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To Rule the Universe
review by SJ Macdonald Starships & Aliens
Concept/World
Gyle Meredon is back, this time stranded on a world where humans and aliens compete for resources. This is a sequel to “Faces of Immortality” (see review) and has the same kind of panache. The planet is richly imagined, with a complexity of human and alien cultures and environments.
Story
This is a complex story. At one level, it is a straightforward adventure as Gyle makes his way across the planet, pursuing a bad guy while avoiding being eaten by aliens or shot by assassins. At a more complex level it is a story about deception, betrayal and revenge. At a more complex level again it involves questions about the nature of the universe which take you to some very strange places. It does need focussed reading to follow all the twists and turns of aliases and different people acting on their own agendas. I found that absorbing, but it does have the potential to be confusing. It isn't a book you can skim through.
Characters
Gyle Meredon is convincing as the hero. He isn’t superhuman; he’s lost, confused, figuring things out as he tries to cope with them. His strength lies in convincing others that he’s a lot tougher than he really is. The first time I read this, I laughed so much at one scene where he’s interrogating a prisoner that I had to stop reading for a while. Other characters are written with depth, too, even minor ones. I particularly liked the hapless Captain Smollet and the memorable D66 Tthus. I did keep expecting Mephisto Millet to stroke a fluffy white cat and say, “I expect you to die, Mr Meredon,” but I do enjoy a good villain.
Concept/World
Gyle Meredon is back, this time stranded on a world where humans and aliens compete for resources. This is a sequel to “Faces of Immortality” (see review) and has the same kind of panache. The planet is richly imagined, with a complexity of human and alien cultures and environments.
Story
This is a complex story. At one level, it is a straightforward adventure as Gyle makes his way across the planet, pursuing a bad guy while avoiding being eaten by aliens or shot by assassins. At a more complex level it is a story about deception, betrayal and revenge. At a more complex level again it involves questions about the nature of the universe which take you to some very strange places. It does need focussed reading to follow all the twists and turns of aliases and different people acting on their own agendas. I found that absorbing, but it does have the potential to be confusing. It isn't a book you can skim through.
Characters
Gyle Meredon is convincing as the hero. He isn’t superhuman; he’s lost, confused, figuring things out as he tries to cope with them. His strength lies in convincing others that he’s a lot tougher than he really is. The first time I read this, I laughed so much at one scene where he’s interrogating a prisoner that I had to stop reading for a while. Other characters are written with depth, too, even minor ones. I particularly liked the hapless Captain Smollet and the memorable D66 Tthus. I did keep expecting Mephisto Millet to stroke a fluffy white cat and say, “I expect you to die, Mr Meredon,” but I do enjoy a good villain.
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2009
7 people want to read
About the author
Everett Coles
5 books1 follower David Coles and Jack Everett have been writing f&sf, thrillers, adventures and historical mystery as Everett Coles.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 19, 2011
Story
This is a complex story. At one level, it is a straightforward adventure as Gyle makes his way across the planet, pursuing a bad guy while avoiding being eaten by aliens or shot by assassins. At a more complex level it is a story about deception, betrayal and revenge. At a more complex level again it involves questions about the nature of the universe which take you to some very strange places. It does need focussed reading to follow all the twists and turns of aliases and different people acting on their own agendas. I found that absorbing, but it has the potential to be confusing, too. This is not a book you can skim through.
Characters
Gyle Meredon is convincing as the hero. He isn’t superhuman; he’s lost, confused, figuring things out as he tries to cope with them. His strength lies in convincing others that he’s a lot tougher than he really is. The first time I read this, I laughed so much at one scene where he’s interrogating a prisoner that I had to stop reading for a while. Other characters are written with depth, too, even minor ones. I particularly liked the hapless Captain Smollet and the memorable D66 Tthus. I did keep expecting Mephisto Millet to stroke a fluffy white cat and say, “I expect you to die, Mr Meredon,” but I do enjoy a good villain.
Presentation
The first edition of this book had a formatting glitch which had generated multiple errors. I was so surprised by this given the flawless quality of The Faces of Immortality that I emailed the authors to bring it to their attention. The book has now been re-issued with the formatting resolved. To my amazement, Mr Everett and Mr Coles have put a lovely acknowledgement in the new edition, thanking me for that. Very cool!
Overall
I loved this book. I read it the first time for pleasure and then again (twice) for review and it was just as enjoyable the third time I read it. It would help to have read The Faces of Immortality first, to have an understanding of the background of the hatred Mephisto Millet has for Gyle Meredon, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. If I lost my copy I would definitely buy another to replace it, so this gets my highest star rating.
This is a complex story. At one level, it is a straightforward adventure as Gyle makes his way across the planet, pursuing a bad guy while avoiding being eaten by aliens or shot by assassins. At a more complex level it is a story about deception, betrayal and revenge. At a more complex level again it involves questions about the nature of the universe which take you to some very strange places. It does need focussed reading to follow all the twists and turns of aliases and different people acting on their own agendas. I found that absorbing, but it has the potential to be confusing, too. This is not a book you can skim through.
Characters
Gyle Meredon is convincing as the hero. He isn’t superhuman; he’s lost, confused, figuring things out as he tries to cope with them. His strength lies in convincing others that he’s a lot tougher than he really is. The first time I read this, I laughed so much at one scene where he’s interrogating a prisoner that I had to stop reading for a while. Other characters are written with depth, too, even minor ones. I particularly liked the hapless Captain Smollet and the memorable D66 Tthus. I did keep expecting Mephisto Millet to stroke a fluffy white cat and say, “I expect you to die, Mr Meredon,” but I do enjoy a good villain.
Presentation
The first edition of this book had a formatting glitch which had generated multiple errors. I was so surprised by this given the flawless quality of The Faces of Immortality that I emailed the authors to bring it to their attention. The book has now been re-issued with the formatting resolved. To my amazement, Mr Everett and Mr Coles have put a lovely acknowledgement in the new edition, thanking me for that. Very cool!
Overall
I loved this book. I read it the first time for pleasure and then again (twice) for review and it was just as enjoyable the third time I read it. It would help to have read The Faces of Immortality first, to have an understanding of the background of the hatred Mephisto Millet has for Gyle Meredon, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. If I lost my copy I would definitely buy another to replace it, so this gets my highest star rating.
December 24, 2010
Review
by Allison Craig: S-Fi equivalent to Agatha Christie
In this sequel to Everett Coles- the Faces of Immortality, Gyle Meredon has moved on as indeed, has the style. The previous novel was an un-ashamed tribute to the author Jack Vance, this book seems nearer to the writer's own voice, there are still great comic moments as well as serious, thoughtful passages and the odd passage that might well have come from Vance's own keyboard.
Imagine that you are a space traveler without knowledge of present day Earth; you crash land in the Kalahari desert, or central Tibet or any of a dozen wilderness areas. How would you know what sort of world this is? What resources might you find? Is there some way to get off the world? This is the basic premise of To Rule the Universe and a rumor of another spaceship sends Meredon traveling across the face of an increasingly intriguing world.
Meredon discovers that this world is crucial to a plot to disrupt the economy of the civilized worlds and here we have a coincidence, the criminal involved was also the mastermind behind events in the Faces of Immortality. However, the meeting of a top investigator with civilization-s top criminal is no more a coincidence than Sherlock Homes- meeting with his old adversary, Moriarty. But why should this world be so interesting to the villain and what is so unique about this particular world? There is only one way to find out.
Product Description
A sequel to 'Faces of Immortality'... A second outing for Gyle Meredon.
Far Outside the Pale of civilization a damaged passenger ship is forced to crash land on an unknown world, marooning Meredon and its passengers among many disparate races. He discovers the apparently backward planet is far more significant than he supposed.
Here is the means to disrupt the financial stability of the Cluster but who would want to do that? And why should that person want Meredon dead? More significantly, does the Universe really revolve around this little unheard-of, backwoods planet?
And if so, why this planet? Meredon finds his powers fully tested.
by Allison Craig: S-Fi equivalent to Agatha Christie
In this sequel to Everett Coles- the Faces of Immortality, Gyle Meredon has moved on as indeed, has the style. The previous novel was an un-ashamed tribute to the author Jack Vance, this book seems nearer to the writer's own voice, there are still great comic moments as well as serious, thoughtful passages and the odd passage that might well have come from Vance's own keyboard.
Imagine that you are a space traveler without knowledge of present day Earth; you crash land in the Kalahari desert, or central Tibet or any of a dozen wilderness areas. How would you know what sort of world this is? What resources might you find? Is there some way to get off the world? This is the basic premise of To Rule the Universe and a rumor of another spaceship sends Meredon traveling across the face of an increasingly intriguing world.
Meredon discovers that this world is crucial to a plot to disrupt the economy of the civilized worlds and here we have a coincidence, the criminal involved was also the mastermind behind events in the Faces of Immortality. However, the meeting of a top investigator with civilization-s top criminal is no more a coincidence than Sherlock Homes- meeting with his old adversary, Moriarty. But why should this world be so interesting to the villain and what is so unique about this particular world? There is only one way to find out.
Product Description
A sequel to 'Faces of Immortality'... A second outing for Gyle Meredon.
Far Outside the Pale of civilization a damaged passenger ship is forced to crash land on an unknown world, marooning Meredon and its passengers among many disparate races. He discovers the apparently backward planet is far more significant than he supposed.
Here is the means to disrupt the financial stability of the Cluster but who would want to do that? And why should that person want Meredon dead? More significantly, does the Universe really revolve around this little unheard-of, backwoods planet?
And if so, why this planet? Meredon finds his powers fully tested.
August 6, 2012
Concept/World
Gyle Meredon is back, this time stranded on a world where humans and aliens compete for resources. This is a sequel to “Faces of Immortality” (see review) and has the same kind of panache. The planet is richly imagined, with a complexity of human and alien cultures and environments.
Story
This is a complex story. At one level, it is a straightforward adventure as Gyle makes his way across the planet, pursuing a bad guy while avoiding being eaten by aliens or shot by assassins. At a more complex level it is a story about deception, betrayal and revenge. At a more complex level again it involves questions about the nature of the universe which take you to some very strange places. It does need focussed reading to follow all the twists and turns of aliases and different people acting on their own agendas. I found that absorbing, but it does have the potential to be confusing. It isn't a book you can skim through.
Characters
Gyle Meredon is convincing as the hero. He isn’t superhuman; he’s lost, confused, figuring things out as he tries to cope with them. His strength lies in convincing others that he’s a lot tougher than he really is. The first time I read this, I laughed so much at one scene where he’s interrogating a prisoner that I had to stop reading for a while. Other characters are written with depth, too, even minor ones. I particularly liked the hapless Captain Smollet and the memorable D66 Tthus. I did keep expecting Mephisto Millet to stroke a fluffy white cat and say, “I expect you to die, Mr Meredon,” but I do enjoy a good villain.
SJ Macdonald
Gyle Meredon is back, this time stranded on a world where humans and aliens compete for resources. This is a sequel to “Faces of Immortality” (see review) and has the same kind of panache. The planet is richly imagined, with a complexity of human and alien cultures and environments.
Story
This is a complex story. At one level, it is a straightforward adventure as Gyle makes his way across the planet, pursuing a bad guy while avoiding being eaten by aliens or shot by assassins. At a more complex level it is a story about deception, betrayal and revenge. At a more complex level again it involves questions about the nature of the universe which take you to some very strange places. It does need focussed reading to follow all the twists and turns of aliases and different people acting on their own agendas. I found that absorbing, but it does have the potential to be confusing. It isn't a book you can skim through.
Characters
Gyle Meredon is convincing as the hero. He isn’t superhuman; he’s lost, confused, figuring things out as he tries to cope with them. His strength lies in convincing others that he’s a lot tougher than he really is. The first time I read this, I laughed so much at one scene where he’s interrogating a prisoner that I had to stop reading for a while. Other characters are written with depth, too, even minor ones. I particularly liked the hapless Captain Smollet and the memorable D66 Tthus. I did keep expecting Mephisto Millet to stroke a fluffy white cat and say, “I expect you to die, Mr Meredon,” but I do enjoy a good villain.
SJ Macdonald
December 8, 2011
A swashbuckler's adventure in space. Gyle Meredon an enforcement officer for Purlieu Law Enforcement Authority finds himself injected into an unplanned case when the vessel he was using for transportation is highjacked and stranded in space with a key component removed and taken planet side by the highjacker. Meredon follows the highjacker In the company of an insurance agent who was assigned the job in tandem by the ships captain, they used a skimmer to make it from orbit to planet side. As is normal with this type of adventure story, Meredon encountered amazing environments and foreign entities as he followed the trail. He encountered a beautiful women who was his first interest since his previous wife was killed. He made friends with colonists both human and other worldly who co-existed on the world that he had been stranded. The author demonstrated an imaginative gift for describing the flora and fauna and their strange proclivity for interaction with their environment and others. The hero overcomes evil and saves the galaxy in the end, returning for his daughter and seeking his new love. An adventure for those that love science fiction and fantasy escape literature with plenty of action to maintain interest.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews