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The Common #1
Stormblood
Vakov Fukasawa used to be a Reaper, a biosoldier fighting for the intergalactic governing body of Harmony against a brutal invading empire. Now, he fights against the stormtech: the DNA of an extinct alien race Harmony injected into him, altering his body chemistry and making him permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. It made him the perfect soldier, but it also opened a new drug market that has millions hopelessly addicted to their own body chemistry.
But when Harmony tells him that his former ally Reapers are being murdered, Vakov is appalled to discover his estranged brother is likely involved in the killings. They haven’t spoken in years, but Vakov can’t let his brother down, and investigates. But the deeper he goes, the more addicted to stormtech he becomes, and Vakov discovers that the war might not be over after all. It’ll take everything he has to unearth this terrible secret, although doing so might mean betraying his brother. If his own body doesn’t betray him first.
A vibrant and talented new voice in SFF: alien technology, addictive upgrades, a soldier determined to protect his family, and a thief who is prepared to burn the world down...
PRAISE FOR STORMBLOOD:
"Cutting edge action space opera, mixing lightning pace with grand storytelling.” – Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time.
“Sci-fi with an edge. You'll want two things when you're finished this book: a glass of gin and a sequel”―Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld.
“This is what 21st century Sci-Fi ought to be” - Miles Cameron, author of Artifact Space
“A high-power augmented SF adventure that will keep you reading!” - Garth Nix, New York Times best-selling author of Sabriel
But when Harmony tells him that his former ally Reapers are being murdered, Vakov is appalled to discover his estranged brother is likely involved in the killings. They haven’t spoken in years, but Vakov can’t let his brother down, and investigates. But the deeper he goes, the more addicted to stormtech he becomes, and Vakov discovers that the war might not be over after all. It’ll take everything he has to unearth this terrible secret, although doing so might mean betraying his brother. If his own body doesn’t betray him first.
A vibrant and talented new voice in SFF: alien technology, addictive upgrades, a soldier determined to protect his family, and a thief who is prepared to burn the world down...
PRAISE FOR STORMBLOOD:
"Cutting edge action space opera, mixing lightning pace with grand storytelling.” – Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time.
“Sci-fi with an edge. You'll want two things when you're finished this book: a glass of gin and a sequel”―Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld.
“This is what 21st century Sci-Fi ought to be” - Miles Cameron, author of Artifact Space
“A high-power augmented SF adventure that will keep you reading!” - Garth Nix, New York Times best-selling author of Sabriel
544 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 2020
105 people are currently reading
3637 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Szal
37 books293 followersJeremy Szal was born in 1995 and was raised by wild dingoes, which should explain a lot. He spent his childhood exploring beaches, bookstores, and the limits of people’s patience. He’s the author of the Common trilogy from Gollancz, a space opera trilogy, which includes STORMBLOOD, BLINDSPACE, and WOLFSKIN, about a drug harvested from alien DNA that makes users permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. He likes writing about broken heroes looking for hope in dark worlds, found families, aliens, outcasts, and morally-grey heroes who don't always do the right thing, even when they want to.
He’s the author of over fifty science-fiction short stories, translated into six languages, published in many anthologies and podcasts. He was the fiction editor for Hugo-winning podcast StarShipSofa until 2020, where he has worked as audio producer with George R. R. Martin, William Gibson, Harlan Ellison and others.
He holds a rather useless BA in Film Studies and Creative Writing from the University of N.S.W. He carves out a living in Sydney, Australia where he drinks too much gin, watches too many weird films and makes too many dark jokes.
Find him at @jeremyszal or https://jeremyszal.substack.com/ . Join his bookclub to get a FREE novella set in the world of the Common.
He’s the author of over fifty science-fiction short stories, translated into six languages, published in many anthologies and podcasts. He was the fiction editor for Hugo-winning podcast StarShipSofa until 2020, where he has worked as audio producer with George R. R. Martin, William Gibson, Harlan Ellison and others.
He holds a rather useless BA in Film Studies and Creative Writing from the University of N.S.W. He carves out a living in Sydney, Australia where he drinks too much gin, watches too many weird films and makes too many dark jokes.
Find him at @jeremyszal or https://jeremyszal.substack.com/ . Join his bookclub to get a FREE novella set in the world of the Common.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
August 19, 2021
Milestone achieved: This is my 400th review!
ARC provided by the author and publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.
A captivating military sci-fi debut. Stormblood tells a splendid story about two brothers divided by war that is full of comradeship, actions, and conflict.
Here’s an ugly truth, I haven’t been reading a lot of sci-fi lately. I was able to read 115 books in 2019, and only eight of those books were sci-fi novels. For this year’s priority sci-fi TBR pile, I have only ten sci-fi books on my list; nine of them belong to the entirety of The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey, the other one is Stormblood, Jeremy Szal’s debut. I came to know about this book because the author—same as me—is a huge fan of Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown and Mass Effect video game franchise, and after reading this book, I can say that both inspirations are evident in his novel. I definitely would suggest anyone who’s a fan of either one of them, even better if both, to check this debut out.
