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A Fury of Aces #3
Onyx Javelin
There is life everywhere throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. It takes forms that will astonish and frighten, that will challenge and terrify as they exist within the greater fight of existence: Eat or be eaten.
But to the crew of the frigate Basalt, those alien life forms that exist in the near vacuum of interplanetary space only serve to be of fascination in the crew's quest for knowledge.
However, there is a vicious conflict brewing as the octopoids test the occupants of an outer planet of humanity, in all its varied forms, probing and looking for the weaknesses of the marshalled forces.
But who is the enemy really?
But to the crew of the frigate Basalt, those alien life forms that exist in the near vacuum of interplanetary space only serve to be of fascination in the crew's quest for knowledge.
However, there is a vicious conflict brewing as the octopoids test the occupants of an outer planet of humanity, in all its varied forms, probing and looking for the weaknesses of the marshalled forces.
But who is the enemy really?
416 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 23, 2014
There are space operas out there, by prolific and world-famous authors, that can captivate you within a chapter, and within 2 more can whisk you away to a world on the other side of the unknown universe and hold you there with stories so real you can't stop yourself from seeing them in your mind's eye. Then there are authors whose efforts to do this are just as powerful, and successful, but without the many years of experience and training. Steve Wheeler is definitely one of the latter.
One of New Zealand's own "Renaissance Men", Steve has a colourful and eclectic past which allows him to bring a medley of skills and experiences, plus a broad knowledge-base, to the fore and incorporate some really amazing details and plot elements into the tales. The third in the "A Fury of Aces" series, this is a far more polished book than the first in the series, and seeing how far the story has come, and knowing it still has a way to go does not in any way diminish the level of enjoyment I had reading this book. Despite having had the privilege of being able to read one of the early drafts, I still found myself utterly drawn into this tale as though it were still fresh and new to me.
The neat plot twists and 'new characters' introduced near the end of this one leave the story wide open to further exploration, and when some of the plans in play come to fruition, the AFoA universe will be greatly expanded in some wonderful ways. Reading this book will be an essential part of any good SciFi reader's mandate, and especially for any Kiwi SciFi buffs who, like me, love to support our home-grown talent.
The characters are well defined, and all the back-story has been covered in the previous books, leaving this title free to be the 'action-packed, full-detail powerhouse' in the series so far. You have so many levels of intrigue, betrayal, secrets, revelations, moments of humanity at its very best, and its very worst... all packed into 397 pages of WOW, on toast, with AWESOME sauce liberally applied. (And just a light sprinkle of cheese to keep the up humour quotient.) ;)
Overall, this book is a stunning tale in the AFoA universe, and I am keen to see more! Your local library *should* have the previous books on the shelves if you haven't read them yet. If not, you should prompt them to get copies in! (You'll be doing yourself, and all the other SciFi buffs in your area, a HUGE favour if you do!)
One of New Zealand's own "Renaissance Men", Steve has a colourful and eclectic past which allows him to bring a medley of skills and experiences, plus a broad knowledge-base, to the fore and incorporate some really amazing details and plot elements into the tales. The third in the "A Fury of Aces" series, this is a far more polished book than the first in the series, and seeing how far the story has come, and knowing it still has a way to go does not in any way diminish the level of enjoyment I had reading this book. Despite having had the privilege of being able to read one of the early drafts, I still found myself utterly drawn into this tale as though it were still fresh and new to me.
The neat plot twists and 'new characters' introduced near the end of this one leave the story wide open to further exploration, and when some of the plans in play come to fruition, the AFoA universe will be greatly expanded in some wonderful ways. Reading this book will be an essential part of any good SciFi reader's mandate, and especially for any Kiwi SciFi buffs who, like me, love to support our home-grown talent.
The characters are well defined, and all the back-story has been covered in the previous books, leaving this title free to be the 'action-packed, full-detail powerhouse' in the series so far. You have so many levels of intrigue, betrayal, secrets, revelations, moments of humanity at its very best, and its very worst... all packed into 397 pages of WOW, on toast, with AWESOME sauce liberally applied. (And just a light sprinkle of cheese to keep the up humour quotient.) ;)
Overall, this book is a stunning tale in the AFoA universe, and I am keen to see more! Your local library *should* have the previous books on the shelves if you haven't read them yet. If not, you should prompt them to get copies in! (You'll be doing yourself, and all the other SciFi buffs in your area, a HUGE favour if you do!)
January 27, 2015
The crew of the Basalt are celebrities throughout the Human Sphere of Existence, made famous by their adventures over the years and glamourised by the Games Board, who broadcast to the masses. As the Basalt‘s crew continue their investigations into the Urchin creatures, a Games Board sanctioned conflict between two corporations over control over resources near the planet of Storfisk begins. But the Artificially Created Entities (ACEs) living on the planet have noticed a strange alien life form feeding on the local animals. Something more sinister is going on on Storfisk.
I’ve enjoyed reading each book in this series, but I have to admit to liking this one the best so far. While the previous books were more of a collection of shorter adventures of the Basalt and her crew, Onyx Javelin widens the focus to several points of view, showing parallel stories that converge on the planet. Not only that, but this book ends on a cliffhanger, leaving plenty of room for more of the story! I like this format a lot more as it allows for the slow build of tension through the whole book.
