Defender: Hyperswarm

by Tim Waggoner

The aliens known as the Manti have been destroyed by Defender pilot Mei Kyoto when she helped the AI called Memory crash the moon into Manti-occupied Earth. The remnants of humanity that live on the Solar Colonies have been saved, but at the cost of their homeworld. Several years have passed and Kyoto has become a controversial figure. While some view her as a hero, others demonize her as the destroyer of Earth. Kyoto would like nothing better than to be an anonymous rookie pilot again, but without the Manti threat to keep the Solar Colonies unified, friction has developed between the human outposts. Detroit Adams (now a general and head of the Galactic Stargate Authority) has convinced Kyoto to use her celebrity status as a goodwill ambassador to the Colonies, in the hope of keeping them unified-or at least prevent open hostilities from breaking out.... Spun off from characters and events in the arcade classic, Defender: Hyperswarm tells the space-combat story of a military unit as they fight to defend their solar system and save the human race from alien invasion.

334 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2004

About the author

Tim Waggoner's first novel came out in 2001, and since then, he's published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He's written tie-in fiction based on Supernatural, The X-Files, Alien, Doctor Who, Conan the Barbarian, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Grimm, and Transformers, among others, and he's written novelizations for films such as Ti West’s X-Trilogy, Halloween Kills, Terrifier 2 and 3, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. He’s also the author of the award-winning guide to horror Writing in the Dark. He’s a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a one-time winner of the Scribe Award, and he’s been a two-time finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and a one-time finalist for the Splatterpunk Award. He’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

Reviews

[Ayon Ibrahim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is based on a PlayStation 2 videogame that is an old childhood favorite of mine (I still replay it sometimes0, and I loved reading more about these characters and the universe of the GSA, the human colonies, and the Manti. The direction Waggoner took with the Manti, exploring their origins and biology, was also intriguing. However, the "science" felt a bit...wishy-washy, which can be totally fine (this is science FICTION, after all) but the characters in the book spend a good deal of time and effort trying to explain it to the reader. And that itself was sort of a glaring problem: lots and lots and lots of exposition. That's not always a bad thing - in fact, a lot of great classic sci-fi titles have paragraphs and paragraphs of exposition, but it's done well. But here, there are characters explaining sci-fi concepts to each other and it often feels forced/lazy. And that leads to the other major issue: the dialogue is stilted and often doesn't feel natural.

As a sci-fi book, it was OK. Some interesting ideas, but the characters/dialogue were pretty meh. But for the very few people who actually played this game, I definitely recommend a read. It's a bit nostalgic.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though unfamiliar with the game upon which it is based, I enjoyed this fast-paced novelization. Lots of light, fun space-opera humor and adventure.