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Aneka Jansen #2
The Cold Steel Mind
Born in 20th Century England, Aneka Jansen had a life and career working as a security consultant until she was kidnapped by the Xinti and ended up in a wrecked starship, in suspended animation, in deep space for a millennium. Woken up by a team archaeologists, she is about to help them study the Agroa Gar, the ship she slept the centuries away in.
But there are others interested in the secrets and technology to be found on the dead Xinti ship. Soon the crew find themselves under attack by an unseen enemy with their destruction in mind. And that is before they are pulled across space by a force everyone thought had died long, long ago.
But there are others interested in the secrets and technology to be found on the dead Xinti ship. Soon the crew find themselves under attack by an unseen enemy with their destruction in mind. And that is before they are pulled across space by a force everyone thought had died long, long ago.
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 29, 2013
76 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Niall Teasdale
73 books292 followersI was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.
Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.
I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still loved the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.
As of 2015, I have thrown in my lot with writing. After thirty years of being a computer programmer I am making enough money to quit the day job and write full time. Dreams, occasionally, come true. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.
Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.
I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still loved the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.
As of 2015, I have thrown in my lot with writing. After thirty years of being a computer programmer I am making enough money to quit the day job and write full time. Dreams, occasionally, come true. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 3, 2020
Eek
Witty lines.
Good and plenty ... double entendres.
Future society in which sex prudes have lost the culture war.
Dynamic heroine.
Hetero, lots of f/f, menage and other(!) sexcapades.
A bit of serious exploration of what it means to be sentient with an imaginative range of examples.
A 'bfg': big f**king gun. And a
BFC: big f**king cliffhanger. Yuck.
Witty lines.
Good and plenty ... double entendres.
Future society in which sex prudes have lost the culture war.
Dynamic heroine.
Hetero, lots of f/f, menage and other(!) sexcapades.
A bit of serious exploration of what it means to be sentient with an imaginative range of examples.
A 'bfg': big f**king gun. And a
BFC: big f**king cliffhanger. Yuck.
May 10, 2014
This is the second book of the series "Aneka Jensen". We follow Aneka as she continues to make her life 12 hundred years in the future. The society has changed a lot; one of the big cultural changes is that now sex is a recreational activity and with that nudity and same sex relationships are not frowned upon (that is the reason for continuous nudity and/or skin exposure); the humans are now known as Jenlay and are part of a three sided federation of sentient races that participated in a war against another race known as the Xinti. Aneka was taken by the Xinti in a scientific attempt to guide the humans to the stars, but the spaceship that took her had a failure and she was discovered 12 hundred years after she was taken and her mind loaded in a robotic replica of her body.
In this book we see Aneka a bit more adapted to her new reality, she is in a relationship with the first "human" she saw when she was awakened; Ella, a psychologist Jenlay with nymphomaniac tendencies. As I mentioned the society is more open to recreational sex and this nymphomaniac tendencies takes the book to frequent implications of sex; but rarely the book goes in to detail, this makes the book lean more to the erotica side than to pornographic.
I know this sounds like I took this series for the nudity and such, but after I read the first book I liked the characters and the possibilities the author drew of the future of mankind; maybe it's my male mind talking but some of the reasons the author put for the society turning like this after 12 hundred years of evolution are quite reasonable; Aneka is a fun character and her reluctant acceptance of her new reality in the first book tries to hint a more realistic person than a cybernetic woman awakening after a long time sleeping in a forgotten spaceship.
In this second book of the series Aneka learns more about way she was taken and the purpose of the Xinti to replace her with this robot she is now. Her relationship with Ella is more solid than in the previous book although Ella is still a bit insecure about it. Since her nature as a Xinti robot with a human mind was kept secret since the first book, keeping this secret and keeping at bay the people that try to get to Aneka for her knowledge of the past put all the crew of Archaeologists that found her in danger and constant vigilance by the Jenlay chief of security, a master spy known as Winters.
I see only one incongruity between the first book and this one; maybe I need to re-read it. In the first book Aneka kills a bunch of terrorists in order to save the space station where she and the crew are, and after that she kills all the men of a cult that has taken her and Ella for reproduction purposes and doesn't seem to worry much about that. But in this book she kills one person and turns another in an addict and ends up with a huge culpability complex even when killing the first one saves the life of one of the archaeologists he had captive.
Any way... My verdict... 3 stars... Aneka is a fun character, the future that Niall Tesdale has pictured for us here is interesting even if you remove the excessive skin exposure and sexual innuendos, the story has several possible side plots and the main history at book 2 still have a lot of possibilities. I don't picture this as a short series, it has just recently published the 5th book but I think it has potential for more.
In this book we see Aneka a bit more adapted to her new reality, she is in a relationship with the first "human" she saw when she was awakened; Ella, a psychologist Jenlay with nymphomaniac tendencies. As I mentioned the society is more open to recreational sex and this nymphomaniac tendencies takes the book to frequent implications of sex; but rarely the book goes in to detail, this makes the book lean more to the erotica side than to pornographic.
I know this sounds like I took this series for the nudity and such, but after I read the first book I liked the characters and the possibilities the author drew of the future of mankind; maybe it's my male mind talking but some of the reasons the author put for the society turning like this after 12 hundred years of evolution are quite reasonable; Aneka is a fun character and her reluctant acceptance of her new reality in the first book tries to hint a more realistic person than a cybernetic woman awakening after a long time sleeping in a forgotten spaceship.
In this second book of the series Aneka learns more about way she was taken and the purpose of the Xinti to replace her with this robot she is now. Her relationship with Ella is more solid than in the previous book although Ella is still a bit insecure about it. Since her nature as a Xinti robot with a human mind was kept secret since the first book, keeping this secret and keeping at bay the people that try to get to Aneka for her knowledge of the past put all the crew of Archaeologists that found her in danger and constant vigilance by the Jenlay chief of security, a master spy known as Winters.
I see only one incongruity between the first book and this one; maybe I need to re-read it. In the first book Aneka kills a bunch of terrorists in order to save the space station where she and the crew are, and after that she kills all the men of a cult that has taken her and Ella for reproduction purposes and doesn't seem to worry much about that. But in this book she kills one person and turns another in an addict and ends up with a huge culpability complex even when killing the first one saves the life of one of the archaeologists he had captive.
Any way... My verdict... 3 stars... Aneka is a fun character, the future that Niall Tesdale has pictured for us here is interesting even if you remove the excessive skin exposure and sexual innuendos, the story has several possible side plots and the main history at book 2 still have a lot of possibilities. I don't picture this as a short series, it has just recently published the 5th book but I think it has potential for more.
July 18, 2015
This is the 2nd Aneka Jansen book. She's that hot bisexual robot who woke up after a thousand years in stasis. You remember. Oh yeah, that Aneka Jansen. (ha)
This book is good. It's got some very interesting sci-fi themes that it explores, like "What is a person?" With all the robotics and AI running around, it's not an easy question to answer. In this respect, Aneka #2 is better than the first. The quote below is fun.
QOTD
So, while Aneka sleeps, her memory de-frags. Excellent! I wonder if that's basically what we're doing when we sleep... some kind of organic memory maintenance.
There's some tasty violence and plenty of hot sex scenes here for you. This is a good thing. (he he)
QOTD2
The weakest part of Cold Steel Mind is its pace. It's too slow, which is a shame. There are long stretches where things really slow down.
I'll definitely pickup Aneka #3 soon. I love that these books are written by some nerd working in England... ("Writing, sadly, is not my main source of income. I'm a computer programmer.") I also have the Phillip Marlowe series waiting for me. And The Wright Brothers. And... anywho, I'm all setup. Nice!
A good read.
yow, bill
This book is good. It's got some very interesting sci-fi themes that it explores, like "What is a person?" With all the robotics and AI running around, it's not an easy question to answer. In this respect, Aneka #2 is better than the first. The quote below is fun.
QOTD
A yellow message in Aneka's morning diagnostics caught her attention. 'Al, what does "Full storage defragmentation and categorisation not completed" mean?
There was a tiny pause. 'I'll shelve the sarcastic answer. The algorithms which optimise your long-term memory did not run to completion, which is odd, but not a serious problem unless it starts happening on a regular basis.'
- The Cold Steel Mind by Niall Teasdale
So, while Aneka sleeps, her memory de-frags. Excellent! I wonder if that's basically what we're doing when we sleep... some kind of organic memory maintenance.
There's some tasty violence and plenty of hot sex scenes here for you. This is a good thing. (he he)
QOTD2
Lena lay on the bed, her large breasts heaving and covered in sweat. She was fit and very flexible, but she had had three women on her for over an hour. 'Please,' she panted. 'A short break...'
- The Cold Steel Mind
The weakest part of Cold Steel Mind is its pace. It's too slow, which is a shame. There are long stretches where things really slow down.
I'll definitely pickup Aneka #3 soon. I love that these books are written by some nerd working in England... ("Writing, sadly, is not my main source of income. I'm a computer programmer.") I also have the Phillip Marlowe series waiting for me. And The Wright Brothers. And... anywho, I'm all setup. Nice!
A good read.
yow, bill
October 4, 2013
It's pretty good, but the reason I gave this 4 stars and the previous novel 3 stars was probably because of a cliffhanger ending in this one. Though I'm pretty sure the next novel will show that the AIs were never attacked and that somehow the messages sent have been intercepted by the herosians, with the supposed message of the xinti attack being also fabricated by the herosians...
April 10, 2014
This is turning out to be a really nice story, if you ignore the editing errors. A small time book like this it is pretty much expected, Books like HALO and Star Wars shouldn't have them, but they do. I really like Aneka and Ella.
October 24, 2014
Wow, now it really is getting started, lucky me, that the next book is already out
June 1, 2024
I liked it
January 22, 2016
Second book in Aneka Jansen series.
Niall Teasdale continues to write easy to read, fast and interesting story about Old Earth-born Aneka Jansen, captured by aliens and transformed to a cyborg with "ghost" in side. New earth is free from most of the old taboos, thanks to inventions in areas in life, and the sex is recreational. And theres lots of it. Some readers might be put off by sex scenes but for those readers i can tell that there's not as much and not as detailed as it was in the first book of series.
This time story revolves around dead Xinti ship, Agroa Gar, where Aneka was found and how Aneka was made. We have more interesting characters, in a pulpish way, and remaining characters from first book get "more meat" on them.
Both books would have benefited from proofreading and editing, but both are still one of the better self-published books as it is.
I really like this series and i'm going to buy and read rest of it (theres five books at the moment), and i have already bought first book, but not read, of other Niall Teasdale series Thaumatology.
So why three stars instead of four. There be spoilers after this so, DO NOT READ, unless you have already read the book.
About in the middle part of the book, when Garnet Hyde is threatened to be destroyed by robot-like creatures. Where did these come from, was there some larger idea behind them. As they are, it's just "chick-in-the-bucket" (as Filmsack podcasters call them). Yes, this is only a tiny part of the book, but all the rest of the book i was wondering about these.
Niall Teasdale continues to write easy to read, fast and interesting story about Old Earth-born Aneka Jansen, captured by aliens and transformed to a cyborg with "ghost" in side. New earth is free from most of the old taboos, thanks to inventions in areas in life, and the sex is recreational. And theres lots of it. Some readers might be put off by sex scenes but for those readers i can tell that there's not as much and not as detailed as it was in the first book of series.
This time story revolves around dead Xinti ship, Agroa Gar, where Aneka was found and how Aneka was made. We have more interesting characters, in a pulpish way, and remaining characters from first book get "more meat" on them.
Both books would have benefited from proofreading and editing, but both are still one of the better self-published books as it is.
I really like this series and i'm going to buy and read rest of it (theres five books at the moment), and i have already bought first book, but not read, of other Niall Teasdale series Thaumatology.
So why three stars instead of four. There be spoilers after this so, DO NOT READ, unless you have already read the book.
About in the middle part of the book, when Garnet Hyde is threatened to be destroyed by robot-like creatures. Where did these come from, was there some larger idea behind them. As they are, it's just "chick-in-the-bucket" (as Filmsack podcasters call them). Yes, this is only a tiny part of the book, but all the rest of the book i was wondering about these.
April 13, 2015
I was going to write a rather sarcastic review, but then thought better of it, because the issue that plagues Mr. Teasdale's books is widely known, I suspect.
Anyways, props for slipping in Justin Bieber in a sci-fi book and make it plausible, and having two volitional AI's falling in love (or is it lust?).
Interesting as Aneka and the world are, I don't think I can bring up the patience anymore to continue the series, despite the sci-fi being actually really good.
You see, the reason I stopped watching cable TV is the same as I have with these books. It gets really, really tiring having something that is quite entertaining being disrupted by unnecessary messages about every five minutes.
If, by some chance, Mr. Teasdal decides to edit the books (which we all know isn't going to happen), I might pick it up again. Until then, I wish Aneka the best.
Anyways, props for slipping in Justin Bieber in a sci-fi book and make it plausible, and having two volitional AI's falling in love (or is it lust?).
Interesting as Aneka and the world are, I don't think I can bring up the patience anymore to continue the series, despite the sci-fi being actually really good.
You see, the reason I stopped watching cable TV is the same as I have with these books. It gets really, really tiring having something that is quite entertaining being disrupted by unnecessary messages about every five minutes.
If, by some chance, Mr. Teasdal decides to edit the books (which we all know isn't going to happen), I might pick it up again. Until then, I wish Aneka the best.
May 20, 2016
An interesting and expanding universe.
Aneka Jansen our recently awakened 1200 year old cyborg is send along with her companions to study the ship she was found in. Add more worldbuilding and a few new characters and things get really interesting.
Thus far i've found that the Aneka Jansen (or Teasdale novels in general) fall under the label of "hidden gem B-movies". The exterior is a bit campy, the story a bit silly and at first glance not all that interesting. That is until you look past the craft paper and lingerie surface and dive into a rich, well thought out world where the world has a history and it's people have weight because of it.
A gem hidden in a B-movie exterior.
(For adults only)
Aneka Jansen our recently awakened 1200 year old cyborg is send along with her companions to study the ship she was found in. Add more worldbuilding and a few new characters and things get really interesting.
Thus far i've found that the Aneka Jansen (or Teasdale novels in general) fall under the label of "hidden gem B-movies". The exterior is a bit campy, the story a bit silly and at first glance not all that interesting. That is until you look past the craft paper and lingerie surface and dive into a rich, well thought out world where the world has a history and it's people have weight because of it.
A gem hidden in a B-movie exterior.
(For adults only)
April 29, 2014
Okay, let's start with the issue, and I quote DIRECTLY from the book:
"the inevitable group sex"
The sex is pretty well integrated with the plot, and thank Vishnu that the author skips describing it fairly often, but I am getting so sick of it... There is so. much. sex. and it's boring!
The positives: there was a character development issue that was niggling at me but it was addressed in a throw-away aside in this book. Maybe I just missed its resolution in the first book, but I don't think it was ever addressed.
Suspension of disbelief, go with it. Flip quickly through the sex scenes if you are bored.
"the inevitable group sex"
The sex is pretty well integrated with the plot, and thank Vishnu that the author skips describing it fairly often, but I am getting so sick of it... There is so. much. sex. and it's boring!
The positives: there was a character development issue that was niggling at me but it was addressed in a throw-away aside in this book. Maybe I just missed its resolution in the first book, but I don't think it was ever addressed.
Suspension of disbelief, go with it. Flip quickly through the sex scenes if you are bored.
April 21, 2014
I've finished the whole series now and i must say they were very fun. Most of the situations were inventive, with some homage to classics. But what did it for me was the characters, they were just fun to read. As some of the reviews noted there is a lot Sex, but its different from just about every other book, its not romance as it is sex, and usually a paragraph or maybe a page.
I hope the adventures continue, now om off to read the authors first series :)
I hope the adventures continue, now om off to read the authors first series :)
September 2, 2016
This was good sequel and a nice sci fi book by its else i really enjoyed the robots part of this book it was a interesting stop on the story train. Aneka Jansen continues to be an interesting character and its enjoyable to see how she adjusted to this world more and more with each chapter. Overall a pretty good read.
October 1, 2013
It was awesome but the cliffhanger ending is rather teasing T_T, Niall I want the following novel xD
January 6, 2014
No review at this time due to this reader's broken wrist, arm & hand. It is an improvement over 1st book in the series.
April 30, 2014
Good sci-fi.
June 7, 2015
I actually liked this book better than the first one. The plot is a lot more original.
Read
November 22, 2017Another fun quick read.
March 22, 2017
Second time round. Still enjoyed it as much as the first time.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews