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Wounded Worlds: Nihil Novum
Ruan Altman is a human trying to forget his past. Fa’ashi Orrin is a Novum trying to escape hers. The war had brought them together, now peace might tear them apart. On the distant world of Talveras, half a century of Imperial rule has come to an end. The humans of the NUSA have weakened it, and now they seek the Novum’s help to finish it. While the Army ferrets out the few remaining pockets of resistance, Commissar Altman and the Civilian Service Corps offer aid and healing to a battered populace. He falls in love with a young woman named Fa’ashi Orrin, and for a brief moment it seems like the planet’s recovery will go smoothly. But the Novum are thirsty for vengeance against those who collaborated with the Empire during the occupation, and those accused rarely live to see a trial. Ancient racial enmities begin to resurface when neighbor accuses neighbor, and blood lust reigns supreme. As deep feuds all old as Novum civilization itself threaten to plunge Talveras into ruinous civil conflict, suspicious eyes begin to fall on Fa’ashi. When rumor is accepted as fact, and prejudice corrupts justice, only one thing is Nothing is fair in love or war. This SciFi Space Opera is new from first time author Ryan Hodge and is the first of the Wounded Worlds series.
440 pages, Paperback
First published March 16, 2013
About the author
Ryan Hodge
7 books3 followers@RJHodgeAuthor
Yes, I’m yet another Fantasy & SciFi author. I think we might be born in batches -BUT there’s a few things you should know about *this* one. I believe the essence of fiction in general exists to make people think; to offer perspectives that are under-explored in the mainstream.
You will find that my work won’t offer focus-group approved characters, and you’ll never find me chasing trends. I will explore familiar territory, but trust that I will take you far off the beaten path. If ever you read one of my books and say ‘that was just like [blank]’, then I’ve done a bad job. I approach fiction this way because the books that most influenced myself and my writing did exactly that.
My story begins at Sun Valley mall in Walnut Creek, CA, and a bookstore therein. You see, when I was a child, my mother deemed no visit to the mall complete without a trip to Borders or Barnes & Noble. It was there that I was exposed to both contemporary and classic literature. Over time, the voices and prose of those authors began to rub off on me. No one could claim that I became a prodigy or wunderkind, but the adults in my life began to take notice of my prowess as early as middle school where I earned my first creative writing award.
I began writing professionally in 2010 and would publish my first significant work in 2013 in the form of ‘Wounded Worlds: Nihil Novum’. Since then, I have published several articles and a SF web-series, but I am now primarily focused on new novels.
To tell the truth, I’m just getting started on my creative journey and I hope you’ll join me!
Yes, I’m yet another Fantasy & SciFi author. I think we might be born in batches -BUT there’s a few things you should know about *this* one. I believe the essence of fiction in general exists to make people think; to offer perspectives that are under-explored in the mainstream.
You will find that my work won’t offer focus-group approved characters, and you’ll never find me chasing trends. I will explore familiar territory, but trust that I will take you far off the beaten path. If ever you read one of my books and say ‘that was just like [blank]’, then I’ve done a bad job. I approach fiction this way because the books that most influenced myself and my writing did exactly that.
My story begins at Sun Valley mall in Walnut Creek, CA, and a bookstore therein. You see, when I was a child, my mother deemed no visit to the mall complete without a trip to Borders or Barnes & Noble. It was there that I was exposed to both contemporary and classic literature. Over time, the voices and prose of those authors began to rub off on me. No one could claim that I became a prodigy or wunderkind, but the adults in my life began to take notice of my prowess as early as middle school where I earned my first creative writing award.
I began writing professionally in 2010 and would publish my first significant work in 2013 in the form of ‘Wounded Worlds: Nihil Novum’. Since then, I have published several articles and a SF web-series, but I am now primarily focused on new novels.
To tell the truth, I’m just getting started on my creative journey and I hope you’ll join me!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 28, 2014
Any fan of science-fiction knows that world-building can be a monumental task. I was pleasantly surprised as I started reading this to see that not only had Hodge created an immersive world, multifaceted story, but his characters were really fantastic.