The official blurb on Goodreads and Amazon did a great job of telling the premise of the book; please read that instead if you want to know the premise of this novel. Stormblood is a book that revolves heavily around drug addiction, in the case of this novel, to Stormtech, a DNA harvested from an extinct alien race that allows its user to become closer to a perfect soldier. Anyone who has Stormtech injected into their body will have an insatiable thrill and compulsion for aggression and adrenaline rush, and even though the addiction and side effects have been proven to be deadly, there’s an emerging market for it. The physical benefits—healing, strength, power—that can be gained from using Stormtech are too good to miss, and the consumer demands for it are everlasting. With this concept, Szal conveys a compelling and relatable story about drug trafficking, war, regrets, and sacrifice in a futuristic setting.
To be honest, Stormblood slightly differs from what I thought it would be. The premise and official blurb led me to believe that this is an action-packed novel with a rampaging main character. And technically, it’s not wrong, there were indeed moments where the narrative powerfully shifted its gear towards that direction. However, there’s so much more to it rather than all actions. Camaraderie, friendships, and family—especially brotherhood—are three utterly prevailing themes in the narrative. Stormblood doesn’t have a lot of cast of characters, only four notable characters: Vakov Fusakawa, Grim, Katherine Kowalski, and Artyom. The low number of characters worked well in enriching the characterizations and background of these characters even though the story is told solely from Vakov’s first-person perspective. These characters have their personality polished and fleshed out, and although the action scenes of this book were definitively great, it is the spotlight on Vakov’s relationship with Grim, Katherine, Artyom, and his past Reaper’s gang that made me enjoy reading Stormblood further.
I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed this book more if it weren’t because of the strong friendship and brotherhood imbued into the narrative. This is mostly due to timing reason, somehow the last first-person perspective book that I read—The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold—also involved a drunkard main character who can’t stop drinking, Vakov is the same; he can’t get drunk but he loves drinking so much that almost every moment of his spare time was spent on them. It felt to me like I was reading about the same type of the main character again too soon. Luckily, Vakov’s friendship with Grim and his brotherhood with Artyom was able to give a more distinctive feel to the main character and narrative. I must say that Stormblood has one of the most well-written take on brotherhoods in sci-fi that I’ve ever read so far. Vakov’s love for Artyom felt genuine, and despite having their lives divided by harsh circumstances and obligations brought by war and broken family, Szal’s portrayal of their brotherhood was evocative and relatable.
Szal also has a writing style that clicked with me. His way with words when it comes to describing the setting of his scenes was vivid, descriptive, and efficient. There were indeed times where the description of setting slowed down the pacing considerably, especially when I was eager to know what’s going to happen next, but Szal’s way of writing tries to make sure that readers can imagine the situation and setting of each scene. I was able to imagine Vakov’s surroundings in my head; I was able to feel the way the HUD looked, the way the armor felt on Vakov’s skin, and the way the Stormtech moves inside the recipients. All of these were written vividly and efficiently. Plus, Szal superbly utilized two timeframes into his storytelling, the flashback uses first-person present-tense narration, and the present timeline uses first-person past-tense narration. Both timeframes worked wonderfully for the world-building of the novel, and most importantly, improving the characterizations of Vakov.
When it comes down to the writing, though, I do believe that the action scenes are where Szal’s prose shines the most. The battles were exciting, thrilling, and brimming energy. The physical and mental pain that Vakov felt throughout the novel was palpable; the action sequences reminded me of Pierce Brown’s visceral actions and pacing. Seriously, once you reached the nightware section in early part of the novel, you should be able to form a general idea on the quality of Szal’s action sequences.
The book ended on a very standalone manner, no need to be fearful of a cliffhanger. I highly enjoyed reading this military sci-fi debut, Stormblood feels like a superb combination of the actions in Red Rising Saga and the world-building of Mass Effect. Exciting, thought-provoking, and full of incredibly intense moments, military sci-fi readers would be treating themselves good by putting Stormblood on their radar.
Official release date: 4th June 2020
You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Book Depository (Free shipping)
The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.
ARC provided by the author and publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.
A captivating military sci-fi debut. Stormblood tells a splendid story about two brothers divided by war that is full of comradeship, actions, and conflict.
Here’s an ugly truth, I haven’t been reading a lot of sci-fi lately. I was able to read 115 books in 2019, and only eight of those books were sci-fi novels. For this year’s priority sci-fi TBR pile, I have only ten sci-fi books on my list; nine of them belong to the entirety of The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey, the other one is Stormblood, Jeremy Szal’s debut. I came to know about this book because the author—same as me—is a huge fan of Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown and Mass Effect video game franchise, and after reading this book, I can say that both inspirations are evident in his novel. I definitely would suggest anyone who’s a fan of either one of them, even better if both, to check this debut out.
“People compare overcoming addiction to climbing a mountain, but that assumes there’s a peak to climb towards. Stormtech was more like swimming in an endless, churning sea. You never truly beat it. You just found temporary ways not to drown.”
