Helix Wars

Helix #2

by Eric Brown

Spiral Into War!

The Helix: a vast spiral of ten thousand worlds turning around its sun. Aeons ago, the enigmatic Builders constructed the Helix as a refuge for alien races on the verge of extinction.

Two hundred years ago, humankind came to the Helix aboard a great colony ship, and the builders conferred on them the mantle of peacekeepers. For that long, peace has reigned on the Helix. But when shuttle pilot Jeff Ellis crash-lands on the world of Phandra, he interrupts a barbarous invasion from the neighbouring Sporelli, who are now racing to catch and exterminate Ellis before he can return to New Earth and inform the peacekeepers.

Eric Brown returns to the rich worlds he created in the best-selling Helix with a vast science-fiction adventure populated with strange characters and fascinating creatures.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

544 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2012

About the author

Eric Brown was a British science fiction author and Guardian critic.

Reviews

[Michael Hanscom · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, to borrow an old cliché, don't judge this book by its cover. The cover, of a suited warrior firing a laser rifle against a backdrop of explosions, gives the impression that this is a military sci-fi novel (a genre which I'm not terribly interested in). Instead, this book, the second in a series, has much more in common with Larry Niven's _Ringworld_, as it deals with the interplay between races on a giant helical constructed world, wrapped around a star like a slinky, with thousands of cylindrical worlds strung along like beads on a necklace.

However much the construct may invite comparisons to Niven's Ringworld, though, Brown's worldbuilding isn't quite so engrossing. The structure of the Helix allows for lots of variety in environments and races, but leaves a lot of the technical underpinnings (for instance, how do the individual worlds have gravity?) to be either entirely unexplained or brushed off as "technology so advanced we can't understand it". The concept sounds very hard-SF, but the execution leaves something to be desired.

That said, the book isn't at all bad, though it's not likely to end up as my pick for this year's P.K. Dick award (for which it is one of seven nominees). I just hoped for a little more Niven-like exploration of the hard-SF concept that instead acts as little more than an interesting background for the story itself.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tore through the first Helix ravenously, was pretty blown away by the setting, the ideas and the rollicking pace. That pace is present again here, with things moving at the same action thriller clip, and it's a real page turner.

I missed the sense of awe and wonder in the first book, this is more of a slightly traditional actioner, but it was inevitable after the first book traded so well and heavily in the introduction of the world. It does mean that while the action is really gripping, there isn't the same element of surprise running throughout. Saying that, it does pull out some pretty inspired and epic ideas here and there.

Still going strong, give us a third!

[Moonshadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story. A worthy sequel to Helix!

[Lee Pfahler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Helix but still a good read.

[Gave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than Helix

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great adventure! I didn't think it was quite as good as Helix but at the same time it was so imaginative and engaging. I thought the human was a bit of whiner though and he got on my nerves a bit (I think Eric Brown predicted the Soy Boy) but all the other characters were very likeable and i enjoyed being on the adventure with them.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the first and second Helix books when I first read them in my early twenties. Coming back to them much later I agree with other reviewers that (1) the character development and exposition is much more like that of Young Adult fiction and (2) a lot of the sci fi concepts get under explored or used only for character building but not world building.

[Charl]

Just doesn't seem that interesting from the first bits. I'd like to know if he survives the pod, but not enough to continue reading.

No rating because it's not bad, I'm just not feeling the urge to keep reading.

[Marwan AbdElrahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as great as the first novel Helix

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following on from the earlier book Helix, where a human starship crashes onto a huge and spectacular helix shaped construct containing thousands of worlds, Helix Wars continues the story a couple of hundred years later. It's a good yarn, no doubt about it, but this was definitely my least enjoyed Eric Brown story to date. The reason for this is not so much with the delivery, which is typically good, but I was surprised to find myself rushing a little and trying to avoid text skipping during a large portion of the book. This is the first time I've experienced this while reading Brown's work. I think I know why, many of the action sequences were just a tad painful, and certainly felt like the author was positioning them in the story for the sake of having action, not so much because they'd add to the story, which I guess in general they did, it's just that it was a bit too much. I don't remember Helix being like this. With all that said, the tale itself is good, and contains the usual Eric Brown epic scale and wonder, huge alien artifacts, species and cultures, lots of good sci-fi stuff. It's certainly advisable to read Helix first, as this introduces much of the background information and characters that have roles in this book. The conclusion is okay with enough room left for further expansion, etc. and I sense that there could be further Helix stories in the future. Mostly recommended, mainly if you enjoyed Helix, but it's not a book that I would steer a first time Eric Brown reader toward.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh, very disappointing. First of all, this is a sequel, and I didn't read book 1, so maybe it's better if you've read the first one. The idea is an interesting one- a ringworld-type story- but I wasn't pulled into the story at all.

The big premise is that humans are made "peacekeepers" of this fantastic "ringworld"-type construct with thousands of alien races on it. Humans are demonstrating an astonishing, spectacular, incomprehensible incompetence at this job: one of the things that put me off throughout the book. Apparently the god-like race that put them in charge made a monumentally stupid decision here.

The main character also sucks all the excitement out of the story, which is terrible because he was a really likable guy. This just wasn't a good story for him to shine. Let me say it this way: I like sci-fi action books, and I also like slow-moving, introspective, philosophical sci-fi books. This was the worst of both: a naively pacifistic main character racked with self-doubt is dragged along on an action adventure that he's too incompetent to take part in very much and too self-conflicted to think about very much. Blah.

Interesting premise, and some fascinating creativity in some of the worlds that he created, but overall I didn't like the way it turned out. Perhaps I should say that the setting was awesome, but the storyline sucked.

[Bruno Di Giandomenico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome back to the worlds of the Helix. This time we get to know a little bit more about some of the races which populate some of the worlds. We come across the bad Sporrelli, who live in a dark and depressing world and are governed by a fascist dictatorship, hell bent on conquering a world with some metal.
We know the race which acts as Engineers and repairer of the Helix and a gentle and delicate race which give peace another meaning.
An earthling must wade among these races to fulfill his destiny, and become hero, notwithstanding his peaceful nature.
We get a glimpse of what the Helix is really made of, but I think it is too little for the nature of the helix, 10.000 worlds to explore, thousand of races some of them has been there for a few thousand years and so little contact. That is strange, let us hope mr. brown can tell us more, right now it is tantalizing but little more.

[Robbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characterisation of the main protagonists, Jeff Ellise a Human shuttle pilot and asking with two aliens Calla a healet and Kranda from a warrior race battle the Sporellis after they invade a peaceful works. An intergalactic roaf story. Worth reading as it's a good mix of action and personal triumphs with a cathartic conclusion. Begs a follow up.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Sequel to Helix which I also enjoyed. Obviously there are some significant similarities to Ringworld but I am ok with that. It was a fun adventure and a great escape for the weekend.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brown has written some of my favorite books, but this isn't one of them. We do learn more about the helix itself, but the story had too many threads to be able to hang together and keep my interest.

[Sa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but I liked Helix more.

[Sander Bollen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misses the sense of awe and wonder from Helix, but otherwise an enjoyable read.