BOOK REVIEW: Leviathan Wakes, by James S Corey; The Silk Thief, by Claire Buss; Human Starpilot, by F Stephan; and Redshift, by RM Olson

Welcome to the latest round of reviews! And this should be the first of two review write-ups in short order, with the next one being a number of collections and anthologies I've been reading of later. But first, novels! Time to dive into deep space, and worlds of fantasy. First up, I've been watching The Expanse series for a while now - and thought it was about time to try out the books. So without further ado, it's time to wake the leviathan... 

 

Leviathan Wakes, by James S A Corey

Sometimes you open a book up and you know you're in sure hands right away - and from page one of Leviathan Wakes, you know this is a solid piece of writing. 

It starts with horror, as much as anything else, with Julie Mao on board a doomed spaceship trying to find a way to survive, then switches to the two main protagonists as they try to figure out what became of her and the consequences of what happened. 

One of those is Jim Holden, a man who has tumbled down the ranks of society to become an officer on board an ice hauler, only to find captaincy thrust upon him in the aftermath of finding a derelict ship. The other is Joe Miller, a detective and drunk treated as a joke by his colleagues and given the job of finding Julie Mao by his boss. 

What happens will bring the two together as the solar system spirals to war around them - and at the heart of it all, something is ready to change the universe forever, something alien. 

It's interesting to come at this from watching the show to see the differences. One of the best characters from the show, Chrisjen Avasarala, the bull-headed Earth diplomat, is completely absent here, which explains why for much of the first season of the show she was so peripheral to the story. There are other differences too - the character of Shed Garvey, the ship medic of sorts, was fleshed out better in the show, as is the character of Amos Burton, who is a bit one-note in the book but given greater depth in the series thanks to the great Wes Chatham. On the other hand, both Holden and Miller hold up better in the book than the show, given the greater focus on them as protagonists. Miller, especially, great in the show, is a messy person with a remarkable talent for piecing things together, not all at once but worrying at each problem like a determined terrier until he gets there. 

Reading it also feels like you could be reading something that has sprung from a roleplaying campaign. Each different character feels like they could have been created from a book of classes and skill sets. 

It's a real treat of a book to read, and there's always something potentially world-ending going on, setting the stakes high and motoring through to the finale. You can absolutely see why this became the success that it is, and it's a fabulous introduction to characters you will love, and sometimes hate in equal measure. 

I read book one just as a curiosity to compare with the show - but I'm hooked, and I'll be back. 

AI Rating: 5/5

Leviathan Wakes is available here on Amazon.

The Silk Thief, by Claire Buss

This is a welcome return to Roshaven from author Claire Buss - a series that started out with The Rose Thief. 

Picking up after the events of the first book, the Emperor has a dilemma, she has to pick a name. Fourteen apparently will not suffice for the people. Worse, she also has to pick a husband. And it would be awfully nice if she could get people to call her Empress as well. 

She turns for help to those who came to her aid in the first book - the Thief Catcher Ned Spinks and his companion Jenni the Sprite. But with Ned beset by a Nightmare - not just a bad dream but a supernatural haunting - and Jenni having lost her magic as she goes through her coming of age, they might not be the best people to help. Worse, it might just cost Fourteen the kingdom...

Mixing wit with wisdom, there is a real Pratchett feel to much of this. It's laugh out loud funny in places while spiking in thoughts about sexism and social inequality along the way, all without being too heavy handed. There's also love. Y'know, the kind that feels real, not the sort that feels levered into the story just for a bit of romance. You find yourself rooting for characters even when they don't know themselves what they really want.

I particularly love the character of Jenni the sprite, a Cockney accented grump of a fairy far from afraid of saying the impolite but necessary thing. 

It's a warm, witty, wonderful delight of a tale, and I heartily recommend it. It's better even than the first book I would say, and that's a rare treat in itself. 

AI Rating: 5/5

The Silk Thief is available here on Amazon - and book three, The Bone Thief, is out today.

Human Starpilot, by F Stephan

There's a smashing idea at the heart of Human Starpilot. Humanity has encountered aliens, and it might just be the thing that saves an Earth facing the collapse of its ecology. Earth has something of its own that the aliens want - pilots. 

Earth suddenly finds itself trying to find a place in an alliance that depends on technology far more ancient than those using it, and its bargaining chips will be the humans trying to earn a place alongside other species as pilots of these vessels. 

The story itself follows Brian and his fellow cadets as they try to master the art of piloting, something that requires the use of nanotechnology injected into their systems - something that can fundamentally change the pilots themselves, or even kill them. 

In a lot of ways, we're in the same kind of territory here as Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, and there's something of the same sense of exploring the morality behind the use of technology too, with the lives of the pilots little more than a way of Earth getting what it wants - and the pilots keenly aware that the price of failure if they don't master this alien technology could be the catastrophic failure of Earth's ecosystem. 

So far, so good - but there is a but. I'm not certain, but it feels as if this book is written in the author's second language. Credit for that, they do a lot better than I would, and that brings with it too some good things in a different approach - but it really needed a tighter edit. There are a lot of incorrect word choices and typos, but it could also have done with better editing overall to make the story slimmer and smoother. Some of the errors are glaring, such as when a list of five trade rules is presented and it only lists four. The title itself I'm not 100% sure of - on my version of the book it's Human Starpilot, while on Goodreads it's got an extra s on the end as in the picture above. 

A lot of the ideas in the book are interesting, but the wording makes it harder to get your head around some of them, while a lot is left hanging over to be resolved in sequels. 

All told, I generally liked it, but would advise readers to take a look at the "Look Inside" function in online shops before they take the plunge. If you can live with the occasional incorrect word choice or typos here and there, go right ahead. For me, though, it really needed a solid edit to make the story shine. 

AI Rating: 3/5

Human Starpilot is available here on Amazon.

Redshift, by RM Olson

Soaring spaceships, inexplicable portals, betrayal, assassins and more - space opera ahoy!

Redshift is the first book in the Singularity series - and it brings together a motley crew of adventurers as the world changes in an instant with the appearance of a mysterious portal. More than that, something that emerges from the portal gives hope of a cure to a defect that has long been plaguing humanity, and a chance of survival for those affected by it. 

Into this are plunged a genius scientist along with his best friend, a top politician who might find herself being outmanoeuvred by a rival, and the galaxy's best assassin trying to escape a government bloodhound on her trail. 

The portal brings them all together - in one way or another - but this book is more about the troubles on the way, with murder attempts, sabotage and mutiny all on the agenda. 

This is a rollicking ride of a book. It's perfect for those who want to binge read through a series (more books on the way), with characters that are intriguing and a soap opera tale to plunge into. If it's hard sci-fi you're after, this isn't it, but nor does it aim to be. Instead it's in the vein of Firefly or Dark Matter. 

Another positive to mention is the use of non-binary characters and a range of relationships, all as part of a universe that doesn't make that a big deal but just ordinary life. 

There's a lot to love in this book, and a lot left to explore in future episodes. I'm giving it four stars, because I perhaps wanted a bit more of what is left over in this book instead, which focuses more on the characters and less on the situation that brought them together. But as a starting point, it's a good read. 

AI Rating: 4/5

Redshift is available here on Amazon

Meet the author: Amy DuBoff, creator of the Cadicle series

Amy DuBoff is a speculative fiction author and the creator of the Cadicle series. She stopped by the blog to chat about her work – with the latest in the series, volume five, publishing today. 

Hi Amy, and welcome to the blog, and congratulations on the new book. How are you feeling about the launch right now? Nervous or in the hey, I've done all this before stage and feeling relaxed?

Hi! Thanks for having me over to chat with you.

I have to say, the nerves aren’t too bad this time around. With four previous books, I’ve had an opportunity to refine my book finalization and launch process so it definitely went smoother this time. I’m really pleased with how the book turned out, so I’m mostly just excited to see some reviews come in. I hope readers enjoy the story!

The Cadicle series runs to seven books – of which this new volume is the fifth - was it always envisioned to be that the series would run to that length when you started out?

Oh, goodness no! When I first started scoping out the story, I planned on it being a two-part novel: Part 1 with Wil as a teenager (what is essentially now Volume 2, “Veil of Reality”) and Part 2 being the war (what is now Volume 5, “Crossroads of Fate”). That notion got tossed out pretty quickly, and it evolved into a trilogy. Once I started writing, I realized that wasn’t going to work, either, so Book 1 of the trilogy became Cadicle Volumes 1, 2, and 3, Book 2 became Volumes 3 and 4, and Book 3 became Volumes 6 and 7. Even with those significant augmentations, there are still some time gaps that readers have asked me about. So, I’ll likely add some little novellas later on to bridge some of those timespans, but I want to release the core seven volumes first.

Setting up a whole grand series is ambitious from starting out – but this has been brewing for years, I understand. How long has this saga been running around your head – can you remember what kickstarted it?

I first starting writing the series when I was eleven years old (so, almost nineteen years ago), but the early concepts were forming for a year or two before that. I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but the very, very, very early seeds of the series evolved out of my profound dissatisfaction over the end of the 1990s TV show “Sliders”. I always thought that Quinn and Wade should have ended up together, and that’s where the characters of Cris and Kate started. What is now the Tararian Select Service (TSS) began as the Dimensional Secret Service (DSS), and the Bakzen were initially inspired by the Kromaggs… Yeah, I was a pre-teen.

Anyway, those early concepts changed over the years as I was exposed to other things. “Ender’s Game” and “Dune” were big influences, and “The Matrix” definitely influenced the aesthetic of the TSS Agent uniform. The TSS command structure was somewhat inspired by the Aes Sedai from “The Wheel of Time”, though it could be argued that everything traces back to the Bene Gesserit. It’s difficult to say where the telekinetic abilities in my series came from—it was probably early exposure to “Star Wars”, but honestly, I just think telekinesis is awesome.

Ahhh, Quinn and Wade, unrequited love! The opening of book one – which is free on Amazon, if I remember rightly – very much reminded me of Dune, with Paul Atreides getting his training early on ahead of the perils he would later face. Was that kind of grand space epic in your thinking when you came to creating Cadicle?

Yes! The opening to “Architects of Destiny” is an intentional homage to that scene between Paul and Gurney. I wanted to set that “classic Golden Age” sci-fi tone right from the start. The Cadicle series is straight-up galactic empire space opera, so I wanted readers to expect character-driven story with touches of political intrigue, space battles, and romance right from the get-go.

Your lead character is Cris Sietinen – tell us a little about him and his evolution in bringing him to life for your story.

Cris was born into an affluent life where everything was handed to him. In many ways, he’s completely spoiled. Except, money and education are no substitute for a loving, accepting family. Cris had an older brother who died before he was born, which devastated his parents. As a result, Cris grew up feeling like an unwanted replacement heir to the family legacy, so he found himself looking beyond the familial norm of a life in the Dynasty’s navigation company. Cris recognizes he will never be able to pursue his innate telekinetic abilities on Tararia, so he decides to set out on his own to find an instructor, with the chance to join the TSS being the real prize.

What Cris doesn’t realize at the time he leaves home is that he is the penultimate result of a generations-long plan orchestrated by the Priesthood, a quasi-governmental agency overseeing affairs for the Taran empire. When Cris does join the TSS, it’s just the beginning of his role in a much bigger conflict that will ultimately change the course of Taran civilization.

Since this story spans multiple generations, Cris is sixteen at the beginning of the Cadicle series, but he’s middle-age for most of it. Though it’s not all detailed in the books, Cris is shaped by his life experiences. He’s somewhat volatile and self-centered in Volume 1, but he matures into a level-headed leader with an understanding of his unique place as both a dynastic heir and a high-ranking TSS official. As a father himself, he has the opportunity to provide the love and support he never received as an adolescent. Exploring those interwoven dynamics of father, politician, and military leader has been a fun challenge for me.

The story itself spans many years over the different books – is there a central theme that binds them together, what is at the core of the tale for you?

There are two main themes carried throughout the books. The first is the importance of interpersonal bonds—that even when faced with great adversity, a committed team can accomplish much more than the sum of its parts. The second theme is the balance of duty and morality—knowing what must be done, but not agreeing with the driving forces or the methods of carrying out the task at hand. Both of these themes have deep-rooted psychological implications. I wanted to not just tell a typical military sci-fi tale full of space battles, but rather delve into the emotional impacts of those experiences and how the pressure of leadership can change a person’s outlook. The central conflicts are not clearly defined good versus evil, but rather dabble in the shades of gray in between.

Now the new book leads us straight into full-on war in the universe – is this where the gloves come off? What should readers expect?

I colloquially refer to this as the “battle book”, haha! This book is definitely where everything gets laid on the line on both sides—TSS versus Bakzen, with nothing held back. But, in many ways, it’s also Wil versus Tek pitted against each other in a much more personal conflict that’s been brewing for a decade. Readers can expect some large-scale space battles, weaponized telekinesis, and an exploration of the darker side of war. This book will resolve the conflict with the Bakzen that’s been building for the past four volumes, but there’s still much more of the story left to tell.

You've published the series at quite a rate – book two, for example, was June last year and here we are at book five. How do you approach writing the books – do you set the deadline dates and work to reach them or write the book then pick the date?

I do try to set deadlines for myself. It’s been thrilling to have readers write me asking when the next book is coming out, so that’s been a great motivational factor. I have typically thrown out a general timeframe for each of the recent releases (such as Q3 2016 for Volume 5), and once I have about 85% of a first draft done, I’ll get a target date. I don’t lock in the date until I get my first round of beta reader feedback, though, just in case I need to do some major reworking. I want to make sure I release a polished final product, so I am sure to leave ample time for proper editing and proofreading.

Is there a particular habit or discipline that you've established for your writing process? How does your writing day shape up?

I still have a full-time day job for the time being, so much of my writing time comes during my commute on the bus (thanks Google Docs!) or during evenings and weekends. When I’m in active “writing mode” on a book, I try to write 1,000 to 1,500 words per day on average. However, sometimes that shapes up to be 3,000 one day and zero another. I tend to think of my books in terms of scenes, so an easier way for me to look at it is “I want to finish these five scenes by the end of the week.”

The books have been very well received so far – lots of reviews I see on Amazon! How do you find the marketing process and, if you've got one tip that you would pass on to yourself from a few years ago, what would it be?

The biggest thing I would have done differently is had more books ready to go before I published the first. (1) I feel like my writing has gotten better with each book, and (2) it’s difficult to maintain momentum in the market when only releasing one book every four to six months.

I probably would have had the first four ready to go rather than only the first two, and also would have told myself to not worry about marketing until the third book was out. Marketing one standalone title is difficult because there’s no follow-up action for readers if they like your work. Have patience, send out lots of review copies of the first two books, and then do heave promotion of Book 1 to correspond with the Book 3 release. I’ve learned a lot in the past year and a half, and I think I’ll be able to approach my next series in a more organized fashion. In the interim, I’m thrilled to have readers enjoying this little pet project of mine!

Outside of the Cadicle series, do you have any writing in progress or published?

In terms of completed projects, I recently had a short story published in the “Crisis and Conflicts” anthology by NewCon Press, which was released in July. My next project will be sort of in the LitRPG vein with a space fantasy theme. Expect more about that in 2017 :-D.

I understand you're quite the fan of strategy board games – a love I share, I hasten to add, though I've still to find time to quite finish the full game of Empires In Arms, Avalon Hill's majestic Napoleonic wars game! What are your strategy games of choice?

Being a space opera writer, I have a soft spot for Twilight Imperium. I’m also a big fan of Arkham Horror and Shadows Over Camelot. For less “we’re going to play one game for the next five to ten hours” get-togethers with friends, I like the deckbuilding games Dominion and Ascension. And, for those times where it’s really not about strategy, I must admit to being a horrible person… because Cards Against Humanity does make for a great party game with the right group.

By day, you work in marketing for an engineering and architecture firm – how do you find the juggling of different roles to accommodate writing?

It’s a challenge. I am lucky to have a very supportive husband who understands when I tell him I’m going into “headphone land” and can’t talk for the next three hours. I’ll set aside some weekends for productive writing time, but otherwise I just try to fit in little bits here and there when I can. The great thing about self-publishing is that I’m my own boss, so I can adjust timelines for releases and promotions to fit within the other things going on in my life.

In terms of your influences, classic science fiction obviously leaps to mind, but who would you say are your touchstones – and is there one in particular? If so, why that one?

“Dune” is probably the single greatest influence, if I had to pick one. The balance of politics, technology, culture, and underlying social commentary is on a writing level I can only aspire to one day achieve myself. However, I take a little something from everything I read and watch. I have the core plot points set, but by this point the story has a life of its own. If I get an idea for a cool new twist or piece of technology, I’ll try to find a way to make it work within the established framework.

In terms of writing style, some readers have compared me to Heinlein (which is very flattering!). I think that’s fitting in many ways, because most of my work is Young Adult friendly, but I try to have an underlying message—something I feel all good sci-fi should have. I want to entertain my readers, but I’d also like them to pause and think.

Are the books available in other formats – audio, for example?

Yes! Right now, you can get all of the books in paperback as well as ebook. Podium Publishing has acquired the audiobook rights to the Cadicle series, but I don’t have a release date yet. I anticipate the first audiobooks being available later this year or early in 2017.

Best of luck with the launch, and we always end with a double question here – what are you reading at the moment and what is your favourite book that you've read in the past year?

While I’m not actively reading anything at the moment, I just recently finished reviewing an ARC of “Children of the Void” by Jack Halls. I recommend it! Beyond that, I honestly haven’t had much time for reading over the past year due to my writing and work schedule. However, I did start the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series by Annie Bellet a few months ago and am very much enjoying the ride. I hope to a lot more reading in 2017!

Many thanks, Amy, and thanks for visiting Altered Instinct!

The latest book in the Cadicle series, Crossroads of Fate, launches on Amazon today - you can get it here. You can find Amy on Twitter here, and find out more about her work on her website, www.amyduboff.com.