The characters still tend to be slightly wooden at times, but I was much too busy enjoying the amazing worlds that Steve Wheeler creates for his characters to play in and admiring their no-holds-barred technology. The concepts explored in this series are really interesting – nearly everything in the Human Sphere is controlled by the Games Board and their need to stream AV to the population of the inhabited worlds. No-one is in permanently killed in their sanctioned conflicts because they’re fitted with Soul Savers that allow their consciousness to be inserted into a new body, even if it takes a while to regrow and many people are augmented with implanted technology or prosthetics of some sort.
Then there are the creatures. There are a host of weird aliens in this universe but my favourites are definitely the human-created ACEs. They’re basically highly intelligent children in robotic animal bodies – I want one!
Occasionally the flow of the story gets bogged down in technical details – describing every moment of a complex maneuver or procedure for example, but the action sections are very exciting. I’ll look forward to seeing what adventures lie in store next!
This review was originally posted on Tea in the Treetops in February 2015.
I’ve enjoyed reading each book in this series, but I have to admit to liking this one the best so far. While the previous books were more of a collection of shorter adventures of the Basalt and her crew, Onyx Javelin widens the focus to several points of view, showing parallel stories that converge on the planet. Not only that, but this book ends on a cliffhanger, leaving plenty of room for more of the story! I like this format a lot more as it allows for the slow build of tension through the whole book.
The characters still tend to be slightly wooden at times, but I was much too busy enjoying the amazing worlds that Steve Wheeler creates for his characters to play in and admiring their no-holds-barred technology. The concepts explored in this series are really interesting – nearly everything in the Human Sphere is controlled by the Games Board and their need to stream AV to the population of the inhabited worlds. No-one is in permanently killed in their sanctioned conflicts because they’re fitted with Soul Savers that allow their consciousness to be inserted into a new body, even if it takes a while to regrow and many people are augmented with implanted technology or prosthetics of some sort.
Then there are the creatures. There are a host of weird aliens in this universe but my favourites are definitely the human-created ACEs. They’re basically highly intelligent children in robotic animal bodies – I want one!
Occasionally the flow of the story gets bogged down in technical details – describing every moment of a complex maneuver or procedure for example, but the action sections are very exciting. I’ll look forward to seeing what adventures lie in store next!
This review was originally posted on Tea in the Treetops in February 2015.
August 23, 2015
We met Steve Wheeler at Reconnaissance (the 2015 National SF&F Convention), and he proved to be a very interesting person, with an unusual approach to military SF – he makes detailed models of the craft in his books, and photographs them, often in natural landscapes. Then he employs them in his writing. When he told me to go ahead and read this, the third book in his SF series, without having read the other two, I took him at his word. Now, I’m not so sure that was a good idea. It was fine for the first few chapters, populated mainly by new characters, but as more and more older characters were introduced who had been developed in the previous books, I found myself floundering. There are a lot of characters here, in at least three main casts; the people of the distant human colony Storfisk, the crew of the carrier Haast, and the crew of Basalt.
It’s a complex universe, too. Humanity is divided into several major factions, disputes are settled by war games, and who knows who’s doing what to whom… Then there are these vicious aliens called Urchins, who are in conflict with humanity, along with their inscrutable octopoid masters. And then are ACEs, Artificially Created Entities, often cybernetically enhanced, and in humanoid, animal or more exotic forms – yes, we can have dragons! One clever idea is the use of soul-savers – which allow characters to survive certain death, and be reincarnated immediately into a mechanical chassis or grow a new biological body. This feature, together with the range of possible character types and factions, and the great depth of detail, would make Wheeler’s universe an excellent setting for role-playing games.
The plot focuses on events on the Storfisk colony world, and its invasion by some very nasty alien predators. There’s plenty of action, a dose of mystery, and some scenes of truly memorable beauty, amid a great deal of carnage and destruction. I have to admit that I found Wheeler’s prose a bit awkward at times, forcing me to stop reading while I figured out what he was saying, thus breaking the flow. And I would like to have seen a bit more of the titular Onyx Javelin.
Steve Wheeler might not be the most elegant of writers, but he is a wonderful imagineer. The depth and detail of his future galaxy is truly impressive. And I’m thinking that I was right, and this really was the novel that should have received the 2015 Sir Julius Vogel award.
It’s a complex universe, too. Humanity is divided into several major factions, disputes are settled by war games, and who knows who’s doing what to whom… Then there are these vicious aliens called Urchins, who are in conflict with humanity, along with their inscrutable octopoid masters. And then are ACEs, Artificially Created Entities, often cybernetically enhanced, and in humanoid, animal or more exotic forms – yes, we can have dragons! One clever idea is the use of soul-savers – which allow characters to survive certain death, and be reincarnated immediately into a mechanical chassis or grow a new biological body. This feature, together with the range of possible character types and factions, and the great depth of detail, would make Wheeler’s universe an excellent setting for role-playing games.
The plot focuses on events on the Storfisk colony world, and its invasion by some very nasty alien predators. There’s plenty of action, a dose of mystery, and some scenes of truly memorable beauty, amid a great deal of carnage and destruction. I have to admit that I found Wheeler’s prose a bit awkward at times, forcing me to stop reading while I figured out what he was saying, thus breaking the flow. And I would like to have seen a bit more of the titular Onyx Javelin.
Steve Wheeler might not be the most elegant of writers, but he is a wonderful imagineer. The depth and detail of his future galaxy is truly impressive. And I’m thinking that I was right, and this really was the novel that should have received the 2015 Sir Julius Vogel award.
January 19, 2017
interesting series, lots of new concepts, very twisted view of humanities future
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews