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Humanity's Fire #1
The Seeds of Earth
Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable.
The first intelligent species to encounter mankind attacked without warning. Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable. With little hope of halting the invasion, Earth's last roll of the dice was to dispatch three colony ships, seeds of Earth, to different parts of the galaxy. The human race would live on . . . somewhere.
150 years later, the planet Darien hosts a thriving human settlement, which enjoys a peaceful relationship with an indigenous race, the scholarly Uvovo. But there are secrets buried on Darien's forest moon. Secrets that go back to an apocalyptic battle fought between ancient races at the dawn of galactic civilization. Unknown to its colonists, Darien is about to become the focus of an intergalactic power struggle where the true stakes are beyond their comprehension. And what choices will the Uvovo make when their true nature is revealed and the skies grow dark with the enemy?
The first intelligent species to encounter mankind attacked without warning. Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable. With little hope of halting the invasion, Earth's last roll of the dice was to dispatch three colony ships, seeds of Earth, to different parts of the galaxy. The human race would live on . . . somewhere.
150 years later, the planet Darien hosts a thriving human settlement, which enjoys a peaceful relationship with an indigenous race, the scholarly Uvovo. But there are secrets buried on Darien's forest moon. Secrets that go back to an apocalyptic battle fought between ancient races at the dawn of galactic civilization. Unknown to its colonists, Darien is about to become the focus of an intergalactic power struggle where the true stakes are beyond their comprehension. And what choices will the Uvovo make when their true nature is revealed and the skies grow dark with the enemy?
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
219 people are currently reading
3517 people want to read
About the author
Michael Cobley
18 books137 followersMike Cobley was born in Leicester and has lived in Scotland since the age of seven. Although the Scottish cultural heritage informs much of his own outlook (egalitarian, argumentative yet amiable, and able to appreciate rain), he thinks of himself as a citizen of the world.
While studying engineering at Strathclyde University, he discovered the joys and risks of student life and pursued a sideline career as a DJ, possibly to the detriment of his studies. The heady round of DJ'ing, partying and student gigs palled eventually, but by then his interests had been snagged by an encounter with Pirsig's 'Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance' which led him off on a philosophical and political odyssey which continues to this day.
The desire to write had its first burgeoning when he was 20/21, resulting in the creation of a short fantasy novel (that has never seen the light of day!). He later wrote a string of articles/rants for the campus paper at Strathclyde University under the pen-name Phaedrus, at the same time as he began writing short stories. Mike harbour much affection for the short story form, but has had little opportunity to write them since beginning work on the Shadowkings trilogy.
The 1st 2 volumes of the trilogy - Shadowkings and Shadowgod - have been published by Simon & Schuster's now-defunct imprint Earthlight, and the 3rd part - Shadowmasque - will be published by Simon & Schuster-Pocket at the end of 2004. Mike has a number of ideas and concepts for his next big project but they're being kept on the backburner for the time being. The publication of Iron Mosaic will be a personal milestone for him, as well as a showcase of the topics and techiques which have intrigued him since the publication of his first short story back in 1986. And just recently, he has had appeared in the Thackery T Lambshead Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases, with a monologue upon the malady known as 'Parabubozygosia', which is not for the faint-hearted!
While studying engineering at Strathclyde University, he discovered the joys and risks of student life and pursued a sideline career as a DJ, possibly to the detriment of his studies. The heady round of DJ'ing, partying and student gigs palled eventually, but by then his interests had been snagged by an encounter with Pirsig's 'Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance' which led him off on a philosophical and political odyssey which continues to this day.
The desire to write had its first burgeoning when he was 20/21, resulting in the creation of a short fantasy novel (that has never seen the light of day!). He later wrote a string of articles/rants for the campus paper at Strathclyde University under the pen-name Phaedrus, at the same time as he began writing short stories. Mike harbour much affection for the short story form, but has had little opportunity to write them since beginning work on the Shadowkings trilogy.
The 1st 2 volumes of the trilogy - Shadowkings and Shadowgod - have been published by Simon & Schuster's now-defunct imprint Earthlight, and the 3rd part - Shadowmasque - will be published by Simon & Schuster-Pocket at the end of 2004. Mike has a number of ideas and concepts for his next big project but they're being kept on the backburner for the time being. The publication of Iron Mosaic will be a personal milestone for him, as well as a showcase of the topics and techiques which have intrigued him since the publication of his first short story back in 1986. And just recently, he has had appeared in the Thackery T Lambshead Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases, with a monologue upon the malady known as 'Parabubozygosia', which is not for the faint-hearted!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 283 reviews
December 23, 2014
And he awoke to the steel pains of his aged, wounded body, lying on a cold seabed on an alien world in an alien universe.
There is a clear divide here, as far as the reviews are concerned. Some people really enjoyed this novel, while others, well, really didn’t. I’d read some of the reviews before starting Seeds of Earth, so I was actively on the lookout for reasons to dislike it, but surprisingly didn’t find any. True, the first third of the book isn’t paced as hastily as some might like, but it’s interesting stuff all round and it speeds up quite a bit once the story starts emerging. Then again, perhaps it’s the politicking that gets to people: there’s quite a bit of that. Personally, I thought the whole premise of the story was quite cool. There’s an object lesson here: don’t take every review at face value (yes – not even this one), because tastes do differ.
At best, it’s a cracking space adventure that aspires to the finest of the old school. At worst, it’s the triumph of atmosphere (style) over substance, but I’m OK with that, because it pulled me in and I enjoyed the ride. Think Star Wars as opposed to 2001: A Space Odyssey: surely there is enough space in this universe for both! Remember the old Sierra Space Quest adventures? The set pieces that feature in Seeds of Earth, such as droid graveyards, lush planets, hidden ruins, space-ship warehouses (refer Tagreli OpenPort), and more, evoked some similar memories. I want sense of wonder in my Sci Fi!
This is Space Opera in the truest sense: no wonder there is an Iain M. Banks blurb on the cover.
I should probably make some mention of the way Cobley skips ahead of himself, in effect leaving out key details and events. It seems this was a gripe for some readers, but it didn’t bother me: I am an accomplished enough reader and I have a good imagination, so I don’t need to be spoon-fed; I could follow everything well enough.
‘What was … that … thing? …’
‘Abfagul,’ said Hover-Reski as it hummed off downslope. ‘Small one …’
There is just a smattering of Fantasy in here, as well, but it is ensconced in Sci Fi… and some scenes are so cinematic you can smell the popcorn!
I considered rating the novel five stars, but it probably (just) falls short. Next up: The Orphaned Worlds
My favourite bit – using human music to barter with aliens:
‘Hmm, yes, very good, Kaachi, very good indeed, a most intriguing range of styles and execution.
Your species appears to have dedicated a great deal of thought and effort to this pastime, resulting in some fascinating, hmm, product.’
‘Do you have any favourites yet?’ Kao Chih said.
‘I’m not so keen on that electroniki you recommended – very mannered and precise yet somehow bloodless – but this rokinrol is, ah, crude, harsh and fully alive, especially the Deep Purple, the Black Sabbath and the Led Zeppelin.’
My sentiments exactly!
August 6, 2010
I very nearly gave up on this book. While the setting and overall plot seem full of potential (a small human colony regains contact with the greater galaxy and immediately becomes the centre of a power struggle between multiple forces), the author just did such a terrible job of making the characters interesting, of sticking to a plot section for more than a few pages or of making things cohesive that I found myself pushing to the end of the book just to see whether he'd actually resolve anything or not. He didn't.
