Author Interview: Drew Melbourne, author of SPSFC2 Semifinalist “Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days”

I’m a judge for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC), and wanted to spotlight some of the authors in the contest.

Drew Melbourne, Author of Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days

(Questions in Bold)

What was your gateway into speculative fiction? What made you decide to write it?

Oh gosh. So many things! My childhood was a perfect storm of geekery. My brother John was my first Dungeon Master and the clerk at my local comic shop. My mom was deep into the 80s Doctor Who fan community. In prose, I was mostly getting fantasy early on. CS Lewis and Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper, but then I discovered Douglas Adams when I was in maybe 5th grade, and the damage was done. I can’t remember when I found out, but my mom was actually working on a kids sci-fi novel when I was a baby. She was home with me, and I was — I dunno — spitting up on myself in my crib, and she was at the dining room table writing out a whole book longhand. Multiple complete drafts! Hundreds and hundreds of pages. I don’t think she ever got as far as sending it out to editors, etc. but it shaped her. And us! I grew up just… *intrinsically* aware that stories aren’t just a thing that’s given to us. They’re things that anyone can create — that *everyone* can create — and share with the world.

Douglas Adams is who I thought of immediately when my group previewed your book, “Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days.” To me, it had that same fun vibe without having the comedy detract from the story. Other than Adams, what inspirations did you draw on for “Percival Gynt”?

I’m a neurodiverse author. I have ADHD. And one of the things I’ve learned about myself over the years is, whether as author or audience, my brain is really geared to fiction that tries to do everything. That’s funny and scary and sad and exciting and thoughtful and ridiculous and and and… I actually have a bad habit of falling asleep watching TV or movies, even stuff I like, if it’s just the same tone over and over. My brain has a hard time maintaining focus.

There’s a movie I saw this year called EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE that I adore, and I caught an interview with the directors on NPR where they described the movie as “maximalist.” As in, the opposite of minimalist. And it was a real light bulb moment for me, because I never had a word for it before, but that’s absolutely it. I write maximalist fiction. So a lot of my inspiration is just “everything I’ve ever loved in a blender” but I also have these touchstones, creators or works that really exemplify what I’m trying to do. I go back to a comic book guy, Kieth Giffen, who was doing this amazing stuff with JUSTICE LEAGUE and LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES in the late 80s. To BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, which magically sprang into existence without a writer. To PRINCESS BRIDE. The movie and, maybe more importantly, the book. And to Shakespeare, when I’m feeling fancy!

I definitely get a sense of “everything and the kitchen sink” in this book, but you make it work! There are at least 3 possible sequels teased in the novel–will we be seeing more of Percival Gynt and/or others?

Indeed! The one I can talk about is PERCIVAL GYNT AND THE INEVITABILITY OF FIRE AND OTHER CASES which, if the stars align and fate finds favor, should finally be out in 2023. It’s a short story collection, set mostly before the events of CONSPIRACY OF DAYS, and structured so that it can be enjoyed equally by new and returning readers. In it, Percival catches killers, slays monsters, exorcizes ghosts, and saves Christmas! And plays bridge. Not well, but he’s a good sport about it. Oh. And the title novella, THE INEVITABILITY OF FIRE, is structured like an old-time Choose Your Own Adventure!

So lots of fun ridiculous stuff, and along the way we’re watching this flawed young man grow into the hero of CONSPIRACY OF DAYS.

I can’t wait to read about Percival saving Christmas, among other things! Where can readers find you?

Folks can pick up a copy of CONSPIRACY OF DAYS from Amazon.

I’m @drewmelbourne on Twitter until it implodes and I’m forced to decamp to Instagram, Hive, Mastadon, or Fnargle. And my website, https://drewmelbourne.com, is a great place to find out more about my work, with links to reviews, interviews, merch, and more.

Thank You!

All links to Amazon are Affiliates

Links

The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC) Hub– Check out all of my posts related to the SPSFC here!

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

“Shakedowners” by Justin Woolley- An SPSFC2 Semifinalist Review

I’ll be reading and reviewing every semifinalist for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest! Check out my list with blurbs, covers, links, and first impressions for all the semifinalists here. Please let me know what you think of any/all of these books! I love comments, and love talking about books.