It's hard to find good science-fiction writers these days because a lot of the concepts are rehashed from classic authors, but I didn't experience that with Hodge's book. I enjoyed it a lot and the story itself felt original. The military taste of the story kept me involved as well, since I read far too many military memoirs to count.
Really excellent read. It's worth the time spent reading it (since one is not likely to read this in one or two sittings).
It's hard to find good science-fiction writers these days because a lot of the concepts are rehashed from classic authors, but I didn't experience that with Hodge's book. I enjoyed it a lot and the story itself felt original. The military taste of the story kept me involved as well, since I read far too many military memoirs to count.
Really excellent read. It's worth the time spent reading it (since one is not likely to read this in one or two sittings).
April 28, 2014
By the time I finished Wounded Worlds, I wanted to rate it with a nine. After reading through it, I decided that it was that good. But I can't ignore that it does take a little determination to get into the book. But the effort is more than well rewarded and I definitely recommend Wound Worlds. I look forward to seeing Ryan Hodge's next novel and can't wait for the opportunity.
(See the entire, more detailed review at www.drembic.weebly.com/book-adventure...)
(See the entire, more detailed review at www.drembic.weebly.com/book-adventure...)
March 30, 2015
This science fiction epic of war and morality is compelling, despite its faults.
I found the story slow going to start with. Scenes jump between alien and human characters, on Earth and an alien planet, and back and forth in time. Scene headers state the time and place, but I couldn’t be bothered to read them at first, so it took a while to figure out what was happening. But the characters and their situations were sufficiently interesting to keep me reading. Once I got used to the time jumps, the back story and the forward plot built into a compelling whole.
The writing is very readable throughout, though suffering from occasional editing errors which I found annoying.
The plot’s rather complicated: the Americans have defeated an alien occupation of Earth, and are now liberating another occupied world, Talveras. The human protagonist, Ruan Altman, is an ex-soldier, now a civilian administrator on Talveras. American forces are mopping up the last alien hostiles while the civilian government are selling the benefits of the American constitution to the natives (the humanlike novum). Ruan gets friendly with a female novum, Fa’ashi. They both have pasts they’d rather forget, but hers is catching up with her.
Expect lots of violence and bloodshed.
I found the story slow going to start with. Scenes jump between alien and human characters, on Earth and an alien planet, and back and forth in time. Scene headers state the time and place, but I couldn’t be bothered to read them at first, so it took a while to figure out what was happening. But the characters and their situations were sufficiently interesting to keep me reading. Once I got used to the time jumps, the back story and the forward plot built into a compelling whole.
The writing is very readable throughout, though suffering from occasional editing errors which I found annoying.
The plot’s rather complicated: the Americans have defeated an alien occupation of Earth, and are now liberating another occupied world, Talveras. The human protagonist, Ruan Altman, is an ex-soldier, now a civilian administrator on Talveras. American forces are mopping up the last alien hostiles while the civilian government are selling the benefits of the American constitution to the natives (the humanlike novum). Ruan gets friendly with a female novum, Fa’ashi. They both have pasts they’d rather forget, but hers is catching up with her.
Expect lots of violence and bloodshed.
February 20, 2014
Any fan of science-fiction knows that world-building can be a monumental task. I was pleasantly surprised as I started reading this to see that not only had Hodge created an immersive world, multifaceted story, but his characters were really fantastic.
It's hard to find good science-fiction writers these days because a lot of the concepts are rehashed from classic authors, but I didn't experience that with Hodge's book. I enjoyed it a lot and the story itself felt original. The military taste of the story kept me involved as well, since I read far too many military memoirs to count.
Really excellent read. It's worth the time spent reading it (since one is not likely to read this in one or two sittings).
It's hard to find good science-fiction writers these days because a lot of the concepts are rehashed from classic authors, but I didn't experience that with Hodge's book. I enjoyed it a lot and the story itself felt original. The military taste of the story kept me involved as well, since I read far too many military memoirs to count.
Really excellent read. It's worth the time spent reading it (since one is not likely to read this in one or two sittings).
November 30, 2014
A good exploration of character and culture while also telling a well paced story. The minimal exposition on history or technology was surprising for what at first appeared to be military scifi but also refreshing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews