'Eisenhorn' - Dan Abnett (Black Library)

I've read a few books by Dan Abnett, over the past few years, and have enjoyed pretty much all of them (seriously, have a look Here, Here and Here and you'll see what I mean). Even the book that I didn't like quite as much as the others had a lot going for it. The one book I've never picked up though was the 'Eisenhorn' omnibus, the one book that everyone has said I should be reading and were surprised that I hadn't.
The reasons for this tended towards the 'Have you seen the size of it?' I can't lug that around on the tube....' end of the spectrum but there's nothing like not having a job to take that excuse away from a man. I finally decided to pick the book up a couple of weeks ago and check it out; I then kicked myself for not reading it much sooner, it's that good.

I've spent a lot of time here talking up what comes out of the Black Library, all of it for the most part very well written. I've probably even spent time telling you what you need to read first. Well, you can take that list, move everything down one place and put 'Eisenhorn' at the top. Do it right now and thank me later.

Far away from the frontlines of the forty first millennium, the ranks of the Holy Inquisition fight a constant battle to ensure that the human Imperium doesn't fall prey to the threats lurking in its midst. Heretics, aliens and daemons; all are the prey of the Inquisition who hunt them down with the utmost zeal and ruthlessness.
Chief amongst the Inquisitions number is Gregor Eisenhorn, an Inquisitor of unquestioned purity and devoted to his calling. Eisenhorn will stop at nothing to bring the enemies of mankind to justice and this will force him into some very difficult decisons. Will the demands of his calling force him into collaboration with the very forces that he has sworn to destroy? Why does the daemon Cherubael haunt his dreams...?

The 'Eisenhorn' omnibus collects the novels 'Xenos', 'Malleus' and 'Hereticus'; making it a pretty hefty looking book by anyones standards (certainly by mine anyway). At least that's what I thought until I started reading. To say that 'Eisenhorn' is very easy to get into is a real understatement; pages were turning almost without my realising it and other commitments had to be really pressing in order to get me to put the book down. Sorry life but that was just the way it went... :o) All of this is testament to Abnett's ability to assemble a plot that works superbly on a number of levels.

If you have ever wondered what the regular citizens of the Imperium do, while everyone else is off fighting, then 'Eisenhorn' is very much the book for you. Abnett paints a grim yet compelling picture of worlds whose only purpose is to provide men and machines to feed the demands of the Imperial war machine. What of those that are left behind though? Well, that's where the plot gets really interesting; dealing with people who will do whatever it takes to escape the drudgery of their daily lives, even consort with the ruinous powers. Life has got to be pretty bad to force someone into making those choices, Abnett leaves you in no doubt that life in the Imperium really can be that bad.

All of this makes for an intense plot where the stakes are always high and extreme measures are required to resolve constant threats to the galaxy. Put like that, the plot can seem a little repetitive and I'd say that it probably is. When you're in the middle of it all though it's very easy not to notice this as there is so much going on. 'Eisenhorn' is very much a grim 'James Bond in space' with cackling villains up to real evil while our hero tries to stop them. The higher the stakes the greater the spectacle and this makes for set pieces that have to be seen to be believed. I'm talking about the confrontation with the Titan in particular.

'Eisenhorn' isn't just a 'shoot em' up' action piece though. Abnett takes time to show us who Gregor Eisnhorn really is; in particular how most of the bad stuff that happens to him is through bad choices that he can't help but make. I don't want to give too much away but I'm thinking about the Titan again... Eisenhorn is a deeply flawed character (and credit to Abnett for revealing this gradually rather than all at once) but also a man who believes in his vocation and won't flinch from making those tough choices in order to get the job done. Even at the risk of his very soul. Eisenhorn is a character where you will find yourself telling him not to do certain things but you can't help but respect him for the price that he is willing to pay. Having said that, you can’t help but hate him a little bit for the price that he is willing to have certain of his friends pay…

‘I stared at him levelly. I won’t kill a man just to provide a host.’
‘You did on Miquol,’ he hissed softly.
‘What did you just say?’
‘You did on Miquol. Verveuk wasn’t dead. You sacrificed him for the good of us all. Why would you flinch from doing it again?’

Shame on me then for not reading 'Eisenhorn' a whole lot sooner. I'm already well into the 'Ravenor' omnibus though so I won't be making that mistake again. If you haven't read 'Eisenhorn' already then I'd say don't hang around. It's a masterful chunk of dark sci-fi that anyone will get a lot out of.

Ten out of Ten

‘The Imperial Infantryman’s Handbook’ (Black Library) – Quick Thoughts on a Quick Read

You there, soldier! Don't know a las-cutter from a lascannon? Not sure which prayer to the God-Emperor will protect you from enemy artillery fire? Need to know how to survive an explosive decompression on your drop ship, or set up a crossfire ambush in a death world jungle? Better consult the handbook. The Munitorum adepts give us these things for a reason, you know...

Collected for the first time in a single kitbag volume, the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer and the Imperial Munitorum Manual provide a wealth of background on the history, tactics and ethos of the Imperial Guard.

I’ve been racking my brains on this one and I actually find myself really hard pressed to remember a book that has left me feeling more non-plussed than this one. Hang on, there was that book… No, ‘The Imperial Infantryman’s Handbook’ still wins (or loses, depending on how you look at it).

It’s not that the book doesn’t do what it sets out to do, far from it. There is a wealth of information on the Imperial Guard, how it works and how the individual Guardsman should conduct himself within its ranks. There’s also some interesting background history to flesh things out; something I always like to see in a book.
I think the problem lies in that fact that ‘The Imperial Infantryman’s Handbook’ does its job a little too well for the likes of me. It’s really easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of Imperial Guard and Departmento Munitorum; something that I think is purely intentional on the author’s part (given the nature of the setting). This is all well and good if you’re really into the setting (I’m looking at gamers who have an Imperial Guard army for instance) but for someone who just wants a good story to get into, like me, this approach can be incredibly off-putting. ‘The Imperial Infantryman’s Handbook’ is aimed well and truly at the hardcore fanbase and there’s nothing wrong with that, not if you want a book to sell well. An outcome though is that casual fans (me again) and newcomers are going to feel a little alienated and not able to engage with the book. In my case, I ended up not wanting to. You have to admire Black Library for knowing exactly whom they’re selling books to and going for it wholeheartedly. It’s a bit of a shame for the rest of us though. Oh well, it’s not like there isn’t Black Library fiction that I can be reading in the meantime.

I can see ‘The Imperial Infantryman’s Handbook’ being a nice little stocking filler for the aspiring Guardsman or Commissar with a point to prove on the tabletop field of battle. For the likes of me though? Well, I really wasn’t that bothered at all.

'The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha: The Project' - John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra (Rebellion)

It's a fact of comic books (a law even in the case of some of the larger publishers) that no-one really dies, not if bringing them back will mean a good story and a few more comics sold. Ok, there are probably a few exceptions out there ('Walking Dead' anyone?) but these are exceptions that invariably prove the rule. Superhero A didn't actually die, their body was kept in stasis by a hitherto unknown alien species. Superhero B did die but it turns out that he was from a parallel universe so that's ok; we still get to keep the one that we're used to. What 'great' ways to tug at the heartstrings but not have to develop new characters, not ones that matter to the reader anyway...

You've probably guessed that I'm not a big fan of this plot device in comics. Put it this way, if Eric Powell ever brings Goon's Aunt Kizzie back to life then I will quit readinf there and then. I thought that the characters on 2000AD would be safe from this wanton resurrection. After all, here is a comic that kills its characters in such ways that they are never coming back (apart from Judge Death I guess)... Doesn't it? Turns out I was wrong. One of 2000ADs most iconic characters is back in the land of the living and I hadn't realised that he was dead in the first place...

If you're a mutant, in 22nd century Britain, then your best chance of escaping the ghettos is to sign up with the Search/Destroy Agency and become a bounty hunter ('Strontium Dog'). Johnny Alpha was the deadliest Strontium Dog on the books and a keen fighter for mutant rights until his death (saving his kind from genocide).
Years have passed and word on the streets is that Alpha didn't actually die at all. Friends race to find his body but there are those who are equally determined to make sure that the job of killing Alpha is done properly this time. Plans are underway to finish off the mutant population for good and Johnny Alpha is the only person who might be able to stop them...

This probably goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyway. While 'The Project' works very well on its own (especially the latter parts) you really need to have read around the circumstances of Alpha's 'death' before getting stuck in here. It's not that 'The Project' doesn't fill in the gaps for new readers; it does this very well indeed, giving you enough to be going on with but not getting in the way of the story itself. If you're anything like me, you will need to have seen Alpha's sacrifice in order to fully get why it is such a big deal to the friends he left behind. I'd never read about Alpha's death so 'The Project' felt a little hollow on that score...

The story itself is fairly straightforward although Wagner does supply his readers with enough little hints to keep things interesting, certainly enough for me to want to pick up the next volume. Talk about a cliffhanger to leave things on...
Part of what Wagner does so well here lies in his treatment of Alpha's return. Again, it's all done very simply but Alpha's resurrection isn't a superhero one. No, Alpha literally has to start all over again and who can't sympathize with that? Not only that but Alpha has brought something back from beyond the grave; something that sits in his head hurling abuse at him and is clearly designed to catch our interest. It worked for me, I really want to know what is going on here...

The rest of the plot is nothing new (returning from the grave and ethnic cleansing in sci-fi, nothing we haven't seen in other books) but is examined with a real refreshing honesty that you can't help but be drawn in by. Couple this with artfully placed intrigue and gunfire and you can't really lose.
Talking of art, this is a difficult area to talk about as I can only say (once again) that Carlos Ezquerra's art is superb and it's all too easy to just sit there and stare at it. Ezquerra is 2000AD, make no mistake about it.

'The Project' is perhaps a little too familiar, in terms of subject matter, to make for a truly essential read. How Wagner treats that subject matter though... That made for an engrossing read and a story that I am eager to see conclude.

'Sandkings' - George R.R. Martin

“Quiet,” said Wo. “Listen to me. This is your own doing. Keep your Sandkings well, and they are courtly ritual warriors. You turned yours into something else, with starvation and torture. You were their god. You made them what they are. That maw in your cellar is sick, still suffering from the wound that you gave it. It is probably insane. Its behaviour is… unusual. You have to get out of there quickly…”

‘Sandkings’ was one of those stories that I’d heard loads about (I think it was even made into a TV show or something?) but never got round to reading until the ‘Dreamsongs’ collection came out a few years ago. With the US paperback release of ‘Dreamsongs’ (I don’t know what the fascination is with trade paperbacks but that’s another post…) I thought it might be time to revisit this tale and see what I got out of it second time round.

The premise is simple. Simon Kress is an animal collector always looking for new pleasures in what his pets can do to each other,

‘The piranhas could always eat one another if he were detained longer than expected. They’d done it before. It amused him.'

Kress’ latest acquisition (a tank of insectile ‘Sandkings’) offers him new opportunities to visit cruelty on a species that literally worships him as a god. What will happen though when Kress’ actions clearly mark him as a devil…?

‘Sandkings’ is a science fiction/horror crossover that does more to showcase GRRM’s flair for the latter than it does the former. The story takes place on an alien world but we never find out much about it or its technology. Making up for this is a very detailed examination of specific xeno-biology that gives the reader a very thorough grounding for what is to come.

This is a tale of horror, first and foremost, both in Kress’ ability to torture his animal charges (and what this ultimately drives him to) along with just how the Sandkings eventually strike back. Martin ramps up the tension superbly with lots of unspoken warnings and the ‘faces’, in the Sandking castle letting us know that something horrible is looming on the horizon. Martin is very good at this, drawing the reader in and leaving them hanging until just the right moment. Just when you think you can’t hold your breath (metaphorically speaking) any longer, Martin not only hits you with a moment of violent terror but then lets you know that it wasn’t the climax at all. Things are going to get even worse…

‘Sandkings’ operates along these lines up until the end and that is the beauty of this tale. Martin spends so much time convincing you that things are going to get worse that the brief ray of hope that he offers is enough for you to grab it. That’s just what he was after, the ending was always inevitable but that slight change in pace means that you won’t see it coming until it hits you.

The only thing that slightly grated for me was that while Kress is portrayed as very intelligent (almost psychotically so) he does have a nasty habit of getting incredibly drunk at precisely the wrong times. You know, the times when he could just get out and leave the house far behind him. Or call for the one person who could help to come and help him. It felt like Martin had written a character who was far too clever for his own good and needed some way to keep him in the house until what needed to happen happened. A little bit contrived then.

Apart from that, ‘Sandkings’ was a gripping read that I had to finish, even though I’d read it before and knew what happened. GRRM isn’t just an excellent writer of fantasy; he’s a dab hand at the horror as well.

‘Ravenor Vs Eisenhorn: Pariah’ – Dan Abnett (Black Library)

If you were about yesterday then you will have seen me going on about how it can kill things, just a little bit, when a tie-in novel makes a big deal about how it’s tying in with a game rather than just concentrating on telling a tale. If you weren’t here yesterday, I’m not going to link to the post in question because that post is right under this one. Go and have a read if you like, I’ll still be here when you get back ;o)
What really bothered me about this approach, in ‘Dark Vengeance’, is that Black Library usually deliberately avoid it in their other books; preferring to actually tell a tale rather than use the book as something else that you should buy with the game. Black Library books usually concentrate on the setting and, for the most part, they do it very well.

It was good then that the other book I’d been reading, at the same time as ‘Dark Vengeance’, was Dan Abnett’s ‘Pariah’. Long term readers here will know that Abnett has serious form for writing top notch novels set in the Warhammer 40K universe. Click Here, Here, Here and Here to see what I mean. I’ve always meant to pick up the ‘Eisenhorn’ books but have been put off by the size of the omnibus edition (not a practical commuter read for me). That, in turn, has led to my never checking out the ‘Ravenor’ omnibus either. ‘Pariah’ though, that’s a different story. At a mere three hundred and seventeen pages long the book sits comfortably in the hand and the blurb suggested something sufficiently ‘stand alone’ that I could get into quickly.

 ‘Pariah’ does make reference to earlier events, something fans should get a lot out of as it continues on from the last two trilogies. However, the adoption of a new point of view character, as the lead, makes this a book that anyone should be able to pick up and get into fairly quickly. It’s the same universe but seen through different eyes and I can see that adding a refreshing twist to familiar surroundings, especially when Abnett gets going with some of the more intricate ‘ins and outs’ of the plot.
But I’m getting ahead of myself a little bit, here’s the blurb…

In the city of Queen Mab, nothing is quite as it seems. Pariah, spy and Inquisitorial agent, Alizebeth Bequin is all of these things and yet none of them. An enigma, even to herself, she is caught between Inquisitors Gregor Eisenhorn and Gideon Ravenor, former allies now enemies who are playing a shadow game against a mysterious and deadly foe. Coveted by the Archenemy, pursued by the Inquisition, Bequin becomes embroiled in a dark plot of which she knows not her role or purpose. Helped by a disparate group of allies, she must unravel the secrets of her life and past if she is to survive a coming battle in which the line between friends and foes is fatally blurred.

The bottom line is that I couldn’t put this one down, despite a little overindulgence (on Abnett’s part) in the descriptive passages surrounding the City of Queen Mab. There really is only so much that you need to know about alleyways before you just want to get on with the plot. Queen Mab isn’t a character by the way; it’s the name of the actual city, that one totally threw me for the first few pages…

‘Pariah’ is a story full of twists and turns; something that really kept me hooked. Just when you think you have a handle on proceedings, Abnett will throw you something right out of left field that sends the plot careening in a brand new direction. There are some huge surprises here that I never saw coming. The beautiful thing is that the plot is such a roller coaster ride (you would not believe what happens to Bequin in the space of just a few days) but comes together to make perfect sense by the very end. Not only does it all make sense but Abnett still finds time to round things off with another big question and the introduction of perhaps the most evil sidekick of all. I can’t wait to read ‘Penitent’ now.

Bequin makes for a most suitable character to see the story through. There is something almost Dickensian about this orphan who is left to fend for herself with the aid of several mysterious benefactors (who always seem to turn up at just the right moment…) The introduction of a strange woman living in a derelict manor hit the mark, in that respect, as well. I did have a little moan, earlier, about the amount of time spent describing Queen Mab but there are some deliciously atmospheric moments that really capture the feeling of just how deadly Bequin’s surroundings can be. I’m thinking about the Basilica Saint Orphaeus and what happens underneath.

The plot isn’t just twists and turns although readers expecting that confrontation between Ravenor and Eisenhorn will be disappointed (it’s the first book in a trilogy, give the plot a chance…) There’s plenty of action to make up for it though with more traitor Marines than you can shake a stick at and at least one Marine who might not be a traitor at all (I don’t know).

‘Pariah’ almost has it all, there is certainly very little not to like about this book and I had a great time reading it. You can count on Dan Abnett not to disappoint and I’m really looking forward to ‘Penitent’ when it is released.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

‘Dark Vengeance’ – C. Z. Dunn (Black Library)

Anyone following me on Twitter yesterday (what do you mean, you don’t follow me?) would have seen me itching for a book full of big swords and a dragon or two. I was at the Job Centre and it didn’t go that well (although it does serve me right for waiting in completely the wrong room)…
I couldn’t find anything that I was happy to dip into, for an afternoon, until I realised that I just needed to do a little bit of fine tuning :o) Keep the swords but add Space Marines toting big ol’ guns and blowing chunks out of each other… That’s what I was after, something light but incredibly violent.

That’s not to say that all Black Library books are like that. If you read the blog you’ll already know that I think BL books are, on the whole, very well written with an unfair ‘tie-in fiction’ stigma attached. ‘Dark Vengeance’ does fall foul of that stigma though, being written to tie in (see what I did there) with the release of Games Workshop’s ‘Dark Vengeance’ game. It’s also a hardback book that’s only a hundred and twenty pages long and costs £12. It’s a fun read, great way to wind down after the morning I had, but I’m not sure it was that much fun (especially when the ‘Storm of Magic’ novellas were being sold at a third the price, in paperback). Enough of me moaning about money though, here’s the blurb…

The Dark Angels are among the foremost Space Marines, the First Legion of old. Devastated millennia ago by a dreadful schism, the Dark Angels are constantly on the hunt for the mysterious Fallen, former brothers who have turned from the light of the immortal God-Emperor and embraced the dread powers of Chaos.

Newly ordained Company Master Balthasar of the Dark Angels leads his forces to the world of Bane's Landing, the resting place of the ancient and powerful Hellfire Stone, in pursuit of the Chaos Space Marines of the Crimson Slaughter. Kranon the Relentless, the evil lord of the Crimson Slaughter, seeks to use the stone to summon forth his daemonic masters and usher in an age of darkness. As the Dark Angels race to stop him, the scene is set for a mighty conflict between the loyal Balthasar and the traitor Kranon.

A book that is only a hundred and twenty pages long isn’t really going to be about the plot and perhaps it’s unfair to expect that (I wouldn’t have minded a little bit more though). What we have here is a book that sets its stall out early, with a very simple premise and what the stakes are, and then leaves the characters to throw awesome amounts of firepower at each other. If you’re basing a book solely on what can happen in a tabletop war game then you’re not going to get a lot else. It is certainly entertaining though with lots of pyrotechnics and action lighting up proceedings. Dunn can certainly write a combat scene with the best of them and you can almost feel the punches that these superhuman warriors through at each other.

Having said that, Dunn does make the time to (briefly) introduce us to the main players and let us know what they are all about. There are some interesting hints that I wouldn’t mind seeing expanded upon in future novels (like what can drive a Chapter of Loyalist Marines to turn traitor, evil trickery is the answer…) but time constraints mean that these hints remain just that.

Again though, the blurb talks about ‘discovering the characters behind the models’ and ‘the story behind the scenarios’. Maybe Black Library are just being very honest about what this book is but the rest of their books don’t normally feel this detached from the setting. I know you shouldn’t place too much store in a blurb but, this time round, the blurb kind of killed it for me. If I’m reading about something based on a game, I don’t want to be reminded all the time that it’s a game (and structurally, ‘Dark Vengeance’ very reminds us where it came from). I want to get into the story and I couldn’t quite do that here despite how entertaining Dunn makes it.

‘Dark Vengeance’ is a tough one to call then; thoroughly entertaining but perhaps a little too honest for its own good. I like that in a book though, at least you know what you are getting here.

Seven and a Half out of Ten

‘The Only Good Dalek’ - Justin Richards, Mike Collins (BBC Books)

The Daleks are undergoing a little bit of a renaissance in my house these days, not only because of the latest series of ‘Doctor Who’ but also because Hope has developed a real fascination with science fiction robots. If she’s not running around with her C3P0 and R2D2 toys then she’s yelling ‘Exterminate!’ or ‘Delete!’ at people in the street. Oh well, any excuse to get another piece of Dalek/Doctor Who merchandise into the house… :o)

‘The Only Good Dalek’ is another title that I’ve had my eye on for a while but have only just got round to securing a copy. All good things come to those who wait though, or do they…?
I’ve already reviewed ‘The Dalek Project’ here, I had a few issues with it, and was hoping for better things from ‘The Only Good Dalek’. This graphic novel offered more of the same problems though and I was left wondering if this is a format that BBC Books really want to pursue as it is. This is a real shame considering that the strips from ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ have been collected rather nicely by Panini, IDW are doing some good work here as well).

Blurb copied and pasted as I’m having a bit of a lazy Saturday over here…

Station 7 is where the Earth Forces send all the equipment captured in their unceasing war against the Daleks. It's where Dalek technology is analyzed and examined. It's where the Doctor and Amy have just arrived. But somehow the Daleks have found out about Station 7 - and there's something there that they want back! With the Doctor increasingly worried about the direction the Station's research is taking, the commander of Station 7 knows he has only one possible, desperate defense. Because the last terrible secret of Station 7 is that they don't only store captured Dalek technology - it's also a prison. And the only thing that might stop a Dalek is another Dalek!

‘The Only Good Dalek’ has proved to be a very difficult review to write, as I really wanted to avoid repeating what I’d written for ‘The Dalek Project’. That’s more or less impossible though in terms of the artwork (Mike Collins is doing it again here) so I’m just going to jump right in and quote what I said last time,

‘I’m really half and half on Mike Collins’ artwork which can come across as rushed at times (almost scribbled) which works in terms of showing how urgent the situation is but also just ends up looking, well… rushed really.’

As with ‘The Dalek Project’ though, Collins does throw a few gems out there for us to come across as we read. He’s a dab hand at space battles for a start and he certainly doesn’t shy away from showing us the number of grisly ways that a person can die fighting the Daleks.

The plot itself is, again, very straightforward with a couple of little twists that aren’t all that surprising but do pop up at just the right time i.e. just when it looks like things might be running out of steam. For all the action and excitement though, and there is loads, I couldn’t escape from the feeling that there wasn’t actually an awful lot happening. If I had to sum the book up in one sentence it would be ‘Daleks cannot be trusted and space stations are places where it’s very easy to get lost’. An awful lot of running around happens here, something that I think comes across a lot better on the screen as oppose to a comic. The fact that I can sum the book up in one sentence would rather suggest that there isn’t an awful lot here to get your teeth into.

But it’s the Daleks though! :o) Despite my misgivings about the book, as a whole, it’s still all too easy to get into just how relentlessly evil these aliens are. I found that it was very easy, sometimes, to put my misgivings to one side and just watch the Daleks doing what they do best, Richards’ Daleks exterminate all other life with the best of them.

And before I finish here, I’ve got to say that if ‘The Only Good Dalek’ is canon (and as a BBC book I’m pretty sure that it is) then there is such a thing as a ‘good Dalek’ and the Doctor knows it as well. I don’t know what that was all about in the book… I always swore that I’d stay well clear of canon so I won’t do it again :o)

‘The Only Good Dalek’ is another fun read that doesn’t quite stand up to more determined scrutiny. It’s still worth a look (whether you’re a fan or not) but you should bear that in mind before giving it a go.

Seven and a Half out of Ten

‘Man Plus’ – Frederick Pohl (Gollancz)

This read has been a long time coming and by ‘a long time’ I do mean years. I first saw ‘Man Plus’ when the ‘SF Masterworks’ series originally kicked off (about twelve years ago I think) and the blurb and cover caught my eye even then. I never picked it up though, for a whole number of reasons including 'no money’ and ‘I actually prefer reading Fantasy over Science Fiction, I think I’ll check out the Fantasy Masterworks series instead’.
That pretty much remained the case up until just recently when I found myself reading more ‘SF Masterworks’ (with still more waiting to be read on my shelves) and thought, ‘what was the book that had a picture of a man with bug eyes and wings on the cover?’ Readers of the blog will already know that I found a copy of ‘Man Plus’ in Forbidden Planet and took it away with me for a week in Majorca. The bottom line is that I thought it was superb but I should give you a little more detail than that so here goes…

According to computer predictions, colonisation of Mars is mankind’s only hope of avoiding extinction; the Man Plus Programme is an exercise in biological engineering that will pave the way to humankind being able to live on the Red Planet.
Ill luck made Roger Torroway the test subject for the Man Plus Programme but everything else that was done to him was deliberately designed to give him the best chance of survival on Mars. Underneath that monstrous exterior though, Torroway still carries an all too human capacity for suffering and this could mean the difference between life and death for more than one species… 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I picked up ‘Man Plus’ and started reading. It really was a question of the blurb and cover looked intriguing so I finally decided to act on it and give the book a go. I certainly never expected to be gripped in the way that I was, doing my utmost to make every second of reading time count so I could enjoy the book for that little bit longer. Surprise read of the year? Quite likely. My copy of ‘The Space Merchants’ has just been moved up the pile on the strength of this read.

Out of all the planets you’re ever likely to come across in science fiction, it has always been Mars that has drawn readers in. Whether it’s a fear of alien invasion or the pioneering urge to conquer its surface, the concept of Mars has grown to monstrous proportions and it’s interesting that Pohl has chosen to tackle this concept with a monster of his own. Let’s face it, he didn’t have to. While the science of Torroway’s transformation is plausible enough (both the reasons and the results) I’ll bet he could have come up with a solution that didn’t involve Torroway being transformed to the extent that he is. There is an element of ‘reclaiming Mars’ (or not letting it overawe us) here that softens the hard science and makes things a little more personal. If I’m being completely honest it also makes things that much more accessible for the likes of me.

The actual conquest of Mars is almost a side note to the proceedings although there is the hint of a third party being involved which ends things on a very interesting note. ‘Man Plus’ is more about getting Torroway to Mars and how his humanity is forced into conflict with the changes being made to his external appearance. It all makes for compulsive reading as you can’t help but ask yourself how you would react in the same situation. Once you start doing this you can’t help but root for Torroway to come through each of his trials, especially the ‘tiny little operation’ that almost kills him. It’s interesting to note the forces at play in these moments, one entirely unaware of the other but both working to make sure that Torroway has the best possible chance of success. As a character, Torroway is pretty bland to begin with and Pohl uses this façade to great affect, cracking it open again and again to get those primal responses.

And Torroway really does have a lot to face up to. Not just the countless operations that he has to go through either (all rendered dispassionately, a move which brings home the full impact of these). There is also the fact that his gradual transformation is estranging him from a wife that is already having an affair with the man working on Torroway’s new eyes. The new eyes makes for an interesting side plot in itself (how can Torroway see the truth if someone else has determined what he sees and doesn’t see?) but the President’s intervention, as well as the unseen narrator, goes to show just how important Torroway and his mission are.

‘…do you know what the history books are going to say about me? ‘Fitz-James Deshatine, 1943-2026, forty-second President of the United States. During his administration the human race established its first self-sustaining colony on another planet’. That’s what I’ll get Roger, if I get that much – and you’re the only one who can give it to me.’

‘Man Plus’ is a high stakes tale of science with a human heart beating underneath an exterior that is anything but. It’s a lot more than that though as our ‘unseen narrator’ proves. No matter where Torroway goes it sees his every move and will do whatever it can to help; it is the reason the ‘Man Plus’ Programme was created in the first place and it has its own ulterior motives for lending assistance.
Pohl drops plenty of hints as to the identity of the narrator but they are deliberately lost in what is made of Torroway as his trip to Mars grows ever closer. If you’re like me, you won’t find the revelation to be that much of a surprise but what is really clever is how Pohl keeps it under wraps for an entire book. Great stuff, a ‘story within a story’ that adds to the urgency of the overall plot.

I’m very glad that I finally gave ‘Man Plus’ a go and would say that if you’re thinking about picking it up, don’t wait for as long as I did. I’d definitely say that it is a Masterwork with its superbly executed concept matched up with tight plotting and a lead character whom you will empathise with.

Ten out of Ten

'The Emperor's Might' - Compiled by John Blanche (Black Library)

This could end up being one of my shorter reviews (if not the shortest) as 'The Emperor's Might' doesn't actually have a single word reviewable word to its name. Apart from some blurb and an author bio, what we're looking at here is a collction of images from Games Workshop's 'Warhammer 40,000' line; namely Space Marines, space craft and cityscapes. Just pictures then, no words at all...

Now don't get me wrong, 'The Emperor's Might' looks absolutely gorgeous. It is absolutely crammed full of stunning artwork that really captures the feel of the setting. Power armoured post-humans defending humanity against a backdrop of slavering demons and bombed out cities, that pretty much sums up the Warhammer 40K experience really :o) Unless you're a maasive fan though... Well, if you've seen one Space Marine then you've seen them all haven't you? I'm a fan and all the art still managed to blur into one 'uber marine' after a few pages. A little bit of information about each character, or event, would have perhaps made each piece stand out a little bit more (although I’d imagine that the fans this book is aimed at would probably know). If that wasn't possible then maybe some notes from each artist on the process of creating the artwork? Funnily enough, very few of these pieces are signed by the artists who created them (or if they were then it was lost in the detail). Langley’s work stood out for me but only for reasons that I will talk about in a minute; I couldn’t tell you who drew each of the others… The impression I was left with then was that while the artwork was very nice to look at, the same level of care hadn't gone into creating the book itself. Just throw some pictures together, slap a cover on them and let the book take care of itself after that...

It's also worth pointing out that a lot of these images already grace the covers of books, games and so on, that fans will own. If you're after the art, without a book title all over it, then you'll certainly get that here. If you want some nostalgia then there's plenty of that on offer too (I’ve got a soft spot for the original ‘Rogue Trader’ art). If you're after a collection of original artwork though, maybe think twice before picking this one up.

‘The Emperor’s Might’ is a bit of an odd book then. On the surface it looks like it does its job very well, showcasing humanity’s finest doing what they have been genetically engineered to do. The lack of any accompanying text (and the cynical feeling inclusion of artwork from recent publications) gives the book a really hollow feel though. Not the kind of feeling that you would want from a universal setting that promises such great depth…

Six out of Ten

‘Doctor Who: Shada’ – Douglas Adams & Gareth Roberts (BBC Books)

Given the number of ‘Doctor Who’ books and TV series that I still haven’t got round to looking at, I’d always thought that it would be a waste of time worrying about ‘Shada’, the lost series that was delayed by strike action and never made it onto the screen afterwards. I’m talking about the original here by the way, not the animated feature or audio book that came along years after. There have been attempts to recreate ‘Shada’ then but this book looked like the definitive version and that’s where I jumped on board.  Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor was the one I came across first and I’ve been enjoying catching up with him on DVD (more on that another time, maybe). It was no surprise then that I’d be after a little more.

I actually read ‘Shada’ on the train to Plymouth, a few weeks ago, and it has taken me a while to get my thoughts together for this review. ‘Shada’ stayed in my head the whole time though and that really says it all.

I absolutely had to copy and paste the blurb this time. The usual time constraints apply once more but I also think that everyone should read the first paragraph (taken straight from the book); it still makes me chuckle.

At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways – with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, ‘Wait a second. That means there’s a situation vacant.’

The Doctor's old friend and fellow Time Lord Professor Chronotis has retired to Cambridge University - where nobody will notice if he lives for centuries. But now he needs help from the Doctor, Romana and K-9. When he left Gallifrey he took with him a few little souvenirs - most of them are harmless. But one of them is extremely dangerous.

The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey isn't a book for Time Tots. It is one of the Artefacts, dating from the dark days of Rassilon. It must not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. And the sinister Skagra most definitely has the wrong hands. He wants the book. He wants to discover the truth behind Shada. And he wants the Doctor's mind...

This incarnation of ‘Shada’ is the only one I’ve ever come across. I’ve never read the script, listened to the audio book or seen the animated feature. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have no idea how well the book holds up to Douglas Adams’ original vision of the story; I’m not even sure that’s a comparison that needs to be made. I’m taking the book on its own merits and there are loads of them. ‘Shada’ is nothing less than a thoroughly entertaining read and I’m really glad that I took the plunge and gave it a go.

'Shada' is a number of things that all seem to be haphazardly thrown together yet all somehow seem to fit together perfectly. The end result is a book that never fails to surprise you, both in the plot itself and the way that it constantly switches from one form of narrative to another.

'Shada' is, above all else, very much a Douglas Adams novel (Roberts very wisely lets this remain at the fore of the book) with all the wry and observant humour that this entails. If this isn't your thing then you might not want to bother picking 'Shada' up at all. Having overdosed on 'Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy', at a very early age, I initially approached 'Shada' with some caution but shouldn't have worried, I couldn't help but chuckle along (especially at the development of Skagra’s ship as a character in its own right). It's the same brand of humour but the different setting saved things this time round.

