I spotted Dog Aliens #1: Raffle’s Name by Cherise Kelley on a Book Barbarian promo, and with my love of all things animal and sci-fi, how could I turn it down?
In Dog Aliens, Clem is not a dog, but rather a Kaxian, an alien race that looks exactly like Earth dogs and is living on earth to mine for Jex. Jex is a mineral that humans don’t need but is intensely important to the Kaxian – and to the Niques, another race of dog aliens who will do anything in their power to stop the Kaxian from getting the Jex.
This sounds like a setup for an epic animal story via Erin Hunter’s Warriors or Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole, but really it’s the tale of Clem as he goes on various little adventures, from finding a new family once he’s abandoned by his original owner, escaping from his new careless owner, trying to get adopted from a shelter, fending off pesky cats and Niques – and figuring out his strange new ability to influence minds by projecting “mind movies” onto them.
The story lacks direction because of this episodic structure, but I doubt this will matter for its target audience, which is young middle schoolers and people who just love to read about dogs. For those readers, it’s fun to see earthly dog habits explained in Kaxian terms: Dogs dig all the time because they’re mining for Jex; they eat Jex to carry it, poop it to deliver it, and eat it again to carry it further if needs be. Not all of the content has earth dog parallels, though: Kaxians, for example, have multiple lives (as cats are reputed to, not dogs), and the book never establishes why exactly Jex is so important.
This may detract from the enjoyment of picky readers (Personally, I wanted more details about nearly all nontraditional elements of the story). Others who are looking for a quick, clean read, though, will enjoy it. The book is clear from the beginning that it’s a gentle read, with page one clearly stating that no dogs die, and in general it’s pretty tame, though there is one scene where a bad owner threatens to hit a dog with a frying pan and another wherein a dog in a shelter hopes that it won’t send him to his next life (i.e. implying he’s in a kill shelter).
Ultimately, it’s a quick, fun read for fans of talking animal adventures.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Science Fiction
EXCITING NEWS involving Jacob, David Weber, and a NEW BOOK!
I have a funny Liberty Con story: My fellow authors and I were gathering for our Sunday panel last summer, proudly displaying our books so everyone could see what we’d written. Suddenly the author next to me sees The Wizard’s Way. His eyes go wide and starry (I may have imagined this) and he asks, “You wrote a book with Jacob Holo? Is that the same Jacob Holo that’s writing a book with David Weber?”
So now I am mildly famous by association by association, which is funny. But not actually the point of this story.
The point of this story is that Jacob indeed WROTE A NOVEL WITH DAVID FREAKING DADDY OF HONOR HARRINGTON, CREATOR OF SAFEHOLD WEBER.
ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhFzPU6lj3P/
By this point, it would be more correct to say that David and Jacob just signed a contract for the novel with Baen Books and are working on the final draft, so it will be happening later rather than sooner.
Until then, I imagine you probably want to know more about this mysterious book.
Once upon a time, Jacob told me he’d never write a time travel novel. Well, when David Weber asks you if you want to write a time travel novel with him, you change your mind. Unfortunately, we can’t reveal more than that until closer to the release, but rest assured, it’s a novel in which lots of things explode because, hello, look at the authors.
We don’t have a projected release date yet, but a perfect way to keep up with the book’s progress is to join our mailing list. More news of this exciting project will reach you as soon as we have it!
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi – Movie Review
SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE! SPOILER SPACE!
SPOILERS AHEAD.
YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
H.P. is a pretty casual Star Wars fan. Which is to say, she enjoyed the original three, tolerates the prequels, loves the porgs even if she wonders what they taste like, and her most pressing fan question is “WHYYYY hasn’t the Star Wars Christmas Special been re-released yet?”
Jacob is not. Which is to say, his first pieces of writing were Star Wars fanfic. He has a level of reverence for the Empire that would give Kylo Ren goosebumps. He decorated the Holo dining room with Imperial Fleet propaganda. The Holo dining room table is frequently covered with not dinner, but Imperial Star Wars Armada miniatures, their cards all arranged in the plotting of his next devastating fleet. His most pressing fan question is “WHYYYY does the First Order even exist?”
All this to say, we covered both target audiences that The Last Jedi aimed to please.
Which is to say, when a fan who wants to see a Christmas Special release is disappointed by your movie, you’ve done something wrong.
Which is to say, when a fan whose dining room is a mini Star Wars shrine erupts into an angry rant that ends in impassioned manly fanboy tears at your movie, you’ve done something wrong.
(Seriously, guys, you missed out on some potential Internet gold last week.
Jacob’s still so angry at the movie that H.P. had to write this review.
Also seriously, f*** the First Order.)
To be fair, The Last Jedi is not a bad sci-fi movie. It’s not even a disappointing sci-fi movie. It is, however, an intensely disappointing Star Wars movie. Star Wars is as looming a behemoth in the fandom world as Disney is in the moviemaking world, and both are at their height right now. Given this situation, and its great if derivative trailer, one would expect The Last Jedi to be a perfect marriage of everything fans love about Star Wars and the massive resources Disney can devote to a project of that scale.
Of the considerable resources Disney did fling at this movie, none of them were in the writing department, which is where every single piece of this movie fails.
There are plenty of good moments in The Last Jedi – most of its humor is laugh-out-loud (even if it approaches being too goofy), and the art direction is stellar, especially in the climax – but a movie needs more than a string of unconnected moments to pull it together.
The plot, simply put, is terrible. Its most glaring flaw is the pacing. Most of the film comes down to the Resistance fleet, low on fuel and unable to jump to hyperspace, slowly puttering just out of reach of the pursuing First Order’s cannons. This is literally the opposite of the exciting space battles one expects of Star Wars. Switch to Rey in her quest to recruit Luke Skywalker to the Resistance cause, and we have more waiting – first for Luke to be something other than a crotchety old man who has no time for Rey, then for him to decide to train Rey, then take it back when her power scares him. Switch to the First Order, where Kylo Ren has fallen from grace and struggles with his own deep internal conflict – which could be interesting, but is only expressed through strange Force conversations that he’s able to hold with Rey (any advancements made in which are completely negated by a late-movie twist).
