What do you think?
Rate this book
Chains of Loss
He spent yesterday collecting space debris to sell.
He woke up this morning crashed on an Earth that shouldn't exist.
He has no idea how he got there, what he's doing, or what the bloodthirsty orcs who are screaming for his death are saying.
He's a prophet's pawn, a potential savior, an average guy cyborg of a 35th-century stellar colony.
He's Derek, and he really wants to know what's going on.
He woke up this morning crashed on an Earth that shouldn't exist.
He has no idea how he got there, what he's doing, or what the bloodthirsty orcs who are screaming for his death are saying.
He's a prophet's pawn, a potential savior, an average guy cyborg of a 35th-century stellar colony.
He's Derek, and he really wants to know what's going on.
186 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 27, 2012
3 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 11, 2012
This is a great book. It covers the two genres that I like most sci-fi and fantasy. The characters are well defined and interesting. If you like sci-fi or fantasy I recommend this book. I look forward to Robert Sier's next book.
Read
April 17, 2013First, I should state why I accepted this book for review: I was intrigued by the idea of a man from a post-earth, humanity's-second-planet society coming into contact with a post-apocalyptic earth. Second, I didn't find the assumed central character too annoying within the first few pages.
Okay, that's all fine and good. Now onto the second:
I, again, couldn't finish this book. It wasn't because it was horrendously written, because it wasn't. Chains of Loss by Robert Sier is well written and articulated in terms of literary mechanics.
No, it was something else; something Mr. Sier couldn't help because he didn't know I rejected books that covered the topic of angels. And the moment a winged human being dubbed a Seraph went up, I just put the book down.
Never mind the fact that the person in question had been magically endowed with wings, and therefore wasn't a 'traditional' angel. Never mind that it was a woman, and angels are not women. Never mind that I liked the orcs, and that they picked up wireless transmissions from the central character's ship and called it 'singing'. Actually, if I were going to like any group of people in this book, it was going to be the orcs. Because they're ugly, crudely drawn, but had a deep sense of culture and tradition. It's just a rule that both my partner and I have imposed on ourselves for the sake of keeping our sanity as we write angels with our own interpretation. The review I'd write would be unfair and too biased against it at that point, and so I'm not going to rate it.
I can say right at this very moment that, from what I read, my favorite characters were going to (probably) be Kharrix and James. I liked their interaction and personalities. Indeed, I'm sure I would have liked to see the interactions between different races on Earth because that kind of thing gets my nerd senses tingling.
I couldn't stand Lord Michael. I don't care if he sent that woman directly into a surprise attack with a pointed index finger, I have no patience for little emos. Sorry that came off so harsh, but he was so pathetically weak, and his head officer was so unnaturally willing to cater to that boy. Also, I found the hand burning too much: human bodies will react to injury so extreme as to burn through your own flesh to the point of knuckle bones (kind of comically) popping off. I just doubted that scene; it was too sensational, especially for the introduction to a character. Extreme things of that nature should come later, when we've had time to see the character develop a bit into someone we can see as being the sort of person who would do something that intense. When it's just pushed onto us as the very first thing we know... it sets the reader up for an automatic rejection, and the author is left with the daunting and unnecessary task of changing their first impression throughout the rest of the book. We could avoid this with more easily digested information, especially since I know Lord Michael doesn't usually do things like that. He has to have so many other responsibilities that he wouldn't usually have time to torture himself over his mistakes.
I have a feeling I would have found Derek and Mycah ignorable, because I tend to do that with the main characters who were 1. overly fashioned by the author, and 2. fashioned in a manner that's supposed to make them safe and likeable for every reader... to capture as much favor as possible. It made Derek come off naive and Mycah mildly out of character--for a tough-ass woman who has survived a recent attack that had taken her eye, I mean--when she giggled at Derek. I know they're supposed to be the main love interests, I don't really care.
The good thing for Mr. Sier is that I just went through and reacted to these characters as if they were introductions to real people, so it's not like the work is hopeless or anything. Indeed, if you can stand the points I rejected, then you may very well enjoy this book. I would have probably given it three to four stars, if not for the angel and her lord.
Okay, that's all fine and good. Now onto the second:
I, again, couldn't finish this book. It wasn't because it was horrendously written, because it wasn't. Chains of Loss by Robert Sier is well written and articulated in terms of literary mechanics.
