The Stargate Franchise: Atlantis

The Stargate Franchise: SG-1

The start of Atlantis overlaps with the last few series of SG-1. A group of Earth’s top military and scientific minds are sent into another galaxy, into the lost city of Atlantis. It’s thought to be a fantastic hi-tech place, as it was built by the technologically advanced Ancients.

Almost immediately, problems start. As well as being a one-way trip (due to huge power requirements), Atlantis is underwater, the shield protecting it from flooding is failing, the military commander ends up dead, and his successor accidentally wakes up a far more advanced race from hibernation. To top things off, said race (the Wraiths) have a diet primarily consisting of humans. In short, it’s about as successful a start as a man attempting to impregnate a beehive.

After the initial woe is dealt with, the series settles down and is quite similar in nature to SG-1. There’s a four man team (Sheppard, McKay, Ford and Teyla) that swan off around the Pegasus Galaxy, trying to find allies against the Wraiths, recover technology and so forth. A nice addition is the discovery of Atlantis’ puddlejumpers, small space craft that can fit through the Stargate (especially useful for gates that are in space).

I do have a bit of a problem with the party. Ford is amongst the most boring of sci-fi characters (I’m glad the actor got to display a bit more range when Ford goes off the rails), and is duly replaced with Ronon. Ronon is a charismatic warrior, but there’s a bit of a lack of character development. His world has been destroyed so (excepting a couple of episodes where he encounters old acquaintances) there’s not the same level of interesting backstory we got with Teal’c.

This is the same for the first Pegasus resident companion, Teyla. She initially starts off with her people, they’re forced to evacuate to Atlantis, and then the two drift apart. Teyla does possess some vague psychic abilities to detect the Wraith, though.

Sheppard leads the team, and is a likeable character with a wry sense of humour. McKay is overloaded, I think. He’s not only the science guy, he’s also the chap who knows the most Ancient history, is the everyman (being far less gungho than others, and quite realistic in that respect), and has his own sarcastic sense of humour. Unlike the equal parts of the SG-1 team, it feels a bit imbalanced.

There are some interesting new takes on things, particularly two enclosed episodes. One features McKay trapped in a puddlejumper that’s halfway through an open gate. The gate automatically shuts down after about 38 minutes, and because the puddlejumper’s halfway through (and in space) that would mean he’d find himself floating in zero-G unless they can get him out. Another involves McKay becoming trapped with Carter (who commands the mission in the fourth series) and Doctor Keller in a confined room on an alien world (which sounds rather nice, to be honest), which featured a seriously tilting floor and was well carried by the three thespians who had almost the entire episode to themselves.

For much of the early days, the Wraith are treated as a kind of race threat, with no significant individuals. This changes later on with a couple of interesting characters (such as Tod), and I think that approach works better, as it allows for more nuanced episodes. Instead of simply being viewed as irredeemably evil, some level of trust can develop, which also allows for betrayal and uncertainty.

Atlantis is an enjoyable show, which ran for five series. Universe is the next and final Stargate TV programme (to date), which I’ll write about shortly.

Thaddeus

Review: The Norse Myths, by Carolyne Larrington

Being into history and fantasy, the Norse myths seemed a nice blending of the two, so I bought this book.

The author adopts more traditional spellings for Viking gods (Loki is identical, but Thor’s name is spelt with the rune ‘thorn’ and two Rs). It’s more in keeping with the history, but like Greek names spelt with Ks (Hektor, Akhilleus etc) it can look a bit odd.

Like most people, I have only a passing familiarity with Norse myths (I could name maybe four gods before reading this book), and was interested to learn more. The book begins and finishes with the start and end of the world, with the intervening chapters covering the gods, their opponents, and human heroes.

Loki is the most intriguing fellow, because gods are usually good or evil with small nuance, but he’s genuinely tricky to pin down (amongst his odder feats was becoming impregnated by a giant’s horse and giving birth to Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse).

An interesting perspective was offered on Thor’s giant-killing antics, which is generally shown as being a good thing, but when he and Loki encounter a sleeping giant, he decides it’s hammer time and tries to smash the giant’s skull in, which looks murderous (and impolite) rather than heroic.

In addition to the myths themselves, there’s also quite a lot of artwork (both from the time and more recent versions in paintings etc) and some mentions of recent literary works (most famously, Tolkien’s stuff) that were influenced by Norse myths.

I especially enjoyed the author’s inclusion of commentary on the impact of Christianity and the dating of certain myths (which affects both Christian influence in storytelling and in the way the gods might be painted as inferior to Jesus). The suggestion put by several ancient writers that the gods were in fact excellent real people, whose deeds led to exaggerations and mythologising, is a neat way of wrapping together ancient Norse myths and (then) contemporary Christian thinking, without discarding wholesale the value or interest in said myths.

Downsides are minor, but irksome. For a start, CE. Common Era is a daft revisionist nonsense applied by some to the Christian calendar (BC/AD becomes BCE/CE) for reasons that are beyond me. There’s also a reference to a certain story reflecting, in the author’s view, ‘the patriarchy’. I’m not fond of imposing modern political perspectives on interpretations of ancient stories.

The book was enjoyable, and a good introduction (from my limited knowledge of the area) to Norse myths. I’d give it four out of five.

Thaddeus

St George’s Day book suggestions

I hadn’t planned to write this, but was sufficiently aggravated by hearing some media clowns asking whether the English flag was racist I knocked it up quickly (speaking of which, best wishes to the Duchess of Cambridge, who is currently in labour).

Here are a quartet of biographies that cover from the 9^th century to the 14^th. They’re well worth checking out individually, and each offers great insight into both the individuals upon whom they’re focused as well as the state of England (which varies rather a lot).

Alfred the Great, by Justin Pollard

Depending how you count it, England has had kings for one a half millennia. Over a thousand years ago Alfred became the first, and only, man to be called the Great. Justin Pollard’s excellent biography paints a vivid picture of a king not easily pigeon-holed as either a warrior or a scholar, but who mixed the qualities and strengths of both. Not only that, Pollard manages to convey the strange, almost alien, realm over which Alfred reigns, including abandoned Roman cities and new innovations, such as Alfred’s burh system of defensive settlements. This is the only Anglo-Saxon era history I’ve read, but despite that I never felt lost, so it’s a great book for a first timer.

The Greatest Knight, by Thomas Asbridge

The Greatest Knight is about William Marshal, possibly the most important figure in English history that almost nobody has ever heard of. From childhood as a hostage, abandoned by his father to face probable death (which he only avoided by being so sweet and innocent the king couldn’t bring himself to kill the boy), through to tournaments and war in France, the Holy Land, England and Wales, William served numerous kings, from Henry II to John. Skilful in war, falsely accused of adultery with Young King Henry’s wife, taunted by the vindictive John, William Marshal had a hand in Magna Carta and, quite literally, saved England. A fascinating biography of the 12^th and 13^th century knight.

Edward I: A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris

Edward I, a man so soft and fuzzy he’s been cited by George RR Martin as the inspiration for Tywin Lannister, grew up in the 13^th century during the reign of his loving but weak father, Henry III. A fearsome warrior, he imposed his will on England, strengthening the kingdom and conquering Wales (the castles he built remaining to this day). From the Holy Land to Scotland he fought, his reign marking a high point of royal power between the weakness of his father, and divisiveness of his son (with whom he had rather strained relations). In his latter days, his vigour was compromised and so too his judgement (his punitive approach to Wales was fair enough as it was they who dicked him about, whereas with Scotland the dickishness came from his own side [though Robert Bruce murdering a rival in a church was hardly gentlemanly conduct either]).

Edward III: The Perfect King, by Ian Mortimer

One of England’s greatest ever kings scarcely made it out of childhood. Kept as a virtual prisoner by the usurper of royal authority (but not title) Roger Mortimer, the teenage Edward was rescued by his friends in a daring infiltration by a castle’s secret passage. He rapidly grew into his new role as true king, executing Mortimer and embarking upon a series of wars to strengthen the kingdom. By keeping the Hundred Years’ War in France he protected the English from its worst effects, the huge victories at Crecy and Poitiers occurring in his reign (Poitiers under the command of the Black Prince, his eldest son). Edward also consulted Parliament more frequently than any predecessor, gaining popular support for his decisions and financial backing for his actions. During his reign England suffered the Black Death, and his own son pre-deceased him (due to a different illness). In all, he reigned for half of the 14^th century.

There you are, a quartet of fantastic historical biographies for those interested in learning more about English history. Happy St George’s Day.

Thaddeus

The Stargate Franchise: SG-1

The Stargate Franchise: Atlantis

The Stargate Franchise: Universe

A look at the Stargate TV franchise, beginning with Stargate: SG-1. Spoilers for the series and the preceding film follow.

Stargate began as a film in which the US military send a few chaps through the eponymous gate (think magic galactic doorway). They stumble upon a world akin to Ancient Egypt, ruled over by a tyrannical, parasitical alien. Plot happens, and one nuke later the good guys win.

Stargate: SG-1 begins with the Stargate mothballed. But then, a bad guy very similar in appearance to the film’s antagonist comes through, shoots up the handful of soldiers guarding it, and abducts a lady soldier. Cue the heroic(ish) attempted rescue, spearheaded by the SG-1 team. After the two-parter first story, the series gets into its stride, with a mix of monster-of-the-week shenanigans and longer plot arcs involving persistent villains (and allies).

The best thing about this very good show is the perfect balance of the main cast. Not only are O’Neill, Daniel Jackson, Carter and Teal’c all interesting and likeable (there is no Wesley Crusher in the Stargate universe), they all have the right mix of abilities and perspectives that brings some natural conflict on occasion, and leads to everyone having value, bringing something to the table.

The show also has a knowing sense of humour (“Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. They will, in fact, calm up.”), which is usually a nice addition and occasionally dominates an episode (the 100^th and 200^th in particular, as well as Window of Opportunity, in which O’Neill and Teal’c take advantage of a Groundhog Day situation to do what they like without having to face the consequences).

The Egyptian (mostly) background to villains (the Goa’uld) works well because it’s exotic enough to be interesting whilst still being somewhat familiar. Ruthless, arrogant, with a penchant for slavery, melodrama and megalomania, the Goa’uld have enough individual character for favourites to emerge (the relatively nice Lord Wu, or Baal). Their arrogance and ambition leads to petty infighting which has implications for the plot and means, early on when they’re hugely outmatched, the SG-1 team can play their powerful enemies off against one another.

In the last two series O’Neill is gone and two new characters, Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Vala, join the team. Vala is the first major character who’s mostly there for comic rather than plot reasons (the latter does change a bit later on). Not quite as good as the original lineup, and fans of Farscape might find it odd seeing Ben Browder be serious business and Claudia Black be silly and light-hearted, but it still works.

The final two series also sees a new enemy. The Ori are a race of evil ascended aliens, the opposite of the good but non-interventionist Ancients. They’re followed by a cult of religious zealots whose worship (in a bit of a cliché) empowers them further, and the Priors, priests endowed with immense power by the Ori in return for blind obedience and spreading their religion.

After the charismatic, if dictatorial, Goa’uld, the Ori are an interesting change of pace. It’s more about fighting an invidious ideology than a specific individual (mostly), which is especially tricky when the Priors do things like infect a world with plague that they’ll only cure if the inhabitants all worship the Ori.

Early on in the ninth series there’s a very well-written public debate between Daniel Jackson and a Prior, both trying to persuade a primitive people to either shun or follow the way of Origin (the Ori religion). The persuasive argument the Prior presents is compelling, and you can see why people would adopt such a belief (and for those who don’t, the threat of annihilation works pretty well).

There are two films that followed the tenth and final series, which saw the show cancelled (and kudos for the writers to put together a good final episode despite that limitation). Ark of Truth resolves the Ori storyline, and Continuum features Baal, one of the most popular Goa’uld, using stolen time travel technology to make himself ruler of the galaxy.

Overall, the excellent cast balance and knowing sense of humour make Stargate: SG-1 one of my favourite sci-fi series, perhaps *the* favourite. It could’ve gone on for longer, and it’s not surprising it spawned two more series (Atlantis and Universe). I’ll write about them soon.

Thaddeus

Three guides to the medieval mindset

Whether reading a fantasy with an emphasis on realism, or simply seeking to understand the way people thought in the past, these three books offer a great guide to political, military, and everyday thinking.

The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli

Strictly speaking more Renaissance than medieval, the archetypal politician’s handbook is still relevant to both the modern and medieval worlds. Machiavelli’s work, which includes many historical examples (frequently classical but also more recent), is a masterpiece on human psychology and the realities of power. It reached an infamous status in the past due to its chapters regarding when it’s appropriate for leaders to lie to their people, and why it’s better to be feared than loved.

The Prince offers little in the way of rhetorical flimflam, and offers the unvarnished (and sometimes uncomfortable) truth about why those in power act the way they do. It’s a great book to read in itself, and excellent as a guide for how leaders think and act (in both governance and military spheres), particularly before democracy became quite so popular.

[As an aside, those into audiobooks may wish to check out the edition narrated by Ian Richardson. It’s like having Francis Urquhart give you lessons in political cunning].

By Sword and Fire, by Sean McGlynn

Getting the balance right when it comes to mercy and brutality in medieval warfare can be very difficult, as the way of thinking in those days is so different to modern morality. By Sword and Fire does a great job of putting the rationale in context, and explaining why certain actions that today would be universally condemned (Richard the Lionheart and Saladin executing prisoners in the Holy Land) made sense at the time, without imposing modern norms on the medieval world.

As you might expect, it’s a grim book, so those who are easily upset by such things shouldn’t read it. However, I found it invaluable as a resource to understand how mercy and brutality could be justified (and advantageous for the commander) in a medieval setting.

The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England, by Ian Mortimer

This is an absolutely fantastic read that puts the reader in the shoes of a 14^th century fellow. It’s a sort of everyman’s history, looking at the food people ate, the way they travelled, what they wore, how justice worked, and so on. For everyday details it’s utterly invaluable and packed with interesting snippets of information (one of the best is that monks had a rule preventing them eating meat in the refectory, leading them to invent a secondary dining room called the misericord, in which they did eat meat).

Being roughly situated in the 14^th century, the book includes information about what it’s like when harvests fail, or plague strikes. It is very much about people and the world in which they lived, and is of great use in trying to see things from the perspective of an ordinary sort of fellow.

[Equivalent editions are available by the same author for Elizabethan England, and Restoration Britain, the latter of which I’m currently reading and will review].

These three books collectively offer fantastic insight into the way power politics, military morality, and the everyday world operated in the medieval age. If you’re planning on writing something set in an approximately medieval setting, or simply find the history interesting, I can highly recommend all three.

Thaddeus

Review: The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski

Like many people, I really enjoyed The Witcher 3, and when a fellow of sound judgement suggested giving The Last Wish (the first, I think, Witcher book, the body of which the games are based upon) it seemed like a good idea.

The Last Wish is a collection of short stories interspersed with a continuous mini-storyline of Geralt recovering from a particularly grim wound. Violence is fairly high, there’s a helping of strong language, and sex is minimal and painted in a hazy watercolour rather than the explicit detail some others prefer (personally, I think the hazy approach is better).

The short stories are often around 50-60 pages in length, covering a particular monster contract or similar. As with the game, there’s an element of complex morality woven into what might otherwise be straightforward plots, which both elevates the story above the average and helps to deepen both the character of Geralt himself and the world in which he fights.

Writing style is a little difficult to comment on neutrally because I have a lot of Witcher imagery from the game to fill in any blanks there might be. I found the writing easy to read, and also moreish, often reading rather more than I’d expected. There’s no pat on the head and slab of explanatory text, instead, knowledge about Witcher skills (for example) is conveyed through actions more than words.

It’s a charming mix of old school European fairytale and modern day grim cynicism.

The translation from the original Polish is perfectly good with only occasional slips (a U in ‘evaporate’, and one apostrophe was back to front, though I suspect that was someone else’s minor mistake).

All in all, very enjoyable and I intend to read more of this series in the future. I’d give it four out of five.

Thaddeus

The Ninth Rain – just 99p/99c for now

The Ninth Rain, the first part of The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, by Jen Williams is just 99p on the UK Amazon Kindle store.

Described as ‘perfect for fans of Robin Hobb’, the trilogy opener focuses on the teetering Eboran Empire and Tormalin the Oathless, who prefers the comforts of the tavern to trying to hold things together. Joining an eccentric explorer, and a pyromaniac, Tormalin the Oathless does his best to flee the empire, preferring tomb-raiding and monster-slaying.

But not everyone is willing to let the Eboran empire collapse, and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war. For the Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall...

Anyway, this fantasy is highly rated and it’s just 99p (or 99c if you’re an American). Not sure what the time frame is for the discount to end (the second part is £7.49). If it seems like your cup of tea, now’s the perfect time to give it a look.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Thaddeus

The Mass Effect of social media

We do things to ourselves we would never tolerate being imposed on us by others.

In 1984, the famous dystopian sci-fi novel, the Party has a television in every home. It’s two way, recording everything that is said, watching everything that is done. It’s always connected to some far off, unseen Party official, and able to chastise a citizen who is not keeping up with the Party’s official fitness programme (for example). But it doesn’t laugh like a witch, to be fair.

[Spoilers for the first three Mass Effect games follow].

The Mass Effect Trilogy* is a fantastic set of sci-fi games set a few hundred years in the future. Humanity has risen to the stars, and encountered numerous alien races. In this galaxy, the equivalent of a Galactic UN resides upon the Citadel, a space station discovered long ago (having been mysteriously abandoned). The Citadel sits at the heart of a Mass relay network, each Mass relay enabling immensely fast travel between two points.

It’s a trap. The discovery of the Mass relay network dissuades advanced races from developing their own faster than light capabilities, because they already have a system that works perfectly well. The Citadel space station being at the centre of the network, as well as being very sizeable and perfect for settlement, naturally makes it the seat of an inter-governmental organisation.

Advanced races are unwittingly funnelled into a pre-determined course of action. They’re surrendering their freedom to choose their own fate and develop in their own way because of the gifts they’ve been given, without realising there’s even a giver.

In the vast chasm between galaxies, a race of sentient machines known as the Reapers live. Once every age, they return to devastate the advanced races of the galaxy before they reach a stage where they might be a threat to the Reapers. The Citadel can be remotely controlled by the Reapers, and used to destroy the seat of galactic government. Lack of stand-alone faster-than-light travel capabilities means civilisations develop along the Mass relay network and can be readily obliterated. The path of civilisation occurs along lines laid down ages ago, in a repeated cycle of growth and destruction.

The funnelling effect (although, happily, not the mass extinction at the hands of heartless sentient machines) is something we’re seeing now in social media. The internet is becoming more and more consolidated, certainly in social media terms, in the hands of fewer and more powerful firms. Algorithms are used to massage/manipulate what stories get more coverage. Users can be shadowbanned so their messages don’t show up, without even realising it.

We’re collectively empowering these social media firms and limiting our own freedom to discover news free from the filter that such sites (must necessarily) impose. This is, perhaps, to be expected. Human history has seen a shift throughout the ages whereby the many villagers migrate to the few cities. There are advantages in scale to being a member of a large, rather than a small, community (just ask on Twitter if someone knows something, and you’ve got a decent chance of getting the answer).

But with social media there is also a significant downside. Such sites must have the right and ability to expel those who are troublesome. They are not free from laws forbidding, for example, the sharing of state secrets. And that requires punitive action to be taken. The problem is that, because they’re social media, this can extend to silencing the troublesome who have unorthodox/challenging opinions. Deciding where to draw the line in such cases is not easy. But drawing it wrong can stifle debate, even if said social media firm has no agenda of its own (and some clearly do).

You cannot like a comment if you never see it. And if the algorithm decides an unorthodox opinion is wrong and harmful, see it you shall not.

Social media is incredibly useful, and it’s here to stay. But I would strongly advocate not relying solely upon it (particularly a single firm) for news. Because doing so is to put blinkers on yourself, not even knowing what the filters are preventing you from seeing.

Thaddeus

*There is a fourth game, which I haven’t played, and the first three do form a single overarching story.

Review: The Persian Expedition, by Xenophon

The story of the Ten Thousand, as told in this book (aka the Anabasis), used to be one of the most commonly taught in British schools, and it’s not hard to see why. Ten thousand Greek mercenaries are hired by Cyrus, younger brother of the Persian king Artaxerxes, to defeat his brother and put Cyrus on the throne. Although the battle of Cunaxa is won by Cyrus’ forces, Cyrus himself ends up dead.

The Greeks are a thousand miles from home and surrounded by enemy troops who vastly outnumber them. Going back the way they came is impossible because the supply situation, even with Cyrus helping, was dangerously difficult.

The Persian Expedition, written by Xenophon (one of the army’s leaders), is the story of how the army got back to safety. It’s thought (perhaps along with no longer extant versions by other writers) to have been the geographical and moral inspiration behind dreams of invading Persia, which eventually bloomed under Philip II and Alexander of Macedon.

As well as fending off some Persian attacks, the army grapples with unfamiliar territories and peoples, keeping itself fed and watered, and, perhaps most dangerously, internal political wrangling and the threat of disintegrating obedience once safety seems to have been reached.

It is not in the top rank of classical history. Xenophon lacks the rigour of a Polybius or Thucydides (although he also tends to avoid eight clause sentences...), and has a bias similar to Josephus, but not balanced by the same level of detail and insight. This may be because Xenophon wrote of the journey decades after it happened.

However, it is an interesting book. The failure of Persia (to be fair, they didn’t try as hard as they could’ve) to prevent the Greeks from leaving led those across the Aegean to believe that moral decay had made the orientals weak as well as decadent. The army hung together very well so long as it felt in danger, but as safety seemed at hand, things started to splinter and there was seemingly little gratitude to those who had helped lead the men out of the fire.

The innkeeper considers this to be three and a half out of five pints.

Thaddeus

Samples Snapshot Review #1

On the 24^th of March I had a quick look at Amazon’s Kindle books, specifically the top 10 from new releases (30 and 90 days) and hot new releases. Disregarding things that looked really not my cup of tea and later entries in series, I noted a few down and gave the samples a quick going over. Here are my thoughts.

Thunder & Lightning, by Christopher G Nuttall and Leo Champion

I found this near(ish) future sci-fi easy to read, with multiple POVs and an interesting premise. A telescope on the Moon (now colonised) discovers alien ships heading to Earth. The telescope’s director announces it publicly, and the seven Great Powers have six months to decide how to react. There were a few small problems with typos (and clunky writing/repetition, one line describing two nations as firm allies, then the next saying one might be a slight ally to the other) but nothing that got in the way.