February 18, 2022
This is a very busy space opera, and very heavy on the opera. SoE is also chock full of aliens, albeit of a very anthropomorphic variety. The prologue take place about 150 years before the actual story, with a machine horde of aliens deemed the swarm invading the solar system. Humanity manages to launch three colony vessels and then the story shifts toward one of them, which obviously survived, and founded a colony on the planet Darien.
Darien has an indigenous race-- the Uvovo-- but they and the arriving humans reach an accord, especially as the Uvovo had been stranded on their forest moon for ages. Yes, around Darien is a moon covered in an ancient, sentient forest, of which the Uvovo are something like caretakers. After many info dumps and such introducing the colony and many of his inhabitants, the story kicks into gear when the colony receives a message from an Earth vessel due to arrive shortly-- apparently Earth managed to survive the Swarm invasion after all!
The basic sitrep is this. Earth humans were saved from the swarm by another alien race, the Hegemony, who are really in thrall to their AIs, and not very nice AIs either. 10,000 years or so ago, a great battle was fought between machine and organic life in the galaxy. Now, it seems the AIs are making a comeback, uniting via some realm of hyperspace. On the planet Darien in an ancient weapon used in the war to defeat the machines and the Hegemony wants it bad. Using their 'alliance' with Earth humanity as a cloak, they engineer a series of events to allow them to evoke martial law on Darien...
The people of Darien are Scots, Nordics and Russians and they have had many trials and tribulations since their arrival. They had a really hard time when they first arrived because the AI on the colony ship malfunctions and tried to kill off the crew. Hence, they have a suspicion of AIs. The humans from Earth, along with the Hegemony, use AIs extensively, and even have them implanted in their brains ('companions'). The Hegemony are not the only aliens that want Darien, however, as this quickly turns into a major galactic power struggle...
The strengths here-- pretty much non-stop action delivered with snarky dialogue and a seemingly endless array of new and novel ideas. The weaknesses-- pretty much non-stop action leaving out any type of character development and the endless array of new and novel ideas gets old pretty quick.
I am not quite sure what Cobley was aiming for here. This definitely has a Star Wars feel to it with all the anthropomorphic aliens and the good versus evil empires (albeit this is machine versus organic life); plus, humans are the plucky upstarts carving their way into a hostile galaxy teeming with life. For all its flash, however, there is not really much substance. Basically, this is a fast, pretty fun read that can make your head spin a little from all the POVs and ideas, but nothing that will stretch your brain that much either. 2.5 rounding up to 3 as the snarky Scots kept this from being too meh.
Darien has an indigenous race-- the Uvovo-- but they and the arriving humans reach an accord, especially as the Uvovo had been stranded on their forest moon for ages. Yes, around Darien is a moon covered in an ancient, sentient forest, of which the Uvovo are something like caretakers. After many info dumps and such introducing the colony and many of his inhabitants, the story kicks into gear when the colony receives a message from an Earth vessel due to arrive shortly-- apparently Earth managed to survive the Swarm invasion after all!
The basic sitrep is this. Earth humans were saved from the swarm by another alien race, the Hegemony, who are really in thrall to their AIs, and not very nice AIs either. 10,000 years or so ago, a great battle was fought between machine and organic life in the galaxy. Now, it seems the AIs are making a comeback, uniting via some realm of hyperspace. On the planet Darien in an ancient weapon used in the war to defeat the machines and the Hegemony wants it bad. Using their 'alliance' with Earth humanity as a cloak, they engineer a series of events to allow them to evoke martial law on Darien...
The people of Darien are Scots, Nordics and Russians and they have had many trials and tribulations since their arrival. They had a really hard time when they first arrived because the AI on the colony ship malfunctions and tried to kill off the crew. Hence, they have a suspicion of AIs. The humans from Earth, along with the Hegemony, use AIs extensively, and even have them implanted in their brains ('companions'). The Hegemony are not the only aliens that want Darien, however, as this quickly turns into a major galactic power struggle...
The strengths here-- pretty much non-stop action delivered with snarky dialogue and a seemingly endless array of new and novel ideas. The weaknesses-- pretty much non-stop action leaving out any type of character development and the endless array of new and novel ideas gets old pretty quick.
I am not quite sure what Cobley was aiming for here. This definitely has a Star Wars feel to it with all the anthropomorphic aliens and the good versus evil empires (albeit this is machine versus organic life); plus, humans are the plucky upstarts carving their way into a hostile galaxy teeming with life. For all its flash, however, there is not really much substance. Basically, this is a fast, pretty fun read that can make your head spin a little from all the POVs and ideas, but nothing that will stretch your brain that much either. 2.5 rounding up to 3 as the snarky Scots kept this from being too meh.
December 9, 2008
A mixture of IM Banks gonzo imagination and KJ Anderson Seven Suns saga style, The Seeds of Earth is a fast adventure oriented space opera with aliens of all stripes and shapes though all are "humanlike" in the grand old tradition, tiers of hyperspace, joke-cracking characters and all around fun.
Black and white villains and heroes and no character truly worth remembering so far, but so what, the novel is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the next book.
Harking back to the 80's and 90's space opera and maybe even to the Golden Age updated for the new century, rather than the darker "new space opera" of Hamilton, Reynolds, Gary Gibson or Neal Asher, it reminded me also of C. Sheffield Builders' series in style, while in content as mentioned above the closest comparison is IM Banks, though here the AI's are the villains and organic life forms the good guys - at least mostly -
Rip roaring fun though not a book to over analyze so to speak.
Black and white villains and heroes and no character truly worth remembering so far, but so what, the novel is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the next book.
Harking back to the 80's and 90's space opera and maybe even to the Golden Age updated for the new century, rather than the darker "new space opera" of Hamilton, Reynolds, Gary Gibson or Neal Asher, it reminded me also of C. Sheffield Builders' series in style, while in content as mentioned above the closest comparison is IM Banks, though here the AI's are the villains and organic life forms the good guys - at least mostly -
Rip roaring fun though not a book to over analyze so to speak.
May 27, 2012
Yeah, that quote from Iain Banks on this book's cover? ...No. Just no.
With that out of the way: This book is not, on the whole, a good read.
The writing style is cumbersome and annoying, lacking a natural flow and descriptive elements. Every sentence is stuffed to bursting with non-words for made-up concepts, even though the author does not spend any effort in making you as a reader to connect with the concept.
The ideas forming the universe and story are bland and iterative. Cobley does not bring anything new to the SF genre. There are no big ideas that would make you think after reading, so the only potential values left are interesting world (not the case), interesting characters (not really), or interesting events (... apparently not).
Maybe this book gets better at the last 20%. Who knows. Before that, it was unengaging, repetitive, obtuse, unengaging, generic, bland, and unengaging. Save your time and instead of buying/reading this, re-read an actual Iain Banks book. Find something else that's new. Don't bother with this.
With that out of the way: This book is not, on the whole, a good read.
The writing style is cumbersome and annoying, lacking a natural flow and descriptive elements. Every sentence is stuffed to bursting with non-words for made-up concepts, even though the author does not spend any effort in making you as a reader to connect with the concept.
The ideas forming the universe and story are bland and iterative. Cobley does not bring anything new to the SF genre. There are no big ideas that would make you think after reading, so the only potential values left are interesting world (not the case), interesting characters (not really), or interesting events (... apparently not).
Maybe this book gets better at the last 20%. Who knows. Before that, it was unengaging, repetitive, obtuse, unengaging, generic, bland, and unengaging. Save your time and instead of buying/reading this, re-read an actual Iain Banks book. Find something else that's new. Don't bother with this.
April 3, 2010
Iain M banks is one of my all time favourite authors and he's quoted on the front of the copy of this book - "Proper galaxy spanning Space Opera"
The only way this can make any sense is if the original quote was something like "If this guy thinks he can write proper galaxy spanning space opera then he is seriously delusional"
The only way this can make any sense is if the original quote was something like "If this guy thinks he can write proper galaxy spanning space opera then he is seriously delusional"
January 4, 2013
I finished this book and abandoned it on the train from NYC to NJ. I feel bad for whatever sap picks it up. But then, since I finished it two weeks ago and have already forgotten the ending, I guess I don't feel that bad.
This is one of those books where to properly review it, you have to channel Mark Twain. In one scene near the end of Act I, the Badass Space Marine (who we know is Badass because the book tells us, of course) and his squad are surrounding a building where a person of interest is staying, or something. Just before they're about to take the building, a workman leaves from the first floor. Badass Space Marine tells his squad to let the workman go, because they don't want to alert the people in the building. Now mind you, it's like 1AM or something? Why is the workman leaving? To you, to me, to any reader, it's obviously because HE'S THE PERSON OF INTEREST. To Badass Space Marine, it should also be obvious. However, Mr. Cobley, (I guess to stretch out the plot?) has Mr. Marine let the guy go. Then the building is a trap, and the squad gets toasted.
In this circumstance, I ask you, dear friend, whose fault is this? Is it Mr. Marine's? No! It is Mr. Cobley's. No Badass Space Marine would ever let what happened happen. And that sums up the problem with the whole book.
This is one of those books where to properly review it, you have to channel Mark Twain. In one scene near the end of Act I, the Badass Space Marine (who we know is Badass because the book tells us, of course) and his squad are surrounding a building where a person of interest is staying, or something. Just before they're about to take the building, a workman leaves from the first floor. Badass Space Marine tells his squad to let the workman go, because they don't want to alert the people in the building. Now mind you, it's like 1AM or something? Why is the workman leaving? To you, to me, to any reader, it's obviously because HE'S THE PERSON OF INTEREST. To Badass Space Marine, it should also be obvious. However, Mr. Cobley, (I guess to stretch out the plot?) has Mr. Marine let the guy go. Then the building is a trap, and the squad gets toasted.
In this circumstance, I ask you, dear friend, whose fault is this? Is it Mr. Marine's? No! It is Mr. Cobley's. No Badass Space Marine would ever let what happened happen. And that sums up the problem with the whole book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
March 30, 2012I tried, I really did. Early on I thought that I'd stumbled on that typical bad book by an author who wants to provide profound insights veiled behind a fast-paced genre plot. But there was Iain Banks on the cover saying it was "proper galaxy spanning space opera" so I persevered. All the wy to page 51 where I read
"'This is your zinsilu, Scholar,' said the Pathmaster, as if Chel's inner thoughts were clear as written words. ' A zinsilu such as has not been seen for a thousand generations. Scholar Cheluvahar - are you ready to serve the Great Purpose with all that is boy and all that is mind?' Are you ready to place your trust in a convoking of the Listeners and to obey their edicts?'
'I am, Great Elder.'"
Well I fucking well am not. I read that passage to my wife who told the cat "You have earwax more creative than that". Time for a Larry Block crime novel to get the bad taste of this one gone and to put Seeds of Earth on the friends of the library donation pile.
"'This is your zinsilu, Scholar,' said the Pathmaster, as if Chel's inner thoughts were clear as written words. ' A zinsilu such as has not been seen for a thousand generations. Scholar Cheluvahar - are you ready to serve the Great Purpose with all that is boy and all that is mind?' Are you ready to place your trust in a convoking of the Listeners and to obey their edicts?'
'I am, Great Elder.'"
Well I fucking well am not. I read that passage to my wife who told the cat "You have earwax more creative than that". Time for a Larry Block crime novel to get the bad taste of this one gone and to put Seeds of Earth on the friends of the library donation pile.
October 11, 2013
I have made no secret of the fact that Science Fiction is my favorite genre. It is also the genre about which I am the pickiest. I like a certain type of Science Fiction. Julie E. Czerneda, David Brin, and Elizabeth Bear are my favorites, and I’ve generally been really pleased with everything I’ve read from Orbit Publishing. Strong characters and a well developed world are vital; the actual science is secondary to me. If you tell a strong story with an emphasis on character and world building I won’t even notice if your science is a little weak or even unrealistic. (I was an English literature major, science is not my strong suit.)
That said. I liked Seeds of Earth. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. Cobley obviously put a lot of thought into his world building, and character development. I love the Uvovo and wish that I could go live with them for a time. I love the back story of the three ships leaving earth, the “seeds of earth” and how the colonists on Darien hate AI tech because of the betrayal by their AI. The worlds of Darien and its forest moon are complex and I love it. However, I feel as if Cobley tried to do too much with Seeds of Earth. There is too much crammed into this novel and it began to get a bit tedious. The storyline jumps around between many different characters which got a bit confusing, and there are several different stories being told within this one novel. It made my brain hurt and I had to keep taking reading breaks because I was getting jolted out of the story and had to think too hard to keep track of everything that was going on.
Overall I recommend Seeds of Earth, and I will be reading the rest of the series, but be prepared because this isn’t a relaxing, lose yourself in another world kind of read.
If you like this book you may want to read:
Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S. A. Corey
Survival (Species Imperative #1) Julie E. Czerneda
That said. I liked Seeds of Earth. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. Cobley obviously put a lot of thought into his world building, and character development. I love the Uvovo and wish that I could go live with them for a time. I love the back story of the three ships leaving earth, the “seeds of earth” and how the colonists on Darien hate AI tech because of the betrayal by their AI. The worlds of Darien and its forest moon are complex and I love it. However, I feel as if Cobley tried to do too much with Seeds of Earth. There is too much crammed into this novel and it began to get a bit tedious. The storyline jumps around between many different characters which got a bit confusing, and there are several different stories being told within this one novel. It made my brain hurt and I had to keep taking reading breaks because I was getting jolted out of the story and had to think too hard to keep track of everything that was going on.
Overall I recommend Seeds of Earth, and I will be reading the rest of the series, but be prepared because this isn’t a relaxing, lose yourself in another world kind of read.
If you like this book you may want to read:
Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S. A. Corey
Survival (Species Imperative #1) Julie E. Czerneda
October 23, 2015
Any book recommended by Iain M. Banks has got to be worth a read and this one was worth it. The first in a trilogy – Humanity's Fire – it tells the story of a human community escaped from a doomed Earth making their way on an alien planet. Living alongside it's indigenous peoples when suddenly they are discovered by outside aliens and their world, their history and their future begins to unravel...
December 10, 2009
Seeds of the Earth is the first in a new space opera series by Michael Cobley. The cover features a nice one line quote from space opera master Iain M. Banks describing the novel as “Proper galaxy-spanning space opera.” A statement that couldn’t be more true. Seeds of the Earth is very old school with a large cast of characters and a diverse and wonderfully vibrant phalanx of ideas that makes for an great read and excellent starting point in jumping from my epic fantasy reading of November into the stars and beyond.
Seeds of the Earth opens with humanity’s first contact with the alien Swarm. Or at least the tail end of that conflict as we more or less witness the departure of three human colony ships (note: I read the prologue while I had a fever of 103 and, for shame, didn’t go back and re-read it after). The novel picks up a century and a half later on the human colony world of Darien where, after struggling with the rogue AI of their colony ship, the humans have settled in a peaceful coexistence of the nature loving Uvovo. The discovery of an ancient Uvovo ruin dating back thousands of years to a conflict with a powerful and mysterious enemy sets off a chain of reactions that thrusts Darien and its human and Uvovo inhabitants straight into danger.
More to follow with potential spoilers…
Seeds of the Earth is full of ideas that ooze cool. When it comes to the colony world of Darien these ideas help to evoke a vibrant picture of the planet’s geography, culture and society. We learn, for example, that the people of Darien are composed of Scottish, Scandinavian and Russian stock as an experiment in blending what the old Earth government believed would be national and ethnic background most likely to live and work well together. Thus throughout the novel you get a sampling, and frequently a mix, of dialect and names that lends a familiar feel to the people. At the same time that mix of culture and dialect lends something of an alien and unique feel to the world as well. Tossed into this cultural mix are the Uvovo short humanoids from the planet’s forest moon who worship a great sentient forest. The uvovo have helped the colonists on Darien to adopt their nature friendly policies. Of course we also get glimpses of the Uvovo culture as well and their sylvan and mystical feel lend a stark and welcomed contrast to the more technology heavy people and societies glimpsed elsewhere in the novel.
Early in the novel the Darien colonists receive a message, and later an ambassador(s), from Earth and her “allies” the Sendruka Hegemony. The incorporation of the previously isolated Darien into the greater sphere of Human and Sendrukan influence has a distinctly familiar feel. The sudden influx of news and information that is available to Darien is perhaps similar to what may have occurred in the years following the introduction of the telegraph, or the introduction of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that the sudden introduction of Darien into the greater world of intergalactic politics seems to bear a certain historical precedence. The brief though evocative experience readers get when first reading about Darien combined with the knowledge readers are given regarding Human and Sendrukan goals is precisely enough to create an atmosphere of tension and foreboding.
Each of the various factions in the novel is typically given a description casts them as either a good guy or a bad guy. There are hints of nuance, a human purity faction on Darien or the non-AI assisted humans, but they are mostly just that; hints. The villains are clearly villains and the heroes are clearly heroes. I don’t have a particular problem with this and, as I said, there are glimpse of other individuals and powers who are shaded a bit close to the gray but by and large the lines between hero and villain are pretty clearly drawn. It is entirely possible that as the series progresses we will see these elements explained in more detail.
Cobley employs a variety of perspectives for his novel with each chapter titled by the character it follows. All the characters are interest and well drawn. Perhaps the most enjoyable and dynamic is Kao Chih who is the only character that gets to explore outside of Darien and its environ. Robert Horst, the human ambassador from Earth, is perhaps the character I’d like to have explored a little more. He is a troubled figure, still grieving over the death of his daughter with loyalties divided between his fellow humans on Darien and the orders given by his superiors and Sendruka allies. His increasing reliance on the companions of an AI avatar of his daughter is fascinating but there is so little time spent with him that I was never certain if that reliance was the result of his own grief or some outside party.
My favorite idea, and I won’t explain it too much since I don’t want to spoil anything, is Cobley’s vision of subspace. Something about it just fired my imagination right up and I’d love to see more of that.
As the first book in the Humanity’s Fire series Seeds of the Earth doesn’t end with any kind of definitive conclusion. It instead ends with perhaps more questions then it started with. Oddly, I didn’t find this to be much of a problem for me. Seeds of the Earth feels the part of a greater story, as it should, and I am content in the knowledge that there will be questions answered in the next volume The Orphaned Worlds, due out in April 2010, and I’m excited to where the story goes and what new ideas Cobley will explore (which will hopefully be more subspace, in fact a whole novel set in subspace would rock). If you’re look for a solid new(ish) entry into the space opera genre then look no further than the Seeds of the Earth. It is, as many great sci-fi and fantasy tends to be, only out in the UK at the moment but Book Depository is listing a new edition due out in January 2010 for $5.99 with free shipping which, as far as I’m concerned, is a steal.
I should also note that Michael Cobley has some fine taste in metal. He lists Opeth (perhaps my favorite band ever) and Paradise Lost amongst the band he listed while writing the book. Kudos to you sir and might I recommend you check out the ’states own Agalloch for some excellent black/doom metal. You can read more about Cobley’s writing and impeccable music taste over at his blog Interstellar Tactics.
Seeds of the Earth opens with humanity’s first contact with the alien Swarm. Or at least the tail end of that conflict as we more or less witness the departure of three human colony ships (note: I read the prologue while I had a fever of 103 and, for shame, didn’t go back and re-read it after). The novel picks up a century and a half later on the human colony world of Darien where, after struggling with the rogue AI of their colony ship, the humans have settled in a peaceful coexistence of the nature loving Uvovo. The discovery of an ancient Uvovo ruin dating back thousands of years to a conflict with a powerful and mysterious enemy sets off a chain of reactions that thrusts Darien and its human and Uvovo inhabitants straight into danger.
More to follow with potential spoilers…
Seeds of the Earth is full of ideas that ooze cool. When it comes to the colony world of Darien these ideas help to evoke a vibrant picture of the planet’s geography, culture and society. We learn, for example, that the people of Darien are composed of Scottish, Scandinavian and Russian stock as an experiment in blending what the old Earth government believed would be national and ethnic background most likely to live and work well together. Thus throughout the novel you get a sampling, and frequently a mix, of dialect and names that lends a familiar feel to the people. At the same time that mix of culture and dialect lends something of an alien and unique feel to the world as well. Tossed into this cultural mix are the Uvovo short humanoids from the planet’s forest moon who worship a great sentient forest. The uvovo have helped the colonists on Darien to adopt their nature friendly policies. Of course we also get glimpses of the Uvovo culture as well and their sylvan and mystical feel lend a stark and welcomed contrast to the more technology heavy people and societies glimpsed elsewhere in the novel.
Early in the novel the Darien colonists receive a message, and later an ambassador(s), from Earth and her “allies” the Sendruka Hegemony. The incorporation of the previously isolated Darien into the greater sphere of Human and Sendrukan influence has a distinctly familiar feel. The sudden influx of news and information that is available to Darien is perhaps similar to what may have occurred in the years following the introduction of the telegraph, or the introduction of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that the sudden introduction of Darien into the greater world of intergalactic politics seems to bear a certain historical precedence. The brief though evocative experience readers get when first reading about Darien combined with the knowledge readers are given regarding Human and Sendrukan goals is precisely enough to create an atmosphere of tension and foreboding.
Each of the various factions in the novel is typically given a description casts them as either a good guy or a bad guy. There are hints of nuance, a human purity faction on Darien or the non-AI assisted humans, but they are mostly just that; hints. The villains are clearly villains and the heroes are clearly heroes. I don’t have a particular problem with this and, as I said, there are glimpse of other individuals and powers who are shaded a bit close to the gray but by and large the lines between hero and villain are pretty clearly drawn. It is entirely possible that as the series progresses we will see these elements explained in more detail.
Cobley employs a variety of perspectives for his novel with each chapter titled by the character it follows. All the characters are interest and well drawn. Perhaps the most enjoyable and dynamic is Kao Chih who is the only character that gets to explore outside of Darien and its environ. Robert Horst, the human ambassador from Earth, is perhaps the character I’d like to have explored a little more. He is a troubled figure, still grieving over the death of his daughter with loyalties divided between his fellow humans on Darien and the orders given by his superiors and Sendruka allies. His increasing reliance on the companions of an AI avatar of his daughter is fascinating but there is so little time spent with him that I was never certain if that reliance was the result of his own grief or some outside party.
My favorite idea, and I won’t explain it too much since I don’t want to spoil anything, is Cobley’s vision of subspace. Something about it just fired my imagination right up and I’d love to see more of that.
As the first book in the Humanity’s Fire series Seeds of the Earth doesn’t end with any kind of definitive conclusion. It instead ends with perhaps more questions then it started with. Oddly, I didn’t find this to be much of a problem for me. Seeds of the Earth feels the part of a greater story, as it should, and I am content in the knowledge that there will be questions answered in the next volume The Orphaned Worlds, due out in April 2010, and I’m excited to where the story goes and what new ideas Cobley will explore (which will hopefully be more subspace, in fact a whole novel set in subspace would rock). If you’re look for a solid new(ish) entry into the space opera genre then look no further than the Seeds of the Earth. It is, as many great sci-fi and fantasy tends to be, only out in the UK at the moment but Book Depository is listing a new edition due out in January 2010 for $5.99 with free shipping which, as far as I’m concerned, is a steal.
I should also note that Michael Cobley has some fine taste in metal. He lists Opeth (perhaps my favorite band ever) and Paradise Lost amongst the band he listed while writing the book. Kudos to you sir and might I recommend you check out the ’states own Agalloch for some excellent black/doom metal. You can read more about Cobley’s writing and impeccable music taste over at his blog Interstellar Tactics.
September 26, 2016
This book landed on my to-read list in 2009, and I remembered nothing about it when I finally tracked it down at my library. (For a while, I actually owned a used copy in the UK, but it went missing. Very mysterious. I suspect the AIs had something to do with it.) As I started reading Seeds of Earth, I wanted to dislike it. I wanted to find faults with it. Disappointingly that didn’t happen; frustratingly I found myself drawn into the story and Michael Cobley’s intricate depiction of a multiverse-spanning war of ages.
It’s hard to fault a book in which the backstory is so rich. Cobley crafts a universe in which aliens devastate Earth and humanity launches colony ships in a last ditch effort at survival. As a result, we find ourselves entering an interstellar civilization of dazzling complexity. But this galactic-political struggle is actually just the foreground of a much longer conflict, the players of which are more long-lived: AIs, cyborgs from past universes, and a mysterious AI-like entity known as the Construct.
Either of these two stories alone would have been enough for an interesting novel. It’s the way Cobley combines them that makes for such an interesting book. At the basic level, there are events that happened in the deep past—like, before the birth of this universe—or that happened millennia ago, when humanity was just struggling to master fire. Cobley reminds us that if we begin to engage with issues of interstellar space, we must necessarily confront issues of interstellar time. And so Seeds of Earth is similar to books like Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space series, in which our human (predominantly, at least, in this book) main characters take up banners in conflicts begun long before they were born.
That being said, while the tropes Cobley invokes are going to be familiar and comfortable to space opera fans, where Seeds of Earth falters is in attempting any sort of originality. The history, the nature of the conflicts, even the large-scale development of the present plot is not all that fresh. Substitute “Forerunners” for “Progenitors” or any other generic name for people who came before us and perhaps gave rise to us, and you’ve got the foundations of what Cobley is hinting at here. This is not revolutionary new space opera, just the same ol’, same ol’ competently executed.
Similarly, I can’t be as enthusiastic for the characterization as I am for the backdrop. Cobley uses a lot of different points of view, and that keeps the narrative interesting. But there is only one POV female character—the token woman scientist who is sensitive to the ecological needs of the alien flora and fauna—compared to swathes of men who gallivant across the galaxy, across Darien, or merely gallivant in general. Now, pretty much every other minor character who is a woman happens to be capable and admirable; I don’t think Cobley is being deliberately sexist so much as unthinking in how he has distributed his POVs.
Seeds of Earth is set roughly 250 years into the future, but Cobley doesn’t show us a very altered human society, either on Darien or within the Earthsphere. Even though our Earthsphere representative Robert Horst has an AI companion, he seems very human. So this book isn’t posthuman in the sense that it examines how humanity changes as comes to rely on AI. Instead, the AIs merely become the generic villains to the plot. And that’s a little disappointing.
On balance, I enjoyed Seeds of Earth. It’s an entertaining story. It isn’t particularly new or breathtakingly thoughtful in its use of science-fiction tropes. But if you are in a space opera mood; if you’re looking for an SF adventure that doesn’t require a lot of concentration or cultural adjustment, then this book will probably satisfy your craving. Cobley knows how to plot, knows how to pace, and even if he doesn’t always delve as deep as I’d like, he has a respect and love for the genre that enhances his setting and storytelling.
My reviews of the Humanity's Fire series:
The Orphaned Worlds →
It’s hard to fault a book in which the backstory is so rich. Cobley crafts a universe in which aliens devastate Earth and humanity launches colony ships in a last ditch effort at survival. As a result, we find ourselves entering an interstellar civilization of dazzling complexity. But this galactic-political struggle is actually just the foreground of a much longer conflict, the players of which are more long-lived: AIs, cyborgs from past universes, and a mysterious AI-like entity known as the Construct.
Either of these two stories alone would have been enough for an interesting novel. It’s the way Cobley combines them that makes for such an interesting book. At the basic level, there are events that happened in the deep past—like, before the birth of this universe—or that happened millennia ago, when humanity was just struggling to master fire. Cobley reminds us that if we begin to engage with issues of interstellar space, we must necessarily confront issues of interstellar time. And so Seeds of Earth is similar to books like Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space series, in which our human (predominantly, at least, in this book) main characters take up banners in conflicts begun long before they were born.
That being said, while the tropes Cobley invokes are going to be familiar and comfortable to space opera fans, where Seeds of Earth falters is in attempting any sort of originality. The history, the nature of the conflicts, even the large-scale development of the present plot is not all that fresh. Substitute “Forerunners” for “Progenitors” or any other generic name for people who came before us and perhaps gave rise to us, and you’ve got the foundations of what Cobley is hinting at here. This is not revolutionary new space opera, just the same ol’, same ol’ competently executed.
Similarly, I can’t be as enthusiastic for the characterization as I am for the backdrop. Cobley uses a lot of different points of view, and that keeps the narrative interesting. But there is only one POV female character—the token woman scientist who is sensitive to the ecological needs of the alien flora and fauna—compared to swathes of men who gallivant across the galaxy, across Darien, or merely gallivant in general. Now, pretty much every other minor character who is a woman happens to be capable and admirable; I don’t think Cobley is being deliberately sexist so much as unthinking in how he has distributed his POVs.
Seeds of Earth is set roughly 250 years into the future, but Cobley doesn’t show us a very altered human society, either on Darien or within the Earthsphere. Even though our Earthsphere representative Robert Horst has an AI companion, he seems very human. So this book isn’t posthuman in the sense that it examines how humanity changes as comes to rely on AI. Instead, the AIs merely become the generic villains to the plot. And that’s a little disappointing.
On balance, I enjoyed Seeds of Earth. It’s an entertaining story. It isn’t particularly new or breathtakingly thoughtful in its use of science-fiction tropes. But if you are in a space opera mood; if you’re looking for an SF adventure that doesn’t require a lot of concentration or cultural adjustment, then this book will probably satisfy your craving. Cobley knows how to plot, knows how to pace, and even if he doesn’t always delve as deep as I’d like, he has a respect and love for the genre that enhances his setting and storytelling.
My reviews of the Humanity's Fire series:
The Orphaned Worlds →
March 24, 2012
I would probably give this 4.5 stars to be accurate. It was pretty fantastic all around, especially if you love Space Opera! The brief plot burb, that of 'First contact wasn't supposed to be like this...resulting in earth sending three colony ships to the stars to try and survive' is what drew me in. But...there is sooooo much more to this book.
The characters are all pretty great and decently flushed out for such a large cast. The multitude of alien species is wonderful as well. The book jumps around between different character POV's a la George R. R. Martin, which keeps it interesting and keeps all the separate threads moving along. The beauty is, Cobley doesn't get bogged down in too much boring minutiae, so the plot never really bogs down at all. Granted, there were one or two side plots that I just wasn't as into; they were still pretty decent though. That's just personal taste however.
More than anything, I can't wait to read more in this series as I'm dying to see what becomes of the Greg/Catriona/Chel trio as well as the results of Kao Chi's eventual arrival as well.
Hell, I could list off all of the things I'm looking to see more of in book two...but then I'd just be listing off most of the book.
In the end? I loved this. That -.5 stars? I'd probably have to attribute that to the fact that the ending just kind of faded out for this book. Seeing as it's 1/3rd of a whole, that's okay. I think I was just hoping for a little stronger end cap to book one. That, and I NEED more of the Catriona character after certain plot turns with her! :D
The characters are all pretty great and decently flushed out for such a large cast. The multitude of alien species is wonderful as well. The book jumps around between different character POV's a la George R. R. Martin, which keeps it interesting and keeps all the separate threads moving along. The beauty is, Cobley doesn't get bogged down in too much boring minutiae, so the plot never really bogs down at all. Granted, there were one or two side plots that I just wasn't as into; they were still pretty decent though. That's just personal taste however.
More than anything, I can't wait to read more in this series as I'm dying to see what becomes of the Greg/Catriona/Chel trio as well as the results of Kao Chi's eventual arrival as well.
Hell, I could list off all of the things I'm looking to see more of in book two...but then I'd just be listing off most of the book.
In the end? I loved this. That -.5 stars? I'd probably have to attribute that to the fact that the ending just kind of faded out for this book. Seeing as it's 1/3rd of a whole, that's okay. I think I was just hoping for a little stronger end cap to book one. That, and I NEED more of the Catriona character after certain plot turns with her! :D
December 31, 2012
Every opera needs a cast list, and this first-in-a-trilogy Space Opera needs one. That written, it's a good read, though occasionally uneven in terms of pacing. Without giving anything away, the universe is teeming with sentients, mostly jerks intent on maximizing profit, political reach and control, and generally thinking of numero uno. Humans are on both sides of the line, including the sidelines, and are usually in the wrong place at the most painful times. Every science fiction element, except for time travel (thank goodness), can be found- AI, androids, tree people, robots, Scotsmen, genetically engineered humans, etc navigate heavenly and hellish places and spaces, and no one seems to have any sex. Maybe the next one... That noted, I look forward to the next two!
July 12, 2012
I really wanted to like this, I really did. It had so many elements that I should love in a ook- ancient intergalactic threat reawakened, lost earth colonies, galactic empires at war, weird alternate dimensions.
But somehow it just didn't work for me. There was a bit of Babylon 5, a bit of Avatar, a bit of Mass Effect and a lot of Star Wars. That should be rgeat but somehow it just didn't gel and worst of all, it bored me. Unfortunately I've seen reviews for part 2 and it doesn't look like things improve so its not one I'll be revisiting again. Which is sad.
But somehow it just didn't work for me. There was a bit of Babylon 5, a bit of Avatar, a bit of Mass Effect and a lot of Star Wars. That should be rgeat but somehow it just didn't gel and worst of all, it bored me. Unfortunately I've seen reviews for part 2 and it doesn't look like things improve so its not one I'll be revisiting again. Which is sad.
February 28, 2010
Seeds of Earth is as powerful as Smoke on the Water (by Deep Purple), as twisted as Paranoid (by Black Sabbath) and as epic as Stairway to Heaven bY Led Zeppelin).
As a lover of epic fantasy I tell you that is the kind of space opera I want to read. For me it is epic fantasy in future. I recommend it! Give it a go....
Read my full review over at Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
As a lover of epic fantasy I tell you that is the kind of space opera I want to read. For me it is epic fantasy in future. I recommend it! Give it a go....
Read my full review over at Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
May 13, 2016
It took a while, but having finished it I can definitely say this book was completely worth reading. You see, I've reached this supremely depressing point of my life where books almost never impress me. I used to love reading, and if asked I would say I still do, but for some reason unless a book is just fantastic, I will have absolutely no drive to keep reading it whatsoever, even if I know for a fact that I'm enjoying it. So as to not give you the wrong impression, I will say now that by the end, I was experiencing a drive to read and finish this book, which says more than pretty much everything else I can say in this review. The Seeds Of Earth is a sci-fi book about aliens attacking earth, and earth sending a couple ships out to try and colonize another planet or planets just in case the aliens destroy earth. That's about the most I'll say plot-wise, as I would prefer to avoid spoilers. As has been expressed in several other reviews it's not particularly original, and delves into several sci-fi tropes through the book.(Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed that in pretty much every sci-fi there's something to do with "The Something", for example, Anyway, the large amount of tropeage is forgivable because they are all tried and true tropes. The writing style bugs me just a little bit because it's just a little bit childish, and does a lot of made up alien words, some of it pulled off, some not as much. In truth it reminds me of my own writing a little bit. And that's not meant to be a boast. Now, some of you may be wondering, "Why did he give this 4 stars?" And the truth is, perhaps I don't know myself, only that I wanted to keep reading, and there are better written books that didn't have that effect on me. However, I will say this for the writing. It has as many ups as it does downs, and it's ups are pretty damn high. The perspective switches from character to character, which is fun for the most part, except that some of the plot lines aren't as fun as the others so it can he a bit of a drag to get through them. However, by the end, when things started to heat up, I was loving all of them. It has a star wars like approach to aliens, which is that they are old news and fricking everywhere.
For a bit of flavor, I'll give a couple of the themes that appear in this book: Adventure, Action(somewhat), Military, a little bit of Fantasy like parts but they fit in well, Mind Bender(but in a really good way), and the most prominent, Political Crapfest.
I have a few final comments before I close off this review. Firstly, the universe in this book is massive, intriguing, and awesome, which leads me to believe that the author enjoyed creating the universe more than writing the actual book. Secondly, the prologue is probably the best prologue I have ever read, and might just be my favorite part of the entire book. Last, is that YOU MUST READ THE EPILOGUE. I honestly don't know why it's called an epilogue, because that implies that it's optional to read it, when it's just as important if not more than any of the other chapters.
Give this book a try, and don't give up on it until you're really sure, because it's probably just about to get good.
For a bit of flavor, I'll give a couple of the themes that appear in this book: Adventure, Action(somewhat), Military, a little bit of Fantasy like parts but they fit in well, Mind Bender(but in a really good way), and the most prominent, Political Crapfest.
I have a few final comments before I close off this review. Firstly, the universe in this book is massive, intriguing, and awesome, which leads me to believe that the author enjoyed creating the universe more than writing the actual book. Secondly, the prologue is probably the best prologue I have ever read, and might just be my favorite part of the entire book. Last, is that YOU MUST READ THE EPILOGUE. I honestly don't know why it's called an epilogue, because that implies that it's optional to read it, when it's just as important if not more than any of the other chapters.
Give this book a try, and don't give up on it until you're really sure, because it's probably just about to get good.
December 5, 2016
As a great Swarm of aliens attack Earth, three colony ships jump into hyperspace to parts unknown. The Swarm is defeated back home and Earth begins to explore and meet with other alien races. All the time there is the question of what happened to the colony ships. One of those ships, the Hyperion, has landed safely on the planet Darien (called Umara by the natives) with a forested moon. At the time of their landing, the ship's AI rebelled and had to be overcome by the colonists; this leads to a total distrust and outlawing of any and all forms of AI throughout the colonists. 150 years after that landing, Earth and their galactic allies have found this lost colony and make diplomatic contact. They also bring their AI-based assistants with them.
As I started this book, I wanted to give it a three star rating since it introduced all sorts of alien races, cultures, creatures, alien quasi-religious practices, and societal interactions and I kept wondering to myself "Will this be on the test?" Just before Part 2 (around page 100 of 465) I had figured out the core characters and the author had begun to focus on the relevant races and what they each seemed to be doing. Then, I got hit with a completely new set of characters in a totally different part of the galaxy. However, the action soon ratcheted up from there, both with the newly introduced and previously introduced situations and characters and I bumped my review to four stars. Then at the end, it all seemed to collapse again as one character seemed to be facing a standard semi-mystical quest that must play out in the other books of the trilogy, so I went back to 3 stars. It really made me think the author was defaulting back to his fantasy roots and wasn't confident in his sci-fi elements.
There is plenty of conflict, both on the grand and personal scales, and many mysteries are posed and solved. There were several surprising (and logical) reveals throughout the story, and trying to guess the true motivations of humans and aliens alike kept me wanting to read succeeding chapters. One of the big mysteries, of course, is what happened to the other colony ships and most of those questions are answered, but many other questions arise from knowing those answers. Even with what I see as more of a fantasy quest plotline being set up, there is enough space opera and open questions about what will happen next on Darien and in other parts of the galaxy that I will be reading the next book in the series.
As I started this book, I wanted to give it a three star rating since it introduced all sorts of alien races, cultures, creatures, alien quasi-religious practices, and societal interactions and I kept wondering to myself "Will this be on the test?" Just before Part 2 (around page 100 of 465) I had figured out the core characters and the author had begun to focus on the relevant races and what they each seemed to be doing. Then, I got hit with a completely new set of characters in a totally different part of the galaxy. However, the action soon ratcheted up from there, both with the newly introduced and previously introduced situations and characters and I bumped my review to four stars. Then at the end, it all seemed to collapse again as one character seemed to be facing a standard semi-mystical quest that must play out in the other books of the trilogy, so I went back to 3 stars. It really made me think the author was defaulting back to his fantasy roots and wasn't confident in his sci-fi elements.
There is plenty of conflict, both on the grand and personal scales, and many mysteries are posed and solved. There were several surprising (and logical) reveals throughout the story, and trying to guess the true motivations of humans and aliens alike kept me wanting to read succeeding chapters. One of the big mysteries, of course, is what happened to the other colony ships and most of those questions are answered, but many other questions arise from knowing those answers. Even with what I see as more of a fantasy quest plotline being set up, there is enough space opera and open questions about what will happen next on Darien and in other parts of the galaxy that I will be reading the next book in the series.
January 27, 2012
4 and a half stars, really.
Really fun, engaging space opera which packs EVERYTHING into one story: machines vs organics, alien races both good and evil (and neutral), human resistance, space chases/battles, ancient alien ruins, sentient forests, politics, AI/droid characters with tons of personality, and more. It's a lot like Mass Effect, entirely in good ways. Cobley has created a living universe with lots of action and intrigue.
It's not entirely perfect though. The writing is mostly just functional; too many chapters end with characters slipping into unconsciousness (an overused trope); the alien races, while many, aren't described very much at all so I have trouble telling some of the species apart. I ended up slipping "placeholder" images into my mind's eye, drawing from Mass Effect and Star Wars and other sources.
The worst part: the main alien baddies, the Sendrukans, are described as looking almost exactly like humans, just taller. This is annoying. On a TV show, sure, aliens usually look humanoid due to budgetary reasons. But if you're writing a book, with as much creative license as your imagination can manage, can't you come up with something better than "tall humans!" for a prominent alien race?
Nevertheless, I am very excited to move onto the second book in the trilogy.
Really fun, engaging space opera which packs EVERYTHING into one story: machines vs organics, alien races both good and evil (and neutral), human resistance, space chases/battles, ancient alien ruins, sentient forests, politics, AI/droid characters with tons of personality, and more. It's a lot like Mass Effect, entirely in good ways. Cobley has created a living universe with lots of action and intrigue.
It's not entirely perfect though. The writing is mostly just functional; too many chapters end with characters slipping into unconsciousness (an overused trope); the alien races, while many, aren't described very much at all so I have trouble telling some of the species apart. I ended up slipping "placeholder" images into my mind's eye, drawing from Mass Effect and Star Wars and other sources.
The worst part: the main alien baddies, the Sendrukans, are described as looking almost exactly like humans, just taller. This is annoying. On a TV show, sure, aliens usually look humanoid due to budgetary reasons. But if you're writing a book, with as much creative license as your imagination can manage, can't you come up with something better than "tall humans!" for a prominent alien race?
Nevertheless, I am very excited to move onto the second book in the trilogy.
August 3, 2013
I bought “Seeds of Earth” on Veterans day 29th of July 2013 at the American Book Center in The Hague. De shop manager gave me 10% discount “only for Veterans”. Thank you again!
I really do like the writing style of Micheal Cobley. Easy to read and also compelling as well as character driven. However sometimes Micheal Cobles misses the chance to further develop the characters. Meet a score of humans, aliens and AI’s:
• Holger Sundstrom
• Vitaly Pyatkov
• Donny Barbour
• John Balfour
• Theodore Karlsson
• Rory McGrain
• Alexei and Nikolai Firmanov
• Catronia Macreadie
• Robert Horst
• Greg Cameron
• Kao Chih
• Cheluvahar
• Tremenogi
• Vuzayel Kiskashin
• Tripod Reski
• Track-Reski
• Hover-Reski
And the list goes on and on. A lot of characters are only mentioned during the enfolding of the story, which is written from the viewpoint of several main characters. A good dose of political scheming and also a detailed description of several worlds, spacecraft and civilisations. Looking forward to the other two books, The Orphaned Worlds and The Ascendant Stars.
I really do like the writing style of Micheal Cobley. Easy to read and also compelling as well as character driven. However sometimes Micheal Cobles misses the chance to further develop the characters. Meet a score of humans, aliens and AI’s:
• Holger Sundstrom
• Vitaly Pyatkov
• Donny Barbour
• John Balfour
• Theodore Karlsson
• Rory McGrain
• Alexei and Nikolai Firmanov
• Catronia Macreadie
• Robert Horst
• Greg Cameron
• Kao Chih
• Cheluvahar
• Tremenogi
• Vuzayel Kiskashin
• Tripod Reski
• Track-Reski
• Hover-Reski
And the list goes on and on. A lot of characters are only mentioned during the enfolding of the story, which is written from the viewpoint of several main characters. A good dose of political scheming and also a detailed description of several worlds, spacecraft and civilisations. Looking forward to the other two books, The Orphaned Worlds and The Ascendant Stars.
July 15, 2015
There's a fairly interesting novella hidden in this bloated mess. It's the story of a young man who is sent on a quest and survives many terrifying misadventures and betrayals to reach the end. It's been done before, of course, particularly by Voltaire in Candide. But Cobley comes up with a fairly interesting version. Unfortunately, that's not enough for him. He also includes a find the ancient artifact story (cf "Forbidden Planet" or Fred Pohl's Heechee books), an insurgency story (Red Dawn?), a political/diplomatic potboiler (Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan? James Bond? something about the IRA?), a sentient planet, even ewok surrogates battling stormtroopers on a forested moon. And, in this sort of a multi-volume work, the only characters who reach any sort of closure are those who die. I slogged through this one, but the promise that the next volume will be bigger in scope felt more like a threat. Forget it.
October 14, 2015
The separation of opinion on this book is interesting. I don't normally give 1 stars but then this is the first book in a trilogy for a long, long time where I've had absolutely no compulsion to read on (and, for better or worse, I're slavishly followed an awful lot of book series in my time).
For me, the story doesn't grab and there's nothing to distinguish the characters from each other. In fact, my only memory of this book is of how bored I was.
Happily, there are people who do enjoy it. I would advise obtaining a preview and, if it's for you, terrific - as I certainly don't wish the author ill for what is a significant piece of work. If it doesn't grab you though, then be warned.
For me, the story doesn't grab and there's nothing to distinguish the characters from each other. In fact, my only memory of this book is of how bored I was.
Happily, there are people who do enjoy it. I would advise obtaining a preview and, if it's for you, terrific - as I certainly don't wish the author ill for what is a significant piece of work. If it doesn't grab you though, then be warned.
January 31, 2019
Good, but seemed like it could be more...a solid 3.5 star space opera...sort of makes me want to continue the series with hope of better sci fi elements, but I'm not sure I want to push through the "plain" portions...dull in parts, but characters are intriguing...
January 25, 2018
Just could not get into the book, seemed to be very fragmented. Another left at my Wetherspoons book swap. Someone else may fall in love with it.
December 13, 2018
Good story, just...so...sloowww and made up of zillions of short chapters that, often as not, advance the plot barely, if at all. Might read one of the sequels to see if the pace picks up.
February 16, 2013
From My Newsletter #36:
I found a new three book series to read called Humanity’s Fire. The author is named Michael Cobley. Book One is called Seeds Of Earth.
The story begins with a Prologue set in the year 2126. Human Marine forces are being overrun by alien invaders on Mars and the outcome looks hopeless. The battle for Earth produces massive losses. However, as time seems to be running out for humanity, three interstellar colony ships are built and launched into deep space to find other worlds to colonize and survive. One hundred and fifty years pass. The story continues on a new world called Darien where one of the ships landed and settled with an indigenous race called Uvovo. Darien contains secrets of a long ago battle between ancient races and it appears a new intergalactic battle is about to begin.
The storyline looked promising at first. Then the story becomes unwieldy and full of strange, unconvincing characters in strange and seemingly unrelated stories and plots. It was hard to see where all these characters fit into the overall story. I almost gave up trying to figure out what was happening, for what reason and where, but I persisted. Towards the end of the story things became clearer and I finished the book.
I rate this book with 2 stars because the story was too loosely structured and full of uninteresting characters. It does contain some good action scenes with a few good characters situated on Darien, but I did not find the story interesting or compelling enough to continue on to Book Two.
I found a new three book series to read called Humanity’s Fire. The author is named Michael Cobley. Book One is called Seeds Of Earth.
The story begins with a Prologue set in the year 2126. Human Marine forces are being overrun by alien invaders on Mars and the outcome looks hopeless. The battle for Earth produces massive losses. However, as time seems to be running out for humanity, three interstellar colony ships are built and launched into deep space to find other worlds to colonize and survive. One hundred and fifty years pass. The story continues on a new world called Darien where one of the ships landed and settled with an indigenous race called Uvovo. Darien contains secrets of a long ago battle between ancient races and it appears a new intergalactic battle is about to begin.
The storyline looked promising at first. Then the story becomes unwieldy and full of strange, unconvincing characters in strange and seemingly unrelated stories and plots. It was hard to see where all these characters fit into the overall story. I almost gave up trying to figure out what was happening, for what reason and where, but I persisted. Towards the end of the story things became clearer and I finished the book.
I rate this book with 2 stars because the story was too loosely structured and full of uninteresting characters. It does contain some good action scenes with a few good characters situated on Darien, but I did not find the story interesting or compelling enough to continue on to Book Two.
March 19, 2013
It took a while for me to get into this book, but by page 50 things certainly began to speed up! An epic story of a lost human colony of 150 years that is discovered by Earth. The colony learns that Earth is merely a puppet world for a large alien empire. Each chapter jumps to a different characters' point of view, which I enjoyed though I found myself enjoying some characters' stories more so than others.
I haven't read a book with this many different alien species since David Brin did his Uplift saga. The writing from Cobley was smooth and easy to understand. The only downer for this book is there is no ending: this is the first book in a trilogy! So if I want to see how things really end, I'll have to read the next two books!
For a book of 620 pages, I read it in an afternoon, I couldn't put it down. So, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes space stories, action, political intrigue in space, and some of the best aliens I've encountered in a long time.
Yeah, I'm going out to buy the next book tonight!
I haven't read a book with this many different alien species since David Brin did his Uplift saga. The writing from Cobley was smooth and easy to understand. The only downer for this book is there is no ending: this is the first book in a trilogy! So if I want to see how things really end, I'll have to read the next two books!
For a book of 620 pages, I read it in an afternoon, I couldn't put it down. So, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes space stories, action, political intrigue in space, and some of the best aliens I've encountered in a long time.
Yeah, I'm going out to buy the next book tonight!
October 29, 2013
The book Seeds of Earth is a book written in the future. Most of the action happens on the three ships that are carrying Earths civilians. The Book is about various missions and problems that they must over come. One of their main problems is the fact that their home world is destroyed and only have 2000 humans left alive. The book is told in chapters of first person that is dedicated to the chapter.
This book was very interesting because of the futuristic scene that the story takes place in. There are many characters and there are five main characters whom are, Chel, Greg, Robert, Theo, and Kao Chih. This book takes place in the future with technology that has never been invented before. I would not recommend this book to my classmates because the book dialogue is put into chapters and can be hard to follow sometimes.The strengths to this book are the adrenaline rushes that you can get wondering what would happen next. The weaknesses are the repeating and almost endless dialogue. I hope the next books are better in the series.
December 23, 2014
This is a review for the whole trilogy - Seeds of Earth, Orphaned Worlds and Humanity's Fire - as I read them back-to-back
These books took a bit of getting into, as I found the pedestrian style hard going and hard to engage with, and the characters - of which there are many - a little interchangeable at first. Oddly, the book I had the least problems with was book 2, The Orphaned Worlds.
Having said that, this trilogy does do what it says on the tin, or rather cover. The late great Iain M Banks hit the nail on the head when he called this a 'proper galaxy-spanning Space Opera'. The action is based around a colony, with Earth a distant (and refreshingly impotent) player. There are alien races aplenty and more sub-plots than I managed to get my head round. If you like big-budget space adventure with action, politics and intrigue, and you're not as fussy about your prose as I am, this is for you.
These books took a bit of getting into, as I found the pedestrian style hard going and hard to engage with, and the characters - of which there are many - a little interchangeable at first. Oddly, the book I had the least problems with was book 2, The Orphaned Worlds.
Having said that, this trilogy does do what it says on the tin, or rather cover. The late great Iain M Banks hit the nail on the head when he called this a 'proper galaxy-spanning Space Opera'. The action is based around a colony, with Earth a distant (and refreshingly impotent) player. There are alien races aplenty and more sub-plots than I managed to get my head round. If you like big-budget space adventure with action, politics and intrigue, and you're not as fussy about your prose as I am, this is for you.
May 9, 2018
This book is like a badly-pulled pint: all froth and no substance. On the face of it, it should have been a lot of Space Opratic fun: vast galactic empires clashing, ancient and terrible forces rising, and humans caught up in the middle. But Cobley delivers it all in such a bland, even boring, fashion (there's next to no swearing (the dialogue is terrible), no sex, and most of the action is off-screen - in short, there's no grit), that I really gave up caring and, just over a hundred pages from the end (and after learning that things didn't improve in the rest of the trilogy), gave up reading. In his acknowledgements, Cobley cites a lot of authors I really admire as influences, but no such influences were actually evident in his writing. The Seeds of Earth talks the talk, but it doesn't walk the walk.
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