An intriguing novel that doubles as a love song to capitalism.
A former soldier exiled to a prison planet takes on a corrupt planetary government in Johnson’s debut novel.
In the year 2442, the ECG—which plans to create a socialist utopia before allowing colonization of other planets—governs Earth. The ECG has, for 300 years, banished to a distant planet criminals and progressives who spoke against the government. Alex Khan, who worked for the ECG and destroyed illegal interplanetary colonies to insure the survival of his technologically progressive family, is exiled to the prison planet after killing the man who murdered his father. Knowing that survival must come before revenge, Khan uses his wits to withstand the primitive conditions he encounters, until he makes contact with the other residents of the planet, which some call Earth 2.0. Though the novel begins like a Jack London tale of man battling nature, it quickly travels into social commentary, emphasizing the inherent benefits of capitalism through Khan’s encounters with feudal lords, a democratic socialist town with stagnating technological development and ultimately Earth’s oppressive socialist regime. Johnson successfully creates a complex secondary world peopled with interesting characters. Johnson is less successful with some of his cultural creations. His “Maneaters”—a group of hunter-gatherers who eat their enemies to gain strength and who live in teepees—sometimes come across as Native American stereotypes; Muslim stereotypes also occur. Still, the plot holds together, and Earth 2.0 intrigues enough that readers may forgive awkward moments in order to go on Khan’s adventures. Since those exploits run the technological gamut—fighting a lionlike creature bare-handed, exploring a new world with dirigibles, stealing a space ship to liberate Earth—sci-fi fans will likely find something that pleases.
An intriguing novel that doubles as a love song to capitalism.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2012
ISBN: 978-1475940190
Page Count: 342
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Surprisingly hopeful at the last, but despite careful worldbuilding and tense plotting, the book barely escapes being a slog.
In the conclusion to a trilogy that began with The Justice of Kings (2022) and The Tyranny of Faith (2023), Justice Sir Konrad Vonvalt and his clerk, Helena Sedanka, prepare for a final confrontation with the zealot Bartholomew Claver.
Declared traitors to the Sovan Empire, Sir Konrad and Helena (our narrator) are both on the run and in search of an army to destroy Claver, who is bent on Imperial rule; the demonic entity who grants him dark magicks has more ambitious designs on the entire mortal plane. Somehow, Helena is the key to halting these wider plans, which marks her out for special attention from demonic and angelic beings. Meanwhile, Sir Konrad, whom Helena had previously revered (and loved) as a paragon of the law, does more and more legally and ethically dubious things to save his Empire from Claver, Claver’s fanatic followers, and his demonic allies/puppeteers, including deposing the Emperor and taking up forbidden magicks. How many principles will these two have to compromise to defeat this overwhelming evil? It's interesting to see how this trilogy, while consistently maintaining a grimdark tone, has slowly shifted subgenres over the three volumes. The first book was primarily a fantasy mystery, the second a political fantasy, and the third more of an epic fantasy featuring an ultimate battle between the forces of good and evil. Overall, the series is an intriguing chronicle of one woman’s struggle to develop agency, despite the overpowering influence of her mentor’s strong personality, vast political and religious currents, and, ultimately, gods and demons from other planes of existence. We know that Helena survives these (mis)adventures, since she narrates the entire saga as an old woman looking back; the unrelenting onslaught of terrible things that happen to her before the thankfully cathartic climax may either grind the reader down or cause the reader to disengage from her plight(s), aware that despite her many, many brushes with death and multiple turning points where she believes she chose poorly, she will ultimately prevail.
Surprisingly hopeful at the last, but despite careful worldbuilding and tense plotting, the book barely escapes being a slog.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780316361989
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.
Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.
The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three. Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.
Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-88743-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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