Review: Arctic Rising by Tobias S. Buckell

Arctic Rising

by Tobias S. Buckell
Release Date: February 28th, 2012
2012 Tor Books
Hardcover Edition; 304 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-765-31921-0
Genre: Science-Fiction
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

3.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
Global warming has transformed the Earth, and it's about to get even hotter. The Arctic Ice Cap has all but melted, and the international community is racing desperately to claim the massive amounts of oil beneath the newly accessible ocean.

Anika Duncan is an airship pilot for the underfunded United Nations Polar Guard. She’s intent on capturing a smuggled nuclear weapon that has made it into the Polar Circle and bringing the smugglers to justice.

Anika finds herself caught up in a plot by a cabal of military agencies and corporations who wants Gaia Corporation stopped. But when Gaia Corp loses control of their superweapon, it will be Anika who has to decide the future of the world. The nuclear weapon she has risked her life to find is the only thing that can stop the floating sunshade after it falls into the wrong hands.

My Thoughts
Arctic Rising is a solid thriller with some interesting political and environment assumptions set in a near-future where the Arctic is a universe of its own, the melting ice providing new opportunities for shipping and commercial success.  Considering the growing tensions surrounding the Arctic and the resources that are available there, this novel seems almost the perfect one to read in the midst of those tensions.


As a Canadian, knowing the political tensions that are arising in the Arctic, I found the political developments in this book fascinating.  I enjoyed the inclusion of Canadian, Caribbean, and African powerhouses and characters in this novel, rather than the usual European or American superpowers as it was rather refreshing.  I really liked Anika as a principal character and liked how she stood up for herself when things got tough and wouldn't let things lie when she was told to leave things alone.  As a pilot, and having learnt to follow strict orders all of her life, this must have been incredibly difficult for her, but there are times in your life when you can't sit back and just watch things happen to you.  I have to admire her for that as her world turned upside down and people around her she loved and trusted were killed.  It was interesting to watch her question herself and open herself up to trusting others, something she was not used to doing very often.   


The thriller portions of the novel, when done, were done extremely well, and I would read with anticipation the fight scenes and other gripping scenes in the novel.  There was the tendency however, to go off on the description tangent, and while interesting, didn't help keep the reader glued to the story reading with anticipation, and I felt like I was in history class again.  


Verdict
Arctic Rising is a fun, interesting thriller, and while the ending was a little too pat for me, and there were some moments when the political and environmental descriptions kind of overwhelmed the thriller portions of the novel, I think the novel will still make you stop and think about the possibilities for the future, and the inherent problems the continuing melting of the Arctic will cause.  What I would like to see is a follow-up novel where we get to see a deeper delving into the political nature of the Arctic, and maybe some information regarding the influence of some of the other superpowers as I'm sure they are not just standing by and watching everything happen.  And what about Antarctica?  And how is this affecting African and the other Caribbean countries, where it must be getting hot?  I enjoyed the world that was created in Arctic Rising and would love to see more novels developed from that world.

Review: Fighting to Survive by Rhiannon Frater

Fighting to Survive (As The World Dies, Book #2)

by Rhiannon Frater
Release Date: November 8th, 2011
2011 Tor Books
Softcover Edition; 336 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3127-4
ASIN: B0056DTRL4
Genre: Dystopian / Science-Fiction
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

4.5 / 5 Books

Summary
The hundred or so survivors in the fortified heart of Ashley Oaks are running out of food and room.  The newly renovated hotel seems a perfect sanctuary - if it can be emptied of zombies.

As search-and-rescue teams bring food, supplies - and more survivors - back to town, they draw unwanted attention.  The bandits' first few attacks are minor skirmishes, but Travis and Juan, unofficial leaders of the community, know there is worse to come.

Outside threats are not the fort's only concern.  The mayor's failing health spurs a battle for power.  A vicious assault leads to vigilante action hat shatters the rule of law.  Jenni's tenuous hold on sanity begins to slip.  Juan is accused of murder.

And beyond the fort's walls the zombies shamble, moaning, eyes fasted hungrily upon the living.

My Thoughts
Fighting to Survive is the second novel in the trilogy As The World Dies, and focuses on the trials and tribulations the survivors face once the shock of the zombie apocalypse has now worn off and they are faced with the day-to-day living in a world that has turned upside-down.  While I enjoyed the first novel in the series very much, I really enjoyed this one too, if for very different reasons.

The focus of this book is to deal first of all with the daily trials of living in a world that is completely different from what they once new, basically survival and using all of their skills to prepare for the upcoming winter.  Woven through the threads of day-to-day living is the excitement of dealing with a vigilante who is taking steps to deal with people who can't cope with survival, bandits who are trying to steal ammunition, food, and women, as well as the inside politics of a mayor who is sick and trying to decide who will now lead their diverse community.  Within all of this is the safety of the community and trying to protect themselves from the unrelenting approach of the zombies.  While the focus was on character development and survival, I found the pacing of the novel to be quite fast and unrelenting, and I found it quite difficult to close the book at night. 

The author focused quite a bit on character development and the coming to terms with the world around them.  While it didn't have the same pace and tension of the first novel, for me I liked the change of pace and seeing how the survivors would cope with the new world.  And I could sense a thread developing throughout the novel which bore fruit at the end, and it definitely sounds like the third novel is going to pick up pace again.  Personally, I found the stresses and challenges of day-to-day living, and coping with the zombies, to be realistic and I know I wondered throughout the first novel how they would survive so this answered that question.  I thought the author did a fantastic job with the multiple plot points, weaving them around great characterization, and blending them together seamlessly towards the end, in an ending that just makes me want to run out and grab the third book. 

Nerit is one of my favourite characters in this novel as I like her no-nonsense approach to survival and her 'it has to get done' mentality.  She's a bit frightening at times and I've often wondered if I would be capable of doing what needs to be done if I was in that situation.  I have to admit that some of the final scenes with the bandits did kind of floor me as I was not expecting some of things to do down as they did, with the coldness that they did, and it shocked and surprised me.  I also wondered what kinds of repercussions there would be from the events.  The differing POVs also helped quite a bit as you were able to find out what the different characters were thinking throughout all the events and I really liked that.  I know it bothers some people, but the author did it so seamlessly that I found it helped moved the story along rather than hinder it.  Katie and Jenni once again prove how strong and powerful they are as women, and the secondary characters are just as fleshed out as the main characters, which is why this novel ends up being as powerful, suspenseful, and emotional as it is. 

Verdict
Fighting to Survive is suspenseful, emotional, and fascinating.  It blends humour with horror, and has a way of gripping the reader right from the beginning with its great characterization and interesting plot.  I am definitely looking forward to reading Siege, the final volume in the trilogy.

Review: 7 Scorpions: Rebellion by Mike Saxton

7 Scorpions: Rebellion (Book 1)
by Mike Saxton
Release Date: May 13, 2010
2010 Eloquent Books
E-Book Edition; 450 Pages
ISBN: 978-1609112868
Genre: Science-Fiction
Source: Review Copy from

5 / 5 Stars

Summary
On May 7th, the mysterious dictator known only as the Zodiac unleashed an event called the Flash Storm, destroying every major city and military base across the world in one moment. No one saw it coming. There was no warning. There was no terrorist chatter. Hundreds of millions perished almost instantly. Humanity across the globe was plunged into chaos. In the days that followed, the enigmatic and frightening Seekers marched on the remnants of humanity, systematically enslaving or destroying everyone in their path.


All attempts to stand up to Zodiac's Grand Army failed. His Seekers, who radiate a mysterious aura that induces intense fear were virtually unbeatable. It seemed as though the prophecies of the End of Days were coming to pass until the day came that a glimmer of hope arose in the form of an exile who had been part of a super soldier experiment. It is up to this man, Vincent Black, to rally a resistance to free humanity from the grips of oblivion, if he can let go of his past.

My Thoughts
7 Scorpions: Rebellion is a novel that gripped me from the very beginning and I was captivated by both the story as well as by the struggles of the characters, both good and evil.  Set in a post-apocalyptic world brought about by a man known only as the Zodiac, it's a novel full of suspense, intrigue, action, adventure, technology, and human suffering.  What is really scary and frightening about this novel is the possibility that it could really happen; the reality of it hits pretty close to home.

What I find really interesting about this novel is that there is nothing really cliched about it.  While there is really nothing new to the idea of a post-apocalyptic Earth, the author takes the events and makes them wholly his in the sense that there is so much originality in this novel that it makes you feel that you are reading something fresh and new.  Take the lead character for instance, Vincent, also known as the Night Viper, a super-soldier who people treat as their saviour.  While at first he appears to be the cliched character, a man who is dark and mysterious and cold to others, as the novel progresses, he is anything but.  With flashes of humour and humanity, he has his ups and downs like everyone else and as we learn more about his story, we learn about his personality, and how he became who he is, and we feel his emotions and his pain.  To be honest, this is one of the strengths of this novel as we learn everything through the eyes of all of the characters and we feel their emotions; it helps the reader to connect with the characters on a level that I don't think would be possible in a novel such a this. 

I say we connect with all of the characters because Mr. Saxton includes ALL of the characters in this fascinating writing tool he uses.  This means that we learn things through the eyes of the enemy as well and learn their personal stories as well which means the reader also develops a connection with characters we would classify as enemies;  now that connection may contain anger and fear as mine did towards the Zodiac and towards Jade, even when I learned about her horrible story of abuse she suffered at the hands of the baseball team, but Mr. Saxton doesn't hold back on the graphic side of the violence either and there were times when I could feel myself shuddering and wincing through some of the scenes.  I have to tell you I have to give credit to someone who can me feel sympathy towards someone who inflicted terrible punishments on other people.

This novel was somewhat frightening because the world we know today is completely gone, destroyed.  The characters have to live with what is left and I couldn't imagine myself living in that type of world.  There is one interesting comment that one character makes: Josh tells another characters that he was really naive when he used to wish to live in a post-apocalyptic world and he used to wish that all of the governments would disappear.  He goes on to say that you should never make wishes on something you would never want to happen as now he has his wish and he would like nothing better than to go back to the way it was.  This novel is downright scary as the author holds nothing back.  The characters are put in multiple situations where they are in extreme danger and people all around them are killed in horrible ways, including children.  There is starvation, little water, no electricity, little food, and people are fighting to survive.  Then you have the Seekers, lobotamized killers who scare the willies out of me, as well as technological advances and weaponry that I hope never to see.  The Dozer just scares me to death thinking that something like that could exist, and I'm sure we have the technology for something like that somewhere in the world today. 

Verdict
7 Scorpions: Rebellion was a fantastic novel and I had a difficult time putting it down.  I was pleasantly surprised how much development there was in the characters as I usually find a novel like this tends to spend too much time on the events and the plotline and ignores the characters, but this is definitely not the case.  The novel fits together beautifully and it is definitely a warning to us that we need to heed, at least that's how I took it anyways.  There was plenty of action, adventure, and even the hint of some romance developments.  I am definitely looking forward to the release of 7 Scorpions: Revolution as there are many undeveloped plot threads that need some conclusion or at least, development in order to satisfy a reader that couldn't get enough of this science-fiction novel. 

Review: The Kings of Eternity by Eric Brown

The Kings of Eternity
by Eric Brown
Release Date: March 29, 2011
2011 Solaris
Paperback Trade Edition; 367 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-907519-70-3
Genre: Science Fiction
Source: Review Copy from San Francisco Book Review

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
1999. On the threshold of a new millennium, the novelist Daniel Langham lives a reclusive life on an idyllic Greek island, hiding away from humanity and the events of the past. All that changes, however, when he meets artist Caroline Platt and finds himself falling in love. But what is his secret, and what are the horrors that haunt him?

1935. Writer Jonathon Langham and Edward Vaughan are summoned from London by their editor friend Jasper Carnegie to help investigate strange goings on in Hopton Wood. What they discover there – no less than a strange creature from another world – will change their lives for ever.

My Thoughts
The Kings of Eternity is one of those novels where you are drawn into the story, immersed into characters and storyline and the very human problems that develop, without fully realizing until you are so deeply involved in the novel how the author subtly weaves the elements of science fiction into it, that what you are reading is something quite different, with many technological things not seen in our world, but are accepted as commonplace as they are introduced so innocently.  I've read a lot of novels by Eric Brown over the years, and it's a style that definitely works very well as you don't feel like the author is throwing the technology and other science fiction paraphenalia at you to make it look like a science fiction novel;  it's woven into the novel and becomes a basic part of the novel so the reader just accepts it and moves on.  I always found myself reflecting on that after one of his novels, how I could just accept everything that happens so rationally, but it demonstrates Mr. Brown's strong style of writing that he can accomplish this so easily.

Daniel, Jasper, Charles, and Edward discover something extremely unusual in a copse of woods in 1935 that changes their life forever, and as the novel progresses, we learn how these men cope with the event they discovered and how they continue to deal with it as the years unfold.  I often found myself contemplating how I would deal with it myself, and I don't know if I could have done it myself, but I doubt it's a dilemna I will ever have to face in my lifetime.  I don't want to say too much as it will give away an important plot point, but it certainly is life-altering, and I'm sure everyone has thought about it at one point in their lives.

Daniel Langham is an interesting character, and although he lives a reclusive lifestyle on a beautiful Greek island, he is still someone with whom readers can identify.  It is obvious right from the beginning that he is hiding a secret, and that he is hiding from someone, and for me, it just makes it that much more intriguing.  When he meets Caroline Platt, a woman also hiding a secret, I found their developing relationship to be interesting as it was sweet and mature, and the characters spent a lot of time discussing their lives and enjoying each other's company.  I enjoyed it because it wasn't necessarily love at first sight, but a developing friendship about two people who cared about each other, and learned to trust each other through that friendship.  There was no drama, and fighting, and other things that are often found in other novels and I enjoyed that tremendously. 

Jonathan Langham was involved in a difficult relationship with a woman named Carla and their on-again, off-again relationship was putting strain on him as well as the stress of his dying father whom he adored.  When he was summoned to visit a friend outside of London, he fled happily, only to discover a portal to another world in a copse of wood outside his friend's house which completely changed his world.  What I found intriguing about this was how the blend of science fiction and history was developed so seamlessly that you didn't realize you were reading a science-fiction novel until afterward when you analyzed the events.  The friendship that developed here between the four men united them for the rest of their lives as they discovered a secret that would change their lives.  It was this friendship I found fascinating; the way the men supported each other and discovered traits about each other and trusted each other absolutely.  It all led to a conclusion that was rather satisfactory, if a little pat. 

Verdict
The Kings of Eternity made me think a little bit about my life and what I would like to accomplish in that lifetime and the legacy I would like to leave behind.  While I love straight-out science-fiction novels with all of the in-your-face technology, I have always enjoyed Eric Brown's novels for their subtle use of technology and alien invasions and this one is no exception.  Although somewhat predictable in its plotline and the lack of double-entendre which would make the reader question what they are reading, I could easily put that aside and just enjoy the character development, the descriptions of everything around them, the atmosphere, the subtle use of technology.  For those who enjoy an interesting science-fiction novel, I recommend they take a look at The Kings of Eternity.