Having said all that, 'Shada' is also very much a 'Doctor Who' novel and this comes with its own set of problems. You may not know the details, until you've read them, but if you're familiar with 'Doctor Who' in any way then you already know how it has to end. There's only one way it can end. Luckily for us, 'Shada' is all about the journey to that conclusion; the stakes are high (although when are they not?) and there are plenty of little details and twists to keep things very fresh and moving along at a decent rate. And that's where the rest of what 'Shada' is comes into play.

'Shada' is a book that is low on action (when it does happen though, you really get your money's worth) but very high on incident. The number of times that the Doctor and Skagra miss each other in the street (or Skagra just misses the book that he is after) has to be seen to be believed but is never overdone. It's an approach that will have you laughing and gasping in equal measure. The way it all fits together at the end is superbly done although I'm not too sure about Skagra's ultimate fate. This felt just a little too meta-fictional for my tastes...

Perhaps most importantly for the reader though, 'Shada' is a book all about its characters; not just what they must deal with but who they actually are. I can see this approach really appealing to fans and newcomers alike as the relationship between the Doctor and Romana is explored in depth and has some new light shed on it. There’s even a romantic sub-plot, between two minor characters, that should appeal to fans of the current TV show.

‘Shada’ basically has it all and a couple of (very) minor niggles do not detract from what is a very gripping and entertaining read indeed. I’m really glad I gave ‘Shada’ a go, I shouldn’t have waited so long before I did.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

Reading books on my phone (a couple of quick reviews)...

If I'm being completely honest, one of the main reasons that I upgraded my phone was that I was tired of being the only person on the train who couldn't play 'Angry Birds' on the way to and from work. Of course I'd always rather be reading but nothing helps you gets you through the morning commute like throwing cartoon birds at cartoon pigs. You know what I mean... ;o)

The other, slightly more serious reason, is that I could save myself spending money on a Kindle by getting a phone (for free) with a screen big enough to read books on. One Kindle app (amongst several other eReader apps) later and I've got to say that the jury is still out...

On the one hand I've been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to read off the screen; nice clear resolution and so on. The Kindle app is very cool but I'm also enjoying other readers as well, I'm talking about any reader that takes the time to give me pages that deliberately look all old and yellow. That really appeals to me. On the other hand though... I can actually feel my eyeballs start to dry up if I read anything longer than a small novella and also finding that I much prefer reading off pages that are the size of, well... pages. You can't fit enough text on a phone screen to keep the story engaging, not for me anyway. If I'm ever going to read anything larger then I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get that Kindle...

I have been reading a few short works on my phone though; here's what I thought of a couple of them...

Orbit have recently released a line of short fiction designed to fit snugly onto your e-reader and ease you gently into longer works by the same author. I've totally stalled in my reading of the 'Expanse' series (thought I'd finish reading 'The King's Blood' first, that went well...) so I thought that James S.A. Corey's 'The Butcher of Anderson Station' would be a good place to hop back on board and remind myself of what I was missing.

Not only is 'Butcher' a good place to jump back on board but it's also a great starting place for readers new to the series as we take a little step back in time to see what made a certain character fight for a new cause. On the surface things look very simple with a hostage situation that can only end in one way (especially if you've already read 'Leviathan Wakes') but once you get into the plot things become a lot more intricate. Corey really makes good use of the limited space to explore the relationship between the two leads in a lot of detail, exploring characters in depth and building up a narrative that is nothing short of engrossing. You may know how it will end but if you're anything like me you'll have to stick around for that ending.

There's  lot of excitement building up around the new 'Dredd' film and Abaddon are getting in on the action with 'Judge Dredd Year One: City Fathers'. Dredd has been upholding the law, in Mega City One, for less than twelve months and is about to face his toughest case yet. A dead agent points at the arrival of a new drug on the streets, a drug that causes mass hysteria in users before killing them. Chaos is about to erupt sector wide and Judge Dredd is the only person who can stop it...

I love the way that the title sets you up to expect one story and then hits with another story entirely (and at just the right time as well). This approach throws things into a new light and gives the plot fresh impetus just as the plot reaches its climax. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

What we have here is a mixture of detective story and introductory scene setting for new readers; it'a a mix that works but only up to a point. I couldn't help but wonder whether Dredd works better in comic book format... The background is gloriously bleak and grimy, fans will recognize it straight away while newcomers will get a clear picture of what Mega City One is all about. The story is a good one as well with plenty of questions and gunfire to keep the plot moving at a nice rate.

I just found myself wondering whether Dredd is the man to carry a novel. The whole point of Dredd is that he is meant to be one dimensional, at least this early in his career, all about upholding the law and nothing else. This works fine in the comic as you have a lot of other stuff to look at. In a book though, I'm not so sure... There's a lot of focus on Dredd and his character isn't quite up to that level of scrutiny.

'City Fathers' is a lot of fun though and I'm glad I gave it a go. Fans in particular will enjoy seeing all the little nods at what is to come in Dredd's future.

'The Butcher of Anderson Station' - 9/10
'City Fathers' - 8.5/10

‘Doctor Who and the Cybermen’ – Gerry Davis (BBC Books)

A later (and shorter) review than normal; it’s funny how the day fills itself up when you’re not stuck in the office… This is the first chance I’ve had, all day, to sit in front of the computer and get this done. Let’s go :o)

BBC Books have been re-releasing specially selected (voted for?) ‘Doctor Who’ stories from the old Target range; books that recount the old TV serials and as such were essential reading when I was a lot younger. How have they stood up to the test of time though? That’s one reason I’m working my way back through these books. The other (being totally honest) is that I loved these books as a kid and it’s always worth revisiting your childhood every once in a while isn’t it?
I’m working through these books in ‘order of Doctor’ (well, I am now) so ‘Doctor Who and the Cybermen’ (originally broadcast as ‘The Moonbase’ back in 1967) was up next. I have to say that I was a little disappointed by this one…

Here’s the blurb,

In 2070, the Earth's weather is controlled from a base on the moon. But when the Doctor and his friends arrive, all is not well. They discover unexplained drops of air pressure, minor problems with the weather control systems, and an outbreak of a mysterious plague.

With Jamie injured, and members of the crew going missing, the Doctor realises that the moonbase is under attack. Some malevolent force is infecting the crew and sabotaging the systems as a prelude to an invasion of Earth. And the Doctor thinks he knows who is behind it: the Cybermen.

Here is a book that is set up to be something special. A moonbase under siege, Cybermen marching across the moon and striking from hidden places when you least expect it, a mysterious plague that must be halted before it claims more lives. Sounds great doesn’t it? Well, maybe the TV serial was (I haven’t seen it) but it doesn’t make the transition, to novel format, that it needed to.

These books were never meant to be anything more than story lines, from the show, laid out on the page and I’m one of many people who are very glad that they were there to be read (don’t get me wrong). I think what went wrong here, for me anyway, is that’s all this book is; a recounting of the TV show. That’s fair enough in itself but it doesn’t make for a particularly gripping or engaging read when everything is laid out so matter of factly. I came away knowing what had happened but there was nothing there to tell me how the characters felt about what had happened, how they felt about each other while it was happening. It may have been there, for us to see, on the show but it’s a hell of a chunk of plot to be missing in a book…
What you’re left with is something very dry that a fan might get something out of but won’t do a lot for someone who isn’t. Actually, I’m a fan and it didn’t do a lot for me. It’s competent storytelling but it could have been a lot more. I know there's only so much you can do with a book this length but there are other (older) ‘Doctor Who’ books out there that take that extra step and are better for it. I’m talking about ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ and ‘Day of the Daleks’ amongst others.

I wouldn’t mind seeing ‘The Moonbase’ on the strength of what I read here, just to see the actors breathe some life into it. That was what ‘Doctor Who and the Cybermen’ really needed and it was a real shame that it wasn’t there.

Six out of Ten

‘Fear to Tread’ – James Swallow (Black Library)

It’s been a good week for reading this week (scroll down for the last two reviews and you’ll see what I mean) so I thought that I’d round things off with a book that I’ve been waiting on for a while; one that I knew I’d enjoy. The sun’s out so it would be a shame to waste in on something that I wasn’t going to enjoy, life’s too short for that sometimes.

It’s no surprise then that I jumped ahead one ‘Horus Heresy’ book to the forthcoming ‘Fear to Tread’ from James Swallow. The ‘Horus Heresy’ series has been a lot of fun to read, apart from a couple of rough moments here and there, and James Swallow hasn’t let me down with his entries. Go on, have a look at my reviews for ‘Nemesis’, ‘Oath of Moment’ and ‘Legion of One’; they’re all worth a look.

It was a real no-brainer then to pick up ‘Fear to Tread’ and get stuck in then. Having finished it though, I’m really in two minds about the whole thing. Here is a book that quickly moves from one end of the scale to the other, never really settling down and giving us something that is consistent from start to finish. I finished it though and that has to say something about the book overall. Fans of the setting will more than likely get a lot out of it.

Blurb copied and pasted because… yes, it was that time of day when I was writing this.

Since the earliest days of the Great Crusade, Sanguinius - angelic Primarch of the IXth Legion - was ever among the closest and most loyal of Horus's brothers. But the Blood Angels have long kept their true nature hidden from the rest of the Imperium, and when the Warmaster hints that the key to their salvation may lie in the ruins of a conquered world, the sons of Sanguinius race to claim it. Now, as the revelation of their betrayal dawns and the traitors' hand is revealed, the Blood Angels must face all the warp-spawned armies of Chaos, as well their own personal daemons, upon the blasted plains of Signus Prime...

This could well be a shorter review than normal and not just because the sun is out. I really got into ‘Fear to Tread’, total immersion in fact. There was a lot to enjoy about this book but, once I came out the other side, I found that there wasn’t actually much to say about it. That’s not so good when you have a book that makes big promises with its cover featuring an all out scrap between a monstrous demon and a winged man with a big sword.

It’s not that ‘Fear to Tread’ is a bad book though, far from it. Things are sign posted far too early, in the book, for the climactic scenes to be truly effective but (up to a point) you can’t blame ‘Fear to Tread’ for that. We’re looking at the twenty first book in a series that has already been proven to jump backwards and forwards along its own timeline and certain events here have already been alluded to. Having said that though, Swallow isn’t averse to jumping backwards and forwards himself and this can rob the book of a little surprise as well as a little pace.

Swallow makes up for this though by writing with a power and urgency that effortlessly carries the reader along in its wake. System spanning wars happen and any of these could prove pivotal to the galactic conflict. We’re talking high stakes here and Swallow leaves us in no doubt as to how high they are (even though fans already know how it all turns out). We may know where the story is headed but the Blood Angels don’t and Swallow has us really feeling their tension as they slowly move towards a monstrous confrontation.

Swallows depiction of the Blood Angels Legion, and its Primarch Sanguinius, is also well worth the price of entry. If you didn’t already know that Swallow had written several Blood Angels novels (which he has) you’d be left wondering if he had. The basic ‘Space Marine’ trope is overwritten with a heraldic splendour and barely contained savagery that make the Blood Angels really stand out as an entity in their own right. And when Swallow lets them loose on the fields of battle, wow…You know those moments when you read a passage and think it would really work on the big screen? The last chapters of ‘Fear to Tread’ are full of those.

The big problem I had, with this book though, is that all of this good stuff didn’t seem to contribute much to the plot if anything at all (the plot itself is incredibly simple). It’s basically just a lot of (admittedly well done) scene setting, like Swallow thought ‘it’s not as if fans don’t know the story already, I’ll just dress it up real good and then hit them with a big fight right at the end.’ As an approach to a novel this works but only up to a point; like I said, I really got into ‘Fear to Tread’ but when I’d finished it there was a real hollow feeling about it. There are good bits but the lead up to these didn’t sit well with me.

‘Fear to Tread’ is rich in detail but lacking when it comes to the real meat of the plot; I’m guessing Swallow didn’t have an awful to work with here? I had fun reading it but I don’t think it’s a book that I’ll return to.

Seven and a Half out of Ten

Guest Review: 'Great North Road' (Peter F. Hamilton) reviewed by Steven Ellis

Steven Ellis is a regular blogger over at SFX, a good friend and the biggest fan of Peter F. Hamilton that I know. The ideal guy then (and I'm really glad he agreed) to do 'Great North Road' justice in review form. Read Steven's review and then go read all those blog he's posted :o)

I should start off by saying I’m a big fan of Peter F. Hamilton’s work; best to be honest up front and everything. I talked Graeme into letting me read the proof copy he was sent so I could read the book before its September release date. The price was this review. As I said; I’m a big Hamilton fan, I can remember picking up The Reality Dysfunction in W.H. Smith’s and being astounded at the giant brick of a book, to be honest I was always a little intimidated by the size. I finally took the plunge and ended up consuming the whole Night’s Dawn trilogy over the space of a month back in 1999 when I was stuck in a cast with a broken knee and nowhere to go. I’ve been a fan ever since. Hopefully this won’t colour my review.

Peter F. Hamilton’s latest novel, Great North Road, is a stand-alone story and is unconnected to any of his earlier books, so can be read in the confidence that you won’t need to be signing on to a multi-book epic and you don’t need to have read his earlier work to jump on. For people who haven’t dipped into the worlds of PFH it’s a great book to start with.

The book is set in 2143 and has two main threads; the first is pretty much a police procedural and concerns the hunt for a killer; high ranking member of the important North family is found murdered in Newcastle. The death links to another North murder committed years early, the jailed perpetrator of which has always professed her innocence and maintained that “Aliens did it.”

The second thread follows an expedition to a very strange, and little explored, colony world called St. Libra; the planet on which the original North murder was committed. The two plots are linked in various ways and by various characters which become more and more apparent as the story progresses and both the investigation and the expedition being to run into problems from within and without. The book also has flashbacks scattered throughout which reveal clues and character history that inform the current events as they unfold.

Hamilton is an old hat at complex world building and he’s on great form here. His depiction of the high tech future police procedures, the organisation and staging of the expedition and the various other aspects of the society he creates are brilliantly thought out. The nature and history of the North family is particularly interesting although I was reminded of Hamilton’s earlier Confederation universe at times. These interstellar societies all start to look the same after a while.

Character- wise the book has many interesting and engaging people; from weary Newcastle police officer Sid Hurst and his investigative team through to Angela Tramelo, who after her many years in prison is probably the most complex and layered of the protagonists in the book. The various members of the expedition and peripheral characters are all engaging and Hamilton manages to inject a decent amount of depth into even the smallest of background player. Hamilton has written more interesting characters in previous books but on the whole it’s a good ensemble cast who carry the story well.

As is pretty much guaranteed with Hamilton, the book is huge, clocking in at nearly 1100 pages. He always give good value for money in a book and if I had one issue to bring up about this and PFH’s writing in general it’s that he tells big engrossing and all encompassing tales but he’s often let down by his endings. Not that

Great North Road

has a bad ending; it’s just that the journey is so good and when it comes to an end it’s very difficult to do that journey justice. Great

North Road

has one of those 100 years later type epilogues and I found myself not wanting to see this but instead wanting to read and find out about the stories which may have occurred in those intervening years. I wanted the book to keep going. To keep telling me tales of these characters and worlds and that isn’t a bad thing, far form it, but alas, all good things must end. I wouldn’t however, not say no to a sequel to this book at some point.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, the book is a great read, full of interesting characters, great action wonderful tech and a very engaging central mystery and it rips along at a fair old pace. I heartily recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of space opera, future tech or anyone who just likes a damn good yarn.

Eight out of Ten

'Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet' - Gerry Davis (BBC Books)

When I was a kid, if you missed an episode of Doctor Who that was pretty much that. If you wanted to find out what happened then you had to rely on a friend at school having seen it and that they were happy to tell you. If that wasn't bad enough, by the time I was old enough to watch Doctor Who I'd already missed something like twenty years of episodes that wouldn't be released on video for at least another ten years. Thank goodness for the Target novelisations then (and the library bus that used to park up by the shopping centre); I was able to catch up on a whole load of stuff, some of which I wasn't even aware of until I saw it on the shelves.

BBC Books have been quietly republishing these books, just recently, and I thought it would be fun to have a read and revisit a few childhood favourites (to see how they've stood up to the passing of time and also because I've needed a little comfort reading just recently). I vaguely remember reading 'The Tenth Planet', years ago, so was pleased to see it on the list of re-issued books...

The Doctor and his companions find themselves at the North Pole where a military base has picked up signs of a tenth planet that has entered the solar system and is approaching Earth. As the planet draws closer, it begins to drain energy from Earth at a startling rate. The Doctor knows of this planet, and what will soon be visiting the Earth from its surface, but as the Cybermen attack, and take over, the base the Doctor is unable to help in the way that he normally would. The Doctor is dying...

The whole point of the Target novelisations was that, on the whole, they were very faithful to what you would have seen in each episode. It was basically like watching a DVD but in book form. I think the problem here though was that sometimes the book could be a little too faithful and this didn't transfer very well to the page. This was certainly the case with 'The Tenth Planet' with a lot of attention being paid to the plight of a spacecraft caught in the pull of the (tenth) planet Mondas. I'm sure this would have been suitably tense on the screen but here all we get are a lot of 'technical speak' that doesn't really tell the reader what is happening. When the fate of the shuttle is finally revealed I was surprised to see that it was in that much trouble in the first place...

The rest of the book is a lot better, in this respect, with a clear picture painted of what is going on. The white backdrop of the North Pole does a good job of highlighting the drama being played out and there is plenty of drama with the Doctor out of action and his companions forced to fall back on their own ingenuity if there is to be any chance of survival. This was quite an interesting spin on what you'd normally see in a Doctor Who book or TV show (at least it was for me) with a lot of the focus on the companions Ben and Polly. Both of these characters really rise to the challenge (Ben in particular) and the reader gets a tale that feels a lot fresher as a result (even though you know how it has to end). The Cybermen come across as very slow and cumbersome but are no less fearsome for that and I couldn't help but wince, on certain occasions, as I just knew that one of the human characters was about to get their comeuppance...

At only a hundred and fifty seven pages long, 'The Tenth Planet' is a quick read and maybe one that isn't up to a deeper examination. It does its job but no more than that and that makes me wonder if the book (or any of the others in the series) would appeal to people who weren't already fans of the show. I enjoyed it though; there's a lot happening with an air of suspense that you don't normally come across in this setting. Looking forward to reading the next one...

Eight out of Ten

'Wrath of Iron' - Chris Wraight (Black Library)

Ah, 'Space Marine Battles' series; we meet again... Here is a series that has given me many highs but just as many lows (have a click on the 'Black Library' link on the side and you'll see what I mean). The key theme here is that a battle should be part of the overall plot, it shouldn't be the whole plot. What more is there to tell other than that there's a battle, one side wins and the other side loses? Given that the Black Library are all about trying to dispel 'tie-in fiction' myths they've set themselves quite a task here, especially given that the Space Marines haven't lost a battle yet in this series...
What they're after then are good writers who can rise to the fundamental challenges of this series; it's a good job then that they have Chris Wraight on board.

Wraight has already delivered the goods with his Warhammer fiction (see my reviews of 'Sword of Justice' and 'Sword of Vengeance') but what is more telling is that he has also delivered with his 'Space Marine Battles' novel 'Battle of the Fang'. Wraight has risen to the challenge once already, can he do it again? That was the question I had with 'Wrath of Iron' and I'm really pleased to say that Wraight hit the target again. 'Wrath of Iron' isn't perfect but you can't complain with what's on offer here.
Blurb copied and pasted because you would not believe the kind of things that were jumping out of the woodwork and biting me on the rear yesterday...

After months spent in the service of the Chaos god Slaanesh, the ruling classes of the Contqual sub-sector have finally brought true damnation upon their people - innumerable hordes of foul and lascivious daemons swarm from a tear in the fabric of reality to embrace their mortal pawns and drive them on to ever more depraved acts of worship. It falls to the merciless Space Marines of the Iron Hands Chapter to cleanse these worlds of the warp's unholy taint, and it is upon the surface of Shardenus that the fate of a billion lost souls will be decided.

Since I first came across Chris Wraight, his work has done more than enough to make me pick up and finish whatever he writes. It's that simple.
It was no surprise then that I finished 'Wrath of Iron', in a relatively short space of time, but there was plenty to make the experience worthwhile. Wraight not only has high standards but has no trouble in meeting them.

He doesn't make the job easy for himself though... The Iron Hands Space Marines are warriors bent on glorifying their Primarch by replacing their flesh with steel, purging any trace of what little was left of their humanity. All they want to do is fight, not a lot to write about surely?

In a way there isn't, all the Iron Hands are there to do is fight and win, but there are interesting little snippets that hint at a wider (more tragic) picture. I'm talking about the words of the Iron Hands Primarch, that open the book, and the struggle of Sergeant Naim Morvox to accept his destiny as an Iron Hand. I say 'struggle' though... It's not much of a struggle to be honest given the conditioning that he has already received. Bit of a damp squib then? Possibly, there's no doubt how that strand of the book will end... These little hints give the reader a bit more perspective then but they don't do a lot to advance the plot.

It's a good job then that there's a lot more to 'Wrath of Iron' than just the Iron Hands. Wraight takes in everyone, with even a passing involvement in the conflict to give us a war that is truly all encompassing. The fighting itself is as brutal as you would expect with no punches pulled (albeit still a little too linear for my tastes, I’m going to have to accept that this is how the series will be on the whole). You can't pull any punches when describing just what it takes to lay siege to an entire Hive city… It’s a whole load of glorious (yet somehow futile) spectacles, I’m talking Titans going up against daemons, combining to show us warfare on a wide scale and personal scale all at the same time.

This is where Wraight really delivers the goods, as far as I was concerned, showing us what it's like to be a civilian caught in the middle and unable to tell which side is which. Even characters like Khadi, who know which side to fight for, are tested to the absolute limit when they see what waits for them within the Hive. Wraight gets it; you can't do half measures if you want to show just what war is like, you have to give it everything.

Contrasting this is the story of Lord General Nethata. Space Marines can seem very simplistic characters, just there to keep fighting, and the only way you can get across just how different they are is to see what it's like to be a human fighting alongside them. By having Nethata struggle to make sense of the Iron Hands command, Wraight makes it clear just how apart from humanity these warriors really are. This is made especially clear when the reader gets an idea of why the Iron Hands are prepared to sacrifice their comrades in the guard. The Space Marines have a perspective on this millennia old struggle that the rest of the Imperium will never have.

‘Wrath of Iron’ is a simplistic tale at heart, no doubt about it, but it’s covered in a lot of other stuff that will have you forgiving the linear nature of the plot. Wraight shows us just how futile war can be but, at the same time, also shows us why the fight here must never stop until it is won. I’m hoping for Wraight to make a return to the world of Warhammer but, if he keeps writing books like this, I’ll keep reading his stuff anyway.

Nine out of Ten

'Doctor Who and The Ark In Space' - Ian Marter (BBC Books)

Is this going to be a review or me waxing nostalgic about Saturday evening cheese on toast, reading a Doctor Who book while waiting for it to appear on the TV? I'm aiming for the former but please excuse me if it turns into the latter from time to time; childhood memories of cheese on toast will do that to me every time... ;o)
'Doctor Who' was an absolutely massive part of my childhood though, not least because of the novelisations that enabled me to catch up on adventures, of previous Doctors, that I had never seen before. It's just under thirty years since I last read 'The Ark in Space' and remember being really freaked out by the descriptions of the giant insect Wirrrn. The re-release of 'The Ark in Space', by BBC Books, gave me the chance to take a little trip back in time and see if the magic was still there. In a slightly unexpected turn of events, I had exactly the same problems with 'The Ark in Space' that I had when I was eight or nine. Not sure quite what to think about that...

Blurb copied and pasted because I need to save all the time I can today!

The survivors of a devastated future Earth lie in suspended animation on a great satellite. When Earth is safe again, they will awaken. But when the Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive on the Terra Nova, they find the systems have failed and the humans never woke.

The Wirrrn Queen has infiltrated the satellite, and laid her eggs inside one of the sleepers. As the first of the humans wake, they face an attack by the emerging Wirrrn.

But not everyone is what they seem, and the only way the Doctor can discover the truth is by joining with the dead mind of the Wirrrn Queen. The price of failure is the Doctor's death, and the end of humanity.

I ought to start off by saying that I have never seen the 'Ark in Space' TV episodes so this review won't be about how the two formats measure up to one another. I'm all about the book here although not for long as 'The Ark in Space' is only a hundred and forty eight pages long, it made for a nice couple of hours reading but not without those issues I mentioned...

If the afterword, mention is made that Marter's book differs in a number of small ways from the TV episodes but I'd say that the detail he puts into setting the scene shows a faithfulness to what was on the screen. It's a shame that he doesn't do a particularly good job of it then; I didn't think he did when I was nine and I don't think so now. You know the story takes place on a space station but it's all too easy to get lost as the descriptive passages don't leave you with a lot of clues as what it looks like or where stuff is in relation to other stuff. It's pretty confusing to be honest although Marter does capture the claustrophobia of the narrow tunnels that must be crawled through...

The best thing to do then is stick with the actual plot and that is where Marter comes into his own with a taut and gripping tale of alien insects intent on assimilating the human crew. You get to see the whole process with one crewmember and I couldn't help but wince in sympathy. Marter doesn't pull any punches here with a rather visceral account of alien transformation.

It's also interesting to see that, while the Doctor has plenty of ideas (and takes centre stage the whole way through), it's the human crew who eventually save the day. I liked the way this showcases the Doctors faith in humanity and why he will do anything to protect the Earth. His energy inspires the other characters to come up with solutions of their own and this approach makes the plot sizzle when it really counts.

'The Ark in Space' is a story of two halves then. The plot is nothing less than gripping but if it wasn't for the words 'space' and 'station' the background would be a complete letdown. Luckily the plot makes up for this, to a great extent, and I loved the read. I won't leave it another thirty years before picking up 'The Ark in Space' again; now I just need to watch it on DVD...

Eight out of Ten

'Malediction' - C.Z. Dunn (Black Library)

Why is it the audio books come out when I'm trying my hardest to escape from something truly soul destroying...? Ok, maybe not 'soul destroying' but even so, pretty bad. When I was working for TFL you would usually find me listening to an audiobook somewhere in the depths of the Jubilee Line (on the early morning commute). It really was the best way to avoid completely losing it with certain selfish commuters (and we've all met those)...


My current job sees me somewhere in the middle of what looks like possibly several weeks of data input. I'm not knocking people who do this for a living but it's not the most stimulating job in the world is it? It wouldn't be a stretch to say that it's exactly the opposite in fact...

The only way I've been able to get through this job is to have my iPod on pretty much constantly, throughout the day, and yesterday it was the turn of the Black Library's latest audiobook to get a good listening to. I was particularly interested to listen to 'Malediction' as I've only ever really come across C.Z. Dunn as an editor and not as an author in his own right. I wanted to see how his audiobook measured up to previous efforts and I'm pleased to say that not only did it measure up but it sets a pretty good standard for future audiobooks to follow.

Blurb copied and pasted today because, you know, data inputting waits for no man... :o(

On the world of Procel V, veteran Imperial Guard officer Regan Antigone is being honoured for his role in the planet's liberation from the forces of Chaos, some twenty-five years earlier. But when his old comrade, Master Tigrane of the Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter, arrives to join the festivities and asks to hear the glorious tale told once more, Antigone falters. With the details of his account cast under close scrutiny and with the judgement of the Imperium hanging over him, will his noble reputation remain intact?

For seventy five minutes yesterday I was able to escape a rather dull job and look through the eyes of a beleagured Imperial Guardsman onto a battlefield gone mad with the horrors of war in the far future. Then I got to turn the iPod off and return to some measure of normality afterwards; the universe of Warhammer 40K is a great place to visit but not one where you'd want to stay for too long...

'Malediction' is a tale of deception on the battlefield and the cost that one man must pay for living with that knowledge afterwards. Regan Antigone hates the pomp that has grown around his 'heroism' and I started the tale feeling little sympathy for him. Once you get to find out the truth though, you can't help but feel sorry for a man put in an impossible position. Everyone wants to live and terrible oaths will be sworn on a battlefield to gain a few more hours of life. When you bring it down to that level you can't blame Antigone but how will his oath cast him, in the eyes of the Imperium, when that truth comes to light? Long term fans of the game, and the Dark Angels Chapter in particular, will have a lot more fun debating that argument than newcomers to the setting but the twist in the tale is one that everyone will enjoy I think. The ending is brutal, and very abrupt, yet somehow fitting.

If that wasn't enough for you, 'Malediction' is also an insightful tale of perhaps the most heroic soldiers in the armies of the Imperium, the Imperial Guard. These are just mere men tasked with defending humanity against the xenos hordes armed with nothing but a las-gun and a lot of faith. Dunn does very well to capture the fear that Antigone and his friends feel and the way that they soldier on regardless up until the point where their nerves can take it no longer. Dunn also does very well to show how the allies at a Guardsman's back can be just as terrifying as the enemy in front of them. No matter what Antigone wants to do, the only way he can go is forwards...

Sean Barret's narration is dry and imposing while Rupert Degas and Saul Reichlin combine to fool the listener into thinking that the cast of 'Malediction' is far more than just three people. All in all, one of the better listening experiences from Black Library and one that I think will definitely set the bar for future audiobooks in the range.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

'Ready Player One' - Ernest Cline (Crown)

Ever since I read 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' about a year and a bit after everyone else, I've got the art of arriving late to the party down to a fine art. Not that I do it deliberately; I love talking about books with people so I want to read the books that other people are reading when they're reading them. It never seems to work out that way though... 'The Lies of Locke Lamora', 'The Name of the Wind'; I'm so late reading 'The Heroes' that I may as well not bother at all (I will though, of course I will) And then there's 'Ready Player One'.

About a year ago, everyone was reading 'Ready Player One' and going on about how great it was. I had a copy sat on the shelf waiting to be read that I somehow contrived to igonore completely until a few days ago... I don't know how I do this but it always happens.
It was when I received an email asking if I'd like a paperback copy to review that I thought to myself, 'don't I still have the hardback somewhere...?' I did and I got reading straight away. I'm really glad that I did as it would have quite literally been a crime to have left 'Ready Player One' any longer. What an amazing read...

It's the year 2044 and the world is reeling from global unemployment, a decades long energy crisis and a climate beyond hope of repair. Famine, poverty and disease are widespread and the only escape from the daily grind lies within a virtual world just the blink of an eye away from our own.
Lke most of humanity, Wade Watts spends most of the day plugged into the OASIS, a virtual universe of ten thousand planets where you be anything you want to be. What Wade wants to be is the first person to solve the riddles scattered through the OASIS by its deceased creator, James Halliday. Whoever cracks these puzzles will inherit not only Halliday's fortune but control of the OASIS itself. All you need to stand a chance of winning is to be as clued up about eighties pop culture as Halliday was himself. It's been years since the contest began and people are beginning to think that no-one will ever solve the first riddle... Until the day that, quite by chance, Wade stumbles across the solution.
Now the race is on in earnest with a number of people willing to commit murder in the real world to gain control of the virtual one. Wade Watts may know his eighties trivia and can make his way round the OASIS with the best of them; now he must come to grips with a world that he has spent his life trying his best to ignore...

Whenever everyone raves about a particular book I can't help but be a little cynical. I mean, no book is that great... is it? 'Ready Player One' may not be that book but it's so close that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. There were a few bits that I found myself skimming but I couldn't drag my eyes away from the rest of the book.

'Ready Player One' is a homage to all the stuff that anyone reading this blog will have loved about the nineteen eighties, all wrapped up in a technothriller plot where what's at stake is nothing less than the fate of an entire universe. Ok, it may only be a virtual universe but Cline spells it out, really clearly, that this is a huge deal. When the real world is falling to pieces you've got to take care of what's left and there are people out there prepared to make the OASIS worse for everyone else. By showing us, in loving detail, just what you can expect to find in the OASIS Cline lets us fall in love with it as well and we're left rooting for Wade and his friends. It certainly didn't take me long to size things up and realise who I wanted to win.

Going back to the homage then and I found that there were times that this approach worked against the plot as much as it helped it.
It's not a spoiler at all to say that'Ready Player One' is every single one of those films you watched, as a kid, where the school loser not only proves himself to the rest of the school/alien warriors recruiting through an arcade game etc but gets together with the hot girl right at the end. It's a familiar theme then and one that perhaps takes a little bit away from the suspense that Cline tries to work up over the course of the book. To be fair, there are moments where you feel that things could go either way but, hanging over it all, is the knowledge that there's only one way it can finish up.

Having said that though, that's really the whole point of the book (what with being a homage and all) so my advice is if you've picked the book up for a read then just enjoy it for what it is. That's what I did and my experience was all the better for it. ‘Ready Player One’ tears along at a furious rate and every time the book thinks you’re lagging behind another bit of eighties trivia is tossed out as an incentive for you to keep up. The rate and variety of this trivia is such that I’m pretty sure that Ernest Cline could give James Halliday a run for his money. Add a main character that is self aware enough to be truly engaging and the result for me was a book that made for compulsive reading. Apart from those times when Cline geeked out a little too much over his own creation that is; I’m talking about the occasions when he would go into the OASIS technology in a little too much detail. It served no purpose to the rest of the plot and that’s when I started skim reading…

That’s a very small complaint though when I was able to spend several absorbing hours revisiting my childhood and taking a look into the future all at the same time. ‘Ready Player One’ has claimed a permanent spot on my bookshelves and it’ll do the same for you if it hasn’t already. When you finish reading this review go and find yourself a copy.

Nine and Three Quarters out of Ten