Blueshift, by Joshua Dalzelle

A small crew of humans have developed travelled, mostly in stasis, aboard a less than perfect ship to a different star, and come back. Due to dilation of time, just over eight years has passed for the crew, but nearly a thousand has for Earth. What will they find? Upon returning to the solar system, problems arise with the ship, and the only signal they can get is a repeating beacon from Mars. Can they decelerate to actually return to Earth? What’s the state of mankind? It’s possible the author deliberately curtailed the sample to avoid giving away whether or not, and how (if so), they get back to Earth. Very early on is there are quite a few character names thrown in at short order but that shakes itself out fairly soon, and the crew reactions to the difficult situation help to set them apart. I was left wondering how things pan out.

Sevenfold Sword (Champion), by Jonathan Moeller

NB I cheated with this one. The fifth and final book, lacking a subtitle, appeared on the list and I decided to check out the first.

Unusually for fiction, this uses blank lines rather than indented paragraphs. It doesn’t detract at all, just looks a bit unusual at first. The opening story follows Ridmark and his family as they attend a grand do. He and his wife Calliande recently lost their newborn daughter, and Calliande leaves the house for the first time in months to attend. All seems well, until an unexpected guest arrives. Interesting setting, which seems to be a mix of high fantasy and Roman/European history, but there is an awful lot of info-dumping (much of which appears unnecessary) that bogs down the earliest part of the story.

Embers of War, by Gareth L Powell

Told from multiple POVs, this sci-fi sample is intriguing but also a little frustrating. The story appears to cover the end of an interstellar war and a new conflict emerging afterwards, but the sample feels too small to get to grips with the premise. The writing style is well done and I enjoyed what I read, but there wasn’t enough text there for me to feel engaged with the story. It may well be a very good book, I just wish there was more in the sample to gauge whether it was my cup of tea or not.

Blood and Sand Trilogy Box set, by Jon Kiln

Told from the single perspective of Vekal, I really liked the sample of Blood and Sand. It’s set, as you might expect, in a fantasy desert location. Vekal’s a Sin Eater, a religious warrior-monk type of fellow who can remove the sins from others to ease their passing into the lovelier side of the afterlife, but who is nevertheless held in contempt by those who serves. His city’s been overrun by barbarians and his immediate task is to stop himself getting killed. Even in the sample there are some plot twists and I like the way things are going. The odd flashback helps add to Vekal’s character and break the otherwise continuous narrative of what he’s doing, and the action’s well told without being overdone. I may well buy this (and it doesn’t hurt that it’s just 99p for the equivalent of 520 pages).

Quite a lot of good stuff, and if I had to pick just one, it’d be Blood and Sand. Not only did I enjoy it the most, it’s very reasonably priced.

Thaddeus

The Last City – for just 99p/99c

Disclaimer: I have a story in this anthology (Legacy, by Thaddeus White).

The Last City, a sci-fi anthology put together by Dust Publishing’s Nick Bailey and Darren Bullock, is discounted to just 99p/99c in e-book form, until the end of the week and features short stories from best-selling authors like Nathan Hystad and Jo Zebedee. Its varied short stories tell tales of the last major human settlement in a distant solar system, settled ages ago. The City is an asteroid mining operation of immense proportions, ranging from the grimy underclass of the lower levels to unrivalled opulence higher up, all governed by a commercial feudalism with a thin veneer of democracy.

Five star sci-fi for under a quid isn’t half-bad, so now’s the perfect time to buy it.

Amazon UK 

Amazon US

Thaddeus

Red Sister Deal – just 99p

Red Sister, Book of the Ancestor part 1, is cut to just 99p on the UK Amazon Kindle store. (Not sure what the previous price was but Grey Sister, part 2, is out in May and pencilled in at £9.99).

Mark Lawrence, as well as running the excellent #SPFBO contest, is the author of the Broken Empire Trilogy, which was very well written and I can recommend.

So if you’ve been pondering what fantasy to buy next and like things grim, now is a great time to take advantage of a highly rated book for 99p.

Thaddeus