Mistworld

Twilight of the Empire #1

by Simon R. Green

Shielded from Imperial attack by the powerful espers who have sought refuge there, Mistworld--the haven for outlaws, rebels, and misfits--faces a new threat from a shadowy figure intent on stalking its streets.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Space Opera, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy, Green

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Simon Richard Green is a British science fiction and fantasy-author. He holds a degree in Modern English and American Literature from the University of Leicester. His first publication was in 1979.

His Deathstalker series is partly a parody of the usual space-opera of the 1950s, told with sovereign disregard of the rules of probability, while being at the same time extremely bloodthirsty.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3.75 Stars.

That was better than I thought. The cover had me a bit hesitant, although I don't know why, it is pretty standard art for 80/90's sci fi.

This is a dystopian scifi story. Battles are fought with disrupter guns, which are unstoppable and kill you dead! and swords. The guns are fine, but one shot wonders as they take 5 minutes to recharge and they are pretty rare, so back to the trusty sword.
This story is on a planet way out in the boonies of space, a world protected from the EVIL Empire by its physic defense team acting as a human mind shield to prevent the empire from blasting the planet to radioactive dust. Which it has a history of. Pretty much everyone on this planet is on the run from the empire or escaping from something.
The range of character is very interesting and pretty well written, you have cat burglars, tavern owners acting as fences, sirens who can sing you to death and double up as cold blooded Empire trained assassins (take out the one space ship, a couple of dead computers and this would have been a fantasy novel) and a assortment of side characters, all of which are distinguishable.
The world building likewise is good, the planet is pretty grim and does paint a bleak picture of over expansion, getting too far away from civilization, trade embargoes etc and your whole tech collapses and you are back to living in semi dark ages as you butcher your tech to keep things running. There is a overall feeling of desperateness on this book and I always felt it was going to be a 'the best we could hope for' ending rather than a happy one.

Overall I really enjoyed it. Probably not enough for 4 stars, but only just. I am going to keep hunting these down in the book shops and ops shops, because for a buck each, they are well worth the money.

Recommended to those wanting a quick easy scifi read with a solid story and great pacing. But also to those fantasy readers wanting some scifi in there reading mix.

[Бранимир Събев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Първата книга от трилогията "Twilight of the Empire" и лично за мен сигурно най-добрата от поредицата. Империята владее цялата Галактика, разраства се постоянно, инвазиите и кампаниите й нямат край. Империята не знае милост и пощада, изтребвайки цели раси и цивилизации, ако интересите й го налагат. Тук превода на места също е плачевен, като в "Адския свят", но дори това е е проблем, толкова е добро.

Светът на мъглите е пристанище за хора извън закона, престъпници, неудачници, контрабандисти, крадци, далавераджии или просто персони, които искат да се скрият там, където никой не може да ги намери. Специфичните климатични условия, могъщият планетарен щит и чудовищното оръдие, насочено към космоса превръщат това негостоприемно място в костелив орех за лапите на Империята. Животът тук е труден, климата е суров, престъпността висока, а убийствата - ежедневие. Но поне си свободен.

Докога обаче? Коварен план се разгръща в перфектна схема, подобно лепкавата мрежа на гигантски паяк с неутолим глад. Някой се бори за власт, друг се бори за пари, трети се бори за отмъщение, четвърти за поробване... а друг просто за унищожение. Докъде ще доведе всичко това? Не пропускайте!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free through NetGalley for an honest review.

I give this 4.5 stars for a story that was engaging and characters that made me want to root for them. Things start off a little slow but it quickly picks up as each character is introduced and you get a look into their background on Mistworld. The world he has created is at once familiar and then again alien to someone who cannot imagine living in such a place. It's not easy to create thieves and rogues who are likable people you would not mind hanging out with, but here it is and I love it. The action is broken up in such a way as to give you maximum story as you follow each individual in their own pursuits. The language is perfect and gives more insight into the situation that everyone is in. A taut and well held together story that brings you into a conflict that has raged for generations without being fully resolved.

Mistworld is an outlaw planet, most notably because it's inhabitants have been labeled as outlaws by the Empire which expects strict loyalty and compliance from its citizens. On this harsh world they have no way to get the technology they need to survive except through the prowess of smugglers who are willing to crash the blockade which has been set by the Empire. The inhabitants have held off the Empire for hundreds of years, but that does not stop the Empire from plotting to attack when conditions are ripe. The only thing holding back the Empire is the psionic shield which is kept in place by the Espers who reside on the planet, but are they really enough.

The women here are as strong as the men and survive on that strength and not just on their need to be taken care of. I liked that these were women who knew how to fend for themselves no matter which side of the law they were on. I would say that I liked Investigator Topaz because was a serious kick-ass female who did what needed to be done and let the rest sort itself out and then you had Cyder who was able to survive in a world that could take down the strongest man.

What you find here is a lot of intrigue, double-dealing, spies, murder, betrayal, and revenge. My type of science fiction with a world in peril and brave settlers and an evil tyrant trying to take it all away. What's not to like. Give this a read!

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mistworld is the first of Simon R. Green's The Twilight of the Empire trilogy which is, in turn, a prelude to his Deathstalker series. It was published in 1992 but has just been re-released as an ebook through Open Roads Media. It is nice to see it back in print for the author knows how to build a world.

Mistworld is a planet that struggles with the Empire, a powerful realm that has the ability to destroy worlds that rebel from their authority. Mistworld is a bastion of freedom but is populated by outlaws and rebels which tends to destabilize its society. The planet barely hangs on due to its army of psychic protectors that enacted a shield over the planet. But the Empire's armies are approaching, various Mistworld forces are at odds with each other, and betrayal is always a possibility.

I like this type of dark dystopian fiction and Green does it well. This gritty type of future underworld gets its start from William Gibson's cyberpunk novels and various science fiction writers have elaborated on the theme. Gone are Asimov's and Heinlein's vision of a optimistic future. Green's vision is of a technological advanced, psychically endowed society that is still immersed in class struggles, corruption, crime-infested under-layers, and dictatorial rulers. Green manages to put just enough space opera in it to make it slightly less dark and loaded with action. The author fills his tale with cat burglars, psychic hit men, and corrupt official yet never loses track of these characters nor of the plot. Mistworld turns out to be a nice start in a saga that promises to be entertaining in its own dark and cynical way. Let's hope Open Road Media has plans to re-release the rest of The Twilight of the Empire.

[Fangs for the Fantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mistworld is a planet under siege. The only thing preventing them falling to utter destruction at the hands of the empire is a psychic shield and some rusting, cobbled together technology. But the empire is patient and resourceful and is constantly looking at ways round Mistworld’s defences – and sometimes, one of their weapons gets through.

The inhabitants of Mistworld already have a hard time surviving on the chaotic world, with little law, few resources, bleak conditions and technology that dwindles with every harsh year, life is already a struggle. The empire’s machinations could drive them over the edge.


My first note has to be on the genre of this book. When I was emailed and asked to review this it was heavily implied that the book was dark fantasy… I had my doubts but I’ve read and liked the author before so didn’t need much convincing. It’s not an accurate genre description – this leans more sci-fi than anything else: with strong dystopian elements and a dash of the mystical in the form of psychics (or espers).

I think this book is a perfect example of “gritty”. Actual gritty – not Grimdark. So this means that we have some very real characters, they’re not perfect or shiny or super special, but they’re very human. And they’ve been put in a very hard situation, it’s not a fluffy story, it’s not a friendly world setting, life is hard and they know it and act accordingly. But it doesn’t cross the line to throwing in endless gore and rape and random horrors just to convince us how DARK AND HORRIBLE it all is.

So we have Mistworld. A world that is independent from the huge and dictatorial empire, though the empire is not very happy about the fact and does have a pretty extreme response to anyone who makes them unhappy. Mistworld maintains its independence in part by having a large number espers – people with special powers – who have flocked to Mistworld because the empire isn’t very accepting of them.

Of course, they’re under permanent blockade and Mistworld itself isn’t exactly hospital or brimming with resources and what little they have requires smugglers to bring it in; their technology is obsolete and held together with duct tape and chewing gum. This is all shown very well – there’s some telling, but it’s more their daily experiences and views, like being unable to afford to pave roads any more, to plastic being seen as an incredible luxury, to characters being unused to the glare of electric lights

This alone would create a fascinating setting, but on top of that we have a large cast of characters that are very real and very realised – all of these characters bringing extremely different viewpoint from the different structures of the society. We have the aging hero who helped build the society from its independence, we have the corrupt – but not TOO corrupt – councillor working hard to do his best (though a little lining his pocket). The on-the-edge fence who just wants to get by and all these life-or-death-the-planet-is-at-risk are a little beyond her. Or there’s the dedicated and lethal Inquisitor suffering a major identity crisis and beset with pressures of the past while still trying to do her very best in the present.


This all comes together in amazing complexity – we have some excellent class analysis that permeates the story. Those at the top of the ladder are battling over things like whether to rely on the degrading technology or more on the espers (and their own factions growing in influence consequently) and just how to marshal their resources to face the ongoing threats from the Empire. Meanwhile we have a number of other characters at the bottom rung of society who just want to survive. Sure the fate of the planet is important and all – but if they don’t have money to eat tomorrow, or they’re hunted down by their loan sharks then it doesn’t mean all that much to them in the long run. They don’t have the luxury of bigger-picture stories or the ability to be involved in them because their own straits are so pushed to the edge. At the same time, their stories are given a place and a prominence because they are personally important. With inhabitants of the city dying in droves it should seem petty to be focusing on Cyder’s ruined pub – but her life is every bit as destroy and under threat: it is vitally important to her.

That’s the gem of this book, even when covering epic battles for the whole planet, the stories are personal. We’re not just seeing the city rallying its dwindling resources against attack, we’re seeing councillor Steel do his best to try and hold things together in face of desperate odds and endless fatigue. We’re not just seeing the hunt for a dangerous person stalking the streets, we’re seeing Investigator Topaz, newly bereaved and highly conflicted inquisitor, torn between her past and so many goals – does she support the planet or pursue personal revenge, does she follow the rules or go off the rails, does she revert to the person she was, or maintain who she wants to be – and to have all those conflicts linked wonderfully.

Read More

[Viking Jam · Rating 1 out of 5]

http://koeur.wordpress.com/2013/12/26...








Publisher: Open Road Media
Publishing Date: December 2013
ISBN: 9781480471986
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 1.2/5.0

Publisher Description: Investigator Topaz is one of the few honest people left on this cutthroat planet. With her husband, Sergeant Michael Gunn, Topaz does what she can to keep the crooks who run Mistworld in check.
But when the corrupt Empire devises an unprecedented scheme to attack the ESP shield that guards Mistworld, Topaz is the only one who can save the planet from being overrun. An enemy fleet lurks just off world—but it is the enemies at home whom Topaz and Gunn should fear the most.

Review: Oh my, the cover is so bad. It is hard to fathom a novel written in the spirit of SciFi to render such inescapable tedium. I often wonder who comes up with this shit.

Well once you get past the “Spooky Vision” lettering inside of a bubble-cover art, it just doesn’t get much better. Characters were thinly developed due to the over abundance of them. The author tried to give every character in this novel depth and ended up shorting everyone. The story-line is really weak, and I am still not sure that the premise holds up under scrutiny. So you have Mistworld, sort of a haven world for refugees fleeing from the Imperial bad dudes, whom blow up every threatening planet (don’t planets have usable resources? Seems like a waste). Sooooo, why is Mistworld still around you ask? Well, they have this cadre of “Espers” whom somehow are able to protect the planet with some kind of directed force field even though the Imperials have Espers and planet leveling disrupters??? So there is this sneaky plan, whereby the Imperial spys are seeking to topple the current government with plagues etc. in order to wrest control of a shitty backwater planet with no real resources and no real threat to anything. Plus it is colder than fuck with evil and ravenous Hob Hounds. These Hob Hounds are not sentient but kill because they “Delight in the slaughter and the torturing of prey”. Most people know better than to get anthropomorphic when it comes to describing animal behavior. Wildlife just do what they do to survive. It is our own emotive qualities that we ascribe to their actions that ultimately fails.