No, it was something else; something Mr. Sier couldn't help because he didn't know I rejected books that covered the topic of angels. And the moment a winged human being dubbed a Seraph went up, I just put the book down.
Never mind the fact that the person in question had been magically endowed with wings, and therefore wasn't a 'traditional' angel. Never mind that it was a woman, and angels are not women. Never mind that I liked the orcs, and that they picked up wireless transmissions from the central character's ship and called it 'singing'. Actually, if I were going to like any group of people in this book, it was going to be the orcs. Because they're ugly, crudely drawn, but had a deep sense of culture and tradition. It's just a rule that both my partner and I have imposed on ourselves for the sake of keeping our sanity as we write angels with our own interpretation. The review I'd write would be unfair and too biased against it at that point, and so I'm not going to rate it.
I can say right at this very moment that, from what I read, my favorite characters were going to (probably) be Kharrix and James. I liked their interaction and personalities. Indeed, I'm sure I would have liked to see the interactions between different races on Earth because that kind of thing gets my nerd senses tingling.
I couldn't stand Lord Michael. I don't care if he sent that woman directly into a surprise attack with a pointed index finger, I have no patience for little emos. Sorry that came off so harsh, but he was so pathetically weak, and his head officer was so unnaturally willing to cater to that boy. Also, I found the hand burning too much: human bodies will react to injury so extreme as to burn through your own flesh to the point of knuckle bones (kind of comically) popping off. I just doubted that scene; it was too sensational, especially for the introduction to a character. Extreme things of that nature should come later, when we've had time to see the character develop a bit into someone we can see as being the sort of person who would do something that intense. When it's just pushed onto us as the very first thing we know... it sets the reader up for an automatic rejection, and the author is left with the daunting and unnecessary task of changing their first impression throughout the rest of the book. We could avoid this with more easily digested information, especially since I know Lord Michael doesn't usually do things like that. He has to have so many other responsibilities that he wouldn't usually have time to torture himself over his mistakes.
I have a feeling I would have found Derek and Mycah ignorable, because I tend to do that with the main characters who were 1. overly fashioned by the author, and 2. fashioned in a manner that's supposed to make them safe and likeable for every reader... to capture as much favor as possible. It made Derek come off naive and Mycah mildly out of character--for a tough-ass woman who has survived a recent attack that had taken her eye, I mean--when she giggled at Derek. I know they're supposed to be the main love interests, I don't really care.
The good thing for Mr. Sier is that I just went through and reacted to these characters as if they were introductions to real people, so it's not like the work is hopeless or anything. Indeed, if you can stand the points I rejected, then you may very well enjoy this book. I would have probably given it three to four stars, if not for the angel and her lord.
April 21, 2013
In Brief: A charming first entry, brimming with ideas, into a richly realized world where sci-fi technology exists amid magic.
Arthur C. Clarke said that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Robert Sier has taken this maxim literally in his invention of a world where a human refugee from the distant future finds himself stranded on a vastly altered planet earth. Derek Kazenushi, the hero of Chains of Loss, must wield enviable technology – which observers literally believe to be magic – to survive in a world inhabited by orcs, elves, vampires, and more, all of whom possess their own magic – or is it just different technology? Sier’s book, the first in a planned series, is a charming introduction to a new and fascinating world.
The book opens with Derek’s gradual awakening, literally. In an intriguing scene indicative of the book’s many inventive scenes to come, Derek has crash landed under mysterious conditions, and his nanotechnology augmented body is busily rebuilding his body, brain and consciousness, under the guidance of a personal Artificial Intelligence, Shadow, that shares Derek’s mind. Before long, Derek will learn he has been transported back to Earth from far across the galaxy, and that alien worlds full of magic and fantasy creatures have somehow been integrated with the planet. Derek will meet inhabitants of this world, and begin a long journey away from danger and (hopefully) toward some answers.
Sier appears to have in mind a grand narrative, and this book introduces the cast and sets up the rules of the game. Beyond Derek’s struggle to survive and thrive in this new world, an old evil may have reawakened, a prophecy is unfolding, and competing kingdoms and alliances, richly drawn, wrangle with each other. There are a lot of introductions to new characters and places, some of which do not overlap with Derek’s journey (yet). This novel is just an opening tableau but nonetheless fascinating and rewarding.
Much of the pleasure of Chains of Loss comes from the ideas that it explores. Derek, for example, is an “augmented” human who comes from a society that seems to have moved beyond want. Sier paints a wonderful picture of how extreme levels of human-machine integration could work. Nanites live in Derek’s bloodstream, capable of repairing most injuries and brain augmentation gives him the ability to significantly slow his perception of time. He is mentally accompanied by a witty and caring Artificial Intelligence, a sort of perfect Siri who helps Derek think through problems, coordinate his internal machinery, and provides access to unlimited information. The portrayal of what it is like to “be” in this advanced state is one of the book’s strongest charms. Small details, like Derek’s ignorance of what scars are, also convey the perspective of someone who has never really known hardship. Yet Derek is just one creation in a novel brimming with glimpses of equally detailed alien (yet are they truly alien?) societies.
It’s also funny, in a geeky sort of way. When Derek has to part ways with Shadow, who is taking up residence in a computer, he tells his old companion to stay safe. Shadow’s response (in brackets) is,
[Me stay safe? Me?] Shadow’s laughter echoed in his mind. [I’ve moved out, now. You’re the one keeping your brain inside a bone case.]
Throughout the book, the tone is breezy and light. Characters speak in a way that would not seem out of step in our own world (at least, the human ones do). This works well most of the time, but it occasionally trips up the story when the subject matter veers into dark and traumatic topics. It also risks making the human characters seem overly similar to each other. The alien characters, on the other hand, are strange and sometimes genuinely frightening. I look forward to learning more about them and this world in general when Sier delivers the sequels.
Arthur C. Clarke said that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Robert Sier has taken this maxim literally in his invention of a world where a human refugee from the distant future finds himself stranded on a vastly altered planet earth. Derek Kazenushi, the hero of Chains of Loss, must wield enviable technology – which observers literally believe to be magic – to survive in a world inhabited by orcs, elves, vampires, and more, all of whom possess their own magic – or is it just different technology? Sier’s book, the first in a planned series, is a charming introduction to a new and fascinating world.
The book opens with Derek’s gradual awakening, literally. In an intriguing scene indicative of the book’s many inventive scenes to come, Derek has crash landed under mysterious conditions, and his nanotechnology augmented body is busily rebuilding his body, brain and consciousness, under the guidance of a personal Artificial Intelligence, Shadow, that shares Derek’s mind. Before long, Derek will learn he has been transported back to Earth from far across the galaxy, and that alien worlds full of magic and fantasy creatures have somehow been integrated with the planet. Derek will meet inhabitants of this world, and begin a long journey away from danger and (hopefully) toward some answers.
Sier appears to have in mind a grand narrative, and this book introduces the cast and sets up the rules of the game. Beyond Derek’s struggle to survive and thrive in this new world, an old evil may have reawakened, a prophecy is unfolding, and competing kingdoms and alliances, richly drawn, wrangle with each other. There are a lot of introductions to new characters and places, some of which do not overlap with Derek’s journey (yet). This novel is just an opening tableau but nonetheless fascinating and rewarding.
Much of the pleasure of Chains of Loss comes from the ideas that it explores. Derek, for example, is an “augmented” human who comes from a society that seems to have moved beyond want. Sier paints a wonderful picture of how extreme levels of human-machine integration could work. Nanites live in Derek’s bloodstream, capable of repairing most injuries and brain augmentation gives him the ability to significantly slow his perception of time. He is mentally accompanied by a witty and caring Artificial Intelligence, a sort of perfect Siri who helps Derek think through problems, coordinate his internal machinery, and provides access to unlimited information. The portrayal of what it is like to “be” in this advanced state is one of the book’s strongest charms. Small details, like Derek’s ignorance of what scars are, also convey the perspective of someone who has never really known hardship. Yet Derek is just one creation in a novel brimming with glimpses of equally detailed alien (yet are they truly alien?) societies.
It’s also funny, in a geeky sort of way. When Derek has to part ways with Shadow, who is taking up residence in a computer, he tells his old companion to stay safe. Shadow’s response (in brackets) is,
[Me stay safe? Me?] Shadow’s laughter echoed in his mind. [I’ve moved out, now. You’re the one keeping your brain inside a bone case.]
Throughout the book, the tone is breezy and light. Characters speak in a way that would not seem out of step in our own world (at least, the human ones do). This works well most of the time, but it occasionally trips up the story when the subject matter veers into dark and traumatic topics. It also risks making the human characters seem overly similar to each other. The alien characters, on the other hand, are strange and sometimes genuinely frightening. I look forward to learning more about them and this world in general when Sier delivers the sequels.
October 8, 2012
Wow, this was a lot of fun to read. I loved the premise, of a cyborg thrust into a fantasy setting. I'm generally not very interested in science fiction, because I suppose I find too much techno-jargon and the character development and plot gets lost beneath it. Of course, I've heard similar things said about fantasy in general, but one has to know which books to read.
The main character is easy to like, because he is utterly adorable. He's entirely well-meaning, naive, really innocent. Almost too much so. But over all I just wanted to give him a hug.
I was really interested in the world-building. I wanted to hear more about the city of Kaitopoulis, Lord Michael, and the Seraphs. The author has woven some mystery there, and I really want to know more. I also very much want to know more about their enemies, the vampires, the ricari, the Nhori. I found all of it really compelling and there just wasn't enough of it.
The portrayal of orcs as religious zealots was also interesting. The Reaver is a bit on the extreme, unambiguously evil side of things, which isn't really my favorite, but I'm still very interested. And I appreciated that when the orcs' treatment of people in the world was explained, it was also pointed out that while they have some cruel practices, it's nothing humans have never done at some point in history.
Some of the dialogue didn't feel entirely natural to me. It could be better. I also did think there were a few too many characters for such a short book. I realize it's part of a series, but if the rest is this short, I still feel it's too many characters.
I'm impressed with the way this author is handling the different paradigms. I can see he's put a great deal of work and thought into this, and I hope he comes to find some success. I'll be looking forward to more from him.
The main character is easy to like, because he is utterly adorable. He's entirely well-meaning, naive, really innocent. Almost too much so. But over all I just wanted to give him a hug.
I was really interested in the world-building. I wanted to hear more about the city of Kaitopoulis, Lord Michael, and the Seraphs. The author has woven some mystery there, and I really want to know more. I also very much want to know more about their enemies, the vampires, the ricari, the Nhori. I found all of it really compelling and there just wasn't enough of it.
The portrayal of orcs as religious zealots was also interesting. The Reaver is a bit on the extreme, unambiguously evil side of things, which isn't really my favorite, but I'm still very interested. And I appreciated that when the orcs' treatment of people in the world was explained, it was also pointed out that while they have some cruel practices, it's nothing humans have never done at some point in history.
Some of the dialogue didn't feel entirely natural to me. It could be better. I also did think there were a few too many characters for such a short book. I realize it's part of a series, but if the rest is this short, I still feel it's too many characters.
I'm impressed with the way this author is handling the different paradigms. I can see he's put a great deal of work and thought into this, and I hope he comes to find some success. I'll be looking forward to more from him.
December 23, 2012
By rights this really shouldn't work – plunge a hard sci-fi hero, loaded with hi-tech, into a straight fantasy setting with elves, orcs and magic. Somewhat to my surprise, it reads well and is thoroughly entertaining. Derek is a fish out of water, constantly bemused by the events around him. The book is full of humour (I laughed out loud when Derek shouts at a thuggish opponent “Bad orc! Bad, bad orc!”), but occasionally jumps sideways into far darker, more bloody sequences that are quite startling in the change of tone. The world is a pretty standard swords and sorcery fantasy, but with a few twists and elements that bode well for the future. My main criticism would be the range of points of view and the host of characters introduced as the book continues – very clearly, Sier is setting up for the continuation of the plot.
It is not a substantial book, and whilst it comes to a conclusion, of sorts, it is clearly awaiting a sequel. It is an entertaining read, and I will be looking out for the next volume in the set.
It is not a substantial book, and whilst it comes to a conclusion, of sorts, it is clearly awaiting a sequel. It is an entertaining read, and I will be looking out for the next volume in the set.
February 21, 2013
My Review: I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as did. I found myself really caring about the two main characters Derek and Myach. The story takes place in a very distant future of Earth. Derek gets propelled somehow from his home planet to Earth light years away. Even though his people had left Earth eons ago this like nothing he knows. There seem to be many races here now Orcs, Vampires elf types and others. Derek is as innocent as a newborn babe in this world. Mycah happens onto his wrecked spacecraft and helps him find his way around. While innocent of the street wiles he needs his technology is far advanced With a suite that does everything from regenerating body parts to being a weapon he appears magical to the peoples of the Earth. It is a a good story and moves at a good pace. I would have liked to learn a little more about the cities and races they introduced I felt it ended too soon. I think there will be a sequel and I would like to read it.
This book gets a 4
This book gets a 4
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews