Adam Christopher

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: In the decades since the human race first made contact with the Spiders—a machine race capable of tearing planets apart—the two groups have fought over interstellar territory. But the war has not been going well for humankind, and with the failure of the Fleet Admiral’s secret plan in the Shadow system, the commander is overthrown by a group of hardliners determined to get the war back on track.

When the deposed Fleet Admiral is assassinated, show more Special Agent Von Kodiak suspects the new guard is eliminating the old. But when the Admiral’s replacement is likewise murdered, all bets are off as Kodiak discovers the prime suspect is one of the Fleet’s own, a psi-marine and decorated hero—a hero killed in action, months ago, at the same time his twin sister vanished from the Fleet Academy, where she was training to join her brother on the front.

As Kodiak investigates, he uncovers a conspiracy that stretches from the slums of Salt City to the floating gas mines of Jupiter. There, deep in the roiling clouds of the planet, the Jovian Mining Corporation is hiding something, a secret that will tear the Fleet apart and that the Morning Star, a group of militarized pilgrims searching for their lost god, is determined to uncover.

But there is something else hiding in Jovian system. Something insidious and intelligent, machine-like and hungry.

The Spiders are near.

My Review: This is book two. I have only one question: WHERE THE HELL IS BOOK THREE?!

Exciting intrigue, insane religious nutballs trying to bring Lucifer "back," twisty and unexpected politico-personal betrayals...IN SPACE! ON JUPITER!! Add in some vile, evil corporate chicanery, some love and some heartbreak...well, what are you waiting for? Go forth and buy from your favorite bookery.

Leave the lights on. show less

I breezed through this fast little novel in two days, and it was a nice palate cleanser after my last read.

Good things: I really love how they explain that Ray, our robot protagonist, can pick up sensory details, how he relates to Ada and applies afterimages that may or may not be connected to whoever her personality imprint is based off of. The templating is good, and the afterimages are excellent -- he explains Ada's control of him, but he doesn't seem to rankle at the idea that she broke show more into him at some point and reprogrammed him to get from the semi-profitable PI business to the killer-for-hire business. At no time do we know what Ray was originally programmed for, but that's easily explained by knowing that he was broken down and rebuilt...

...but not perfectly. Between his creator's template and his own 'after image' memories, he is able to have some idea of what it is to smile, frown, laugh. He sometimes remembers details he shouldn't, after images on his tapes. He remembers a humanity that he's been gifted, and it makes him more sympathetic even if he can throw sparks from his fingertips and has an internal Geiger counter.

The prose is short and sharp, and has a nice pulpy feel to it. I didn't quite like how the dialogue was handled because it seemed a touch choppy, but beyond that it was good.

Bad things: I could have done with some fleshing of the plot, and more on Ada's involvement expounded on -- especially since it's clear that she has Ray on a leash and without him she has no hands or eyes or legs, but with her he's a puppet and less free than he seems. That relationship needed more meat. However, the ending brings up great questions about how their relationship will evolve in regards to his upgrades, and I definitely want to get the next book because it opens up a lot of character possibility, so hopefully in the next book we'll learn a lot more.

In short: good noir read, needs a little meatier plot but the character of Ray and his attempts to sort of human through his robot life is engaging and makes the thinner plot worth the read. Will get the next book. show less

I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed. 'Empire State' has been on my to read list for three years, as the combination of detective noir and superheroes seemed highly promising. I was expecting a standard thriller plot with some interesting world-building, rather than anything special in terms of writing or characterisation. Yet I was sad to find that none of the above were really achieved. At first I thought the problem was very similar to that of [b:Aurorarama|8089555|Aurorarama (The show more Mysteries of New Venice, #1)|Jean-Christophe Valtat|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320559915s/8089555.jpg|12832601], which has a fantastic setting but frustratingly terrible, reactive protagonists. ‘Empire State’ does indeed have two awful protagonists, who have no idea what’s happening and exhibit no notable personality traces other than alcoholism (Rex and Rad) and psychopathic disregard for deadly violence (Rex). However, [b:Aurorarama|8089555|Aurorarama (The Mysteries of New Venice, #1)|Jean-Christophe Valtat|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320559915s/8089555.jpg|12832601] built a beguiling, fascinating alternate world. The Empire State, a pocket dimension connected to 1930 New York, has none of that vividness. It feels like a derivative film noir remake that has been recorded onto old videotape and is fuzzy at the edges. The noir element is thus underwhelming, but not as much so as the superhero theme. The two superheroes, Skyguard and the Science Pirate, get practically no explanation. Why are there only two of them? Why did they team up originally? Why did they subsequently argue and start fighting each other? The reader never finds out any of this, as the novel is narrated by a clueless, ineffectual private investigator who complains constantly and doesn’t even have the saving grace of being funny.

Now that I think about it, much of narrative is taken up with matters irrelevant to the plot, as Rad wanders about being baffled and wanting a drink. It’s just very disappointing, as is the rather horrifying depiction of women. Female characters are extremely marginal to the story and when they do turn up get few lines, appear vulnerable & upset, are hit in the face for standing up for themselves, and never have their motivations properly explained. Actually, this novel contains the most shockingly offhand murder of a woman that I’ve ever read. It is presented as a trivial accident - the woman was so little and fragile, he snapped her neck accidentally with his clumsy man hands! The murderer remains astoundingly blasé about this; when reminded of it the adjective used is 'petulant'. You know, I’ve changed my mind. I am angry. Is this depiction of women meant to be a satire on detective noir? Because Raymond Chandler was a lot less misogynistic than this. Is the twist that two female characters are a lesbian couple supposed to make the horrible things that happen to them OK? The two of them never even have a scene together!

While writing this I’ve talked myself down from giving this book two stars to one. There is potential for great interest in the setting, but this is not capitalised upon. The plot is confused and frustrating. None of the characters feel sympathetic or interesting and their dialogue is flat. The writing failed to engage me and the ending is unsatisfactory in the extreme. I kept reading, hoping there would be some saving grace, but it didn’t turn up. Maybe I ask for a lot from novels, but the vast majority manage to give me more than this one did. show less

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: Back in the day, Captain Abraham Idaho Cleveland had led the Fleet into battle against an implacable machine intelligence capable of devouring entire worlds. But after saving a planet, and getting a bum robot knee in the process, he finds himself relegated to one of the most remote backwaters in Fleetspace to oversee the decommissioning of a semi-deserted space station well past its use-by date.

But all is not well aboard the U-Star Coast City. The show more station’s reclusive Commandant is nowhere to be seen, leaving Cleveland to deal with a hostile crew on his own. Persistent malfunctions plague the station’s systems while interference from a toxic purple star makes even ordinary communications problematic. Alien shadows and whispers seem to haunt the lonely corridors and airlocks, fraying the nerves of everyone aboard.

Isolated and friendless, Cleveland reaches out to the universe via an old-fashioned space radio, only to tune in to a strange, enigmatic signal: a woman’s voice that seems to echo across a thousand light-years of space. But is the transmission just a random bit of static from the past—or a warning of an undying menace beyond mortal comprehension?

My Review: Compulsively readable, like all of Christopher's work appears to be. I was up until 12:45a as the pages, it seemed, turned themselves.

I loved Ida (our captain and PoV character is so yclept) for his square-jawed, straight-shootin' inability to lie, tolerate lies, or accept anything less than the facts in any arena. I know him, of course, from a squazillion other books, movies, and TV shows. He's surrounded by snakes and fools, and he's one man against the Universe.

Except he doesn't exist. All the computer records and Flyeyes (combination secretary, file clerk, and cyborg) who run the world's electronic memories agree that Ida isn't. His great military victory against the Spiders (more cyborgs, this time *really* scary) also isn't. And it's one of the very few victories in the war.

This does not sit well with Ida, whose medal for the matter means a lot to him. He can't investigate effectively in the Coast City's orbit around one of the weirdest energy masses in Fleetspace. That's what we call the equivalent of the Free World from the Cold War years.

Ghostly happenings, a lot of fist-fights, a few really really handy coincidences, and the story gets its deeper tale all nice and set up. That's not a knock on the book, by the way. This is a fully realized story on its own, and its resolution is such that the lukewarm responder wouldn't feel the lack of an ending as in so many other series books.

There are a lot of in-jokes (a starship called the Bloom County, for a wonderful example, and a starship called the Carcona captained by a man named Manutius for an Italian flavored other) and a bunch of ideas that suggest, to me at least, that Christopher has read Rupert Sheldrake's books. This is a darn good entertainment with a serious and still shivery point to it. Jeff, Roni: Go now and procure. Everyone else, at least flip through it and see what grabs ya. show less