I honestly do not understand how anyone could read this slow-paced mess and decide to throw millions of dollars of funding behind it.
Even worse, though, is the way the movie handles its characters. For all its flaws, The Force Awakens at least set up some interesting characters and relationships – Finn and Poe and their frequent Need of Pilot, Rey and her mysterious backstory, Kylo Ren and all his issues. The Last Jedi explores none of that. In fact, it separates Finn from Poe, reducing Finn to a coward who starts the movie by trying to desert (despite being able to go toe-to-toe with Kylo Ren in the previous movie) and ends up roped into an off-ship side quest trying to hide that he was deserting. Poe, meanwhile, is back on the Resistance cruiser being a loose cannon and generally not being a pilot (except for the movie’s opening scene). Rey spends so much time trying to win Luke that when he finally starts training her, it’s a relief, not a joy, and we don’t learn any more about her than we’d already guessed, even if we do get some neat, weird metaphysical scenes out of it. Of the new trilogy characters, Kylo Ren’s arc had the most potential for development—and did have several exciting “Ooo!” moments—but his considerable internal conflict doesn’t lead him anywhere new or interesting by the end.
Supreme Leader Snoke and Captain Phasma get the worst of it, though. Captain Phasma, at least among fan expectations, has been built up to be an imposing antagonist as cool as her armor. I forgave The Force Awakens for not cashing in on that because, after all, there were two more movies coming at that point, but in The Last Jedi, all Captain Phasma does is botch an execution, fight once, and then fall into a flame pit. Snoke’s identity and ultimate plan was another such highly-anticipated reveal, only to be revealed as…nothing. The only things we learn about him are that he is, in fact, not as giant as his holograms suggest and that he has really snappy taste in bathrobes. He dies without any meaningful bits of his mystery being solved, in the most obnoxious tease-without-a-payoff of the entire movie.
I feel you, Rey.
Again, I simply cannot understand why someone greenlit a script that solved none of the mysteries fans were clamoring to see solved. (We do learn the secret of who Rey’s parents are, and it is unexpected, but it also comes from an untrustworthy source, so who knows if that’s the actual truth?)
Now—ONLY NOW—do we come to the flaws that drove Jacob to absolute nerdrage on the way home from the theatre.
As an avid Armada nerd, Jacob knows his Star Wars military strategy. Whoever created the military circumstances of The Last Jedi does not, and does it hard. The First Order and Resistance are two complete disasters of military planning, and it’s evident from the very first scene.
In it, the First Order hypers in to take out a Resistance base, armed with several star destroyers and a dreadnought, which is basically a bigger, angrier star destroyer with nice guns…and apparently no shields. And no combat space patrol to escort it. Only after Poe—just Poe—flies in on his sassy X-wing and starts taking out cannons does the leadership think it prudent to sent out some TIE fighters to maybe wreck him. But oops, they’re too late; he’s done his job, which is apparently to distract the entire First Order fleet so that five big-ass bombers can appear out of nowhere and advance with excruciatingly slow speed toward the unshielded dreadnought.
Logical problems run rampant here: If the bombers are that slow, how could the First Order not notice them coming in the first place? And if they hypered in, why not hyper in on top of the dreadnought and drop their load there? But wait, you might say! “Drop their load? They’re in space! What gravity are they expecting to pull these bombs into free fall?” Well, The Last Jedi hears your question and answers…actually nope. It doesn’t. But the scene at least gives us some fun Poe being Poe and a touching self-sacrifice (not Poe), so there’s that.
Proceed to the main plot, during which the Resistance fleet is forced to slowly motor away from the ever-patient First Order, and you encounter the frustrating problem of “THE RESISTANCE IS TRAVELING IN A SLOW, STRAIGHT LINE, AND THE FIRST ORDER HAS HYPERSPACE CAPABILITIES. WHY NOT HYPER SOME STAR DESTROYERS OUT IN FRONT OF THE RESISTANCE FLEET AND WIPE THEM OUT IN A SECOND OR JUST SWARM THEM WITH TIE FIGHTERS instead of following them slowly and politely through space I swear is General Hux in the back playing Angry Porgs when he’s not on screen?
It’s not like he’s a competent general, anyway; otherwise he might have realized that the First Order—which nearly controls the entire galaxy—vs. the last 400 Resistance fighters is not a war. It’s an itch, a skirmish at most. A single star destroyer carries more personnel than remains in the entire Resistance (70,000 to be precise)! The scale of this conflict is so unbelievably one-sided that I can’t even fathom how these 400 fighters have managed to evade the First Order in the first place, especially as easily as they’re picked off in this movie, and especially since they’re traveling together in one convenient package. The only explanation I can come up with is that they’re protected by the sheer badassery of Carrie Fisher, which given the logic of this movie, is as reasonable as anything else.
Proceed to the next phase of the plot, where a forgotten, uncharted Rebel base randomly shows up to give the Resistance a big ol’ dose of Hope, and the Resistance decides to evacuate its doomed cruiser to make for the base. In transports that don’t have hyperdrives, even though EVERY Resistance ship has hyperdrives. (On that point, why all head to the base to begin with? Why not scatter and force the First Order to chase more than one target?) That’s another disaster of strategy, but worse is what the movie could have done with this scene, compared to what the movie actually did.
Early in the movie, Princess Leia is knocked out of commission, the rest of the leadership is blown to bits, and so a new character whom I’ve never heard of but is presumably a great leader steps in to take her place. I can’t remember her name, so I’m going to call her Effie Trinket, because she looks like her and has about as much substance…but still gets a heroic death when she decides to stay with the cruiser and provide a distraction…in the form of turning the cruiser toward the First Order and hypering through the whole fleet (more on that later. UGH SO MUCH MORE). Effie isn’t developed. We’re supposed to feel sad at her sacrifice, but we don’t, because we as viewers don’t know her. You know who could have gotten a deservingly heroic death out of that scene? PRINCESS F*****G LEIA. Or even Admiral Ackbar, going down on his iconic Mon Calamari ship. Not some invented one-shot who does nothing more than be a pretty purple piece of cardboard with the apparent ability to break the laws of even Star Wars physics.
