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Elite Dangerous
Elite Dangerous: Wanted
Set in the world of bestselling computer game ELITE, and launched to tie in with the latest version, DANGEROUS - a game almost 20 years in the making. One of three very distinct - but subtly linked - novels written by major authors who are fans of the game, this novel will be a must-buy not only for the 25,000+ people who funded the new game on kickstarter, but also for all of those fans of the original game.When a routine bit of piracy goes wrong, the crew of the Song of Stone realise that there's a bounty hunter on their tail. One who might, finally, be able to outclass them. The Dragon Queen is feared across space, and for good reason. But even the bounty hunter doesn't realise what she's been hired to do. Or what is in the container she's been sent to retrieve.And she's not the only hunter in the game...Gavin Deas is the pseudonym used by Stephen Deas and Gavin Smith when writing together.
- GenresScience Fiction
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 15, 2014
17 people are currently reading
118 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 4, 2017
The 34th Century. A routine bit of piracy goes badly wrong, leaving the crew of the Song of Stone wanted by both the authorities and the most lethal criminal gang in inhabited space. When a bounty hunter famed for being relentless and efficient gets on their tail, events rapidly spiral out of control.
The Elite video game series has always had a good relationship with its tie-in fiction. The original game, released in 1984, had very simple graphics so relied on the manual and flavour text to fit in a lot of the background. Key to this was The Dark Wheel, a novella written by Robert Holdstock (who won the World Fantasy Award the same year for his seminal Mythago Wood) which brought the setting to life with memorable characters and a focused storyline about revenge and family.
For the release of Elite: Dangerous, the fourth game in the series, a whole line of new books are being released from several different publishers. First out of the gate is Wanted, a collaboration between Stephen Deas (best-known for the Memory of Flames fantasy sequence) and Gavin Smith (Veteran, War in Heaven, Age of Scorpio). This novel focuses on pirates, bounty-hunters and the dividing line between the law and lawlessness, key features of the Elite games which can also be used to generate good stories.
Wanted has a simple but extremely effective structure: chapters alternate between Captain Ravindra of the Song of Stone and Ziva, pilot of the Dragon Queen and one of the most renowned bounty hunters around. The characterisation of these two leading figures is strong, with the authors setting up each captain's motivations (Ravindra's wayward son and Ziva's relationship problems) and using them to drive the story forward. For a tie-in novel the risk is always that the iconic setting will overwhelm the story and characters, but there Deas and Smith avoid that, putting the central characters front-and-centre.
That said, they do handle the setting pretty well. There's always been a conflict between the Elite universe being set so far in the future and the relative low technology of it all, with no artificial gravity and ship-to-ship combat being carried out at close range rather than with drones from thousands of miles away. The two authors do a good job of staying true to the game setting whilst throwing their own innovations and extrapolations of technology into the mix.
On the weaker side of things, some of the secondary cast could do with being fleshed out more. The motivations of the villains is also under-developed, especially as the maguffin the plot revolves around is never really explained. On one meta-level it's irrelevant, as it's simply the excuse for the story to happen, but on another it means that the stakes are never properly defined.
Still, Smith and Deas deliver more than what was expected here: a punchy, rip-roaring space opera with some clever bits of science, some nicely-handled character relationships and a book that leaves the reader intrigued to try both the game and the other books in the setting. Elite: Wanted (****) is out now.
The Elite video game series has always had a good relationship with its tie-in fiction. The original game, released in 1984, had very simple graphics so relied on the manual and flavour text to fit in a lot of the background. Key to this was The Dark Wheel, a novella written by Robert Holdstock (who won the World Fantasy Award the same year for his seminal Mythago Wood) which brought the setting to life with memorable characters and a focused storyline about revenge and family.
For the release of Elite: Dangerous, the fourth game in the series, a whole line of new books are being released from several different publishers. First out of the gate is Wanted, a collaboration between Stephen Deas (best-known for the Memory of Flames fantasy sequence) and Gavin Smith (Veteran, War in Heaven, Age of Scorpio). This novel focuses on pirates, bounty-hunters and the dividing line between the law and lawlessness, key features of the Elite games which can also be used to generate good stories.
Wanted has a simple but extremely effective structure: chapters alternate between Captain Ravindra of the Song of Stone and Ziva, pilot of the Dragon Queen and one of the most renowned bounty hunters around. The characterisation of these two leading figures is strong, with the authors setting up each captain's motivations (Ravindra's wayward son and Ziva's relationship problems) and using them to drive the story forward. For a tie-in novel the risk is always that the iconic setting will overwhelm the story and characters, but there Deas and Smith avoid that, putting the central characters front-and-centre.
That said, they do handle the setting pretty well. There's always been a conflict between the Elite universe being set so far in the future and the relative low technology of it all, with no artificial gravity and ship-to-ship combat being carried out at close range rather than with drones from thousands of miles away. The two authors do a good job of staying true to the game setting whilst throwing their own innovations and extrapolations of technology into the mix.
On the weaker side of things, some of the secondary cast could do with being fleshed out more. The motivations of the villains is also under-developed, especially as the maguffin the plot revolves around is never really explained. On one meta-level it's irrelevant, as it's simply the excuse for the story to happen, but on another it means that the stakes are never properly defined.
Still, Smith and Deas deliver more than what was expected here: a punchy, rip-roaring space opera with some clever bits of science, some nicely-handled character relationships and a book that leaves the reader intrigued to try both the game and the other books in the setting. Elite: Wanted (****) is out now.
January 5, 2018
so disappointing that so far in the future people are still too dumb to children that they really shouldn't
August 8, 2014
Spoilers ahead....
Not sure why the author tried to add a side story about a Lesbian couple and their daughter, as it doesn't add much to the main story arch, and that one could have benefited from a bit more pages of the only 120 pages it had.
Having the end of the book not finish the story might be a good motive as a warmup for the game, but if looked just at the book, it is rather unfulfilling. Basically everything is left open. What is the item really that everyone is trying to get? Did the boy make it? Who won? What prevents the crime Syndicate from coming after the lots again? Even if the main character survives, which is kinda open, there is no reason at all that would make this violent Eclipse at the end of the book worth it.
Not sure why the author tried to add a side story about a Lesbian couple and their daughter, as it doesn't add much to the main story arch, and that one could have benefited from a bit more pages of the only 120 pages it had.
Having the end of the book not finish the story might be a good motive as a warmup for the game, but if looked just at the book, it is rather unfulfilling. Basically everything is left open. What is the item really that everyone is trying to get? Did the boy make it? Who won? What prevents the crime Syndicate from coming after the lots again? Even if the main character survives, which is kinda open, there is no reason at all that would make this violent Eclipse at the end of the book worth it.
November 23, 2014
Swashbuckling space pirate from a hive mind responsible for the Memory of Flames & Veteran universes amongst others with just a dash of inspiration from a certain 90s heist movie (I wont specify which one, I was an embarrassingly long way through the book before I spotted it). Bit of a slow burner at first, but starts to kick into high gear once the terminology of the world becomes familiar. Really reaches something of a crescendo in the closing chapters, Space Opera at it's most operatic (don't let the fact that it's a video game tie in put you off, I've no familiarity with the game in question & still found it overall thoroughly enjoyable).
June 13, 2014
An enjoyable bounty-hunter vs pirate romp through the Elite/Frontier universe.
Happily recognizably that universe too for the most part, beyond the requisite mentions of a Cobra Mk3 and Cmdr Jameson (though those are all here too). Only let down by the space battles, which while excellently written, generally end oh more in Iain M Banks' Culture universe or similar by the sudden crazy technology
Happily recognizably that universe too for the most part, beyond the requisite mentions of a Cobra Mk3 and Cmdr Jameson (though those are all here too). Only let down by the space battles, which while excellently written, generally end oh more in Iain M Banks' Culture universe or similar by the sudden crazy technology
July 23, 2014
One word, MORE! A more detailed review would be, MORE GODDAMIT!
Whilst not particululary long, something I've noticed with a few of the Elite novels, it is engrossing. It's gritty, and pretty damn exciting.
Whilst not particululary long, something I've noticed with a few of the Elite novels, it is engrossing. It's gritty, and pretty damn exciting.
March 21, 2016
Space pirates. Lasers. Retina detaching maneuvers. A nicely interwoven tale of two protagonists battling with wits and lasers. This is a fun sci-fi space romp, a great tour guide for the Elite galaxy and a fantastic advert for Zorgon Petersen.
May 28, 2014
Really enjoyed this, although the ending was quite abrupt which was a bit disappointing.
May 26, 2014
Of the three Gollancz Elite books, this is perhaps the most "Elite". A tour-de-force of the Elite Universe. Read it!
September 25, 2017
When they took the job the song of stones crew knew it was high risk high reward, what they didn't expect was everything that came next. Elsewhere the solo pilot of the Dragon Queen grapples with her job as a law abiding bounty hunter while leaving her family back home.
There is no good or evil here, simply human stories and that makes this book so much richer. Using Elite as its background the book interweaves a number of characters stories marvelously and could easily sit as a standalone book. You don't need knowledge of the games to read this but it will fill in some of the visuals if you do (for example, when the description of the anaconda, fee de Li's, sidewinder and cutter ships or station externals are given you'll have an easier time visualising but you won't need the games to do that either)
Some criticisms has been levelled at the side stories provided here but each is essential to understanding the motives of the key characters and knowing what fuels their actions and they are wonderfully fleshed out. Elsewhere nuances of the characters is deftly balanced with pacing to make the book move steadily towards a final, beautifully written climax that will leave you both satisfies and wanting more from Dead' take on this universe
There is no good or evil here, simply human stories and that makes this book so much richer. Using Elite as its background the book interweaves a number of characters stories marvelously and could easily sit as a standalone book. You don't need knowledge of the games to read this but it will fill in some of the visuals if you do (for example, when the description of the anaconda, fee de Li's, sidewinder and cutter ships or station externals are given you'll have an easier time visualising but you won't need the games to do that either)
Some criticisms has been levelled at the side stories provided here but each is essential to understanding the motives of the key characters and knowing what fuels their actions and they are wonderfully fleshed out. Elsewhere nuances of the characters is deftly balanced with pacing to make the book move steadily towards a final, beautifully written climax that will leave you both satisfies and wanting more from Dead' take on this universe
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews