A promising launch to a visionary space-empire series with multicultural insight.
Sci-fi author Winnie’s debut describes the origin of the vast, galaxy-spanning Terran Empire and the 31st-century ascent of a Mongolian prince who defends Earth and lays the groundwork for an immortal dynasty.
America didn’t last much past the 23rd century. In the 31st, Mongolia is a dominant world power, and spacefaring humans have defeated one alien invasion, earning respect and fear among the alien Galactic Council. Angkor is a reluctant heir to the neo-Mongol throne, preferring his scientific research and idyllic, monogamous marriage to a commoner. But the machinations of politics demand that he not only succeed his father as the planet’s benevolent despot, but also revive the ancient god-king title of “Khan”—a sign that humanity plans to expand its territory outward to the stars. Angkor contends not only with deadly alien enemies planning to contain him, but also treachery on Earth. A framing story informs readers that the Terran Empire will eventually spread throughout the universe, its original rulers becoming legendary, godlike figures, and this installment explains how that all came to be, with Buddhist underpinnings to Angkor’s audacious scheme to genetically forge a far-reaching line of imperial descendants. This is an impressive inception volume in a prospective saga, considering its ambitions, and it makes a good move right out of the gate by drawing from the rich well of Asian culture and values. Occasionally the narrative takes a dizzying, great leap forward over cosmic victories and wars that slaughter millions, and some foes become friends (and vice versa) in the rapid span of a few pages. But while similar contributions to the fantasy/sci-fi realm spend too many pages setting up rules and characters who may only come to the fore much later on, Winnie offers plenty of action and a firm enough finale that readers may enjoy this book as a stand-alone work. In Angkor, the story has a nuanced hero who, like the storied Genghis Khan, can seem enlightened and brilliant yet also perpetuate barbaric deeds that associate him with ruthless conquest.
A promising launch to a visionary space-empire series with multicultural insight.Pub Date: May 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5466-4193-3
Page Count: 364
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
