The Fifth Era of Man

by Joshua Banker

Career grifter and perennial loser Cal Reeger is a dead man. He owes a lot of money to crimelord Jaefor, and the only thing he owns are his pair of revolvers. Not even the jacket on his back belongs to him. To repay this debt, he must infiltrate the Archaeology Guild's site at Natx Hollow.

As Cal schemes to steal the find of a lifetime from the aeons-old site, the ruin's true nature is revealed. Within a cryogenic coffin belowground sleeps Centurion Prae Ganvelt, a member of the first civilization, the original race of humans who flourished millions of years ago.

Still looking for a way out of his debt and with a mercenary hot on his tail, Cal joins the awakened warrior Prae and archaeologist Peter Mathester to investigate the fate of Prae's kind. Within the mysterious, ancient compound of Ala’ydin, they learn that progenitor scientist, Erudatta, altered the cycle of dormancy for Prae's people. What they still must discover are his reasons for doing so.

The Fifth Era of Man examines the dangers of unearned achievements and the desperation that drives those who are prey to their own bad decisions.

Genres: Science Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2018

About the author

Author of Not Gods But Monsters and The Fifth Era of Man, Joshua Banker was born in Greece in 1973. He grew up in the San Francisco area before moving to Chattanooga where he attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and received a BFA in Graphic Design. After moving to Charlotte, NC, he ran an independent entertainment review website from 1999-2006. Now living in Greenville, NC, Josh is a writer, painter and illustrator, loves all things H.P. Lovecraft, is married and has two cats and a dog.

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

A mummy tale with a sci fi dross as in a land far away, an archaeological dig finds what appears to be a mummy case, but holds a woman warrior in suspended animation. Our motley crew has to go on the usual hero's journey.

Not bad, but nothing special.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this read, we follow Cal Reeger who has to repay his debt to crime lord Jaefore. Cal nervously meets with Jaefore, before obtaining funds from Illgosses.( I had to pull back my post because I wanted to take out Jaefore. But then this story wouldn't work because Cal owes him, and I must despise Jaefore - which I do.)

Cal then moves on to meet with Hru-Gatta in transit to infiltrate Natx Hollow.

We've left the abhorrent actions of Jaefore and we've traveled to a most wondrous place.

Yes. Naxt Hollow is amazing. The author, paints us a picture of a five thousand year complex beneath a lost sea of sand. It is a place of recovery and analysis with ornamental arches and a curling staircase that leads to interconnected chambers and alcoves, and we meet archaeologist Peter Mathester and Quillin is also there with his team.

Cal, meanwhile, meets up with Hru-Gatta (The Grande Dame). She leads him to the Central Archive where he meets Oebe Nsu-Ogette who becomes his ward. Oebe is an An-Sebban, and gathers data. I find I am intrigued by her ability to be like a research library.

Along the way, we are introduced to Erudatta, who is working in an airtight dwelling on a Goleum (Mechanical man). And, my enthusiasm for the story truly grew leaps and bounds here and that's not just because I am an Iron Man fan. The descriptives are so well written I wanted to be there helping Erudatta as he works with Alloys and Polygonal Plates.

Cal and Oebe travel on to Natx Hollow and meet with Peter and, security guard, Apello. Here, Cal plans to rob the site and finds a panel in the Blue Room that leads to a metal coffin. He releases Centurion Prae Ganvelt from her cryogenic coffin. Newly awakened, Prae, appears in full silver armour and initially brawls with them. She later joins them, donning the armour, before fleeing past Quillins team, who are camped out in the mural room.
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Jaefore meets with Illgosses to discuss the plan and when Jaefore leaves, Illgosses plots with Raxus.

We learn that Ala'ydin, the mysterious, ancient compound, is the center, where many forces converge. We have a Centurion fighting with a Goleum and my adrenaline surges as I read what happens next.

In closing, minus a few calculated pages in the first chapter, I was thrilled with this speculative sci-fi adventure. The characters are memorable, the setting amazing and the writing superb. The book is propelled by a plot that is visionary and achingly human and a glorious thing happens - we realize that the information that challenges our passions and opinions travels through space and time.

I received this book through the generosity of the author for an honest review

[Reonie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fifth Era of man is an interesting combination of flavors that could have worked very well together, but the balance isn’t quite right.

Short summary: It’s a travel log about people forced to work together to unravel a mystery.

The first vibes I got was Blade Runner neo-noir, grimy sci-fi. It even had the disgusting loan shark; a very unprogressive view on women and the letter X in random names.

But that was only the first chapter. The rest of the book leans towards Stargate, The Fifth Element or even Trigun vibes. This part appealed to me as I believe there need to be more archaeology based sci-fi novels.

The characters start off as standard archetypes. The gunman with no luck, but a heart of gold; the straight laced scientist; the noble savage; the amazon warrior and the pure, innocent girl. None of them had any charm to be truly likable… at the beginning.

By the second half of the book the group dynamic between them was carrying the story more than the great mystery. By the last chapter I really cared for this dysfunctional adventuring team.

And then it ended… and it’s a bit of an anti-climax. I’m not sure the status quo change at all. We went on an adventure with some people, but the only thing that was really affected by any of it, was one character’s monetary problems.

It’s written adequately. There are some discrepancies in the viewpoints making it hard to follow who is doing what, but I’m also not used to reading omniscient POVs. On a related note, it does tend to tell the story more than show it and make it a more compact narrative.

I liked the story, but felt that it could have been more. And that is what this review adds up to. The elements for a really great adventure story are there, but is not fulfilled.

[Jess Crafts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable fantasy with an intriguing and well thought out concept. Prae is woken from thousands of years of stasis when an archaeological dig stumbles upon her hidden pod. When she rises she finds out that the civilisation that was there when she last roamed had been completely wiped out and, along with an eclectic mix of friends, she is determined to find out why. My only gripe with this is that I found pretty much all the characters unlikeable until about half way. They were very stubborn, set in their ways, and at times this came across a bit too harshly when their personalities clashed but once they warmed up to each other and we got to know past their outward actions, the second half of the book had me really routing for them all. They definitely all grow as characters and end up complimenting each other. There's lots of description but I never felt any of it was unnecessary or that it slowed down the pacing. Instead the writing style helped create a very vivid and well built world that was wrapped up well.

[House of Cadmus · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://madisonsinkwell.com/the-fifth-...

[Claire Self · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received The Fifth Era of Man by Joshua Banker in exchange for an honest review. I have given this book two out of five stars ⭐️⭐️
Unfortunately this book went completely over my head. I tried really hard to follow the storyline and loved what I was reading from the start of the book but after about 60 pages into the story I lost the flow.
I really enjoyed Banker’s writing which is the main reason that kept me reading through this book as I thought Banker did an incredible job of creating very descriptive locations in a sci-fi world which became very vivid in my imagination.
I find that characters are a huge part of a story and, for me, unfortunately the ones created in The Fifth Era of Man were not very likeable and came across with harsh tones to their characters which is one of the reasons why it took me a lot longer to read this book and why I found it difficult to follow. Towards the mid-end of the book this changes and their characters begin to mesh better with one another.
I will definitely be reading this again in the future and try to grasp this book as I thought the concept of the story was really clever.

[Frank Frisson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joshua Banker is the author of The Realm of Tah’afajien Series. I had read the second book, A Prison of Flesh, in the series. In that one, I had already become familiar with Banker’s almost fey recipe for speculative fiction authors to cause readers to have an almost euphoric experience while reading. In The Fifth Era of Man, I got this feeling right from the start. That each one of the words had been daubed with bits of that transcendental euphoria that Banker has already proven himself pertinent at providing.

