Alex James's Blog: AlexJamesNovels Blog - Posts Tagged "sci-fi-spy"

Format, premise, and first impressions

Each chapter is introduced in a similar format to first book Residual Belligerence, with the Man and NG’s conversations discussing interstellar affairs around their Guild and rival factions, this time not just with the sloshing of wine in goblets but with the moves of a chess game.

Guild agent LC Anderton has a bounty on his head … and I could be forgiven for believing I was reading the same story as in the first book when an agent had a bounty on his head. Indeed, I had a bit of déjà vu/confusion. Wasn’t it ‘Hil’ who was the guild agent with a bounty on his head in Residual Belligerence? And yes, there were two such agents, and we never saw what LC went through.

Main character LC

LC is a little different from Hil. He has these special mind-reading implants, and can see into the thoughts of fellow crew, often making for humorous insights. LC is not a team player, which is something author CG Hatton reminds us of a lot early on until we read further and realise he really isn’t. On board the ship, the Duck, he’s surrounded by crew he begins to care about after the death of his Guild handler, and they humanise him. This makes him vulnerable, having to care about their whereabouts on missions, and he’s getting emotionally closer to female bounty hunter Sean, who is determined to return him to the Guild. Sean was a fascinating character with many sides to her: seductive, bargaining, and dangerous; and able to compartmentalise feelings. She does change a bit. LC has an advantage over her, with mind-reading her thoughts, and his holding off only makes her want him more.

Improvement on book one Residual Belligerence

There is a lot of macho ironic humour, about near-death experiences, unintentionally drinking with drugs, and use of language such as a ‘shit-eating grin on his face’. We get close to the characters of the crew: drunk DiMarco, weary Gallagher, creepy tech. Also, LC was less useless than Hil was, perhaps because of his implants, gadgets, and fewer serious injuries. You could be forgiven for believing you’re reading about wacky and entertaining space opera misadventures until it hits you there really are bounty hunters all over the galaxy looking for LC, Hil, and ‘the package’. Gallagher puts it succinctly: ‘I’ve been shot down by b*****d aliens, set up by double-dealing b*****d mobsters, attacked by corporate b*****d mercenaries, and hijacked by b*****d pirates. Is there a pattern here, do you reckon?’

‘Confidentiality at a premium, clandestine seclusion guaranteed.’

The story up to now – the nature of the beast

‘There’s an organisation …’

Book one: there was a bounty on Hilyer, rough-around-the-edges field operative of the Thieves’ Guild (TG). Book two: there was a bounty on Luka (LC) Anderton, charming field operative of the TG. Book three: whoever messed with the above field operatives has decided to mess with NG, and they put an even bigger bounty on him. ‘Nobody messes with the TG’, but author CG Hatton’s series has proved that people keep messing with it and in all sorts of ways.

It’s daring to mess with a prominent figure of the TG, who is inaccessible to the grunts of the TG’s enemies. NG is in the first two books as this guy on the TG ship, the Alsatia, who everybody looks up to and receives orders from. He’s not the Man, of course; the Man is the mysterious figure pulling the strings of the TG, and probably most of the galaxy too.

Main character NG

‘Shit, I always knew you were a tough bastard, NG, but level five? Jesus, most people don’t make it past three.’

If you thought author CG Hatton would have run out of protagonists, you’d be mistaken in Harsh Realities (HR) book three of the TG Series. NG is conflicted, not because he’s physically battered like glutton-for-punishment Hilyer and not because he’s infected with a virus and is deciding on romantic boundaries like LC – NG already had some freakish abilities similar to the virus, we’re told, and it explains much. More often than not, NG is shown to be … knackered. Character after character tax his energy levels, and he has to single-handedly run the various departments of the TG, assimilate what they’re thinking because he can read their thoughts, fend off the advances of caring-predator Devon, and then also work out who put a bounty on him and attempted to kill him.

Story structure

Up to now, NG’s story coincides with what happened to LC and Hilyer in books one and two, and I couldn’t have been more pleased to have discovered the serious stuff that went down that linked the events in all three books together. The conspiracy is being mapped out, and although we know some of the players, we don’t know how they managed to carry out attacks, infiltrate the TG, and bring to bear such influence. Some organisations are named; in fact, I was a bit confused by some of them: Assassins, Order, and then UM and JU slipped my mind.

From 140 out of 360 pages, the story changes! My favourite page was P210 – I loved the show of unity. There are more than a few hints that there are aliens, or that their existence may be real. I was a bit concerned the story arc would vanish and I’d be fitted with a military science fiction first contact story, and I must say the plot slowed a bit here, but the build-up must have been a monumental challenge to write, and the story kept strong, circulating around the characters. I grew attached to the new character Hones, here. The subsequent events were pure TG, and this is where I have to say I loved the return of the field operatives, but from NG’s point of view, seeing all of them work in concert. There are some huge eye-opening revelations at the end of the book.