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REVIEW: Unity by Elly Bangs

Imagine if humans could perfectly understand one another. What if science opened the possibility for us to transcend the need for language, creating true empathy? What implications would exist if technology could synthesize a collection of human consciousness? Unity by Elly Bangs examines the possibilities and casualties of total homogeneity, and its impact on personhood.

Danae is twelve thousand years old and is among those who have unified. She is a confluence of all memories and experiences from two hundred and twenty-three people. I loved how Unity pushes the boundaries of the human mind. To fully Unify, the individuals’ minds cease to exist, and a new consciousness is born. Joining other science-fiction stories such as Altered Carbon, Dollhouse, and Cyberpunk, Unity continues exploring the theme of consciousness with new thought-provoking questions.

Unity begins with Danae fractured from her other selves and desperate to rejoin them in their homeland, Redhill. As she journeys, she reflects on her traumatic past and her renewed sense of mortality. Her path to Redhill is suicide as bounty hunters and a stalker haunt her steps. New threats place an already post-apocalyptic world in peril.

While Unity primarily focuses on Danae, the other two point of views in this novel are equally compelling. Alexei is an ex-mercenary hired to smuggle Danae and her love, Naoto, safely home. If Danae is a collaboration of everyone she had ever unified with, Alexei is plagued with the guilt of everyone he had murdered. The third point of view is dubbed The Borrower, though he could be called other more accurate, more ominous names. While Danae unifies with willing participants, The Borrower forces his personhood into others.

Elly Bangs’s apocalyptic, cyber punk novel is a bold debut. Its world building and themes are immense in scale. Piecing together this world’s catastrophes and politics as I read was challenging, especially in the beginning. At some points, the dialogue felt rather over-explained which harshly contrasted to the complex story. This novel does hit its stride and come together a quarter of the way in. Overall, I was enthralled by the themes and scene imagery in Unity.

Elly Bangs had revised Unity over the course of eighteen years, radically changing the story as she protested wars, endured economic collapses and climate change, and witnessed the global pandemic of our times. Her vision of consciousness and self-identity is powerful. I would be intrigued to read her next novel.

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REVIEW: Hammer and Bolter: Bound for Greatness

In Bound for Greatness Adept Neath counts books at an Imperial librarium. He’s not allowed to read. He’s not allowed to talk. His job is one of repetitive boredom, and of commitment to the Imperium and the Emperor. He counts the books, he makes sure the right number is there, and he prays with all the faith he can muster.

His world is turned upside down when he realises that sometimes there are the wrong number of books, and a fellow adept confronts him about the missing books. Shadows haunt the book stacks, but can Neath uphold his Imperial faith?

Bound for Greatness is a story that highlights both the ridiculous beurocracy of the imperium, and the insidious nature of the spiritual enemies of humanity. And, in a consistent theme of the 40k universe, how the former enables the latter.

Reminding me of Castlevania in its animation style, this episode is definitely a slow burn (as much as possible for a 17-minute-and-change episode) and won’t appeal to people who follow 40k for buzzing chainswords, hamming bolters, and colossal void wars. It will appeal to those who love the Chaos faction and it’s insidious nature. Not always are worlds won with fiery combat; sometimes it’s with quiet infiltration and the promise of change in a galaxy that has grown stale and stagnant.

The message Bound for Greatness carries is a key one for the 40k universe and 40k lore. It speaks of the common Imperial citizen (one of the countless many) and how hiding them from the horrors of the universe maybe protects them, and maybe leaves then undefended against them.

Another interesting episode for Hammer and Bolter. I’m glad I watched Bound for Greatness, but I’m equally glad it was a short episode, as it’s not quite my jam. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Watch Hammer and Bolter: Bound for Greatness on Warhammer+

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REVIEW: Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

I received an advanced review copy of Empire of the Vampire in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Jay Kristoff and Harper Voyager. Minor spoilers may follow.

“It was the twenty-seventh year of daysdeath in the realm of the Forever King, and his murderer was waiting to die.”

The murderer is Gabriel de Leon. Paleblood. Silversaint. Vampire-hunter and bane of the creatures of the night. He is a legend and having settled a vendetta, killing the Forever King, he is now at the mercy of his enemies. The new ruler of the vampires wishes for Gabriel’s story to be recorded before his demise. In a similar fashion to The Name of the Wind, the historian Jean-François of the Blood Chastain chronicles the events of our protagonist’s epic tale, as told by the chevalier Gabriel himself.

With this being the setup, in addition to the above-mentioned “present-day” storyline, there are two past timelines that the killer recounts. The first of these surrounds the events of Gabriel’s teenage years including his relationships with his parents and sisters, daysdeath and the increased strength and threat of the vampire empire, his infatuation with blood, and his perplexing abilities which leads Gabriel to the brotherhood of the Silversaints. The second of the past accounts finds a thirty-something, disgruntled, addict Gabriel, whose deeds are the tales of legends. He reluctantly joins a sort of fellowship, bemused to find himself part of a prophecy that relates to a god that Gabriel thinks is a prick.

Gabriel is an awesome character. He’s humorous, bitter, witty, sweary, and world-weary. He isn’t thrilled to have to tell his tale to the vampire historian but, as the stories progress, there is some excellent back-and-forth banter between the duo. An element that often made me smirk is when the historian will tap his quill on his manuscript, a nonchalant reminder to Gabriel that the Queen of Vampires wishes for him to explain certain parts in-depth, as if to a child. As Kristoff jokes in his Goodreads review of this novel, this is definitely for adults and is “not a book for children”. I’d hesitate to say that it is a bit too dark and violent for even the youths of the vampire empire. By the historian doing this though, it adds extra depth and insight and makes for clever worldbuilding when explaining intricacies such as the vampire houses, or familial powers or legacies, etc… Gabriel’s “I don’t give a fuck”-attitude is prevalent in these exchanges too, especially when Gabriel opts to time hop in his tale instead of telling it chronologically, to the frustration of Jean-François. The Silversaint calmly signals the word PATIENCE that is tattooed onto his knuckles.

As he ages, I read de Leon as being reminiscent of Geralt of Rivia from Sapkowski’s The Witcher Saga. He comes across as a reluctant hero at certain points, a legendary warrior and swordsman that possesses some magical abilities, with acts of bravery or heroism normally following a sigh or a “for-fuck’s-sake” grunt. At least that’s how I envisaged him.

“I am the boy’s master. He’s impatient. Arrogant. Far too keen for glory. But he’s one of the finest swords I’ve trained, and he took down this highblood alone, drugged to the eyeballs on rêvre. If what I suspect of his line is true… he could be the greatest of us, Talon.” “Or the most terrible.”

Although this is Gabriel de Leon’s tale, he shares the page-time and has interesting relationships with a whole range of intriguing characters. Favourites for me were the rival Aaron de Coste, the master Greyhand, the enigma Dior, and the Holy Sister Astrid. He also has a slightly unhinged talking blade called Ashdrinker. The members of the Forever King’s family whose paths cross with Gabriel’s in Empire of the Vampire make for fine antagonists, being imposing, beautiful, ageless, and terrifying. A part that I really enjoyed and applaud Kristoff for the way he presented this, was when a character we were familiar with from de Leon’s youth returns to the page over a decade and a half later in the other timeline. This brought a few true smiles to my face.

There is a lot to enjoy here in Kristoff’s horror-tinged, vampire-laden, epic fantasy tale. In fact, it was the most I’ve enjoyed a fantasy novel for a long time. I thought it was very well written, being descriptive enough for my mind to fill in the blanks, crafting some impeccable imagery, and adrenaline-fuelling grand set-pieces. Occasionally dancing on the line of melodramatic, but for me personally, it stayed on the right side, being more cinematic than needlessly extravagant. Empire of the Vampire is packed with many stand-out scenes, and knowing that this is only a portion of de Leon’s legendary tale, I’ll be picking up a copy of the sequel as soon as I can. 9/10.

Final Note: The internal artwork by Bon Orthwick (@monolimeart) is incredible, an example of which can be seen above and was copied from the book’s Amazon UK page.

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REVIEW: Hammer and Bolter: Death’s Hand

In Deaths Hand, the first episode of Hanmer and Bolter released on the new Warhammer+ platform, Inquisitor Kiamoro’s death has been foretold, and he’ll do just about anything to stop it. He’ll kill sanctioned psychers, consort with aliens, and sacrifice just about anything. With internment on Terra his reward for two centuries of service to the Throne within arms reach, can he make it?

Animated in a manga style, Death’s Hand is a complete and brilliant short story (I’m assuming the Hammer and Bolter series will be a new story each release, unlike the Angels of Death or Astartes animated series also showcased on Warhammer+). The manga style is certainly not my visual preference, but hats off to the team for writing an excellent and fun story to create from. It’s fun, punchy, has good twists, and from that very first scene I just knew I was going to enjoy it.

Without a focus on space marines or the Guard, there’s a lot to unpack here from a factions perspective, and the nature of Inquisitors who get a fair bit of grey areas, comparatively, gives the creators plenty to play with. If you enjoyed Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett, then I think you’ll enjoy this.

Death’s Hand is a thoroughly enjoyable start to the Hammer and Bolter series and one I’m sure most 40k fans will enjoy. Starting off Warhammer+ with a space marine and an inquisitor series was an excellent decision—and here’s hoping the next episode is just as good as the first.

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REVIEW: Blindsight by Peter Watt

Originally published in 2006, Peter Watt’s Blindsight tells the story of what happens when 65,000 alien probes flashed simultaneously, instantaneously surveying the earth. When a probe of our own intercepts an extraterrestrial signal of unknown origin and receipt shortly thereafter, a team is sent to investigate, and possibly make first contact. Naturally, nothing good happens!

Blindsight is densely packed with themes and concepts relating to consciousness and sentience (amongst other things) that made me want to put the book down and really think about what Watts was trying to say. Sometimes there was too much going on thematically – it felt like Watts was trying to cram 50 pounds of philosophy into a 30-pound bag. Many of these themes are explored through dialogue and exposition, which to Watts’ credit works well. While it’s clear he’s using the voices of the characters to deliver his philosophy, it doesn’t come across as forced or pedantic. Occasionally though Watts would touch on a subject and then move on without exploring it, which could be frustrating and a little disjointed. Likewise, characters would have a-ha moments that I as the reader didn’t share, leaving me to just shrug and move along.

Characterization is both a strength and a weakness here. As a child half of protagonist Siri Keaton’s brain was removed to treat chronic epilepsy. What was left was someone who could glean a world of information from a person’s smallest gesture but was unable to experience true feelings or emotions. Commanded by a vampire, Siri is joined by a linguist whose brain has been constructed to house multiple personalities; a biologist who can interface with his equipment cybernetically; and a soldier who can command a horde of killer drones. The characters were rich and lifelike, with actual personalities that go beyond describing their roles on the team. Only a few of the characters’ backstories are addressed though, and that felt like a missed opportunity.

But at the same time, Blindsight is a real page turner. Throughout, Watts does an excellent job of ratcheting up the tension, making you feel wonderfully uncomfortable. Just when you think you have a grip on what’s going on, he adds a twist that keeps things from being predictable or cliched. Blindsight has a very rewarding loop of presenting a mystery, then solving that mystery with an even more terrifying one. By the conclusion, there were questions left unanswered that left me thinking about the story for days after.

Overall, I enjoyed Blindsight. I recommend it, especially if you are a fan of darker science fiction along the lines of Aliens or Even Horizon. As of this writing (August 26, 2021), the full novel was available for free from the author’s website: https://rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

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REVIEW: Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo is one of those delicious books that coast by on vibes more than anything else. Set in Appalachia, this is a story of love and loss, of mystery and ghosts haunting your past and present. Andrew is a young man in his early twenties, moving to join his best friend and adoptive brother Eddie at graduate school in Nashville, Tennessee. Except, Eddie’s dead. And Andrew has no clue what happened to him – although he is certain that it wasn’t the suicide everyone seems to believe it was.

Joined by a cinnamon roll of a housemate, Riley, whom he inherited from Eddie along with his house and research project, Andrew is drawn into a world of dark academia, drug dealing hotties (why yes, Andrew is very much a heterosexual man, why would you ask?) and strange happenings.

I devoured this wonderful book in just a few sittings and couldn’t get enough of this dark and addictive worldbuilding and the fantastically written characters. The tension between Andrew and Riley’s cousin Sam and their constant will-they-won’t-they while Andrew comes to terms with his own sexuality is electrifying and honestly one of the best romantic arcs I’ve ever read when it comes to chemistry. And this kind of strong writing and characterization is what makes Summer Sons shine. Add in a university setting, a mystery and ghost stories on top of uncanny events in Andrew’s life and you have a recipe for success.

My only slight gripe with the book was that I guessed some aspects of the resolution too early, which made the ending too transparent for my taste. But then, I’m probably a more avid and attentive reader than most, and ultimately, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book as a whole – the book is stronger in its vibes than in its plot.

An element that stood out to me as very strong was its treatment of trauma and mental health issues. Not only did the characters all deal with grief and trauma over Eddie’s death in their own ways over the course of the story, but the book ended with a rather incisive event which affects the main characters in different ways and significantly impacts their relationships with each other. This isn’t just glossed over in the quest for a happy ending, but even in the small amount of time remaining dealt with in a healthy and realistic way to give a satisfying conclusion to both characters and readers.

As you can probably tell, I absolutely loved Summer Sons and highly recommend it. I especially think that this is well suited for those of you who enjoyed Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo or A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee.

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REVIEW: There Is No Antimemetics Division

The SCP Foundation is a collaborative setting that anyone can add to. It stands for Secure, Contain, and Protect, and deals with a specialized bureaucracy dealing with things that don’t make sense in our reality: monsters, artifacts, modern objects that have been warped or turned paranormal in some way.

Most of the SCP stories take the form of in-world documents, listing the object or creature by designation, and then explaining what it does and what sort of precautions work to keep people safe from it. This sort of detached, scientific analysis of horrific, reality-altering creatures and objects works fantastically to create a specific tone, a mix of dark humour and cosmic horror.

The SCP stories started in 2008 and have continued since. There are over 6,000 SCP classification stories, and thousands more ‘Foundation tales’ that are written in a more typical short story style. They’ve made their own video games, and clearly inspired Remedy’s 2019 game Control. While I’ve only read these occasionally, my favorite of them is a recording of a basketball game in which the people who were recorded gain more self-awareness the more times the recording is replayed. (It’s available here: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1733 )

All of that brings us to qntm (real name Sam Hughes)’s SCP book There Is No Antimemetics Division.

This story employs a mix of the SCP classification and the more traditional style of Foundation Tales. I appreciate qntm’s desire to write a story that swings for the fences in its very premise. I’m not even sure whether I should call it a novel or a short story collection as many chapters felt like distinct entities but worked together to create a whole.

The opening section of There Is No Antimemetics Division was excellent. It consistently hit the place I love in science fiction and fantasy, where reality almost but doesn’t quite make sense. That frisson between the real and the unreal is my favorite thing about speculative fiction.

There is No Antimemetics Division follows Marion Wheeler, the head of the Antimemetics Division. No one else in Site 41 remembers her, or the rest of her division, because that’s how antimemetics work—they ruin people’s memories. With enough capability, they can make it so no one else remembers them. The title is a direct quote from Marion Wheeler’s boss at Site 41, who forgot she existed—as well as her entire department.

There was a section near the beginning where one of the staff who worked under Wheeler was lost to these antimimetic creatures, to the point that everyone else’s eyes would simply pass right over him as if he didn’t exist. Worse, by stealing his memories they essentially ate any plan he could come up with. It was eerie by itself, but then he found a list, written by other people this had happened to, of what they had tried to do to stop these things, and how every one of the attempts had failed.

The most common countermeasures to the antimemetics are mnestics—drugs that enhance memory and counteract antimemetics, and amnestics—drugs that do the opposite, and make people forget. Wheeler also uses trivia to distract them. They also have plans for developing countermemes but it will take years, and if the entities eat any memories associated with the plan in the interim, they’ll know all about it.

The characters in this book are quick sketches rather than fleshed out and fully realized, but I don’t find that a problem. This book knew what it wanted to be, and deep characterization wasn’t part of that. It has big ideas it wants to examine instead. A few of the slower chapters entail the marriage of Marion Wheeler and her husband Adam, a violinist, and I will admit I enjoyed those. But they weren’t the selling point of this novel.

There Is No Antimemetics Division hit one particular wall that kept it from being a five-star book. The last act became too big, too fast. The opening sections had tense paranoia, but the ending felt rushed and the stakes ceased being personal.

That said, I’d rather a flawed book that does something new than a book that plays it safe. The idea of entities that can not just eat your memories, but by doing so, make people forget they knew you, hits both my enjoyment of cosmic horror and stories that play with memory. There Is No Antimemetics Division managed a paranoid unreality that I truly loved.

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The Wheel of Time Trailer is here!

The Wheel of Time is not a grimdark series by even loose standards but it is one of the seminal works of fantasy from the Nineties. It takes many classic tropes of fantasy: the farm boy, the Chosen One, a magical teacher, prophecy, and a war between Good vs. Evil at its most primal then puts its own spin on it. Robert Jordan was a powerful influence on me during my high school and college years to the point that even when my tastes evolved, I always held The Wheel of Time in high esteem.

The Amazon series is something that a lot of us were interested in but I admittedly had some skepticism, even with Game of Thrones showing that you could theoretically adapt 70% of a series faithfully on screen. I was even more impressed with the Netflix adaptation of the first two Witcher books. Unfortunately, we have The Shanarra Chronicles to show how things can also go terribly wrong. Still, I was a first day viewer of the trailer for the series and am happy to share my thoughts.

The Wheel of Time trailer has a strong focus on the witches (Aes Sedai) of the series with Moiraine (played by Rosamund Pike), Nynaeve (played by Zoe Robins), and Egwene (Madeleine Madden). The special effects for the use of magic seem serviceable if not necessarily hugely impressive. We see arrows being stopped midair, wind magic, and some other displays that put me in mind of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It seems mostly consistent with the female power as described in Jordan’s books. I’m a huge Rosamund Pike fan and what little we see of the other two seems to do some classic scenes from the book.

We get glimpses of Emond’s Field and since this is where the first third of The Eye of the World takes place, getting this right is important. Unsurprisingly, it does have a little bit of a Shire feel to it despite everyone being tall burly folk. We don’t see much of Rand, Perrin, or Mat but the few scenes we do are ones that make it seem like they have the characters down. Mat is a laughing rogue, Perrin is reserved, and Rand sort of falls in the middle.

The Wheel of Time trailer provides a glimpse of the Aes Sedai and their political machinations that provide an important undercurrent to the series, everyone looking mostly appropriate. Above the Warcraft movie below Lord of the Rings level, IMHO. I was genuinely impressed with the city of Tar Valon and the Shadowspawn. Both seem like they come from much bigger budget movies and will be fun to see onscreen.

The trailer leaves me cautiously optimistic. The special effects do come off as a bit low-rent Lord of the Rings but it does feel like it has a strong grasp of the material. I can’t wait to see an episode of The Wheel of Time on screen.

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REVIEW: Angels of Death: Blood and Duty

First cab off the rank for the new Warhammer+ is Angels of Death episode 1, Blood and Duty. For somebody who has long fallen out of love with the actual tabletop game, but still can’t get enough of the books and animations like Astartes, when I saw the Warhammer+ announcement I was so happy. Games Workshop seeing animator creators making money from their IP through Patreon and YouTube and the like was only going to end one of two ways—take down notice or employment. I’m glad that for most that this is where we land. Fan creators are getting employed and not sued.

In Blood and Duty a space marine Blood Angels captain is missing, lost on a planet covered by electrical storms and facing off against the endless horde of the Tyranids. Aboard a battle cruiser in orbit, Sergeant ??? must push his brothers to make a run to the surface to save their leader. However there’s only 11 of the full 100 compliment of the company left alive, and the geneseed taken from slain brothers to create new space marines would be left all but unguarded should they drop to the surface to attempt rescue.

Beautifully animated in greyscale except for the red of armour and helmet lenses, Blood and Duty is a visually stunning introduction to the Warhammer+ content. The approach conveys darkness and grit so well, and with the animators working overtime on the gothic glory of the scenery, Blood and Duty is gloriously presented. I watched a review of Warhammer+ opening 48hrs and the YouTuber mentioned being off put by the mouth movement animation. Honestly, it didn’t bother me—we’re watching a stylistic animation, not a human.

Blood and Duty presents a simple story so far, with a clear direction for following episodes, some external conflict and some internal conflict amongst the marines. It has all of the great building blocks of an excellent animated series, and alongside the eagerly anticipated Astartes Season 2, shows that Games Workshop are here to deliver top quality content through Warhammer+

Watch Angels of Death: Blood and Duty on Warhammer+

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REVIEW: Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

Half a King has been touted by some outlets as Abercrombie’s foray in to the realm of the ‘young adult’ fantasy novel but do not let the age of our protagonist fool you. This is not a children’s story. It is as dark and brutal as one might expect from Abercrombie and, although slightly shorter than some of his other offerings, it is still a respectable length at just shy of 400 pages in length.

This first novel in the Shattered Sea trilogy tells the journey of the cunning young Yarvi and his mission for vengeance along with the reclamation of the Black Chair of Gettenland after a trail of murders and usurpers. The throne is one Yarvi did not want nor expected to sit on as the younger son of a legendary King with a malformed hand making him a poor warrior and weak in the eyes of his countrymen. Instead Yarvi had been destined for a life as a member of the kinless Ministry, acting as a healer, archivist, and advisor to the Ruler.

Every one of Yarvi’s sharp wits are tested in the mission to regain his throne. On his journey we meet a range of other characters and are never completely sure of their true purpose. Some help, some hinder, and some form part of an unforeseen bond of friendship like which Yarvi has never felt before.

The lands of this world have a distinct Scandinavian feel and parts of the novel do have a sense of the marauding Viking to them. However there is a comforting familiarity to general premise of a medieval dystopia where the sword seems to rule a bleak and bloody world. The narrative simmers and thickens in a delightful way and mostly short chapters mean it can be read at a relatively fast pace. The world building is less dense and complex than other Abercrombie works which adds to the feeling that this is a quick read, but it is still fleshed out enough to be engaging. There are subtle clues sprinkled throughout pointing to its ending but the main plot twists are unpredictable. The action scenes are bloody and most of the characters well developed. Yarvi himself displayed the moral ambiguity that even at the end of the novel left me unsure if I was rooting for him or not.

Half a King is everything I want from a Joe Abercrombie novel. It is gripping and fast paced from the outset, with a maze of twists and turns that keep you enthralled from cover to cover.

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