In the year 3220 of the Modern Calendar, Calvin Reeger owes somebody big time. A man named Jaefor. A man who would gladly make furniture out of the skins of Cal and his family if Cal doesn’t pay up. Tales have reached Jaefor that the Archaeology Bureau has unearthed a site buried a half-mile or so beneath Natx Hollow. Cal is to go there and retrieve, no matter what it is, something ancient and valuable. Under the guise of working for the Merced League, Cal escorts an An-Sebban, a gatherer of data, to Natx Hollow. What he finds there, along with members of the Archaeology Bureau, is a room where a woman warrior named Prae awakes after an impossibly long slumber. She wants answers. Cal, his An-Sebban ward, and two others, decide to help her find them.

Cal, snappily revealed to have ash blond hair, wearing a jacket with orange patches and brass clasp closures, and carrying two matching revolvers that are worth even more than his own life, moves through a crowd in the beginning of the book like a man tasked with something important to do. Because his eyes are wary of pickpockets and such, I could already envision Cal as a man who, no matter how fast he moved, never missed a detail. He moves through Urigo Sector, described as a sort of haven within the boundaries of Greater Decedistadt where almost everything you saw came with a price attached.

The author made it easy for me to get know Cal early on and I was glad that the author didn’t make his protagonist one of those overused dark and mysterious types because of what Cal did for a living. Jaefor describes him best. “I, on the other hand, see the raw talent, the once-capable gunman, who squandered a life of promise in the pursuit of wine, women and wealth, only to end up with none of them.” After events unfold in unexpected ways in Natx Hollow, we learn more of why exactly Jaefor chose Cal, an obvious failure in life, to fetch his prize. To Jaefor, Cal is the kind of dumb who always manages to survive and that is why he chose him specifically, much to the chagrin of Illgosses, a player within Jaefor’s circles who thinks up a plot to kill Cal and make off with whatever Cal finds.

Oebe Nsu-Orgette, the An-Sebban ward that Cal is meant to escort under the pretense of working for the Merced Leauge, filled me with much fascination when I met her. Being an An-Sebban, Oebe’s purpose is to be a kind of observer who collects data for what is known as the Central Archive. As it is revealed, the reason that the An-Sebban collects this data is simply to know. She doesn’t process what she sees like normal humans and she has little use for emotions.

Centurion Prae Ganveldt, like Oebe, is a fictional object of fascination. But, to put it mildly, I’d feel more safer being alone with Oebe in a room than with Prae. She may be in possession of the kind of technology that fans of futuristic gadgetry would flock to, but she is a skilled warrior with a short fuse. She and Cal can constantly be seen trading sharp words and during these exchanges there is often something funny to be found. It was hate at first sight for these two. Prae ultimately has Cal, Oebe, a Bureau man named Peter, and the strong Apello tagging along with her to Ala’ydin, a place where she seeks to find answers as to why she has been woken up like this from her sleep.

Halfway through, Prae eventually tells those tagging along with her more about herself, her kind, her age, and in what time period she existed. When she tells the others of her own parents and the reason for them never having reached the age of two hundred, I found that reason to be weak in contrast to everything she has said before this which sounded scientifically believable. “It, uh, it was not expected as many of those who were able to breed did so at the cost of their own life span.” Then again, Prae’s “uh” might only be because she is not the type of person to explain things. She’s a soldier from another timeline with a much longer lifespan than normal humans and she’s in possession of a different kind of technology, so almost everything she says and does has her companions asking questions.

I was well-informed of every setting because Banker could transport me there easily. I think he is an author who can walk around in his own imagination and relate every last thing he sees within it clearly. Reading, I actually saw and experienced the settings because that is what the author does. Manipulating the readers’ senses so that they see colors, smell aromas, and even feel things that aren’t there. His talent to vividly describe things in general is a talent that Banker can be proud of because he is truly good making readers see.

Joshua Banker asks the question of whether humans have existed as they thought they did, if the world is as old as they think it was, and if humans are really as technologically advanced as they believe themselves to be. I haven’t read anything like this before. To say that I enjoyed it wouldn’t even begin to describe what it felt like to read this book.

[Sam Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

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Summary:

A science fiction novel set many, many years into our future, it features a thrown-together group, each with their own personal quest, who unite to solve a mystery.

Main Characters:
Cal: A drifter, scavenger and deadbeat, he lives on and off the lowest rung of society.

Prae: Long-lived human, from the original race of Man known as the Progenitors. She is the only character that has extraordinary skills.

Peter: The archaeologist, looking to make a name for himself.

Apello: Highly-trained mercenary, in charge of security at Peter’s archaeological dig.

Oebe: Long-living An-Sebban human, a “roving recorder” who possesses a formidable memory, and who has to download these memories at the Athenaeum.

Minor Characters:
Jaefor: Illegally wealthy, he is the criminal to whom Cal owes a large debt.

Erudatta: One of Prae’s people, he is a benign presence, but he does not hesitate to interfere with events he believed needed to be changed.

Plot:
The book opens with Cal shouldering his way through Urigo Sector, the low-life part of town. He is on his way to meet Jaefor, being summoned to take on a particularly hazardous task. As we are soon to learn, he hasn’t much choice about it, and in the scene we see exactly how debauched Jaefor is.

We are then introduced to Peter & Apello, onsite at the archaeological dig. Through the banter and barbs of his fellow professionals, we get to see some of the academic pressure Peter is under, to find/reveal something that will help his career.

As part of the cover for his mission, Cal collects Oebe from the Athenaeum, and they travel to the dig site, where they encounter Peter and Apello. Oebe is initially taciturn to the point of muteness, though later as she “loosens up” we discover why her behaviour changes, and about the strange and complex world she has been born to serve. There are also some slight tensions between the men, and Apello quickly becomes suspicious of Cal’s motives.

With the appearance of Prae, the group is complete, and the road trip begins. The story is all third-party viewpoint, and even the minor characters have their own moment in the sun. As the novel progresses, we learn more about Prae’s background, Oebe’s strange career, and the ghosts haunting Apello. The group encounter Erudatta, whom we as readers have earlier seen, and the tension between him and Prae gives us some anthropological history.

What I Liked:

- The world-building was very well done. I could really visualise the desert, for example, or the seedy world that Cal inhabits.
- The premise was excellent.
- The opening sequence really sets the book up – the cheapness of life and everything else is well-described. There is one graphic scene, but this should not be a reason not to read the book.

What I Didn’t Like:
- Other than Prae, and even limited to magical hand movements in her case, there was no major technology involved. The golem was basic, there were no equivalent to modern communication devices (e.g. mobile phones) – a relatively low-tech world.
- The ending disappointed me, because we found ourselves basically back to where we started.
- I think there was so much more scope for character development, and the inter-group dynamic. Sleazy Cal found his chivalry when Oebe lost control, Prae and Apello could have had a real group-leadership tussle, etc. They just seemed all to go with it.

Overall:

It is very descriptive. As a reader, you will have no difficulty in visualising the world the author wants you to see. For me, better character development and less verbiage when it came to the action sequences would have made for a tighter novel. It is a good read, but could have been a great one.

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to the author for sending me a free copy of the book, in return for an honest review.

[Donny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.

The Fifth Era of Man starts from the title as an interesting premise and mystery. As the title suggests, humans haven’t risen just once on earth, but five times. Now there’s no mystery to that obviously, what was the main driving factor for me what figuring out what happened.

It had the typical five-man band; Cal (the leader), Prea (the lancer), Peter (the smart guy), Apello (the big guy), and Oebe (the girl). While tropes are unavoidable (and this being far from the only one), this time around it just really made the characters feel flat and unremarkable.

There is also the “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” problem. When the magic/technology a character uses was first introduced, I was interested in where it would go. But it literally, and I mean literally, turned into hand waving plot solutions, with almost zero explanation.