Which brings up another great, frustrating flaw. In the very first Star Wars movie (okay, fourth by modern chronology), it’s clearly established that if a hyperdrive detects any obstacles in its path, it sits down like a finicky two-year-old and goes NOPE until its path looks perfect again. It doesn’t have any safeties to be deactivated. It just DOESN’T. And it certainly doesn’t hyper through an entire space fleet.
At least, it didn’t. But here, what makes for a superficially badass scene and sacrifice ultimately rips the world of Star Wars physics apart (and there wasn’t much to begin with). If it’s now possible to hyper through things, why not make hyperdrive-equipped missiles? In fact, why not just strap hyperdrives to anvils if that’s all it takes to wreck a star destroyer? That small suggestion alone completely changes the face of warfare in the Star Wars universe and brings up the all-encompassing flaw in The Last Jedi:
If the movie isn’t going to care about its own lore, why should I?
That is ultimately what sucks the magic out of The Last Jedi.
I can enjoy even a mediocre plot if the world sets and respects its own rules. Once a world breaks its rules for the convenience of its plot, I’m done, and unfortunately, The Last Jedi is a thorough world-breaker.
The film doesn’t even do its fan-service well. In the climax on the Rebel base, it misses a perfect opportunity to send the heroes out in classic X-wings and Y-wings, but instead sends them out in rickety space jalopies that don’t even have a particularly interesting design.
Mercifully, The Last Jedi does have one redeeming quality.
About the only thing it handled well was Luke Skywalker’s personal arc, which sees him through a hard, emotional transformation and drags him through a spiritual gauntlet before launching him out to a truly fitting end. The final battle of the movie has some logical flaws (in terms of military strategy, because of course), but beyond those it’s the stuff Star Wars dreams are made of. Visually, it’s damn beautiful, and emotionally it hits all the notes that the rest of the movie should have hit.
In retrospect, I probably should have cried at the end, and am actually tearing up a bit right now thinking about how well-done it was. But when it happened in the theater, I was so pissed at the rest of the movie that I was just ready for it to be over, which is something neither I, nor Jacob, ever thought we’d say about a Star Wars movie.
Except for its isolated high points, The Last Jedi is an expensive, flashy, unmitigated disaster that might even be on par with Episode III.
But hey, at least it gave us the porgs.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Valiant Dust – Book Review
When David Weber puts a book in your hands and tells you to read it, you do, and so here is my book report on my recent ARC of Valiant Dust by Richard Baker.
In Valiant Dust, Sikander Singh North is an aristocrat-turned-soldier, off to begin his first mission on the Aquilan Commonwealth starship CSS Hector. Sikander himself is not wholly Aquilan; rather, he is from Kashmir, a colonial possession of Aquila that, while economically valuable, does not yet have the technology to construct its own fleet of interstellar warships, and so he serves there to learn how he might better serve his home. As he does so, though, he’s in for a bumpy ride. For CSS Hector has been sent to the planet of Gadira II, where tensions between the ruling sultanate and the rebel caidists have long been mounting on the planet, and where forces that aren’t supposed to be there have suddenly appeared in orbit…
Valiant Dust is easily one of the best pieces of military sci-fi I’ve read this year. Its fast pace and its complex, yet efficiently characterized cast make it a fun read, while its streamlined descriptions of far-future ship tech make it accessible. If you’re a reader who has been wanting to try military sci-fi but has been daunted by the overwhelming techno- and military-babble that is so common in the genre, Valiant Dust presents an excellent starting point.
Those praises (and David’s recommendation) aside, I have to admit that the cultures involved were what grabbed my attention most. Sikander hails from an Indian-descended planet, while Gadira II is Arabic-descended and Islamic-influenced. The ruling powers of Gadira are liberal enough to be okay, if uneasy, about a princess taking an active interest in military affairs, while the citizenry is variably conservative – though not, it should be noted, necessarily terroristic, except where the story’s rebellion is concerned. And even then the rebellion is not religiously-based, but rather rooted in citizen concerns that their rulers are making deals with offworld powers that will benefit the elite, not the common people – or that will eventually benefit the offworlders exclusively, leaving Gadira an exploited, ruined planet. The only actual terrorism in the book takes place in Sikander’s past, where he loses much of his family and innocence in a politically-motivated attack. The circumstances surrounding that tragedy – expressed in well-placed flashbacks throughout the book – give Sikander an emotional tie to the aforementioned Gadiran princess (that is, Amira) Ranya Meriem el-Nasir, who lost her parents in a similar manner. (Ranya herself is one of the most engaging characters in the novel. Though a small romance blooms between her and Sikander, it takes a backseat to her whip-smart attention to political details and her consequent involvement in the uprisings that eventually take place. She became one of my favorite characters as soon as she appeared in the book.)
I don’t know enough about the intricacies of Indian or Arabic cultures to comment upon how accurate the depictions are – and really, given that the novel is set so far in the future (implying plenty of time for cultural change) the point is moot. However, given that the vast majority of sci-fi and fantasy involves Western-inspired cultures, the fact that this novel puts non-Western cultures front and center in a respectful, detailed, effortless, timeless way makes it an instant gem. I mention the last detail in particular because while this is a novel made up of currently-contentious puzzle pieces – namely complexities surrounding Islam and capitalist/imperialist exploitation – those pieces are handled in such a way that readers will be able to pick up this book 50+ years from now and still be able to find some meaning in it. It doesn’t try to provide obvious commentary on any of its components, which in turn makes it one of the more accidentally-engaging political reads I’ve ever read.
All that said, though, this book isn’t trying to be an Important Political Book. What it’s trying to be is a hecka fun military sci-fi action book that just happens to have political complexities at its center. The food for thought is there if you look for it, but it’s still a great read even if all you want out of it is explosions.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
An Unproven Concept – Book Review
James Young is another of those authors whose books I bought at LibertyCon years ago and subsequently forgot to read because I tell myself that I’m not going to buy new books until I finish my current pile and, unfortunately, I am a terrible liar. Which results in old books getting hopelessly buried under new books.
An Unproven Concept suffers from an uninspiring title, which is another of the reasons why it sat on my to-read pile for so long. What it should really be titled is “MFing TITANIC IN SPACE!” or some equivalent, because truly, this is a book for people who watched Titanic and thought “You know what this movie needs? Starships and a higher body count.”
An Unproven Concept’s Titanic is a starliner that is the best of its type, but the iceberg on its horizon is the persistent advancement of ship technology, which threatens to obliterate the Titanic’s illustrious place in the echelon of starships. Company executives are breathing down the captain’s neck to keep his ship relevant and insist that a trip into uncharted – and illegal – space might just be the shot in the arm that Czarina Lines needs to stay at the top of the game.
Turns out that technological advancement isn’t the only iceberg in this Titanic’s way. When it makes first contact with not one, but two hostile alien species in this territory, it’ll need all the help it can get to save what remains of its passengers and crew.
Nearby are only two ships – the Constitution, a new, experimental ship that everyone expects to fail, and the Shigure, a dinosaur of a ship with a few surprises hidden up her sleeve (in both cases, the unproven concepts of the title). They’d better make it in time, because in this area of space, they’re the Titanic’s only hope.
An Unproven Concept is an entertaining piece of military sci-fi, especially for readers who are Titanic nerds and who like mounds of detail and numbers mixed in with their action. It isn’t so much a retelling of the Titanic disaster as a “What if the Titanic wrecked in space?” exploration, though it does keep some of the tropes that follow the Titanic story – namely, someone in power over the ship insisting that it go faster or, in this case, be more interesting. I initially found that one repetition frustrating; by this point in the far future, after inevitable centuries of Titanic retellings, the captain of a ship with the most unlucky name in transportation should know to answer any orders of that nature with “LOL u so silly. 😛 ” But on the flip side, it’s an obnoxious company exec doing the insisting, threatening livelihoods until he gets his way, etc., and when it comes down to it, a dumb, arrogant, disastrous exec is not that unbelievable. (Plus readers get to enjoy one of the most satisfying comeuppances in the history of executive idiocy when this character gets his due, so it’s worth it just for that.)
Despite its level of detail, too, it’s also fairly easy to read for even casual military sci-fi readers. Personally, when I encounter ship statistics in books, they sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher in my brain – I don’t read for the math. I read for the KABOOM. – but they’re so structured in this book that you can glance over them and still understand what’s going on around them.
Of course, no military sci-fi book – or disaster book, for that matter – is worth anything if you don’t care for the people fighting and dying, and An Unproven Concept’s characters are believable and sympathetic (except for that one exec, whom I’d call a dick if it wouldn’t be an insult to Richards and manly bits everywhere). Abraham Herrod, captain of the Titanic, is one of the easiest to relate to, as he’s just a guy trying to do a good job but being thwarted at every turn by the higher ups. Marcus Martin is one of the best and most badass; as chief security officer on the Titanic, he’s got an obvious bone to pick with everyone who allowed the ship to go into dangerous space, but until he can pick that bone (and maybe break a few) he’s determined to keep as many alive as he can – even if this sometimes involves letting others die.
See, this is a complex book where characters find themselves in situations where there are no good solutions, just some solutions that are slightly less bad than others. But if that’s what you’ve got to work with, you work with it. (It is a military novel, after all.) It also makes the losses even more catastrophic, for the characters who survive have to live not only with their personal losses, but the question of whether their actions were legitimately the right ones. The novel spends a significant amount of time after the conflict’s resolution wrapping up these emotional ends, which on one side, makes for a slow ending, but on the other, makes the end more relevant. It’s not a “Rah-rah! We beat the aliens!” win, because when it comes to any kind of military conflict, there’s rarely a “Rah-rah!”-style ending. There’s always tragedy among the victory, and An Unproven Concept captures that well. However, at its heart, it does allow itself to have some fun with its situations. I mean, characters don power armor and mech suits more than once, after all, and there’s plenty of tough soldier sass to go around.
My only real complaint about the book is that the aliens’ motives aren’t explored much at all; they’re present pretty much exclusively to wreak the havoc that causes the disaster. I would have liked to learn more about them, especially since two separate civilizations were involved, but then, that’s not the story this book wanted to tell. There are also enough typos to notice, but not enough to distract; the story was engaging enough that they didn’t matter as much to me as they would have in other books.
If you’re into military sci-fi, then, An Unproven Concept is well worth your time.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
H.P. at Liberty Con 30!, Part 1
Whew! Liberty Con 30 ended a week ago, but it’s taken me this long to recover from it – which is a sign of a great con, if I say so myself. (Also a sign that my hotel room had some of the worst soundproofing in the world. To my next door neighbors, congratulations on the child you will inevitably have in nine months.)
Liberty Con in Chattanooga, TN is a unique sci-fi and fantasy convention in that it limits attendance to 700 or so members and nearly half of those members are authors, which means that the fan half has a pretty significant chance of, oh, just running into John Ringo or David Weber or Kevin Hearne or [Insert Other Bestselling Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author Here]. There’s even an event on Sunday (the Kaffeeklatsch) that literally boils down to “Sit Down and Have Coffee With Your Favorite Author.” (I didn’t have coffee with Kevin Hearne, but I totally picked up every Iron Druid Chronicles book I didn’t already own and now have signed copies of EVERYTHING YESSSS.)
The con’s also a smorgasbord of smaller-name-but-equally-awesome authors, like Terry Maggert, whose Banshee I reviewed earlier this year and whose series starters I picked up in the Author’s Alley; Lydia Sherrer, who wrote the other wizard-with-a-talking-animal series at the con – Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus – which I picked up in full; Dave Schroder, who wrote the Xenotech Support series, which I basically picture as “Office Space In Space With More Tech Support” and so of course picked up the first book in that as well; and Edward F. McKeown, whose Maauro Chronicles I started solely because of that cool anime-styled character on the cover DON’T JUDGE ME.