Now we come to the part where the novel gets really bad. I bookmarked every page where the authors use of adjectives and adverbs coupled with nouns and verbs to describe the actions and feelings of his characters was so bad and overused, it felt as though this was being written by a retarded Hob Hound. FOR EXAMPLE: In the first chapter alone we have Cat (a burglar, really no shit) who either “grins”, “frowns thoughtfully”, “grins scornfully”, “shakes his head dolefully”, “grins broadly”, “smiles complacently”, and “thoughtfully studies”. In the following chapters we are assaulted with this form of descriptive drivel that it begins to seep into your consciousness like a viral malady, slowly gnawing at your sanity. Here is a sampling of tripe that is oft repeated: “sighed regretfully”, “sighed resignedly”, “swallowed dryly x 10″, “smiled ingratiatingly”, “frowned thoughtfully”, “frowns dolefully”, “sighs quietly”, “caressingly”, “creaked complainingly”, “scowled thoughtfully”, “glare thoughtfully”, “gnawed thoughtfully”, “smiles sourly”, “stretches elegantly”, “gnawed hungrily”, “drifted hungrily”, “shook wryly”, “stared worriedly”, “thought wistfully”, “drifting tiredly”, “frowned fiercely”, “padded cautiously”, “crouched thoughtfully”, “shuddered suddenly”, “smiling grimly”, “looks reproachfully”, “nodded grimly”, “smiling ruefully”, etc. etc. I don’t even know how you can thoughtfully frown, crouch or glare. How is it done? How do you heft a sword thoughtfully? I just cannot seem to visualize most of these expressions that the author avails us with. It is literally page upon page upon page of this shit. The editor of this book should be fired, slapped and gnawed on thoughtfully.

There is also a healthy dose of Deus ex, where Skye is believed to be dead, but it just so happens that her sister, Jessica, was visiting (a surprise visit on a planet with one town) and the organ legger killed her “mistakenly”. So it is with a doleful frown that I must tell the viewers to pass on this one. If you're the author reading this review, you may be smiling sourly.

[Straysod · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so shockingly bad I'm honestly wondering if I read the same book as the other reviewers. The pacing is bizarre and jerky, at points moving so quickly it seems like the whole plot will take place over one night only to slam to a dead halt as 3 days pass with literally nothing happening. The blurb seems to say that the book will follow a main character or two, but instead there are nearly a dozen characters each doing their own thing with little interaction beyond existing within the same city. There is no main narrative thread, the plot instead jumping back and forth between characters far too fast to get attached to any of them. Instead of feeling like a well crafted mystery, this jumping feels instead like the author couldn't actually figure out what to do next halfway through a chapter and just decided to switch to someone else instead of finishing. It's only a mystery in the sense that you only ever see a tiny fraction of events, and are shown them in an order that is disjointed and without any natural flow. It's very grimdark, but because you're only ever with a character for a handful of pages, it's hard to feel anything when they start dropping like flies. I didn't expect a masterpiece of literature, but I was hoping for an engaging story and characters worth investing in. Instead I got a floundering story that felt utterly pointless, and characters introduced so briefly their surviving or dying left almost zero emotional impact.

[David Palazzolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first of three books that serve as prequels to Simon R Green’s Deathstalker novels, and my only real complaint is that it wasn’t longer. Mistworld (name of the planetary setting and book title) is a gritty science-fantasy story that takes place on a Outlawed World on the fringes of a xenophobic Empire which appears to be on the decline.

The planet is home to misfits and criminals of all stripes and there are plenty of shady deals, theft, and betrayals to go around not to mention the occasional use of privilege by the wealthy and well connected. In this short novel you get the grand tour of Mistport, this world’s largest community. You see the main quarters of the city (Tech, Merchant, Guilds, Thieves), meet the high and mighty City Councillors, and encounter various elements of law enforcement and the criminal element they pursue. It’s a tough world where only the strong survive and yet bonds of family, friendship and ...”friendly rivalry” aren’t completely unknown. If I had to put my review in a sentence I’d phrase it as Thieve’s World in Space (which is a complement for those unfamiliar with that series).

If the book had been longer, it would have gotten 5 stars. While the book had a strong driving pace, it also felt rushed to get everything in the page count allowed which hurt things a bit. Next up is Ghostworld.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the first few pages, the most I could hope for was a "so bad it's good" novel. Unfortunately, I did not get that.

The following elements made me think that it could happen. Alas...

---The author has a bizarre sense of how an adverb should work. There were two instances each of "redly," "caressingly," and "complainingly" (I had to keep track out of morbid fascination).