Shakedowners by Justin Woolley

Captain Iridius B. Franklin seems to have astronomically bad luck as a starship captain. No matter what he does, something always goes terribly wrong. That’s why he’s relegated to hauling land whale dung and mining waste around rather than flying a more glamorous ship. But it’s also why he gets selected to do a shakedown cruise to test out the Gallaway, a top-of-the-line ship that they want to be sure has all the kinks worked out. Well, Franklin of course runs into trouble, and the barebones crew of hard-on-their-luck people he selected for the shakedown journey has to help him solve a galaxy-threatening problem.

What you see is what you get in this novel. The description above tells you most of what you’re going to get. While there are twists–I was a big fan of what happened with the primary threat in the novel–the core of it is a silly adventure in space with stakes that are comedically high for the crew we’ve got. Mileage on this one will vary wildly with how much readers enjoy that kind of fun romp. For me it was a good read and an excellent listen. The narrator for the audiobook is top notch and makes the novel even more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the main threat, too. I can’t say much more than that without seriously spoiling some of the best parts of the story, so I want to just say that if the idea of a fun afternoon read with a pretty compelling main villain is what you’d like, you should check the book out.

Shakedowners is an enjoyable romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It will appeal to fans of the speculative fiction/humor mashup.

Links

 Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

“Riebeckite” by O. R. Lea – An SPSFC Review

I’m reading and reviewing many books from the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest as a judge. Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).

Riebeckite by O.R. Lea

An asteroid strike to the moon leads to unknown particles falling on Earth. Are they dangerous, are they benign? Some time ago, Tahira made a promise that the ordeal would bring humanity closer together. Fast forward to now, and that isn’t true. Humanity seems to go on as it always did, with petty rivalries and oppression as the stark reality for so many. When Tahira discovers the Riebeckite is more than meets the eye, many factions are drawn into the fold to find out more or stop her from telling all.

The tension ramps up quickly and maintains the pressure throughout the novel. O.R. Lea does a good job balancing plot exposition with intensity, making the book compulsive reading after a while. There’s enough hard sci-fi mixed in to make the conflict realistic, even as the conflict spans nations. Tahira and Zareen make a great lead pair, with a complex relationship that is believable and touching at times.

I did wonder at times why more people weren’t caught up into the conflict. The nature of the Riebeckite is a central aspect of the book, and one would think that it would be studied by far more people and that many more people would be taken into conspiracy theories, scientific research, and more related to it.

The audiobook was read well, with a pace that was neither too slow nor too fast, and the sound balancing was done well.

I found Reibeckite a fascinating read that combines elements of hard sci-fi, a touch of horror, and even some inspirations from comics together into one coherent whole. I was glad to see it was book one of a series, because I’m interested to read more. Thanks to Lea for a copy of the audiobook!

All Links to Amazon are Affiliates

Links

The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC) Hub– Check out all of my posts related to the SPSFC here!

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

“Hammer and Crucible” by Cameron Cooper- An SPSFC Semifinalist Review

I’ll be reading and reviewing every semifinalist for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest! Check out my list with blurbs, covers, links, and first impressions for all the semifinalists here. Please let me know what you think of any/all of these books! I love comments, and love talking about books.

Hammer and Crucible by Cameron Cooper

Hammer and Crucible starts with a mystery- what happened to Danny Andela and her family? When questions begin to arise about her son, she gets thrown in with her granddaughter to solve a mystery that might have much wider implications than they realize.

What follows is a slow burn that builds up as Cooper peels away layer after layer of the complex world that’s been created for this series. One of the great joys of reading this book was how Cooper integrates technology into the story. One of the great joys of science fiction is seeing how authors manipulate existing ideas and tech to come up with new uses of existing technology or extrapolating new technology and inventions entirely, and I loved how Cooper used this to great impact throughout the story. Whether it was the anti-aging treatments or the extremely fun nanotech-driven spaceship later in the novel, the technology felt seamlessly real in this futuristic story and continued to impress upon the reader the setting.

The novel is driven by its plot, which goes through a fairly step-by-step journey to solve the central mystery. Since the characters don’t have much to work with at the beginning, they basically just follow a logical path of chasing the one lead they have, following the lead that one gives, etc. until the end of the novel. Again, this plays into the slow burn nature of the story. While the impact of the story is big, the way it plays out is quite intimate and even plodding at points. I would have liked to see perhaps a quicker lead in to the major events of the novel.

I enjoyed that we had a main character who wasn’t a teen or twenty-something. There’s nothing wrong with people that age as main characters, but they seem to dominate a lot of speculative fiction, so having a grandma as the main perspective made for a refreshing difference. I also thought the main story was well-done. The characters grew into relationship with each other through the book, and I thought that was a great way to bring dramatic tension and resolution about.

Hammer and Crucible is a solid read with big implications, interesting plot points, and great tech. I recommend it for fans of story-driven space opera.

Links

 Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

“Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Volume 5- Mobilization” by Yoshiki Tanaka

The Legend of Galactic Heroes is a… well, legendary anime series. What far fewer people have experienced is the novels upon which it is based. I’m probably something of an outlier here–having only read some of the books while not having seen the anime. I wanted to write about the series of novels to encourage others to read them.

Volume 5: Mobilization

Phezzan has fallen, but what next? Many, many battles is the answer, but here we have a shift in tone for the series. Tanaka introduces a core concept of the series that changes the tenor of it somewhat. The “Tyranny of Distance” is referenced in chapter 6, noting that it “was a phrase used to indicate just how difficult unified rule of a human society that had grown by a third would be through military force alone” (125). And while Tanaka doesn’t directly confront the use of that concept within discussions of colonialism on Earth, the implications are all there. The Galactic Empire has gotten almost too large for itself. Control must turn to a personality cult, as it reads in some places, or straight fascism in others.

There is no small amount of analysis that could be done here. Tanaka continues to tell the story in an impersonal style, even citing invented historical accounts to say what historians “would say” in the future of this future about the present of the future he’s telling (hopefully that made sense). In doing so, as narrator, he distances himself from the events depicted, in which literal millions are wiped out over the course of a drawn out battle that is named a war within a war. Individuals rise and fall, but the steady march towards fascism isn’t found only within the Empire but also within the Free Planets Alliance, making one wonder even more what Tanaka is doing behind the scenes here.

Battles are the name of the game through most of the latter half of the book, and they’re huge. It’s one aspect of the series that Tanaka’s style both lends itself to such huge scales and also makes the huge scale battles go so quickly. While he describes literally thousands of ships moving in a double-headed snake formation and the combat that happens, as the descriptions whip past of hundreds of ships getting blown away, it can become whiplash. I would like a bit more description of the battles themselves, though I get why he does it the way he does, as it lets the story continue more readily, and avoids potential pitfalls of revealing poor tactics when describing tactics more fully. The series does not try to make it realistic military action, but rather goes for grandness of action to make up for it. It usually works, and it does work quite well in the second half of this novel. Tanaka also cleverly takes the occasional aside to zoom in on action, whether at the level of an individual fighter pilot being blown away by a cruiser or the impact of an explosion on a single ship.

We still get very little by way of women having any impact on the series. While a few get elevated to higher positions of leadership here, their voices are almost never heard.

Mobilization reads like a turning point in the series. The stakes are higher than ever, but the characterization is getting stronger even as the battles get larger. I can’t wait to dive into the next book.

All Links to Amazon are Affiliates

Links

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

“Of Mycelium and Men” by William C. Tracy- A diverse hard sci-fi adventure

Of Mycelium and Men is a novel of human colonization that builds into being a truly wonder-filled story. Humans have traversed the stars for far longer than they thought would be necessary, leading to the colony ship becoming a generational ship. Now that they’ve found a planet that has at least some possibility for survival, the hard work begins.

The planet itself, Lida, is found to be covered in a biomass that is relentless in its efforts to take back over the ecological hole that appears when humans burn it away at their landing site. What they don’t realize–but we, as the reader, do–is that the biomass seems to have at least some capacity of awareness/thought/categorization processes. And so even as the humans fight against what they see as a fungal-animal-plant invasion of their new home, we readers realize more is going on. That makes for some incredible storytelling moments as Tracy manages to bring forth elements of horror to the reader as they experience the awfulness of combat with such a relentless, adapting foe even as they know there is a bigger story behind it all.

The book moves more quickly through time as it goes on. It starts off with detailed overviews of the action sometimes even a day at a time, but eventually skips ahead year(s) and gives a broader perspective of how the events have shaped the planet and the characters. And those characters are excellent, too. There’s some political drama going on between the Generationals–those who were in charge on the ship–and the Admins, who are genetically enhanced to live for centuries. There is a military group bread for quick reactions and warfare, and Anderson, our perspective from their side, turns into a much deeper person than it initially seems. There is familial drama, even heart-rending drama. Characters are a big strength.

I loved how Tracy implemented thoughtful science into the book. The biomass seems utterly believable and sent me to search elements of the background info multiple times–fungi are weird! I also loved the combination of this level of hard sci-fi with the horror and space colonization. It made the book feel familiar and unique all at once.

Another thing I love about this book is that it has diverse characters simply as a product of humanity. It doesn’t feel forced in any way. People just live their lives, love who they love, and move on. Religion is only briefly mentioned (I’m religious myself, so I love seeing how authors treat it in sci-fi) basically as something the people practice in whatever way they grew up with. People are just… people, and it feels very real and natural.

A final note: Tracy nails the landing on this one. He manages to combine the urgency of needing more with having enough satisfaction and closure on several characters to make it not feel like a pure cliffhanger to make you want more. Hopefully that lengthy, run-on sentence makes sense. I guess what I’m saying is I loved this book on its own but I definitely need–not want–the next one.

Of Mycelium and Men is a phenomenal sci-fi novel. It’s got hard sci-fi, diversity of characters, and elements of horror to make it compulsive reading. It’s free on Kindle Unlimited, but well worth the price of admission at whatever price you pay. Get it, read it, come back here and talk about it. I recommend it highly.

All Links to Amazon are Affiliates

Links

The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC) Hub– Check out all of my posts related to the SPSFC here!

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

My Read-Through of the Hugos: 1984

I’m a huge science fiction fan, and, having read a list of what are alleged to be the top 200 science fiction novels, I decided to next tackle a read-through of all the Hugo Award winners and nominees for best novel. Let me know your thoughts and favorites. I’ve marked the winner as well as my own choice for which novel would win, had I the choice among the nominees. I’ve also dropped a short reflection on the year’s Hugo list at the end.

1984

Millennium by John Varley (My Winner)- Grade: B-
The concept here is pretty awesome. On a future Earth, the present is bleak, so they send back time travelers to grab healthy humans from the past to try to reinvigorate their present. They’re spotted, and hijinks ensue. It’s a great thread, and one of the better uses of time travel. I love time travel abstractly as an idea for a story, but it’s so rarely used in ways which make it actually integral to the plot. Varley, however, uses it in a way that is impactful without ever feeling like it’s just there for the sake of the plot or throwing people into past situations. The characters aren’t terribly compelling, which makes it difficult to get into the book. Ultimately, the ideas behind the story are what kept me going as a reader. It’s definitely of the better time travel-themed novels I’ve read recently.

Startide Rising by David Brin (Winner)- Grade: C-
Conceptually, Startide Rising–and indeed, the rest of the series–has quite a bit going for it. The idea of “uplifting” other species to sentience and then traveling through the stars with them is a good one that I have surprisingly not really run into much anywhere else. My issue with this book and the others in the series is that it drags out the concept for far too long and without as much payoff as I’d like. The cacophony of viewpoints becomes more than a bit annoying to try to follow as aliens, dolphins, and humans each chime in on galactic affairs and the events surrounding one specific ship, the Streaker, on which the humans and dolphins reside. The reader is shifted back and forth so frequently that settling in and trying to experience the story is impossible. The book is also quite lengthy, which adds to the difficulty of trying to manage so many sporadically appearing characters. I found myself wondering occasionally if I should remember a character encountered in one or another part, and it became a chore to read after a while. With a more tightly focused narrative, I think this would have been a much better read. As it stands, it shows flashes of brilliance throughout.

Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. McAvoy- Grade: C-
Sometimes you read a book and you can tell it’s probably much better than it feels. For me, Tea with the Black Dragon was one of those books. There’s a quietude in the novel that is both appealing at times and also off-putting at others. I found myself feeling a bit bored. I know that’s a strong indictment, but its nevertheless true. I found my mind wandering off to other novels or locales, hoping that some action would occur, or that something would break the tone of the novel. I don’t really know how to describe it; I was underwhelmed here. I acknowledge the craft while at the same time noting it’s not for me.

Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McAffrey- Grade: B-
McAffrey takes readers back to an earlier time in Pern, making this book one of the potential entry points into the series. The science fantasy world of Pern has humans using dragons to fight voracious alien invaders known as Thread which falls whenever a sister planet gets close enough for them to cross the space between planets. In Moreta, a disease is spreading throughout the Weyrs to the point where effectively fighting against Thread is in danger. That puts the whole planet at risk, and Moreta must muster up the people of the Weyr to finally fight off the incursion, which is only successful when they rediscover vaccination. Reading the novel post-Covid makes it feel like a somewhat pointed and possibly refreshing science fantasy defense of vaccination as a proper way to combat disease. The book is, as I said, a good entry point into the series, but for those who’ve read everything so far, it could feel formulaic. At this point McAffrey definitely has a pattern in the stories of the novels and even in tropes of characters that show up. Fans of the series will enjoy it, and those who are new to the series may find it a good point to jump in. Those already unimpressed or with waning interest in the series will find this one another tough read. I enjoyed it pretty well, and continue to find the series a kind of comfort read. You get what you expect to get out of them.

The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov- Grade: C
I enjoy Asimov’s Robots series overall. They tend to have stronger characters than the Foundation series (let’s be honest, basically any characterization is stronger than that series) and I enjoy mystery novels, so combining that with sci-fi makes for a potent mix. We revisit Elijah Baley and see what he’s up to as he tackles yet another mystery, this time mixed with a heaping helping of agoraphobia. It’s a fairly good mystery story in which Asimov continues to use the setting to his advantage. The problem is that it seems almost interminably long with very little action to drive the plot forward. It’s a fine novel, but it serves much more as a springboard for discussions of Asimov’s pet issues than it does anything else. It’s a fine read, especially if you enjoyed the other books in the series, but there’s nothing extraordinary about it.

1984- A somewhat disappointing year for the Hugos. None of these books are runaway winners for the award, but none are egregiously bad, either. It’s more of a milquetoast feel to the whole thing. I chose Millennium as my personal winner over Moreta only because the former feels much fresher as a read. Each book on this list has some difficulties, but each has enough qualities to make them worth at least sampling. Not a bad year, nor a good year. Look, even the cover of the winner, Millennium, is boring! What did you think?

Links

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

“Aestus Book 1: The City” by S.Z. Attwell- An SPSFC2 Semifinalist Review

I’ll be reading and reviewing every semifinalist for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest! Check out my list with blurbs, covers, links, and first impressions for all the semifinalists here. Please let me know what you think of any/all of these books! I love comments, and love talking about books.

Aestus Book 1: The City by S.Z. Attwell

The City is below the surface of the planet. Whatever is above the surface requires people from the Patrol to deal with it. Jossey and her brother went aboveground when she was 10 years old, but that led to her losing her brother and coming back convinced that whatever is above, it is a serious threat. Now a member of the Patrol, she has signed up to help the City grow and be successful with solar arrays, aboveground farms, and more. But she discovers that everything is not quite as it seems.

Aestus is a lengthy work. Readers follow Jossey on a journey of fear, discovery, finding herself, and renewal. Attwell’s narrative voice is strong. There’s a commanding grip on the narrative that makes it feel directed without being heavy handed. The story itself develops over time, bringing some twists and turns–a few of which I found predictable, but overall quite satisfying–to go with an extended narrative that is a kind of coming of age for Jossey as well as her society.

The setting has a surprisingly lived-in feel despite not always getting fleshed out at times. One scene near the beginning just has Jossey riding a transport, and I was confused about the context. Readers just get dumped into it, but Attwell deftly makes them feel at home in this world of the City and the aboveground. One downside in the novel is that it feels too long to me. While I mentioned the strong narrative voice above, that doesn’t fully cover up the several times in which it felt like the novel could wrap up a scene or a plot thread in a swifter fashion. At times, it feels dragged out for length. On the flip side, several scenes were very impactful and memorable, even more than a week after finishing the book. I kind of wish that some of the length in some scenes had been cut and added to those that were more memorable.

What can’t be denied, though, is that Aestus has “it.” What is “it”? It is that certain feel hat you get when reading a novel that just clicks for you in the right way. It makes you look past whatever flaws might exist because there’s just something about the book that is compelling and compulsive reading from the get-go. That is here in spades. A large part of “it” is, as I said, Attwell’s narrative voice. The strength of the writing is evident throughout the novel.

Overall, Aestus Book 1: The City is a satisfying read. It delivers a realistic sci-fi world with enough invested in it to make readers care about the plight of those living in it.

Links

 Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

The Great Honor Harrington Read-Along: “Flag in Exile” by David Weber

The Great Honor Harrington Read Along is a read along led by me with critical analysis and SPOILER FILLED looks at the Honor Harrington series and related works by David Weber and collaborators. I’ve read the whole main series and the overwhelming majority of the offshoots, but some of these will still be first time reads. However, spoilers will be abundant throughout these posts, including for much later books in the series.

Flag in Exile by David Weber

Honor Harrington is “exiled” politically and from the military after killing Pavel Young. She makes the most of what she can with it, returning to Grayson and dedicating herself to building up its infrastructure and military as she uses her clout as Steadholder to bring about societal change. She is, however, still emotionally bereft and so at least some of the planning and plotting about Grayson is being done by those close to her. There’s a lot to love in this book, which starts to truly blow open the world of the series in a bigger way than before.

Mayhew gets some character development early on, including the fact that he’s a horticulturalist and loves arranging flowers–something that he intentionally does to jab societal gender norms. We also briefly see Miranda LaFollet, the sister of Andrew LaFollet, one of Honor’s Steadholder’s Guardsmen, show up as Honor’s maid.

A major theme through this book is challenging cultural norms about men and women, largely through religious lenses. We see this, for example, in chapter 5, where Honor is confronted by a clergyman, Marchant, who tries to condemn her from the Grayson books of scripture. Honor herself has been studying up, though, and quotes back to him other portions of the same scripture which seem to suggest that learning of new ways and new ideas is a good thing, and should not be resisted at all costs. This interchange is of great interest to me, because Weber is using an interesting tactic to engage in debate with very real world notions within Christianity of women and men’s places in the church and home. By placing the conversation one step removed from the Bible–with a different set of Scriptures–he makes it safer to discuss for whatever readers might be deeply involved in one side or the other. The fact remains there are people who believe women shouldn’t teach men, that women shouldn’t be pastors, or that women shouldn’t hold other positions of authority over men due to various readings of Scripture. This back and forth with Honor and Marchant illustrates how that can go, but inevitably puts the reader on the side of Honor, and for me personally, as someone who stood on Marchant’s side many years ago, it was a stunning reversal that made me think more about the issue. It’s so well done.

In this book we do run into one of the biggest issues I have with Honor Harrington as a character, though. Namely, she’s apparently good at everything. While there are occasional asides about her not being great at math, for example, the bottom line is that she’s nearly omni-competent and has so many interests and things she does that it becomes difficult to believe she could do them all. For example, in chapter 6 we discover she’s been learning how to duel with swords, but we also know she’s an expert marksman, loves hang gliding, swims a lot, loves going on boats that she knows how to sail, obviously is a great tactician, and the list continues to grow as we go through the books. How does she really have time for it all? I don’t know. I can suspend my disbelief, but it’s good that Weber starts to introduce more side characters to fill in the (very few) gaps in Honor’s ability later, as she’d otherwise grow to be too good at everything. It is a testament to Weber’s ability to write a strong character, though, that we care about her and love her as a person even though it’s sometimes hard to believe she could be what she is.

We get more politicking on the Republic of Haven side, too, as there’s discussion about the dole system and some tilting against universal basic income. Weber’s politics show through at times, and this is definitely one aspect. While it seems to make sense in-universe that a universal basic income could bankrupt a country repeatedly and/or cause them to turn into a kind of pirate state, robbing other nations to pay the dole, the implication is this would be a necessary following from the concept, and I’m highly skeptical of that. Along with this, we also get some insight into Grayson’s own constitutional crises that might be looming as Mayhew and the Steadholders vie for power.

Baseball makes a funny appearance here as Honor believes a bunch of baseball players are trying to start a riot because they’re wielding “clubs.” I love when sci-fi and baseball get combined, as these are two things I absolutely love. We get additional characters showing up throughout this novel who are of high importance later: Captain Yu and Mercedes Bingham reappear, Theisman, Shannon Foraker (who will be a massive thorn in the side later), and more make cameos and more. It’s an exciting read for longtime fans of the series doing a re-read.

Then the big events start to happen in a kaleidoscope of intrigue, action, and reprisal. One of the Sky Domes Honor Harrington helped fund collapses, but then it turns out to be a terrorist act to discredit her as a person, and it killed children. Haven launches a number of attacks, ultimately maneuvering to try to take out Grayson system, which is now a keystone of Manticore’s Alliance. Meanwhile, Honor et al. are dealing with the crisis of the Sky Dome fallout, only to uncover that it was another Steadholder who did it. Honor survives an assassination attempt, ultimately showing up at the Steadholder’s meeting in a super epic scene to then strike down another Steadholder in a duel. But the real brains behind the operation, Mueller, survives.

Here we have another several scenes in which actions are ascribed either to Satan or God depending upon whether one agrees with them. It’s a telling scene that shows how easily religious violence can erupt, and also how easily we can justify our own actions with a religious veneer.

The battle in space, led by an exhausted Honor, is deeply satisfying. Weber always delivers the goods on action scenes like this, and while it’s not super long, the battle here is decisive. I especially loved how Honor (maybe) thinks he fooled Theisman, but we know Theisman was instead fooling the Citizen Commissioner on board his ship, in part, because he wanted to live to fight another day.

Ultimately, Flag in Exile is a thrilling read that opens the world up into many broader possibilities than we’ve seen before. Whether it’s societal upheaval on Grayson, looming problems in Haven, or the broader war opening up, Weber introduces a number of threads here that are of great importance later. This is one of my favorite reads in the series, and every time I read it I discover more to like.

Links

The Great Honor Harrington Read Along– Follow along as I read through and review all the books and offshoots in this series!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

“Cleansing Rain” by Holly Ash- An SPSFC Review

I’m reading and reviewing many books from the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest as a judge. Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).

Cleansing Rain by Holly Ash

Zoe Antos is a scientist working for a corporation whose goal is to help reverse and prevent the spread of climate change. When she heads home from work after a strange encounter in a parking lot, she is kidnapped and thrust into a web of conspiracy that she hadn’t even suspected existed.

That description might lead you to suggest the book is a thriller, and you’d be right. While there are plenty of sections to slow down and think about things, much of the plot revolves around Zoe, her fiancé, Cole Wilborn, and his family and the corporation. Zoe begins to discover more about a conspiracy happening and she suspects that she may have been deceived. It keeps building from there.

There’s not much I can say about the rest of the plot without revealing too many spoilers. What I will say is that it is a compelling narrative, and I especially enjoyed the way that Holly Ash wrote the interaction between the two main characters. I appreciated the directions she took the plot.

The book was submitted as a science fiction novel, and it is that, but only in the lightest terms. At its core, this is an eco-thriller with science fiction trappings. And to me, that’s fine. I don’t believe in gatekeeping genre lines, and this one definitely qualifies as sci-fi in my opinion. If there’s a downside to the book, it’s that I thought some of the way the police interacted related to Zoe’s kidnapping stretched credulity a bit.

Cleansing Rain is a captivating, hyper-focused read. Ash provided me with an audio version of the book for review, and I’m happy to report the reader does a fine job capturing the characters and the intensity of the plot. I listen at a fairly accelerated speed (2-2.5x) and was quite satisfied with the audio performance. The book is recommended for those interested in eco-thrillers or thrillers more generally.

All Links to Amazon are Affiliates

Links

The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC) Hub– Check out all of my posts related to the SPSFC here!

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.