It was a quick read though. It honestly felt like reading a campy sci-fi channel movie, and I dig that. And if you’re looking for something like that, I fully suggest this book.

[Toni Wittus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me guessing till the end

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't care for this book. It was difficult to read and I found myself not caring about the outcome.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an e-book copy of "The Fifth Era of Man" through a Goodreads giveaway. The summary intrigued me through its description of Cal's plight and the statement that the book "examines the dangers of unearned achievements and the desperation that drives those who are prey to their own bad decisions." However, while the book has a number of good points, I was ultimately pretty disappointed with this one.

I had a complicated relationship with the characters in this book. There's no question that I liked Cal - he's endearingly hapless and retains an innocent goodness that shouldn't be possible in a character who's seen and done so many awful things. And sometimes his biting sarcasm is genuinely funny or insightful, cutting through the nonsense to get to the truth. More often, however, his peevishness sounds forced, like an annoying little brother trying to push his sister's buttons because that's what he thinks he's supposed to do. I always got the sense that this character was trying to be something he wasn't. As a result, I didn't feel like I really got to know him because he didn't come across as genuine to me. I also didn't particularly like Prae; she's pretty much your average kick-butt immortal female action hero who knows more and is better than everyone else. Her romance with Cal just didn't convince me; as a matter of fact, most of Prae's really genuine moments seem to happen with Peter. And why not? Peter is kind, compassionate, honest, and patient, and he's also fascinated by her world and the knowledge he could gain by it, even if he can never publish what he knows. On the other hand, Cal seems the most genuine when he's interacting with or talking about Oebe, whose sweet, guileless nature seems to speak to the better part of him. Personally, I think this book could have been raised from two stars to three stars simply by building a romance between Peter and Prae and giving Cal and Oebe a protective brother-sister relationship or even, possibly, a romance. As for Apello, I liked his character, but his character arc was so strange and choppy that I ended the book feeling like I didn't even know him as well as I did towards the beginning.

I was impressed by the worldbuilding in this book; the world is complex, and the author clearly can visualize it in detail. However, while I initially liked the amount of detail the author put into describing the world, I soon began to find it tedious, especially as the complexity of the world made it hard for me to visualize despite the explanations. It began to detract from rather than add to the story, as it took away time that could have been devoted to better character development or furthering the plot. This was worsened by the fact that the author has a painful affinity for big words and long, elaborate phrases. The corridor walls aren't shiny; they have "the reflective quality of tarnished metal." The blue light in the corridor is a "cerulean radiance." The corridor doesn't end, it "terminates." I felt bombarded by words that didn't help me visualize the setting any more clearly. The wordiness also extends to the several fight scenes in the novel, so that actions that should be happening rapidly seem agonizingly slow. Instead of simply describing how a character reacts, the author connects everything with "this caused Apello to..." and so on. If Apello has been hit in the torso by a robot's giant metal arm, it's obvious why he's doubled over clutching his ribs; you don't have to tell me what the cause is.

One feature of the book I really liked was the way earlier exposition or throwaway comments tend to pay off at important moments later. The complex way an An-Sebban's memories are stored? Oebe will demonstrate that in an important way much later in the book. Cal's comment that he's not actually that great a shot with his precious revolvers? That'll affect a key decision moment for him down the road. As a reader, I find those moments incredibly satisfying, like little Easter eggs the author left for me along the way.

One final note: I was disturbed by the graphic detail in which the debauchery of the crime organization is described early on. This could be a definite turnoff for some readers; I would have put the book down myself if not for the fact that I felt I should at least give it a chance since I received it for free in exchange for an honest review. And it turned out, that wasn't at all representative of the rest of the book in any case. I wish the author had been a little more considerate of the potential audience and glossed over some things that helped create the setting but were also crude and inappropriate.

In sum, while there were some genuinely likable moments with the characters and the foreshadowing is spot on, there were just too many issues with "The Fifth Era of Man" for me to be able to recommend it.