just sign your posts.

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Light of Impossible Stars by Gareth L. Powell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow.

After reading Embers of War and Fleet of Knives my one concern wasn't if the third book would be good, but rather how Powell would tie everything up into a satisfying conclusion. I shouldn't have doubted, the climax of the novel is breathtaking in scope and execution.

I'm not going into too many details here, as all the action depends on knowing what happened in the previous books, but things have gone from potentially better to horrifically worse. The fate of civilization rests with the crew of the sentient warship Trouble Dog and a young woman who is the heir to a legacy no one could dream of.

So, it's space opera. Massively over-powered starships, sweeping vistas, big dumb objects, big not-so-dumb objects, space monsters. . . pretty much every trope is nailed. So why is it so much better than others of the same type?

Because it is a book about people. All of whom - sentient starships included - are weary and broken. There isn't a strong jaw or noble gleam of the eye in the bunch. Every single character in the trilogy is running from their pasts. Which makes see them confront the future all the more interesting. They screw up, sometimes in epic fashion. They are angry, hurt, desperate, broken people. And that's why I loved them so much.

There's no grand happy ending, although there is hope for one, and in a final epilogue-like chapter, Trouble Dog speaks a little about what happened after the climax of the book, which does bring things to a nice close.

One last thing, Gareth L. Powell has created my favorite alien species in decades in the Druff. Hexapodal natural engineers that evolved in the World Tree, a world-spanning example of megaflora that the Druff tend in a symbiotic relationship. The chapters written from the point of view of Nod, Trouble Dog's engineer, are brilliant examples of showing an alien mind at work.

A really fantastic end to a wonderful trilogy.

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Fleet of Knives by Gareth L. Powell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Picking up shortly after the events in Embers of War, Fleet of Knives is definitely a middle book of a trilogy. But it's a very good middle book and does a great job of setting up the big finale in Light of Impossible Stars.

I'm not going to say too much about the plot, as I dislike spoilers, but the novel focuses on three main axes: the crew of a freighter who hope to make some quick money by plundering a derelict generation ship; the Trouble Dog and her crew, who go to rescue them; and Ona Sudak, who finds herself the human liaison to the Marble Fleet.

The action is fast and deadly, the characters are all interesting, and I'm invested in their fates, which means that Gareth L. Powell is doing a good job. Read Embers first, as this is not a standalone novel.

Chapter 49 may be the best chapter ever written.

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Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me put it this way: I'm really happy I bought the next book in the series at the same time I bought Embers of War because this is an amazing book.

Told entirely in first-person with each chapter focusing on a different character, Powell weaves a story of the crew of the Trouble Dog, a sentient former heavy cruiser who resigned to join the House of Reclamation, a rescue service that tends to attract cast-offs and people in need of rescue themselves.

When a passenger liner is mysteriously lost, the Trouble Dog and its crew are sent to rescue any survivors, picking up two burned-out intelligence agents along the way. Among the passengers on the liner is a renowned poet who is more than she seems.

This is a very human story. It's about people finding redemption, even the hybrid human/canine brain of the Trouble Dog has some issues. Once at their target, all the characters discover secrets that could bring peace to the galaxy. . . . or set it on fire.

Tightly writing, with characters you really get to know and cheer for, even as you learn their secrets, and everyone is tied to a war crime that happened in the past. A great read, and the follow-up, Fleet of Knives, has moved several places up on my to-read pile.

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The book I'm working on is a grand political space opera drawn heavily from the life of Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Better known to history as Napoleon III. He's an interesting guy, in a tragically doomed sort of way, and his career arc is ripe for the plucking.

So I'm doing this book in bits and pieces. I'm setting up a Scrivener file, doing my research, and setting up my major plot points. I know it's a mess of cliches, but here's the thing. I want to write a novel. I will self-publish it through Amazon or something, and when I hold it in my hands I will treasure it. If I end selling 15 copies to friends and family, so be it. I'm doing this so I can stand up and say that I write science-fiction.

Behind the cut is a pivotal scene. Alois Rohr, nephew of the deposed (and now deceased) Terran Emperor, is trying to start a coup. His agents have been hard at work subverting the command structure of the 3rd Fleet, making sure Rohrists hold the major commands. Alois has hired a squadron of mercenary destroyers to carry him to where the bulk of the 3rd fleet is stationed . . .

( Read more... )

I really want honest feedback. Grammer, style, anyrthing you got; good or bad.

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Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If Robert Heinlein had been a grunt, he would have written this book. Very much in the style of the Grand Master, we follow out hero from his life in a dangerous public-housing warren, through Basic and onwards into his career. Much like in Starship Troopers, the recruiters are there to warn people off, and Basic training culls prospects vigorously.

During training, the hero falls in love with a fellow trainee and is crushed when she is assigned to the Navy, whereas he gets the Territorial Army, assigned to break shit right here on Earth. After a few rough deployments, he manages to get a transfer to the Navy. Which is when things get interesting . . .

I breezed through this book. It's mostly what I read Starship Troopers for when I was eight: cool Army life and battles. Don't expect long soliloquies on the morality of war or the duties of a soldier. This is Space Opera from the eyes of a grunt. I took a star off because Kloos never takes the time to show the banality of military life, cleaning a latrine, or, later in the book, manning a station where nothing happens for long hours. At one point our hero is assigned to a post that normally takes two people under the supervision of an NCO, yet there's never an "oh, I'm fucked" moment.

A lot of fun, and well worth reading. I just wish Kloos had taken a few pages to make his military less sterile.

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Douglas Berry

October 2023

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Page Summary

Gaunt's Ghosts - The Victory, Volume 1, my review
A Desolation Called Peace - My review
Getting back on the writing horse
We finally got the next Revelation Space book, and. . . well.
Now I just need to pre-order the fourth book. . .
Space!. . . Repo Beings? My review of Starship Repo
It's hard to swig rum with your suit sealed. Bone Silence, my review.
Ark! A novle approaches!
A Memory Called Empire, my review.
In The Black - my review
As usual, I am inspired by history.
Bulldogs! In! Space!
Light of Impossible Stars - my review
I'm catching up on my reading.
Embers of War - My review.
Our Space Opera Goes Rolling Along . . .
Our Space Opera goes rolling along!

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Page generated Jan. 7th, 2026 06:52 pm

Douglas E. Berry

Are we getting ugly or are we getting old?

Entries tagged with space opera

Gaunt's Ghosts - The Victory, Volume 1, my review

A Desolation Called Peace - My review

Getting back on the writing horse

We finally got the next Revelation Space book, and. . . well.

Now I just need to pre-order the fourth book. . .

Space!. . . Repo Beings? My review of Starship Repo

It's hard to swig rum with your suit sealed. Bone Silence, my review.

Ark! A novle approaches!

A Memory Called Empire, my review.

In The Black - my review

As usual, I am inspired by history.

Bulldogs! In! Space!

Light of Impossible Stars - my review

I'm catching up on my reading.

Embers of War - My review.

Our Space Opera Goes Rolling Along . . .

Our Space Opera goes rolling along!