This was also the first con where I had the opportunity to be an active participant as well as an active nerd, so I did my first reading ever with Beth W. Patterson (author of The Wild Harmonic, which is about shapeshifting were musicians. SHAPESHIFTING WERE MUSICIANS, GUYS). I also shared a panel on “YA SF & F Literature – How to Keep The Young Mind’s Attention in the Age of Video” with Michael J. Allen, Taylor S. Hoch, Nan Monroe, and S. Andrew Swann, wherein I mostly said “Yes!” and “I agree!” because it was Sunday at 1 and I was zonked, y’all. I apologize to all who came to that panel to see me, but I promise, find me at any other convention and I will talk your ears off and probably the ears of your neighbor, too, so bring extras.
I also somehow got lured into scoring the final round of the Killer Cutthroat Spades Tournament at 10:30pm on Saturday night, despite only learning how to play Spades three weeks ago, but such is the surreal experience that is Liberty Con.
If you ever get a chance to go to Liberty Con, whether as author or fan, I highly recommend it. It’s that rare convention that feels less like a hyperactive mob, more like a family reunion where everyone is a nerd, some are authors, and some are literally rocket scientists or nuclear physicists – so, the best and smartest family reunion ever.
Also, if all the questions I got about my Author’s Alley display are any indication, I can apparently hook you up with some sweet goods that will make your author table pop at a con – so many questions, in fact, that I promised a blog post compiling all my answers. If you’re one of those inquisitive authors, keep your eyes on our feed. Part 2, or “FAQ: Where’d you get that…?” is coming soon!
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Fortune’s Pawn – Book Review
One of my pals recommended Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Bach by describing it as, and I quote, “WTF science fiction.” She was then able to point to the precise (early) chapter where the WTFery begins, and that was all it took to sell me on this book. (Thanks, Carmanita!)
In Fortune’s Pawn, Devi Morris is the best mercenary in the Blackbirds, but she wants to be more. Her greatest ambition is to join the Devastators, the Sacred King’s own force of high-tech armored badasses, and the fastest way to do that is to survive one year working security on the supposedly cursed ship The Glorious Fool. But as adept a fighter as Devi is, she doesn’t know what’s in store for her…
Fortunately for readers, what’s in store for her is 320 pages of awesome power armor, sassily-named weapons, condescending bird people, killer lizard people, sweet space hippies, a hot dude with a polite accent who also happens to be a cook (and maybe something else), and several pesky mysteries that just won’t leave Devi alone.
Fortune’s Pawn wastes no time with its storytelling. By the end of Chapter One, not only do readers know what Devi’s after, but she’s already on The Glorious Fool, leaving the story to rocket forward at the pace one would expect of a book involving armored mercs. The basic plot is simple: There’s something weird about The Glorious Fool and Devi wants to figure out what it is (while still ensuring her shot at the Devastators). And while the action is spectacular – and reason enough to read this book – the characters are what make the story worth it. Though some get more page time than others, all are interesting – or at least intriguing – to read about, and though not all are explored very deeply, they’re written in such a way that one suspects the author has probably created a detailed backstory she just couldn’t fit in the book.
Devi, of course, is the most lovingly crafted, a capable lady merc whose love for her armor is second only to her love for kicking butts with it, but she’s far from a Michelle Rodriguez stereotype. Her ultimate motivator is her ambition, and while she’s not about to let anything get in the way of achieving it, she’s not so ruthless as to be heartless or single-minded about it to the exclusion of all else. It’s not every action novel that would see its armored merc become pals with her meditative space hippie roommate, nor that would allow the same merc a legit, respectful (i.e. not stupid) romance, but Fortune’s Pawn does.
Devi’s relationship with Rupert, The Glorious Fool‘s cook, is one of the best in the novel. When it comes to love, Devi’s not looking for swoon so much as a hot bod, but she finds that and more in Rupert, sometimes to the detriment of both (even if each wants the other). Theirs is a relationship fraught with will-they-won’t-theys that is made no less complex by the secrets surrounding Rupert himself, which Devi wants to solve and Rupert has no interest in disclosing, even after awesome sex. It’s a mature and balanced romance that, for once, contributes significant entertainment to the story and doesn’t distract from its sci-fi action bits at all.
Fortune’s Pawn is hands-down the most entertaining book I’ve read this year. If you love fast-paced sci-fi action, give it a try. You’re in for an explosive treat.
***
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The Empire of Corpses – Anime Review
In The Empire of Corpses, the dead walk the earth. In this reality, the famous reanimation research conducted by Viktor Frankenstein was not chased away with torches and pitchforks, but rather accepted and expanded to the point where corpse engineering is an accepted field of study and the dead are revived and repurposed for tasks the living would rather not do, from fighting wars to performing menial labor. However, these dead are not nearly as functional as The One perfect revival that Frankenstein was able to produce. Soon after perfecting this One, he disappeared, and his notes with him, leaving corpse engineers to conduct the same research themselves. Thus far they’ve only been able to manage shuffling, shambling reanimations with limited capacity for thought and no semblance of a soul.
John Watson aims to fix that. Obsessed with restoring a soul to his deceased (and reanimated) friend Friday, he accepts a mission from the British Secret Service to find Frankenstein’s original notes. But in the process, he uncovers many darker secrets…
WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS.
When I first heard about The Empire of Corpses, I squealed in fangirlish glee because here was a whirlwind of things I love – Lavish animation! Steampunk! Creepy sci-fi! Anime! – wrapped up in one beautiful burst of a trailer. I mean look at this:
All this to say, I don’t know how you can take a film about steampunk science zombies and make it boring as hell, but this film did it with panache.
That panache is literally the only reason to watch The Empire of Corpses. The mechanical designs in the film, especially the analytical engines and Frankenstein’s book, are wonderfully complex, and the character designs are mostly fun, too, if sometimes distracting:
Literally everything else is a slow-burning mess.
The film had the basis for an interesting world. I really enjoyed how heavily the science relied on Charles Babbage’s analytical engine and variations to make Necroware – corpse technology – work. The very world of the movie also raises several interesting questions: How did people become so cool with the dead walking around and doing their chores? What about the living people that the dead put out of a job? Do the dead have basic human rights? What happens if the dead regain their souls and become sentient? What is the basis of a soul? Entire worlds of moral, economic, and spiritual questions are raised by the simple, wide presence of the reanimated dead.
Unfortunately the movie answers none of them in a satisfying way.
The first third of the movie, though the slowest part, is the best because it’s the part that presents the questions that it actually plans to address – namely those relating to the soul and how to reclaim it. (This is not a movie that is interested in socioeconomic world-building.)
However, the moment an isolated corpse engineer, Alexei Karamazov, kills one of Watson’s traveling companions to make a point about corpse engineering, the movie begins to tumble downhill fast. The deceased Nikolai Krasotkin is a character we’re supposed to like, but haven’t gotten time to know before his death, which is a problem that recurs in this movie. The death itself is also completely stupid and self-righteous. The reveal? In order to create a sentient, at least sort-of-ensouled corpse, one has to first lull and drug a living person, and then skewer their spinal cord with the Necroware so that they die (er, un-die?). Which kind of seems like the opposite of progress.
Nonetheless, Alexei skewers a still-living Nikolai to prove this point to Watson, then driven mad by this knowledge, skewers his own spinal cord with Necroware. Just before he proceeds to tell Watson where Frankenstein’s notes are, and that he must destroy them, all the while dying (or un-dying) all over the poor guy. Because obviously there was no easier way to relay this kind of information. 😐
The last time we see Alexei and Nikolai, they’re reanimated shells of their former selves, reenacting daily life with a creepy, soulless lack of direction. Because obviously the best way to carry out a madness-induced suicide is to do it with a machine that will bring you sort-of back to life. 😐 😐 😐
These egregious flaws-in-logic-for-the-sake-of-sort-of-horror-drama dominate and ruin the rest of the film. Nearly every time a new discovery is made, it raises a question that tears at the threads of the story’s world. Ooo, Lilith Hadaly has tech that can control corpses! Why was this not revealed like an hour ago? Why is it not in widespread use? Ooo, Thomas Edison created an automaton who is not only a babe but sentient enough that she can be sad about not having emotions? 😐 Screw light bulbs, why isn’t he making more of those? If complex automatons are even a thing that can happen, why bother reanimating smelly, stiff dead people at all? The very end of the movie shows Watson hooking himself up to his Necroware in hopes of reconnecting with Friday, which…ok how is that better than just staying alive and sentient and continuing research? I mean, as a viewer, I was glad for the implication that Watson was finally dead-ish (more on that later) because at least he wouldn’t be able to make any more stupid decisions that endanger the whole human race (like NOT BURNING THE FREAKING BOOK even after TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE almost succeed at TURNING THE WHOLE WORLD INTO FREAKING ZOMBIES WITH IT OMG.)
My whole review literally could have read as this:
With a heaping side of:
As if I didn’t ask why enough, the film is also peppered with more literary and scientific references than it had any reason to include. Frankenstein and Babbage were necessary to the plot, but Thomas Edison? John Watson? Both of those characters could have had different names without it having any effect on the story – except for an after-credits sequence, wherein John Watson (still somehow alive) is revealed to have befriended who else but Sherlock Holmes, and Lilith Hadaly is now going by the name of Irene Adler. This does give the movie the novelty of presenting the one Watson who is more insane than Holmes, but again:
That’s not even the end of it. The climax of the movie is the biggest mess, coming down to a corpse-control transmitter that can apparently transmit to the whole world at once, The One being interested in Frankenstein’s book because Bride of Frankenstein’s soul or something or other, both The One and a mysterious eyepatch dude agreeing that human emotions/souls cause all kind of problems and wouldn’t we all just be better off as lifeless zombie people anyway, and green soul magic wherein Friday regains a soul but it’s Frankenstein’s? Maybe? And then loses it? And then gains one again? And loses it, too? I didn’t even care by that point. The only thing I was really paying attention to was the admittedly badass organ that The One played while doing his soul science BS.
I’m in the minority with this review, most of the ones I read before watching being glowing reviews. To which I say: What secret, hidden version of the movie did you guys watch, and how do I get my hands on it?
The Empire of Corpses had the potential to be an excellent piece of steampunk horror sci-fi, but as is, it’s an example of every way not to be one.
Disciple of the Dead – Released!
Book 3 of the Seraphim Revival is now on sale in in paperback and eBook!
H.P. and I are immensely pleased to announce the release of the third and final book in the Seraphim Revival trilogy. This series has really been a labor of love from start to finish, and we’re very excited to finally have the full trilogy out there.
Fueled by the Soul. Hunted by the Dead.
In an empire ruled by the honored dead, seraphs are the ultimate weapons. Fueled by the pilot’s very soul, these colossal humanoid war machines are unstoppable in battle. Only a few possess the gift to control such craft, and those men and women are prized above all others.
Seth Elexen and a small group of elite pilots have tracked the renegade Veketon to the far side of the galaxy. With only one ship and a single squadron of seraphs, they alone must face the tyrant within the heart of his growing power.
But Veketon is no easy mark. Through perverse sciences, he has been reborn as a pilot of terrifying power, and Quennin S’Kev, a woman Seth abandoned for all the wrong reasons, stands by his side and will defend him to the death.
Now Seth has one final desperate chance at success, but in order to get to Veketon, he must be willing to kill the only woman he has ever loved.
The Seraphim Revival trilogy is complete!
Disciple of the Dead brings everything together for one huge, thrilling conclusion. The stakes are massive, the villains have all the advantages, our heroes are in over their heads, and the nearest help is on the other side of the galaxy.
But something is about to change … something no one expects … something so small and yet so huge at the same time, and it will finally give Seth and the others the fighting chance they so desperately need.
While Disciple of the Dead has all the blistering action found in the earlier books, it is also a very personal story of love and loss. These characters are put through the wringer, and they come out changed, not all of them for the better. If you think you know how the trilogy will end or who will live and who will die, think again, because this book comes packed with shocking twists and world shattering reveals.
Welcome back to the Seraphim Revival. 🙂
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Baker’s Dozen – Book Review
Jacob and I went to LibertyCon in Chattanooga, TN this June! (This article is WAY LATE because life.) Anyway, LibertyCon is notable for being more reader- and author-oriented than other conventions in the area…which means that I ended up coming home with approximately 90,000 books to read and likely review.
I am already exhausted just thinking about that. (Since this article is late: still exhausted.)
First on my pile was Baker’s Dozen: 13 Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories by Scott W. Baker.
First off, the cover does this book a real disservice. I love its visual pun, but nothing about a carton of a dozen plus one eggs screams sci-fi, and had I not encountered the author at a signing, I’m pretty sure I might never have picked it up.
I’m glad I did, though, because it’s a fun sampler platter of short stories. Baker divides the anthology into Space Opera, Urban Fantasy, Near Future SF, and Zombies. The best stories are found later in the book, but overall it was worth the $8 print cost.
Admittedly, I was a little underwhelmed by several of the early stories. While the point of a short story is, of course, to be short, a lot of the early entries in this anthology feel too short. Either they end just when they feel like they’re getting started, or the end brings a dark, abrupt twist that makes the story feel abbreviated.
Really, though, this complaint stems from the fact that I wanted to see more of each featured world. “Chasers,” a space opera about pilots who race to refuel spaceships, had the potential to be one of my favorites and could have expanded into a great action drama, but succumbed to one of the aforementioned dark, abrupt endings. “Ten Seconds,” a contemporary fantasy about a bullied child who can see ten seconds into the future, was another that, while ending happily, also ended just as I was getting excited to continue it.
When your main complaint about an author’s writing is that you want more of it, though, it’s not a bad thing.
In this anthology, Baker is at his best when he’s writing quirky humor or putting fantastic spins on modern settings. “Faerie Belches,” about a child who, well, hears fairies belch, is a fun read with some interesting twists. (Given the stories’ similarities, I pictured the characters from “Ten Seconds” and “Faerie Belches” belonging to the same universe and kind of hope that the author will turn this into a complete children’s novel.) “Excuse Me,” about a man who travels back in time every time he farts, is amusing for its concept alone, while “ZFL” is a hilarious look at a zombie football game from the perspective of its commentators.
There’s intriguing drama in many of the late stories, too, though, and I think a lot of these could support complete novels as well. “Secondhand Rush” was a particular favorite; it follows a man who performs daring, even foolish stunts, all for the purpose of selling the digitized memory of performing them to disembodied human minds stored in computers, which is straight up cool even before you consider that the man suffers Multiple Sclerosis (and all the conflicts that implies). “Thinking Out Loud” is an intriguing multi-point-of-view look at a psychic experiment being performed on prisoners; “How Quickly We Forget” is a haunting look at the actions of a memory-removal technology company; and “Call Me Z,” while humorous in places, is largely a look at what happens when a zombie fanboy (in a world where zombies can be domesticated) encounters his first zombies.
The contents of Baker’s Dozen may be too short for my taste, but the volume’s best stories and the sheer variety of material included make it worth a try. Recommended!
Throne of the Dead – Released!
Book 2 of the Seraphim Revival is now on sale in in paperback and eBook!
H.P. and I are very happy to announce the release of the second book in the Seraphim Revival trilogy. A ton of hard work has gone into this trilogy, and it is so rewarding to finally put it out there for people to read.
So, this is the “hump” book, right? The book in the middle of the trilogy. Typically, that means it’s the slow one that spends a lot of time building things up for the finale, right? Well, to that I ask … why? Why does the book in the middle of a trilogy have to be the slow, boring one? Answer: It doesn’t!
Throne of the Dead takes the fast-paced giant robot action of the first novel and kicks it up even further. Alliances will splinter. Characters will fall. World-shaking reveals hit fast and hard. In short, things happen in this book.
I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I think you’ll agree with me. 🙂
Coming in a few short months …
The final books is on its way! All seraphs launching 2015!
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Star Wars: Armada – Character TIE Squadron Tactics
Squadrons provide an important supplement to the capital ships of Star Wars: Armada. As of Wave 1, the Imperial Navy has four basic squadrons and five character squadrons to choose from. Today, let’s take a look at what the character TIE squadrons have to offer.
IN SHORT: Tougher and harder hitting than regular TIE squadrons, character squadrons open up an intriguing set of abilities for Imperial commanders.
“HOWLRUNNER” TIE FIGHTER SQUADRON: Howlrunner is a straight up force multiplier. She makes any friendly squadron with the Swarm rule at distance 1 better by granting 1 additional blue die for attacks against enemy squadrons. Also note that this includes the Counter rule TIE Interceptors have, increasing their already ridiculous attack power even more and making opponents think twice before shooting at them.
Because Howlrunner makes everything around her better, she can quickly tip the scales in larger engagements, but that power also her makes her a choice target. Even though TIE Advanced Squadrons do not benefit from her ability, it can often be advantageous to fly one with her TIE swarm to provide some insurance.
Brace and Scatter defense tokens are great, but accuracy results can negate them, and Howlrunner only has 3 hit points. Still, for 16 points, Howlrunner is an excellent investment in lists with large numbers of TIE Fighters and Interceptors.
“MAULER” MITHEL TIE FIGHTER SQUADRON: Mauler is kind of like Howlrunner in reverse. Whereas Howlrunner wants to hang out with a group of friendlies, Mauler wants to get stuck in with clusters of enemy squadrons. His ability grants automatic damage after he moves, inflicting 1 point of damage to any squadron he is engaged with.
Of course, moving into a big group of enemy fighters isn’t always the smartest idea, and Mauler can’t move while he’s engaged. Fortunately, Imperial players have the tools necessary to give Mauler the support he needs.
TIE Advanced really shine in the protection role, sopping up damage that would otherwise pound Mauler to dust. And Admiral Chiraneau on a nearby ship can permit Mauler to move even while engaged, allowing players to get the most out of his automatic damage ability.
