Review of Corey’s Leviathan Falls

Leviathan Falls

James S.A. Corey

London: Orbit Books, 2021

ISBN: 9-780356-510385

519 pp.

During my undergraduate degree, one of the questions I was invited to address concerned ‘the sense of an ending’ in Shakespeare’s last four plays (i.e. Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest). Some parts of the answer expected were fairly obvious – the repetition of the central character, a grumpy old man, who is managed by a loving daughter, for example. However, other parts were harder to pin down – is there really a sense of melancholy in these plays? Is there a sense of the artist having said if not all he wanted to say then at least all that he was going to be able to say? James S.A. Corey is not Shakespeare, of course, nor was like to be but they (there are two authors) have had to manage the culmination of a nine-volume adventure in space focusing on a surprisingly limited number of characters, given the scale of the action. In the previous book, Tiamat’s Wrath, there was a moment of reveal, when it was suddenly made clear how old the ship was and also the principal characters who are the permanent crew. It became apparent then that at least some of the characters had been through so much storm and stress that they could scarcely be expected to keep going much longer.

Further, the overarching plot has come to a boiling point – we started in Leviathan Wakes with the protomolecule and captain Jim Holden’s quest in combination with Detective Miller, who was not really there but also really was, for Julie Mao. The outcome of that quest helped set the scene for the interplanetary warfare that followed but reaches its logical outcome here, on a much larger canvas. So, the bones of the book were discernible before beginning to read it but not, of course, the flesh in which they are clothed. Along the way, there are various loose ends to tie up and these are handled competently – large publishers have editors to take care of this kind of thing, after all. I expect that, if I tried hard enough, I could find some discrepancies in the text sooner or later but I can think of few things that I would less rather do.

As ever, the book contains numerous scenes of dramatic and thrilling races against time, combat on spaceships and between them, mysterious alien artifacts and endless supplies of people behaving badly. We get to see more of Aliana Tanaka, who is the last in the line of frankly terrifying women, albeit that her backstory is a little bit stereotyped. Well, quite a lot actually. Characterisation is not really the speciality of the Corey team but, then, this is science fiction after all and believable and complex characters have always been rather thin on the ground. We read science fiction, at the risk of pompous generalization, to imagine how things would be if just one or two of the variables that define our regular life were to change. The Expanse, which is the name given to this series of books, starts from the simple premise ‘what if humanity could make permanent homes in some of the inner planets and outer moons?’ Everything else has flowed from that. This does not mean that there is only one way for the story to develop, therein lies the artistic, aesthetic and ideological part.

When the eighth book of this series was published, there was something of a hoohah and interviews in the media and so forth. However, I did not see anything when this one came out and I just checked under the C section just in case. I’m not sure if there is anything to have caused this. Anyway, it is a bit sad, really, that I will not have any more of these to look forward to reading. I notice from the last page that there is a collected version of short fiction relating to this universe which I expect I will get hold of one day and I also notice that one of the authors has started publishing a trilogy of fantasy, which I might get round to some time. It has been a lot of fun reading this series – if I could live forever, I would plan to read them all again, one after another. However, as things stand, that seems unlikely.

John Walsh, Krirk University, July 2022

Review of Corey’s Persepolis Rising

Persepolis Rising

James S.A. Corey

London: Orbit Books, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-316-33285-9

583 pp.

This is the seventh of a promised eight volume set of adventures in the Expanse, which is the amount of space available for humans to explore, inhabit and generally muck up and which has been extended beyond the moons of the gaseous planets by the surprise creation of a trans-stellar network resulting from the proto-molecule we came across way back in episode 1. Suddenly, the crew has become old – especially captain James Holden and his partner and chief engineer Naomi Nagata. We learned more about Naomi in recent books when her son was influential in driving the uprising of the outer planets and so, working backwards, she was young when he was born but even so she must now be of a certain age. Plus they have all spent so many years in zero gravity interplanetary flights and lurking about in grotty space ports on planetoids or asteroids where the idea of good living is a bowl of ersatz mushrooms so how much longer can she want to continue?

Even so, the thought of retirement and selling off the Rocinante, the ship that is next to being the fifth (or by now the seventh) member of the crew comes as something of a surprise, at least to me. Is it possible Holden and Naomi will settle down on his family farm with his numerous parents (he comes from a kind of multi-partner set-up which sounds problematic to me) or will they try to find space on one of the few parts of the solar system where they are not considered to be heroes or villains or, in some cases, both? Has the damage of the wats that have ravaged the Earth and what is left of human endeavour been so extensive that there will not be anywhere safe to see out a peaceful retirement? Well, it is not surprising that the road to the pipe and slippers is not a straightforward one. A new threat has emerged after some decades of relative peace in the form of the Laconian navy, which boasts sufficient in the way of alien technology to ensure that a flotilla of just two ships – the Gathering Storm and the Heart of the Tempest – seems to be sufficient to take control of human space. Alas for the Laconians, at least, their Sparta-like society has produced potential leaders lacking in EQ and a sense of empathy (i.e. making them the moral opposites of our hero Holden) and their role rapidly degenerates into crisis. Lacking the ability to put boots on the ground, it is essential that they are able to bring neutral people along with them if they are to establish a long-term presence and the fact that they are not able to do so perhaps alludes to the Persepolis of the title, which persevered through the inherently short-term nature of invasions from all directions for much the same reason. As a result, it is evident that the action will soon be swinging away from inward invasions to a reckoning with what lies beyond the boundaries of human space.

Readers who are familiar with earlier episodes of the series or who may have seen some of the television series will be expecting the kind of high-powered action interspersed with moments of gritty reality (for example, whenever anyone is forced to eat something) that puncture the tissue of whatever might have felt romantic and exciting about the voyages to and from various outposts and they will not be disappointed. That time has passed and the characters are ready, more or less, to move on to the next stages of their lives, takes care of the common problem encountered in science fiction that the characters remain what they are, ciphers on which the action can be drawn without necessarily changing. Instead, they are forced to confront their own mortality in a way that they have not had to do previously.

Those who are not familiar with the work have a treat in store for them because this is excellent entertainment and there is a great deal of it to explore. While it would be possible to begin with this part of the series, much more would be gained from the experience by going back to the beginning and this should not be difficult to do because all the novels seem to be commonly available in large bookshops and, presumably, from the usual online sources as well. I will be looking forward to the last installment.

John Walsh, RMIT Vietnam, June 2020

 

Review of Hamilton’s Salvation Lost

Salvation Lost

Peter F. Hamilton

London: Macmillan, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4472-8136-8

VII + 468 pp.

In the eponymous first novel of the Salvation series, of which this is the second instalment, it was made evident to the leaders of the people of the world that they were at imminent threat of domination by an alien species known as the Olyix. These Olyix had previously sent heralds with various gifts for the people to demonstrate their own bona fides, notably the Kcell treatment, which could assist in transforming the human body into pretty much any form desired. Alas for those who had sought to take advantage of this opportunity to remake themselves in a fashion that more closely resembled their own dream image of themselves or, at least, to correct unwanted mutations and diseases, the technology turns out to be something of a Trojan Horse to be put to use in the Olyix’s actual goal of transferring all human beings to a transcendent experience at the end of the universe or thereabouts when their god (unlikely to be the Great Prophet Zarquon but one never knows) is due to put in a game-changing appearance. This book charts various stages of the attempt to resist what turns out to be a possibly grisly end.

Peter F. Hamilton has established a highly successful career as one of Britain’s leading science fiction writers with a consistent vision of the future life characterised by extreme wealth inequality, hyper-consumerism and the persistent though often mocked need for a coherent government sector to provide a functioning infrastructure in a multi-planetary society and the rule of law. His characters here explore the world and the desperate struggle against the evil aliens (they continue to be relentlessly evil but is it possible that there might be an upside to their crusade? Might it be quixotic rather than demonic? Presumably we will find out in a future episode) from a variety of perspectives. There are low-level criminals who seek escape from the dull streets of London – dull for those without the means to partake of the very good things that a pan-globalised society can provide – through the potent drugs available to the successful criminal; there are those facing the actual invasion with the faintest glimmer of a hope that they might survive and escape the terrible downpour of missiles and there are those who were the recipients of off-Earth training in the first book who have become the leaders of what looks like it might be the start of a successful military campaign. Then again, it become apparent that the human strategy, post-invasion, of sending generation ships charging out to nearby stars, establishing a base and then sending the next ship in the relay team charging towards the next likely destination has meant that, in isolation and forced to grapple with the unavoidability of the speed of light, separate groups of humans have devised the same tactics again and again to take the fight to the Olyix. Unfortunately, given their inability to communicate with each other, they are not able to learn from each other and, therefore, go through the fail, fail better methodology. Instead, unfortunately it is the enemy who learn more. Things seem a bit grim but Hamilton reaches for something of a deus ex machina, not for the first time in his writing career, as a possible means of salvation.

Hamilton has become expert in producing thrilling races through space with complex casts of characters (the book has a list of characters at the front and a timeline at the end) and the ever-present threat of death and destruction. Despite the occasional sense of familiarity with the new characters and the situations in which they find themselves, this is a splendid adventure with pretty much everything the reader could reasonably ask for in such a novel. There will be further books set in this universe – the bibliography at the beginning describes the Salvation Sequence, which is slightly ominous but there is very little doubt that I will be reading all of them as soon as they appear.

John Walsh, RMIT Vietnam, April 2020

Review of Poseidon’s Wake by Alastair Reynolds

Poseidon’s Wake

Alastair Reynolds

This is the third and apparently final part of the trilogy written by the leading British million pound-advance sci fi author and fan of the mighty Fall Alastair Reynolds, which featured the earlier instalments Blue Remembered Earth and On the Steel Breeze. Representatives of humanity – people, advanced elephants (known as Tantors) and artificial intelligences – form a new kind of post-religious trinity and have travelled through the stars using adopted and adapted alien technology. Great mysteries of the universe are on the verge of being unveiled and centuries’ long feuds may at last be settled. This must all be to the good.

In the earlier books, humanity – whose primary languages are now Swahili and Chinese – began to take its baby steps away from earth and away from its own nature. People became able for the first time to diverge from the limitations of their physicality and explore new forms of life as, for example, merpeople or massive denizens of the deep. The ability of people both to become a massive denizen of the deep and to travel in alien spaceships is, of course, limited for practical reasons but the prudent traveller is able to combine the two activities with some care. Although this is not a post-scarcity society, most of the protagonists seem to have enough money to do more or less what they want. Some characters are members of a well-established corporate dynasty, which explains their freedom, while others are able to become commanders of their fate through skill in arts, diplomacy, ability to attract research grants and so forth. Meanwhile, technology has started to develop to the extent that it has become less rather than more obtrusive and, so, does not really need to be discussed or described or justified. Be that as it may, the scene is set for interactions between the characters and the changing nature of their relationships that takes centre stage. It is a confident author of science fiction who disregards all the toys and paraphernalia of the genre to rely instead on characterization and dialogue. Reynolds is good enough to be able to achieve this. Characters are nicely paired and contrasted with others, while the development in the action as it switches locations may be considered to embody dialectical relationships.

The action progresses in a way that is both optimistic and humanistic. People make mistakes, certainly but one of the virtues of having a greatly extended life expectancy is that more opportunities for redemption will come around eventually. Nevertheless, people must still be ready to take those opportunities. Even so, it is pleasing that the plots move toward progress for the individuals involved and for humanity as a whole – some significant problems are, after all, circumvented.

It would probably be possible to pick up this final part of the trilogy and make sufficient sense of the action but probably only just. A better idea would be to start with the first part and then let the action continue from there. I myself will be looking forward to his next book.

Review of Hamilton’s Great North Road

It is the twenty second century and convenient wormholes in space have been discovered to link the earth with a variety of other planets, each more or less suitable for habitation. At once, there is a ready stream of people willing to and chance their luck on another world: quite a few of them perceive themselves to be subject to persecution or oppression of one sort or another and leg it to a place where they can be free (or FREE as I expect they would say), religious fanatics and criminals also pass through the wormhole (it is a British trait to export our troublemakers elsewhere) where they can bother and shoot up foreigners instead.

Read the full review here.

Review of Cobley’s Seeds of Earth

Although each birthday makes me increasingly and uncomfortably aware of the fact that the number of books I will have time to read in my life is decreasing every day, as well as being reminded whenever I look at the bookshelves of the swelling ranks of the books I have already bought but have not yet had time to read, imagining that not being able to discover new authors and new works remains a dispiriting one.

Read the full review here.