Book Review - On Basilisk Station

Last month I was browsing a Chapters store that was about to go out of business, I have not been reading much science fiction outside of the Star Wars series, and I took this as a chance to pickup a good book on sale to get into the genre. While wandering the aisle trying to pick a good book, a complete stranger came over and tried to help me make my choice. He was a fellow customer, but he was such a fan of the genre he enjoyed introducing people to good science fictions series. In my case he pointed me in the direction of On Basilisk Station by David Weber.

 The Review:

So first and foremost, one thing all science fiction stories have in common, is that they are filled with science. This means that the author spends a good chunk of time trying to download fictional scientific information which is probably very close to what we currently know into your head. In that way this book is true to its genre. The story takes place in a system far far away, approximately 512 light years from earth in the year 4003 CE (although the story uses a different Calendar). Humans have expanded far into space and have divided themselves into separate Space Nations around the systems they have colonized.

On Basilisk Station is the first book in a long running series that follows the exploits of one Honor Harrington a member of the Royal Manticoran Navy, which is a space navy build around the Star Nation of Manticore. Honor Harrington has just been awarded her first captaincy of a spaceship due to her excellence over the course of 25 years of military service. However life isn't fair, her first ship has its weapons gutted, the crew starts to hate her due to the resulting failures in the ship's military performance and she is sent off to watch over the backwater system of the galaxy. Little does anyone know, that backwater system is about to be the powder keg that starts a 13 book long war that spans several star systems and Billions of lives.

As I mentioned above, the story stays true to the science fiction genre in terms of how much you have to learn about the technology and the time period. The series places a lot of emphasis on the ship capabilities and ship to ship combat, as a result there is a lot to learn about how a space ship in this universe works and how it can come apart. In addition there is a brief glimpse into the government of the Star Nation of Manticore which while not as important for this novel, becomes a much more important focus of the following books in the series.

On Basilisk Station has several supporting characters introduced who reflect the varied workforce needed within a single ship to keep it running. Having read most of the series before returning to write this review, I can say that you have to try and remember these characters as they will keep coming back throughout the series. What is most irritating to me is that like the realities of war, people can die too easily and too suddenly, Weber does an amazing job surprising you when a supporting character you have spent a fair bit of time following through the story and cheering on suddenly dies. Weber is fairly detailed on how these characters die as they don't just vanish when the ship takes a hit, He describes how a piece of the ship usually breaks apart and smashes into them or some kind of power source overloads after too much stress.

This particular book has a good chunk of time devoted to mystery solving as Harrington and her crew try to solve a conspiracy that seems to be happening in the Solar System they are in charge of protecting. Unfortunately, Weber tells the story from multiple points of view including the Antagonists' as such for you the reader the mystery is spoiled, but it is still interesting to see the strands of clues that lead Harrington and her crew to putting together the puzzle.


Overall, I found On Basilisk Station to be a great book to get my feet wet in the world of Science Fiction. You get detailed space battles, conspiracies, and a realistic interpretation what it might be like in a future society with a space navy. I give this book a 9/10 as I couldn't find too many faults with the story outside of the fact that too much of the book was spent downloading information on how this fictional universe works. I highly recommend everyone tries it, even just borrowing it from the library for a one time read. 

Book Review: The Thousand Names

So I was browsing my local library when I came across this gem of a book. To be honest, I had never even heard of the series or its author prior to reading it. Having read it though, I have come to like the series very much.

About: 

The Thousand Names is the first book in The Shadow Campaigns series, written by Django Wexler. This first book follows the story of two soldiers serving in a colonial garrison of the Vordanai Empire, as they attempt to retake the country of Khandar which has suddenly gone through a religious revolution. However as the campaign reaches its end, there are hints that the new colonel in charge of the army has ulterior motives for taking part in this war.

Plot:

The story takes place on the coast of a country with a great desert, where the soldiers of the colonial garrison of the Vordanai Empire, are trapped in the foreign land with natives who hate them. There are two main protagonists in the story. First is Senior Captain Marcus D'Ivoire, who was in charge of the entire colonial garrison up until the arrival of the mysterious colonel at the beginning of the story. Then there is Winter Ihernglass, a woman who is pretending to be a man in order to serve as a soldier at the garrison. A good majority of the story follows how they get their soldiers ready for war, and then the huge military battles they take part in. One of the more interesting points in this story is the detail Wexler puts into military strategies and knowledge of how one goes about fighting an enemy capable of using artillery

Overall:

This was a great story, and an excellent start to what may be a long series. The main characters have their stories clearly laid out, and by the end of the story you understand their motivations to continue their struggles into the next book in the series. I especially like how an event would start in the point of view of one of the protagonists and grow into a greater event in the view of another character. The explanation for the existence of magic and demons in the story is very complicated and I personally felt that there were a few holes in the explanation. Considering that it was only revealed towards the end of this book, and that the characters in the story seemed just as confused by the existence of magic as I was. It may be that the following book(s) will provide a greater explanation for magic.

This novel follows the stories of an army in an age where they are just discovering the use of guns, as such there is a lot of mature and graphic detail to various events battles and the end results of those battles. While I wouldn't recommend this book to a teenager, it wouldn't be out of place with most fantasy novels that are rated for young adults.

In the end, I highly recommend heading to your local library and finding this novel, it is a fresh and different type of story than most I've read. This is definitely one of 2013's hidden gems 

Book Review : The Lies of Locke Lamora

(Book One of the Gentlemen Bandits Series )

So as I mentioned in my christmas update I'm adding a new section to my usual posts that covers books I've read and like or feel the need to comment on. As the title suggests the first book I will write about is 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' the first book in the Gentlemen Bandits series by Scott Lynch.

About:

For those who aren't aware the Gentlemen Bandits series by Scott Lynch, is part of the fantasy-thievery genre. It follows the exploits of a thief named Locke Lamora who uses cunning and trickery as the tools of his trade. The story takes place is a fantasy world where magic does exist, yet none of the protagonists are what passes for this story's version of a Mage. So don't expect many complicated magic battle scenes, it will mainly be sword vs sword type of battle, or in the case of the thieves an escape from such battles. The protagonists of the story are a small gang of thieves called the 'Gentlemen Bandits'. while most other thieves consider them to be small time crooks, their misdeeds however have the rest of the world in fear of their identity as the 'Thorn of Camorr'.

Story:
The story is a very witty one, it is told through multiple points of view. At first most of the points of view are by the Gentlemen Bandits, but overtime you get to see the points of view of their victims and main enemies. Throughout this book you see several flashbacks to the life of Locke Lamora as a child and his entrance into the world of thievery. While at first I considered skipping out on the flashbacks (I've never been a fan of flashbacks), they play a central role in explaining the motivations of the main characters. Personally I loved all the characters even the victims of their crimes, they were all fully developed and had several interesting quirks.

Overall: 
This is an excellent book, it starts off strong and gets you into the action fairly early on. If you are fans of films like Ocean's Eleven, then this is for you. Expect several plot twists and even if you get to the part where you know the plan, the ending will still elude you. The author has a very descriptive style that paints a clear image of the city of Camorr, and the characters. There is a lot of clever humor hidden throughout the story, if you pay attention it really makes you grin to yourself. I highly recommend this book to any fan of fantasy or adventure novels.