Book Review: The Pride of Chanur

When Tully, a fugitive from a spaceship captured by the arrogant, thieving, rodent-like Kif, takes refuge on the Pride of Chanur, a merchant vessel belonging to a clan of the lion-like Hani, Pyanfar Chanur, its captain, gives him shelter, in spite of all the dangers she and her crew will face.

I remember seeing this offered in the science-fiction book club that I was subscribed to in the 80s. For some reason— probably financial as high school me didn't have much money—I never picked it up. So when a local used bookstore went out of business and was selling off their inventory, I snatched it (along with several other books). I wish I hadn't waited so long.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Pyanfur, and I think it's a great idea. Humans are the alien here. When Tully shows up on her ship, she initially mistakes him for an intruder and thus her claws are out. She has no idea if he's a wild animal or not. When he starts writing something in his own blood, it dawns on her and her crew that this naked creature is a sentient being, alone and afraid. Some protective instinct is triggered inside of her, and she orders that he be treated for his wounds. It's a decision that she constantly wrestles with, for it puts her and her crew in danger. The Kif consider Tully to be their property and demand that she return "it" to them. She's no bleeding heart, but it strikes Pyanfur as wrong, and she strives to prove that Tully is sentient and deserves the rights that all sentients of the Compact—a trade agreement among several civilizations—enjoy.

Pyanfar knows that she needs allies. The way home is a long one, and the Kif have faster ships than hers. She's also outnumbered; the Hani are a feudal society and thus not all clans are willing to set aside rivalries when the threat is from another species. Pyanfar has to negotiate with other species, convince some of them not only of Tully's sentience but value as a potential trading partner once proper contact with his homeworld is established.

Communication is as much an obstacle as the Kif gauntlet. Even though Tully is an avid pupil—he realizes that he can't plead his case if no one understands him—it takes some time before he can communicate with the Hani. And even then, there's difficulty. But even among the established species of the Compact, communication is difficult. Different larynx shapes make speaking awkward. Short sentences dominate conversations. There's a lot of repetition. While there are machines to help with the process, Star Trek's universal translator does not exist. Still, when there's money to be made, people try to find a way to communicate.

I really enjoyed this story. I would've liked more world-building, but the way the story unfolds, there's really no time to dwell on that. It's very much a novel where everyone is living in the moment, trying to survive. While I appreciate shining a spotlight on the difficulty of interspecies communication, sometimes it was a bit cumbersome to read, not to mention repetitive when Pyanfar needed to get a point across. But those are just quibbles. It's definitely a classic sci-fi novel worth checking out.

4 stars

\_/
DED

Problems with Draft2Digital

I had every intention to get Gateway To Empire published in other ebook formats besides the Kindle, but those plans have gone awry. Previously, I used Smashwords to publish all of these myriad other ebook formats, but they were purchased by Draft2Digital (D2D). I discovered that they use a different formatting program than Smashwords.

I attempted to get this done in February, but I struggled to get the D2D software to properly format my manuscript. After weeks of frustration, I decided to take a break. Days turned to weeks turned to months. My attempts this month to try again have met with failure.

In the help section FAQ, here's what I found:

If I format my file myself, will it look exactly the same when you convert it?
No. Ebooks are a reflowable format that allows the reader a lot of flexibility in how they consume content. Draft2Digital's automated conversion process will strip out things that force formatting to be one exact way—embedded fonts, extra line breaks, empty pages, footnotes, or anything the system considers unnecessary to the final file.

I'm not trying to do anything fancy. I just want to get paragraphs to align, a particular quote to be indented, and the information pages (ISBN page, Other books by..., etc.) to line up. So I'm at a loss. I guess I'll keep pounding my head against the D2D wall.

The thing is: I really wanted to get all of the ebook formats set up so that when I contact indie book reviewers I can offer them copies in any format they might want. But now, I can't.

If anyone has any suggestions for alternatives to D2D, please let me know in the comments.

\_/
DED

Book Review: Leviathan Falls

An excellent finish.

This is the third book in the final trilogy of trilogies, the last book in the series.

At the beginning of this book Duarte remembers how to remember and is inspired. His protomolecule infused brain is certain that he now knows how humanity can defeat the protomolecule builder killers (PBK). Once he goes missing, Admiral Trejo authorizes Colonel Tanaka (whom we met in Persepolis Rising) to find him at all costs and by any means necessary. A task she takes to with reckless abandon.

Tanaka seemed like a reasonable person back in Persepolis Rising before she was relieved of duty for not being ruthless enough towards the inhabitants of Medina Station. But here, we learn how damaged she is and how ruthless she can be when trying to accomplish her mission.

Meanwhile, the Rocinante crew are busy with managing the underground and trying to find a safe place for Teresa to further her education and hide. And Dr. Elvi Okoye is desperately trying to figure out who the protomolecule builders were and how they perished before the PBK can figure out how to end humanity.

One theme running through the book is the strength of long term relationships. Elvi is running herself ragged and pushing herself, primarily coaxed onward by her all too willing test subject, Cara, to keep going. Her husband, Fayez, is her rock. He's always there, willing to be a sounding board and constantly reminding her that she's a good person. Naomi and Jim are extremely grateful to be back together after Holden's imprisonment. He stands back to watch her run the resistance even though he's been a figurehead for it for decades. Plenty of people view him as the one to watch, but he's the idealist while Naomi is the pragmatist, and the one actually calling the shots. Each loves, respects, and accepts the other for what they are, even if by being true to themselves, it leads to trouble.

Alex and Amos are still with us. Alex has to send stealth messages to his son because of who he is, and he really wants to see him and his grandson. Maybe someday, but he has a responsibility to the family he joined decades ago. Amos carries on in his perpetual even keel state, moreso since the events in Tiamat's Wrath. Teresa still treats him like an uncle and becomes his apprentice as ship's mechanic despite all that happened. She's tired of her old life and desperately hopes for her father to return to his senses. Amos is the one person whom she can count on to treat her as a regular person, not as a princess, heir to the Laconian Empire. And she loves him for it.

There isn't a lot of action here, so it seemed a little slow. The experiments that Elvi runs provide for more cerebral entertainment. There are two action encounters, both involving Tanaka, yet they're enough in their own right as each is bloody and vicious.

About 3/4 of the way in, everything comes together for the final showdown. While it isn't the epic battle of Tiamat's Wrath—the spaceship battles are in the background—the focus is where it needs to be. The challenge is the confrontation with Duarte and the PBK. The resolution makes sense to me. How can humanity deal with a megalomaniac, who's tapped into the power of the protomolecule, and with the PBK, an enemy capable of breaking molecular bonds and voiding everything out of existence?

4.5 stars

\_/
DED

Book Review: Tiamat's Wrath

Wow, that was something!

This is book two in the third and final trilogy of trilogies that compose this series. And it might be difficult to top this one.

The book opens with Avasarala's funeral on Laconia of all places. Holden is still there and gets to talk to a few people—those willing to be seen talking to Duarte's "dancing bear"—about her and how much she'd hate it, which was probably Emperor Duarte's intent.

Except for the Epilogue, the rest of the book is told from the viewpoints of Bobbi, Alex, Naomi, Dr. Elvi Okoye (from Cibola Burn), and Teresa Duarte—yes, the Emperor's daughter. I'll start with her. Teresa is on a slow burn of teenage rebellion. She's growing disillusioned with people, whether they're her classmates or her adult handlers treating her with kid gloves. She loves her father, who is grooming her to be his replacement should anything ever happen to him. She finds solace with her dog and some hermit named Timothy who lives in a cave, calls her "Tiny," and says that she's the angriest person he's ever known.

Elvi has been drafted into the Laconian Navy and goes on exploration missions to the weirdest systems encountered in the gate network. Along the way, she's tasked with gathering as much information about the aliens that killed the protomolecule builders. Duarte has a plan for how to deal with them and has apparently never heard the adage to never poke the bear. He pokes it, of course, and boy oh boy does it get pissed off, hence the book's title.

Meanwhile, Bobbi and Naomi are at odds as to the resistance's strategy. Bobbi wants guerrila warfare and Naomi, who has sneaking around in shipping containers, prefers infiltration (putting their people in key positions) while Alex is caught in the middle. They're still family, but the way each deals with feeling powerless and seemingly hopeless odds, couldn't be any more different. Eventually, one of Bobbi's raids pays off, giving them a weapon they can use to strike back. But the price is so high.

If you've made it this far in the series and love these characters, you shouldn't be disappointed (but 6% are). There are a couple epic battles wherein our heroes depend on cunning to outwit the Laconians. The inside look at the Laconian inner circle from both Teresa's and Elvi's perspectives hammers home just how messed up cults of personality can be, not just the figurehead but the officers whose job it is to carry out the vision.

5 stars

\_/
DED

Gateway to Empire Now Available

Gateway to Empire is now available in print and on the Kindle!

Other ebook formats to come.

Book Review: The Last Emperox

The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems―and billions of people―are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction... and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known.

Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But "control" is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people form impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough.

Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization... or the last emperox to wear the crown?

In my review of the previous novel, The Consuming Fire, I drew a comparison to the original Star Wars trilogy, in that, many (most?) fans/critics consider the middle film, The Empire Strikes Back, the best one. After reading The Consuming Fire, I wrote that it wasn't the typical middle story in a trilogy, but, in fact, it was highly enjoyable, like Empire... Now I'm here to write that it was indeed the best book in the trilogy, also like Empire...

The Last Emperox starts off interesting enough. There's the great hook to lure you in:

The funny thing was, Ghreni Nohamapetan actually saw the surface-to-air missile that slammed into his aircar a second before it hit.

From there, the bad guys scheme, there's another assassination, and then more scheming by the bad guys. Meanwhile, Emperox Grayland and her lover, Marce Claremont, are trying to figure out how to save the billions of inhabitants of the Interdependency while being a cute couple. Kiva Lagos continues to not to have any patience for villains and their incompetent vassals and lets them know in no uncertain terms. And this is how the story goes until a little past halfway when the first surprise plot twist comes along to one of the major characters that puts a wrench into plans. 70% of the way in there's a surprise revelation. And then things just run along until 80% of the way when the bad guys put their evil plan into motion.

The usual elements of this series are still present: witty banter (always with Scalzi), surprise violence that comes out of nowhere, and villains who are really high on themselves and love to talk about their evil plans. There's a lot of talk about data modeling. Maybe too much. Lots of intrigue between ridiculously wealthy people.

The ending left me flat. Did it resolve things? Yes and no. And what didn't get resolved is what was disappointing. It was talked about, but there wasn't a heroic solution found within the allotted space for story. The protagonists took care of one thing in hopes that it would pave the way for the other thing. So, those feels I had at the end of The Consuming Fire weren't there for this one. But at least there weren't any Ewoks.

3.5 stars

\_/
DED

Book Review: Persepolis Rising

This is book one in the third and final trilogy of trilogies that compose this series.

Nearly three decades have passed since Marcos Inaros was defeated. The Belters run the Transport Union, which oversees the traffic between the thirteen hundred worlds of the ring gates. Terraformers from Mars are applying their knowledge to Earth to speed its recovery from environmental damage inflicted by Marcos and his henchmen during the war. So while the worlds of the Sol System are pretty much status quo, technologically speaking, the Martian traitors who sold Marcos the ships and weapons he needed to go to war against the Inners have been busy. Led by Duarte, the Laconians (as that's what they refer to themselves now) have been playing around with the protomolecule, plugging into an abandoned shipyard and seeing what else it can do.

Apparently, a lot.

Duarte decides that now is the time to unite humanity under his rule. By force, if necessary. And of course it's necessary. Humans just don't abdicate to someone claiming to be superior; they need proof. And the Laconians do just that.

It's much like 18th century warships going up against an Iowa class battleship.

Holden and Naomi were going to retire, but that's been put on hold. They and the rest of the Rocinante crew join some OPA vets and form an underground resistance on Medina Station. Meanwhile the navies of Earth, Mars, and the Transport Union prepare to defend Sol System from the Laconian warship. And how these two fronts play out make up the rest of the novel.

We see how Drummer, who's running the Transport Union, deals with the Laconian incursion. While interstellar travel through the ring gates takes place in the blink of an eye, in-system travel is still painfully slow, like watching an army march across Europe. She's constantly looking for weak points in this vessel. Things can't be this bad, right? Right?

And on Medina Station, it's life during the occupation with echoes from WWII, complete with puppet rulers, propaganda, infiltrators and traitors, and military checkpoints. To top it off, there's a military governor who's in over his head but doesn't want anyone else to know, so he errs on the draconian side.

It's bleak. All of our protagonists feel powerless, trying to do their part to confound the enemy and find their weak points so that they can exploit them. Everyone deals with the situation in their own way. Amos even gets a chapter, so that we can see how he deals with this in his emotionally damaged way.

In terms of the protomolecule, the first trilogy dealt with its discovery and seeing the power that it could unleash. The second trilogy was a power struggle over who would possess it while the realization came that someone exterminated its creators. In this last trilogy, with the protomolecule's powers unleashed, it is certain that whoever killed its creators will awaken and punish those who use its power now. Definitely curious to see how that plays out.

4 stars

\_/
DED