Mauler is a high risk / high reward character squadron and needs adequate support to really shine, but there’s no denying he can inflict a lot of damage when used right. Not bad for 15 points.
SOONTIR FEL TIE INTERCEPTOR SQUADRON: It’s bad enough taking damage from TIE Interceptors just for attacking them. Well, Soontir Fel does this and inflicts damage for not attacking him. Seriously, opponents should just get used to taking damage around this guy no matter what they do. Add in the Brace and Scatter defense tokens, and Soontir Fel becomes very frustrating to take down.
TIE Advanced Squadrons can even be used to force the automatic damage. As long as Soontir Fel is engaging that enemy, they will suffer 1 automatic point of damage whenever they attack the TIE Advanced. The only downside here is the TIE Advanced doesn’t share Soontir Fel’s blistering top speed of 5, which could restrict players under some conditions.
TIE Interceptor or TIE Fighter Squadrons also provide a nice bonus to Soontir Fel by triggering his Swarm rule and benefiting from it themselves. This is even more effective for Soontir Fel because of the combination of Counter of defense tokens. Under normal conditions, Soontir Fel will be dishing out plenty of Counter attacks, and having an extra reroll in those attacks is definitely a nice bonus.
Soontir Fel will inflict damage in just about any combat situation, forcing your opponent to make uncomfortable decisions. That’s not a bad ability for 18 points.
DARTH VADER TIE ADVANCED SQUADRON: Vader is all about dishing out and soaking up damage. With the critical symbol counting as regular damage on his attacks and an additional black die in his anti-squadron attack, Vader can inflict a ton of pain. Note, however, that he does not cause critical effects to trigger.
When targeting enemy squadrons, he will easily out-damage even TIE Interceptors, and his anti-ship attack is on par with TIE Bombers, minus the critical effect.
With 5 hit points and 2 Brace tokens, Vader isn’t going down easily. However, his Escort ability, shared with all TIE Advanced, is something of a mixed blessing. While it does mean Vader can be an effective meat shield for someone else, it also means that regular TIE Advanced Squadrons can’t protect him.
At 21 points, Vader is a very hefty investment for a squadron that is designed to be shot at first. However, his resilience and damage output certainly make him a viable alternative to regular TIE Advanced Squadrons.
MAJOR RHYMER TIE BOMBER SQUADRON: Rhymer is an incredible force multiplier for bombers. Any friendly squadron at distance 1 may attack ships at close-medium range. This is a huge boost in range, and the fact that Rhymer dishes it out to anyone near him makes him a flexible addition for Imperial players.
Also note that Rhymer’s ability does not have any restrictions like Howlrunner’s does. His range increase is not restricted to craft like TIE Bombers, though undoubtedly squadrons with the Bomber rule receive the most benefit. After all, swarm of TIE Fighters can do a surprising amount of damage to an enemy capital ship as all those blue dice start to add up, and Rhymer helps get those hits in.
The range increase has other benefits, too. Bombers rely heavily on Squadron commands, particularly against the faster and more maneuverable capital ship types. However, with the wide strike envelope afforded by Rhymer, bombers have a much greater chance to target enemy ships without moving.
Like most character squadrons, Rhymer can take advantage of a TIE Advanced wingman, but in this case, Rhymer helps out the TIE Advanced as well, extending the range of its black die for anti-ship attacks. He also comes stock with 5 hit points and two Brace tokens, making him a tough proposition to take down. Honestly, his only downside is his lackluster anti-squadron attack.
All this for only 16 points? Yes, he really is just that awesome.
POWER DENSITY: Okay, so regular TIEs are great bargains when you look at their stats in a point for point comparison to the stats of character squadrons. Standard TIEs are potent little troublemakers, especially stock TIE Fighters and Bombers. However, there’s a second side to this discussion, and that is Squadron commands.
The big disadvantage for forces that rely heavily on standard squadrons is the need for higher Squadron values and/or more Squadron commands to get the same mileage from his or her TIEs. I like to call this attribute “power density,” and it’s definitely an advantage that swings in favor of characters squadrons.
2 TIE Fighter Squadrons put out more damage than Howlrunner, but then, they also require twice the Squadron value to get the jump on the enemy. That’s the hidden cost at work. Sure, stock TIEs are cheap, but they also require plenty of love from their capital ships to be the best they can be.
LISTS FOR FUN: How about a look at a list heavy with characters squadrons? Let’s take a look at the Admiral Motti’s Flying Aces.
Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73)
– Admiral Motti (24)
– Admiral Chiraneau (10)
– Flight Controllers (6)
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62)
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62)
Soontir Fel TIE Interceptor Squadron (18)
Darth Vader TIE Advanced Squadron (21)
“Mauler” Mithel TIE Fighter Squadron (15)
TOTAL: 291 points
First, the Victory will be dishing out a generous quantity of squadron commands to support the three character squadrons. Let’s take a look at how that plays out.
Things start off with enemy squadrons taking damage when Mauler shows up (and he can always get that move if needed because Admiral Chiraneau is on board the Victory). Then the enemy takes some more damage when Mauler, Soontir, and Vader unload, and since both Mauler and Soontir have Swarm, they enable each other’s rerolls. Plus Flight Controllers are along for the ride because who doesn’t like TIEs with an extra blue die per attack?
Also, two Gladiators are included, upgraded to Gladiator II’s, for fire support against enemy squadrons as well as general anti-ship destruction. Because while these three aces are awesome, a little help is in order from the capital ships. Then once your opponent finally gets around to attacking your squadrons, Darth soaks up the damage while Soontir inflicts automatic damage on anyone who attacks.
Is it ideal? Probably not, but should be fun, and isn’t that the point? 🙂
SUMMARY: Some bring pure and simply destruction, while other grant huge benefits to nearby friendly squadrons. Either way, there’s no denying that TIE character squadrons are a diverse and powerful group with plenty to offer any Imperial commander.
Check out the complete list of Star Wars: Armada articles here.