---The author was maniacally attached to the verb "lean." Several characters "leant" (or "leaned"; they were used indiscriminately) against walls or forward or backward in their chairs. Some form of "lean" was used at least 25 times within 210 pages.

---The best contender of all: One of the characters (Steel) was made out to be the most portly slob who ever existed. He was described as having a huge stomach and fat fingers; he made furniture suffer by sitting down (see "complainingly" above); he was always eating some sugary treat. And then he was described as weighing... 200 pounds. Unless he was only about 4 feet tall, 200 pounds does not come close to being obese. The worst (best) part was that his being overweight never had any bearing on any plot or character development.

[Doc McCandless · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had started the Deathstalker series, but when I discovered these earliers books, I doubled back and began anew here.
A solid 4 stars for this first prelude to the Deathstalker Series. It serves as an introduction to Types we'll see later on, Espers, Investigators, Espers, The Empire, double-dealing, backstabbing and more. Consider this and the other Prelude Books Mr. Green's springboard into the series, laying the groundwork and world-building.

There are a number of characters used, pitting them against the machinations of The Empire. All part of the setup that will play out over the long story arc. This is a grittier, more involved tale than will be found in the author's Secret Histories, Ishmael Jones, or the Nightside series.

For those who are in it for the long haul, this is a good place to start. If not, they are good stand-alones, each wrapping up as a worthy single.

[Aiden Woulffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend to stick to reading authors I've heard of because I have a weird complex that I need to chip away the entire peak of the iceberg before I can even dip my toes into the deeper levels, so I kind of read this only as a throw away while I tried to find something more famous to sink my teeth into and I was honestly very happily surprised. Easy-to-digest ensemble plot, fun world building, just a very underrated work.

[Simon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now I remember loving Simon Greens sci fi novels when I was younger, so I was quite excited to find one I hadn't read. But... oh dear, I do hope this isn't going to be one of those revisiting novels I loved as a teenager only to find out they're kinda not very good now...

[Tessa in Mid-Michigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everybody dies. Well, almost everyone. Espers abound and are exploited, along with everyone else in this action-filled first to a trilogy. A fun read, but not essential.

[Jeff Turney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, action packed read.

[Gil Estel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Светът на мъглите от Саймън Грийн е чудесен sci-fi трилър - кратък, но същевременно с добре изградени герои и описани места. Саймън Грийн определено ми харесва все повече и повече. 😎

[Dilara Ucar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable. Writing flows well but it had too many characters and too many subplots that didn't tie up neatly at the end.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story. Good writing, good plot. Didn't drag.

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisty, Turny Space Opera Noir

This is the first book in the "Twilight of the Empire" series, the trilogy prequel to Green's eight volume "Deathstalker" series. If you've read and enjoyed the Deathstalker books I expect you would enjoy this trilogy. If you are new to Green's work, this would be a fine place to begin.

"Mistworld" displays Green's finely balanced ability to tell a stirring space opera style tale while still injecting bits of humor and other business that lighten the mood at appropriate times. Some of Green's other series are played more for humor and snappy patter, (the supernatural Nightside books, especially, and the pun filled James Bond homage "Secret History" series to a lesser extent), and I'm a big fan of both. "Mistworld", though, follows a more serious and traditional line.

Green does great villains. His bad guys are remorseless and creepy. Maybe it is the underlying air of arch and bemused detachment he brings to the affair, but in any event they just jump off the page in waves of malice. As a complement, he does menace with real aplomb. Not scary, but malevolent. In Nightside this is played a bit for laughs; they are just so over the top. Here, he tones it down a bit, and that just makes the villains even creepier. In opposition to this his heroes, (or anti-heroes or reluctant heroes), are conflicted, and never fully confident in their odds of prevailing, despite their outward appearance of confidence and capability. This makes his heroes particularly appealing and engaging.

Once you have that going for you, pretty much any space opera plot will work. But even here, Green supplies twists and turns and layers that keep the reader interested and invested. This book is interesting because everything happens on Mistworld, and Mistworld is a pretty claustrophobic place. Hemmed in and blockaded Mistworld is hanging on by a thread. All the characters have histories with each other, but there are still plenty of surprises as the plot and its various subplots unfold.

