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Pity I never listen to Gary Numan
Sep. 16th, 2007 01:41 pmThe first book in a space opera series. So, lets see there is a galactic spanning civilisation, post human intelligence with everybody being very long lived. There is some mysterious very powerful race which seems to be doing people harm and who may have been responsible for catastrophe. Humans doing the same thing too. There is mystery all around. A small group of highly resourceful people are battling to figure out what is happening and save their skins while doing it - a group who are obviously going to become big players in the restoration of order. It is all entertainingly written - fun with a few clever little jokes mixed in. But not deep - written to entertain not to enlighten. Of course it is a Sean Williams book. Saturn Returns to be specific about it.
About the only fundamental difference I can see between this and the first books of his previous space opera series is that Shane Dix's name isn't on the title page. Perhaps the tone is a tiny bit lighter but that is it. I should say the story is quite a bit different to the previous ones but that is just the window dressing - the fundamental mode of entertainment remains the same. Another thing to note is that the first volume in all these series, including this one, is exposition heavy. There is some action but a lot is about building the universe and the characters. Interesting that I always enjoy these first volumes more than the action laden subsequent ones. Not sure if that says something about the author's strengths and weaknesses or if it just reflects my preferences. Good fun either way.
About the only fundamental difference I can see between this and the first books of his previous space opera series is that Shane Dix's name isn't on the title page. Perhaps the tone is a tiny bit lighter but that is it. I should say the story is quite a bit different to the previous ones but that is just the window dressing - the fundamental mode of entertainment remains the same. Another thing to note is that the first volume in all these series, including this one, is exposition heavy. There is some action but a lot is about building the universe and the characters. Interesting that I always enjoy these first volumes more than the action laden subsequent ones. Not sure if that says something about the author's strengths and weaknesses or if it just reflects my preferences. Good fun either way.
