More space-pirate folderol, following Henry Martyn (1989). Lia Woodgate, CEO of the Monopolity of Hanover, decides to tackle the threat posed by the Oplyte Slavers—they transform humans into zombie warriors via nanotechnology. And who better to investigate than Arran Islay, a.k.a. the dread pirate Henry Martyn? Joining Arran aboard his state-of-the-art spaceship will be his wife Loreanna and their strong-willed, 15-year-old daughter Bretta, along with urban barbarian Woulf, passing himself off as Loreanna's long-lost half-brother while he's actually a 900-year-old assassin and agent of the Oplyte Slavers. Woulf beats and rapes Bretta and ejects her into space stuffed inside a garbage container. As Arran battles his way toward the Oplyte Slaver HQ, Bretta's rescued by Hanebuth Tarrant, an elflike dwarf, one of a colony of partially transformed slaves who've escaped from the Oplytes. Tarrant has visited Earth's terraformed Moon, home of the libertarian Coordinated Arm, bitter foes of the Oplytes and likely allies for Bretta and Arran. Noteworthy for its increasingly batty attempts to transplant old-time windjammer swashbuckling into space, and a political subtext that drones in the background like a half-heard but annoying chuckle.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-312-85893-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1997
First of a three-book series covering the world of remote tomorrows, the effectiveness of this first volume is curtailed by its attempt to cover more than a century in time with its many generations of characters. Psychohistorian Seldon senses the coming crash of the galactic empire, prepares a chosen corps of his best students to colonize a remote planet where war cannot impede his work. The story of this colony's survival and eventual command of the broken empire sustains the narrative which is- this time-better science than fiction.
Pub Date: Aug. 30, 1951
ISBN: 0553382578
Page Count: -
Publisher: Gnome Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1951
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Good characters, keen social commentary, and propulsive action sequences with a bit too much tech jargon.
An extreme gamer who has concocted a scheme to monetize his expertise gets into trouble navigating a virtual world that starts to intrude on his real life.
Following in the footsteps of Ernie Cline, who hit the geek gold mine with Ready Player One (2011), Ruff (Lovecraft Country, 2016, etc.) takes his shot at a near-future gaming world that’s more grounded than most virtual-reality universes but also more complex. Our main protagonist is John Chu, the founder of Sherpa, Inc., a consulting firm that guides new gamers through a variety of mostly VR–based video games. He has good partners in Jolene, a more mature African American gamer who won’t take any of his shit, and Anja, a brilliant young player whose permanent injury has left her on life support, albeit with thought-controlled access to the VR world. Unfortunately, he also has a nemesis in Darla Jean Covington, his virtual ex-girlfriend, who is clearly holding a grudge. The kicker comes when Chu is approached by a man named Smith on behalf of a pseudonymous client named Mr. Jones, who wishes to pay him an astonishing $100,000 per week for his exclusive services. Lurking in the background is Ms. Pang, an enigmatic Chinese woman who might be a spy. Soon Chu begins to suspect that his mysterious client is actually North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Fortunately, Chu has some backup from his mother, who’s a member of a secretive anti-terrorist task force called Zero Day, and an absent father who pulls his weight when he needs to. It’s a pretty good thriller, but it’s also very much a book for gamers by gamers. If acronyms like MMORPG, PvP, or PPML throw you for a loop, this might not be the ride for you. Gamers for life who can pry themselves off the controller will certainly dig this digital-era whodunit.
Good characters, keen social commentary, and propulsive action sequences with a bit too much tech jargon.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-285467-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
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