So, this isn't sword and sorcery, or light sabre and sorcery, or supernatural, although there are hints of that style. This is gritty and dark and sometimes reads more like futuristic noir than anything else. All of these are good things, and if any of this sounds interesting, well Green is a good author to know.

Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mistworld is the first in the Twilight of the Empire series. Ghostworld book #2 and Hellworld book #3 are also available. I’m not sure this is a new series but when I went to Simon R Green’s web site these books were not even mentioned. . It is placed in the Empire, the same universe as the Deathstalker books. However this series is unique in its setting. Mistworld is the only outlaw planet left in The Empire universe.

Mistworld begins with a series of chapters that feature different characters. Each chapter combines back-story, world building and character development. It was a little slow going at first as there was a lot that had to be introduced and the plot seemed to be the part that was left out. It did take awhile for all the threads to come together but once that happened it was hard to put the book down.

The setting on Mistworld sounded familiar to me. It is a world cut off from trade with a very cold climate. I didn't find the setting unique but it did fit the story.

There were some very strong characters in Mistworld. There were also some characters that were very developed who were killed off early in the book. There was a satisfying conclusion to Mistworld. The main characters who saved the day were neither all good or all bad. That made for some interesting interaction.

Mistworld is an interesting book and I am planning to read the rest of the series. The book fits the way Simon R. Green writes. There is a lot of violence but it fits the setting. His writing style carefully sets the scene and lets the story develop in a careful and controlled manner.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early novel by British author Simon R. Green, Mistworld is the first of three novels in Green's "Twilight of the Empire" series, and it is short, schematic, and tense. Mistworld, a cold and inhospitable planet permanently shrouded in -- you guessed it! -- swirling mists, is home to a small colony of outcasts, misfits, and criminals who have fled from a ruthless and autocratic interstellar empire. The Empire does not tolerate defiance, so it is fortunate that the small community of "espers" on Mistworld is able to maintain an impenetrable "psi shield" at all times. That, of course, doesn't stop the Empire from acting through covert agents whose devious plans may finally bring Mistworld's existence to an end. In a world of criminals, after all, greed, corruption, and betrayal are the currency of everyday life.

All of the elements of Green's "Nightside" series are present in Mistworld, from really obvious (and often ironic) character and place names, to a joyful embrace of violence and chaos, to an abundance of plot twists, and an unashamed willingness to defy logic in order to advance the plot. Though nominally a science fiction novel, Green is about as interested in real science as George Lucas was when he wrote Star Wars. It's a readable novel that may be of interest to fans of Green's more recent work, but an exemplar of the best in science fiction it is not.

[Dan Watts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I fancied some sci-fi for a bit of a change, but sadly I didn't find 'Mistworld' quite as intriguing as I'd hoped. I spent the first twenty to thirty pages hoping the next page would be when I really wanted to keep reading to see what happens next; sadly, I never really reached that point. At least not until I wanted to know how it all concluded; but again, sadly, I found the conclusion somewhat disappointing.

I think I found too much of the storyline predictable, including the plot twists. Nothing particularly caught me by surprise and I at no point had a 'wow' factor hit me. I did, however appreciate how the novel developed into a thriller about halfway through. I thought that was an I retesting dynamic and did add a new eerie atmosphere to the story, and Green succeeding in creating tension.

Sadly, though, I didn't particularly enjoy the book in terms of being engaged in the story. I was perhaps looking for something with greater emphasis on the sci-fi genre than 'Mistworld' provides. I did think that some of the characters were interesting, some more than others, but didn't engage me enough, and some of the dialogue was weak.

[Ionia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mistworld is the first book in an exciting fantasy series by Simon R. Green. I am usually not one for sci-fi, but this book was both interesting and had some fantasy-like elements that held my attention.

The characters were well developed and the plot was easy to follow. One of the things that made me like this book even through my usual aversion to all things sci-fi, was the creature battles. The hob hounds were awesome and the result of that first battle set the stage for much more excitement to follow.

Personally, Topaz was my favourite character. Her determination to avenge a wrong that had been committed against her was evident from the beginning and I enjoyed following her character throughout.

This book has a bit of technical jargon here and there when it comes to explaining the jobs of the planet's residents and how they function, but it wasn't overabundant in the story and didn't bore me as a lot of sci-fi has in the past.

I thought this was a great book and would recommend it to anyone who likes the genre, or those who like books with lots of action and intrigue.

This review is based on a digital ARC from the publisher and provided by Netgalley.

[Julian Froment · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. This was an author that I had not come across before. I know. Shame on me. I do not generally read a great deal of sci-fi, but I found it to be an interesting, relatively easy book that was a pleasure to read.

The story was exciting and imaginative. I enjoyed the beautiful descriptions of the world that the author had created. Mistworld was picturesque and fascinating in its own prosaic fashion. It was a hard brutal place to live though.

The story was well paced, with plenty of action. There were many intriguing and engrossing characters. In particular I liked Investigator Topaz, and would have been very interested in hearing more of her back story, of which we only caught glimpses. I also liked many of the other characters, all of which I found to be well formed and believable.

This was a tale of intrigue, murder, mystery and technology. There was corruption and betrayal galore.

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys books that inhabit different worlds, with a sci-fi slant, and that are easy to read and downright enjoyable.

This review is based on a complimentary copy.

[Krait · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this a number of years ago (probably in the mid 1990s), and originally rated it from memory. After reading it again, its two star rating better reflects my views on this one.

I cringed every time I read some of the names, especially "Captain Starlight". If I were a starship captain with a name like that, I'd change my name by deed poll quicker than you could say "Count Stefan Bloodhawk". Argh.

And although it's rare, certain sentences rubbed me the wrong way. An example of this, "How are the mighty fallen", makes me want to ask "Well, how have they fallen"? At least in the original, the author tells us, with the correct punctuation and everything: "The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!" (2 Samual 1:19). Today, the cliche is "How the mighty are fallen".

All in all, a fairly shallow read where the author made me feel for the characters not at all. Two out of five for the interesting setting.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story. I see some people complain about the believability of some of the events, like when a thief steals a critical memory chip, is discovered in the process and escapes, and then NO ONE checks to see if the chip is ok! Or the other time when a hugely powerful enemy is in the port director's apartment pretty much about to kill everyone, and the port director takes the time to address the villain with a gun in his hand, giving the villain time to disarm him. Any normal person would have just shot when the bad person was distracted. So, yes, there are some issues. However, just like when I watch an action movie and there are similar types of events, it doesn't bother me because I understand I'm along for the ride. I can ignore the little things because I am enjoying the story too much. This book was fun and interesting, and I really enjoyed the world that the author created. No more time to write: I'm off to Ghostworld!

[Ebeth]

The book was a little creepy for a bedtime read, but so engrossing that I couldn't help reading before bed anyway. As always with Simon Green, the plot lines are very interesting even when the characters can be somewhat two-dimensional. All of the female characters are strong written with the same personality, while the men tend to be weaker and in many ways, more interesting. That said, the plot was engrossing with many surprises, and the characters were likeable. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Garrisonjames]

D&D-in-Space, in a good way. A fun adventure that combines swords and spaceships into an intriguing milieu rife with politics and people making bad decisions for all the usual reasons. The people matter, and so do their interactions, which makes this much better than I at first expected. The author's take on psi-powers is intriguing. There is a fair amount of momentum to the plot and even when it stumbles a bit, the story remains fun and engaging. This is another old series I intend to track down.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are things I liked about Mistworld. Just not all that many of them.

Simon R. Green is one of those writers who is just interesting enough to keep you from walking away from whatever book of his you happen to pick up. I liked his Nightside series, sort of. Mistworld was definitely not even up to Nightside standards, which makes sense, as it was first published almost ten years prior. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who isn't a big scifi fan, and only then if you find it cheap and need something to keep you occupied for a few hours.

[David H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Retroactive Review (11 Sep 2021): This review is for all three Twilight of the Empire novellas. These books were fairly terrible, and Ghostworld and Hellworld were basically the same (mission to a planet, find something weird, most of you die).

[Roxane Lapa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A science Fiction book. The first of the 'Twilight of the Empire' trilogy which is a prelude to the 'Deathstalker' series.

It's the first SciFi I've ever read and I loved it. Reminded me of Star Wars in that there are multiple planets with rich cultures, space travel, energy blaster weapons, and some people have psychic powers.

The writing style is smooth. Characters could have been more developed and dialogue could have been improved.