The official blurb on Goodreads and Amazon did a great job of telling the premise of the book; please read that instead if you want to know the premise of this novel. Stormblood is a book that revolves heavily around drug addiction, in the case of this novel, to Stormtech, a DNA harvested from an extinct alien race that allows its user to become closer to a perfect soldier. Anyone who has Stormtech injected into their body will have an insatiable thrill and compulsion for aggression and adrenaline rush, and even though the addiction and side effects have been proven to be deadly, there’s an emerging market for it. The physical benefits—healing, strength, power—that can be gained from using Stormtech are too good to miss, and the consumer demands for it are everlasting. With this concept, Szal conveys a compelling and relatable story about drug trafficking, war, regrets, and sacrifice in a futuristic setting.
“No matter how deadly it was, as long as there were people willing to buy and people willing to sell, the drug market would exist.”
To be honest, Stormblood slightly differs from what I thought it would be. The premise and official blurb led me to believe that this is an action-packed novel with a rampaging main character. And technically, it’s not wrong, there were indeed moments where the narrative powerfully shifted its gear towards that direction. However, there’s so much more to it rather than all actions. Camaraderie, friendships, and family—especially brotherhood—are three utterly prevailing themes in the narrative. Stormblood doesn’t have a lot of cast of characters, only four notable characters: Vakov Fusakawa, Grim, Katherine Kowalski, and Artyom. The low number of characters worked well in enriching the characterizations and background of these characters even though the story is told solely from Vakov’s first-person perspective. These characters have their personality polished and fleshed out, and although the action scenes of this book were definitively great, it is the spotlight on Vakov’s relationship with Grim, Katherine, Artyom, and his past Reaper’s gang that made me enjoy reading Stormblood further.
“Home isn’t where you’re born, Vakov. It’s where you feel calm and peace, even in a storm.”
I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed this book more if it weren’t because of the strong friendship and brotherhood imbued into the narrative. This is mostly due to timing reason, somehow the last first-person perspective book that I read—The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold—also involved a drunkard main character who can’t stop drinking, Vakov is the same; he can’t get drunk but he loves drinking so much that almost every moment of his spare time was spent on them. It felt to me like I was reading about the same type of the main character again too soon. Luckily, Vakov’s friendship with Grim and his brotherhood with Artyom was able to give a more distinctive feel to the main character and narrative. I must say that Stormblood has one of the most well-written take on brotherhoods in sci-fi that I’ve ever read so far. Vakov’s love for Artyom felt genuine, and despite having their lives divided by harsh circumstances and obligations brought by war and broken family, Szal’s portrayal of their brotherhood was evocative and relatable.
“Even if it hurts, even if you hate me, I will never pretend you don’t matter. I’ll never stop trying to make things right. Because that’s what being your brother means.”
Szal also has a writing style that clicked with me. His way with words when it comes to describing the setting of his scenes was vivid, descriptive, and efficient. There were indeed times where the description of setting slowed down the pacing considerably, especially when I was eager to know what’s going to happen next, but Szal’s way of writing tries to make sure that readers can imagine the situation and setting of each scene. I was able to imagine Vakov’s surroundings in my head; I was able to feel the way the HUD looked, the way the armor felt on Vakov’s skin, and the way the Stormtech moves inside the recipients. All of these were written vividly and efficiently. Plus, Szal superbly utilized two timeframes into his storytelling, the flashback uses first-person present-tense narration, and the present timeline uses first-person past-tense narration. Both timeframes worked wonderfully for the world-building of the novel, and most importantly, improving the characterizations of Vakov.
“But that’s the burden of being human: doing right by the people you love, long after it’s stopped making sense.”
When it comes down to the writing, though, I do believe that the action scenes are where Szal’s prose shines the most. The battles were exciting, thrilling, and brimming energy. The physical and mental pain that Vakov felt throughout the novel was palpable; the action sequences reminded me of Pierce Brown’s visceral actions and pacing. Seriously, once you reached the nightware section in early part of the novel, you should be able to form a general idea on the quality of Szal’s action sequences.
“We’d fought together in battle, saved each other’s lives. Alcatraz taught me that’s a bond, a debt that transcends all other debts. One that can’t and shouldn’t, ever be repaid.”
The book ended on a very standalone manner, no need to be fearful of a cliffhanger. I highly enjoyed reading this military sci-fi debut, Stormblood feels like a superb combination of the actions in Red Rising Saga and the world-building of Mass Effect. Exciting, thought-provoking, and full of incredibly intense moments, military sci-fi readers would be treating themselves good by putting Stormblood on their radar.
“The universe is full of people obsessed with concerning themselves with what others do, if only to tell them they’re wrong for not doing it their way.”
Official release date: 4th June 2020
You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Book Depository (Free shipping)
The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.
July 22, 2020
There are certain books that are difficult to review because they were so good and there was so much going on that you want to be able to do all of it justice. Problem is, most times you can't, but I will try very hard to see if I can do just that.
STORMBLOOD by Jeremy Szal is also a tough book to categorize. Part space opera, part SF noir, part military SF, and all action-packed goodness, making this a one of a kind reading experience that leaves you breathless and utterly exhausted by the end. I really had a fun time with it and there are so many elements that hit the correct chords for me that I'll go over just a few of them.
First, the technology is just off the charts impressive in scope. Jeremy Szal has done his homework when it comes to creating an original and mind-blowing tech that is unlike anything I've read before. The concept that the DNA of an extinct alien species (stormtech) can be fused with that of humans to create super soldiers who feed off of violence and adrenaline is just fantastic. This alien DNA also makes them almost impervious to injury and provides strength beyond measure. And then going beyond that and showing how after the war many of these "Reapers" are now addicted to stormtech so deeply that they need to be treated at special clinics is something that evokes similar issues happening in our world today. And the armor, oh the ARMOR! Just the descriptions of the armor that Vakov has at his disposal is something that Tony Stark would be proud of.
The next thing that really makes STORMBLOOD a cut above many other books is the absolute breakneck action that does not let up for a singe chapter. There was not a moment that I ever felt comfortable or that things calmed down and allowed me to catch my breath. It felt like the best action movie I'd ever seen playing out in my mind every time I picked up the book. I can't emphasize enough how crazy the action sequences are and how they made me nervous, anxious, and downright frightened for the characters at times. Vakov in particular gets a ton of shit thrown at him. I've rarely seen a character take so much punishment, both physical and psychological. He is driven by both his unconditional loyalty and love for his brother and his duty to uncover who may be killing his fellow Reaper friends. The question of what the motivation is behind it all is a constant mystery throughout.
Finally, I have to mention the characters now that I've touched on Vakov and his brother Artyom. This is a story that is rooted in brotherhood, whether it be the relationship between Vakov and his biological brother or the one with his former Reaper squad. Vakov knows that his relationship with Artyom may be fractured beyond repair, yet he continually puts himself in life-threatening situations regardless because he just can't believe that all is lost and beyond fixing. The dynamic between the two for much of the book is one where Artyom wants nothing to do with Vakov. So it is emotional and powerful to watch as Vakov risks everything for a brother who for all intents and purposes has written him out of his life. And the inner turmoil that Vakov goes through at even the mere thought that his brother could be assisting those behind the Reaper killings is just heartbreaking. You constantly want to find out if it can possibly be true while desperately hoping that it is not. And that tension really raises the story to another level entirely.
There are very few books that will engage you the way that STORMBLOOD does. It's rare to come across a book that has so much intense action and yet also touches you on a personal and emotional level at the same time. It's really the best of both worlds as a reader and this book hits you with everything it has from beginning to end. There is simply no brake pedal, it's foot to the floor the entire time. I'm in awe of the job that Jeremy Szal has done with this debut novel. Nobody should be able to pump out a first book like this. Yet Jeremy has done it and luckily, we the readers are the beneficiaries.
STORMBLOOD by Jeremy Szal is also a tough book to categorize. Part space opera, part SF noir, part military SF, and all action-packed goodness, making this a one of a kind reading experience that leaves you breathless and utterly exhausted by the end. I really had a fun time with it and there are so many elements that hit the correct chords for me that I'll go over just a few of them.
First, the technology is just off the charts impressive in scope. Jeremy Szal has done his homework when it comes to creating an original and mind-blowing tech that is unlike anything I've read before. The concept that the DNA of an extinct alien species (stormtech) can be fused with that of humans to create super soldiers who feed off of violence and adrenaline is just fantastic. This alien DNA also makes them almost impervious to injury and provides strength beyond measure. And then going beyond that and showing how after the war many of these "Reapers" are now addicted to stormtech so deeply that they need to be treated at special clinics is something that evokes similar issues happening in our world today. And the armor, oh the ARMOR! Just the descriptions of the armor that Vakov has at his disposal is something that Tony Stark would be proud of.
The next thing that really makes STORMBLOOD a cut above many other books is the absolute breakneck action that does not let up for a singe chapter. There was not a moment that I ever felt comfortable or that things calmed down and allowed me to catch my breath. It felt like the best action movie I'd ever seen playing out in my mind every time I picked up the book. I can't emphasize enough how crazy the action sequences are and how they made me nervous, anxious, and downright frightened for the characters at times. Vakov in particular gets a ton of shit thrown at him. I've rarely seen a character take so much punishment, both physical and psychological. He is driven by both his unconditional loyalty and love for his brother and his duty to uncover who may be killing his fellow Reaper friends. The question of what the motivation is behind it all is a constant mystery throughout.
Finally, I have to mention the characters now that I've touched on Vakov and his brother Artyom. This is a story that is rooted in brotherhood, whether it be the relationship between Vakov and his biological brother or the one with his former Reaper squad. Vakov knows that his relationship with Artyom may be fractured beyond repair, yet he continually puts himself in life-threatening situations regardless because he just can't believe that all is lost and beyond fixing. The dynamic between the two for much of the book is one where Artyom wants nothing to do with Vakov. So it is emotional and powerful to watch as Vakov risks everything for a brother who for all intents and purposes has written him out of his life. And the inner turmoil that Vakov goes through at even the mere thought that his brother could be assisting those behind the Reaper killings is just heartbreaking. You constantly want to find out if it can possibly be true while desperately hoping that it is not. And that tension really raises the story to another level entirely.
There are very few books that will engage you the way that STORMBLOOD does. It's rare to come across a book that has so much intense action and yet also touches you on a personal and emotional level at the same time. It's really the best of both worlds as a reader and this book hits you with everything it has from beginning to end. There is simply no brake pedal, it's foot to the floor the entire time. I'm in awe of the job that Jeremy Szal has done with this debut novel. Nobody should be able to pump out a first book like this. Yet Jeremy has done it and luckily, we the readers are the beneficiaries.
November 9, 2025
"I realised this was a bad idea at around the time the alien biotech started pulsing with dark pleasure under my ribs."
A modern Hard Sci-Fi, Cyberpunk & Space Opera(...?) that was well written.
I realized from the first sentence that:
1. I like the writing.
2. And I'll like the ideas and scientific speculations presented within the book but...
With that, things just kept getting better (albeit not enough to warrant the page count). The science and ideas put through in this book is so believable and engaging. The pace is fast and the world-building is high quality and very descriptive without being overwhelming, while the writing reads like a thriller.
A modern Hard Sci-Fi, Cyberpunk & Space Opera(...?) that was well written.
I realized from the first sentence that:
1. I like the writing.
2. And I'll like the ideas and scientific speculations presented within the book but...
With that, things just kept getting better (albeit not enough to warrant the page count). The science and ideas put through in this book is so believable and engaging. The pace is fast and the world-building is high quality and very descriptive without being overwhelming, while the writing reads like a thriller.
"This spaceport was in the bottom floor of Compass, a colossal, hollowed-out asteroid. I’d never been to anything like this asteroid, and it was hard to believe, even standing in the flight terminal and seeing the geometries of chiselled rock gouged out high above, hollows sparkling with metals and threaded with girderwork and support struts like the ribcage of some giant, celestial creature".The narrative is written with a flair for details and I like that it is immersive. The character's depth isn't that intricate (builds up deeper as the plot progresses but not fast enough) and that's okay because the world-building more than makes up for it. Really interested in reading what the sequel has to offer (as even though this was quite intriguing and exciting in equal measures, I found it a slog), but I'll still recommend this.
The polymer atrium of the spaceport with its recycled oxygen and pallid lighting was freezing, but my skin was flushed and prickling with fresh sweat, my breathing shallow, my hands twitching by my sides. I think I was even salivating for some action. Moist, sticky saliva filling my mouth like treacle. I grimaced. I hated when my body did that. Twitchy hands were acceptable and sweaty skin I could handle, but I was never going to get used to a sudden mouthful of saliva. The stormtech only got this keyed up when I was walking into something no sane person would consider.
"I could feel my armour responding to me now. Covering me sole to scalp, the toughened nanoparticle surface was supercharged at my touch. Inside the armour, the interface tendrils shifted along my back, the electrostatic charges crackling along the nape of my neck."
November 25, 2022
Update: reread 11/25/22. Just as exciting and fun as the first read. Highly recommend.
Alright Mr. Jeremy Szal, you and me need to make a deal. I agree to give you all my money and in return you have to write at least six books a year because this here is everything I love about reading. It's dark science fiction, like dark dark, it's got drug shit in it, not done in an exploitative manner but a large part of the plot, it has religious zealotry and fanaticism, violence, its a long book at over 500 pages, and it just dripped coolness from page one.
In between all the shooting and flying body parts though, there was a lot of stuff on relationships and brotherhood and how you can have family that you are not bound by blood with but through shared experience. This hit home for me because there have been times when things haven't been too hot with my family and I had friends around me with whom I had been through some shit with and this made me think of those times and those people and how I couldn't have done some of the things I have done without them having been there.
So this is a great book that is more than just pew pew and blood and guts. It made me think of my friends and family while entertaining the hell outta me the whole way through.
Alright Mr. Jeremy Szal, you and me need to make a deal. I agree to give you all my money and in return you have to write at least six books a year because this here is everything I love about reading. It's dark science fiction, like dark dark, it's got drug shit in it, not done in an exploitative manner but a large part of the plot, it has religious zealotry and fanaticism, violence, its a long book at over 500 pages, and it just dripped coolness from page one.
In between all the shooting and flying body parts though, there was a lot of stuff on relationships and brotherhood and how you can have family that you are not bound by blood with but through shared experience. This hit home for me because there have been times when things haven't been too hot with my family and I had friends around me with whom I had been through some shit with and this made me think of those times and those people and how I couldn't have done some of the things I have done without them having been there.
So this is a great book that is more than just pew pew and blood and guts. It made me think of my friends and family while entertaining the hell outta me the whole way through.
August 20, 2020
STORMBLOOD is an excellent debut, and the audiobook is very well narrated by Colin Mace. I'd heard this book described as a mash-up of Altered Carbon and Mass Effect, and I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better tagline than that.
What not every review mentions, however, is that this book is infused with a ton of heart. The main characters deeply care for one another, which makes the stakes so much higher when their lives are on the line (or lost entirely). Aside from being an action-packed rollercoaster (because it definitely IS that) it's also a story of brotherhood--the kind you're born into, and the kind you forge through lived experience.
Looking forward to see what the future has in store for Vakov, though I doubt poor Vakov will like it very much ;)
What not every review mentions, however, is that this book is infused with a ton of heart. The main characters deeply care for one another, which makes the stakes so much higher when their lives are on the line (or lost entirely). Aside from being an action-packed rollercoaster (because it definitely IS that) it's also a story of brotherhood--the kind you're born into, and the kind you forge through lived experience.
Looking forward to see what the future has in store for Vakov, though I doubt poor Vakov will like it very much ;)
Read
February 6, 2021STORMBLOOD is my first book, and I'm probably a little biased, but I think it's pretty good. STORMBLOOD is a space opera noir adventure that combines the rain-soaked cynicism of Blade Runner, the galaxy-spanning exuberance and aliens of Mass Effect 2, the character-driven pacing of Pierce Brown's Red Rising series, the furious combat of Joe Abercrombie, and the space-gothic weirdness of Alastair Reynolds.
Again, I'm probably biased.
But hey, don't take my word for it. The book gets released on June 4 and will be available for all good bookstores, e-book and audiobook, with the next two books of the trilogy to be released in 2021 and 2022. You can even pre-order STORMBLOOD from Book Depository (although please support your local indie bookstore if you can): https://www.bookdepository.com/Stormb...
Can't wait to hear your thoughts.
Again, I'm probably biased.
But hey, don't take my word for it. The book gets released on June 4 and will be available for all good bookstores, e-book and audiobook, with the next two books of the trilogy to be released in 2021 and 2022. You can even pre-order STORMBLOOD from Book Depository (although please support your local indie bookstore if you can): https://www.bookdepository.com/Stormb...
Can't wait to hear your thoughts.
February 27, 2020
It's not about winning. It's about how you win.
Stormblood, the impressive debut novel by Jeremy Szal, is a military science fiction about super soldiers infused with alien DNA that gives them preternatural strength, agility and healing. It also causes the soldiers to crave adrenaline like an addict, constantly looking for the next hit to the point of putting themselves in terrible danger to do so. This continues years after the war is over, causing mental and physcial breaks in what was once the saviors of mankind.
And now these soldiers are turning up dead, murdered by someone -- or something -- unknown.
Vakov Fukunawa, a sworn brother of the Reaper soldiers, must now fulfill an oath to discover what is happening in the criminal underworld, while weighing the meaning of true brotherhood.
Some wars never end.
Stormblood is visionary novel that tackles trauma, drug abuse, and the fallout that comes from bad choices. It's also about perseverance, sacrifice, promises kept and broken, and what makes people worth fighting for.
One of the standout aspects of the story is the tech. There's armor. Lots and lots of unique body armor. Clever weaponry and smart AI integrated into visceral battle scenes. And it's all set within a massive, hollowed-out asteroid where half a billion souls live within cities carved into different floors of its shell.
One of Szal's numerous strengths (so many similes!) is the level of detail he builds into each new setting. The sights, sounds, and especially the smells of the city permeate through the pages. Whether you are experiencing the sickly-sweet stench of alley junkies looking for their next hit of stormtech, or the foreign, yet appetizing scents wafting through the intergalactic food vendor stalls in the Upper Markets, the world you experience through Vakov’s eyes is as rich and clear as his heightened senses are purported to be.
There were a couple of small quibbles that stood out: The Bond-villain adversay reveals the master plan that is revealed moments before they strike down our hero. There were also a couple of character-related decisions that had me slapping my forehead, although some of these are purely subjective opinions, and your mileage may vary. There instances could also have been chalked up to Vakov's blind-rage mindset.
And what a rage it is. The book occasionally takes us back to the war that started it all, the war that turned these soldiers into Reapers when they were injected with these alien... things... without knowing the extent of the consequences. Heightened senses, incredible healing, agility and strength, yes... but paying the ultimate cost for these abilities not only puts the soldiers' own lives in danger, but those they care about, as well. These flashbacks culminate into the most epic of chapters, when we learn the meaning behind the titular Stormblood, and the truth behind the lies. This final flashback chapter was the personal highlight of the story for me, as it landed some huge emotional uppercuts and important reveals.
If Robert Heinlein writing a screenplay for a David Cronenberg film sounds appealing, then read this book immediately. It is an intense, affecting story, shining a light on the mistakes of humanity's past and our responsibility to avoid repeating them. Szal is a promising new author to follow, with the vision and scope to tell many new stories ahead, until we're dirt and dust.
Are you with me?
ARC provided by Gollancz / author. Available June 4th.
Preorder here
Stormblood, the impressive debut novel by Jeremy Szal, is a military science fiction about super soldiers infused with alien DNA that gives them preternatural strength, agility and healing. It also causes the soldiers to crave adrenaline like an addict, constantly looking for the next hit to the point of putting themselves in terrible danger to do so. This continues years after the war is over, causing mental and physcial breaks in what was once the saviors of mankind.
And now these soldiers are turning up dead, murdered by someone -- or something -- unknown.
Vakov Fukunawa, a sworn brother of the Reaper soldiers, must now fulfill an oath to discover what is happening in the criminal underworld, while weighing the meaning of true brotherhood.
Some wars never end.
Stormblood is visionary novel that tackles trauma, drug abuse, and the fallout that comes from bad choices. It's also about perseverance, sacrifice, promises kept and broken, and what makes people worth fighting for.
One of the standout aspects of the story is the tech. There's armor. Lots and lots of unique body armor. Clever weaponry and smart AI integrated into visceral battle scenes. And it's all set within a massive, hollowed-out asteroid where half a billion souls live within cities carved into different floors of its shell.
One of Szal's numerous strengths (so many similes!) is the level of detail he builds into each new setting. The sights, sounds, and especially the smells of the city permeate through the pages. Whether you are experiencing the sickly-sweet stench of alley junkies looking for their next hit of stormtech, or the foreign, yet appetizing scents wafting through the intergalactic food vendor stalls in the Upper Markets, the world you experience through Vakov’s eyes is as rich and clear as his heightened senses are purported to be.
There were a couple of small quibbles that stood out: The Bond-villain adversay reveals the master plan that is revealed moments before they strike down our hero. There were also a couple of character-related decisions that had me slapping my forehead, although some of these are purely subjective opinions, and your mileage may vary. There instances could also have been chalked up to Vakov's blind-rage mindset.
And what a rage it is. The book occasionally takes us back to the war that started it all, the war that turned these soldiers into Reapers when they were injected with these alien... things... without knowing the extent of the consequences. Heightened senses, incredible healing, agility and strength, yes... but paying the ultimate cost for these abilities not only puts the soldiers' own lives in danger, but those they care about, as well. These flashbacks culminate into the most epic of chapters, when we learn the meaning behind the titular Stormblood, and the truth behind the lies. This final flashback chapter was the personal highlight of the story for me, as it landed some huge emotional uppercuts and important reveals.
If Robert Heinlein writing a screenplay for a David Cronenberg film sounds appealing, then read this book immediately. It is an intense, affecting story, shining a light on the mistakes of humanity's past and our responsibility to avoid repeating them. Szal is a promising new author to follow, with the vision and scope to tell many new stories ahead, until we're dirt and dust.
Are you with me?
ARC provided by Gollancz / author. Available June 4th.
Preorder here
June 5, 2020
Rating: 9.0/10
Stormblood is a rip-roaring military sci-fi debut sure to please fans of Richard Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs trilogy, BioWare’s Mass Effect franchise, and a touch Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series. It reads like a bat out of hell, never taking a moment to lay off the accelerator, but also brings an emotionally charged gut punch that’ll have you deeply invested in the story. Highly recommended.
I had seen some tidbits here and there from Szal on various social media forums talking about Stormblood, but I never truly got a sense what sort of ride I was in for. He posted a synopsis which gave a Blade Runner 2049/The Dark Knight noir mixture with a slap of Mass Effect 2, which had me salivating if I can be completely honest. But again, not even close to what I experienced going through this novel. From page 1, this book sinks its alien DNA enriched hooks in and proceeds to sling you around like a bull in the PBR league.
Jeremy has created a massive world full of rich environments that are detailed to a fault; every step Vakov takes introduces the reader to a brand-new experience, which is something I can say doesn’t happen often in reads. There is so much going on in the foreground and background, but you never find yourself overstimulated. You can easily picture the surroundings of each scene, the food and drink being consumed, the way the stormtech races through the bodies of the Reapers, and the massive amount of detail that goes into each and every fight scene. This reads like a big budget film and it PURE entertainment.
Having said all of that, this book isn’t just fast-paced cyberpunky goodness. It is also the story of two brothers who are on opposite sides of war; not the one being fought against an off-world enemy, but one against the very thing Vakov holds within himself: stormtech. It is the story of an older brother who went to fight in the war, leaving his younger brother behind, and coming back to find the world he left will never be the same. It is about how you deal with past regrets, and the endurance it takes to see hardships through. It is about brotherhood and sacrifice.
Lastly, I have to give props to Colin Mace. My heavens, this man can do no wrong when it comes to audiobook narration. He truly brought this story to life in ways I never could’ve imagined, and he will continue to be one of my favorite audiobook narrators for years to come.
Stormblood is a rip-roaring military sci-fi debut sure to please fans of Richard Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs trilogy, BioWare’s Mass Effect franchise, and a touch Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series. It reads like a bat out of hell, never taking a moment to lay off the accelerator, but also brings an emotionally charged gut punch that’ll have you deeply invested in the story. Highly recommended.
I had seen some tidbits here and there from Szal on various social media forums talking about Stormblood, but I never truly got a sense what sort of ride I was in for. He posted a synopsis which gave a Blade Runner 2049/The Dark Knight noir mixture with a slap of Mass Effect 2, which had me salivating if I can be completely honest. But again, not even close to what I experienced going through this novel. From page 1, this book sinks its alien DNA enriched hooks in and proceeds to sling you around like a bull in the PBR league.
Jeremy has created a massive world full of rich environments that are detailed to a fault; every step Vakov takes introduces the reader to a brand-new experience, which is something I can say doesn’t happen often in reads. There is so much going on in the foreground and background, but you never find yourself overstimulated. You can easily picture the surroundings of each scene, the food and drink being consumed, the way the stormtech races through the bodies of the Reapers, and the massive amount of detail that goes into each and every fight scene. This reads like a big budget film and it PURE entertainment.
Having said all of that, this book isn’t just fast-paced cyberpunky goodness. It is also the story of two brothers who are on opposite sides of war; not the one being fought against an off-world enemy, but one against the very thing Vakov holds within himself: stormtech. It is the story of an older brother who went to fight in the war, leaving his younger brother behind, and coming back to find the world he left will never be the same. It is about how you deal with past regrets, and the endurance it takes to see hardships through. It is about brotherhood and sacrifice.
Lastly, I have to give props to Colin Mace. My heavens, this man can do no wrong when it comes to audiobook narration. He truly brought this story to life in ways I never could’ve imagined, and he will continue to be one of my favorite audiobook narrators for years to come.
July 3, 2020
I wanted to read this book because of the themes it tackles.
Firstly, Stormblood talks about drug addiction in an incredibly clever and futuristic way. Stormtech is DNA harvested from an extinct alien race that allows its user to become the perfect soldier, but they pay a price: addiction to aggression and adrenaline.
Secondly, I am a sucker for loyalty, chosen (found) families, and brotherhood. (I also love me some extinct ancient alien race.)
I'm not the biggest fan of military science fiction and prefer space operas to hard SF, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover the themes of friendship and brotherhood are far more important to this novel than any of the action scenes. That's not to say there aren't any action scenes. Stormblood offers plenty of incredibly well written action.
And that's probably my only complaint, and also an outright 'it's not you, dear book, it's me,' - I'm not a fan of lengthy action scenes and during certain scenes I was beginning to skim...however, every time I did, Szal almost immediately managed to capture my attention again.
When I read a book, I don't see the scenes played out in my head, so for me it's hard to stay engaged reading fighting scenes. Just tell me who won, okay? Obviously, that's never the book's fault, and I must say Stormblood's action scenes are incredibly lively and well written.
Szal's prose is smooth and his descriptions are vivid. The world is rich and layered. Exploring it reminded me of the times I was playing Mass Effect.
Vakov is a relatable character with a damaging and traumatic past and his voice is unique. I cared for his well being almost from the start. He is witty, sarcastic and clever. An addict fighting his inner demons and riddled with PTSD. I can't think of a more intriguing and interesting protagonist.
Stormblood is a fast-paced debut, set in a vivid world, filled with brotherhood, comradeship, loyalty, and chosen family.
I recommend it to every science fiction fan who is intrigued by the premise. (And why wouldn't you be?)
Firstly, Stormblood talks about drug addiction in an incredibly clever and futuristic way. Stormtech is DNA harvested from an extinct alien race that allows its user to become the perfect soldier, but they pay a price: addiction to aggression and adrenaline.
Secondly, I am a sucker for loyalty, chosen (found) families, and brotherhood. (I also love me some extinct ancient alien race.)
I'm not the biggest fan of military science fiction and prefer space operas to hard SF, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover the themes of friendship and brotherhood are far more important to this novel than any of the action scenes. That's not to say there aren't any action scenes. Stormblood offers plenty of incredibly well written action.
And that's probably my only complaint, and also an outright 'it's not you, dear book, it's me,' - I'm not a fan of lengthy action scenes and during certain scenes I was beginning to skim...however, every time I did, Szal almost immediately managed to capture my attention again.
When I read a book, I don't see the scenes played out in my head, so for me it's hard to stay engaged reading fighting scenes. Just tell me who won, okay? Obviously, that's never the book's fault, and I must say Stormblood's action scenes are incredibly lively and well written.
Szal's prose is smooth and his descriptions are vivid. The world is rich and layered. Exploring it reminded me of the times I was playing Mass Effect.
Vakov is a relatable character with a damaging and traumatic past and his voice is unique. I cared for his well being almost from the start. He is witty, sarcastic and clever. An addict fighting his inner demons and riddled with PTSD. I can't think of a more intriguing and interesting protagonist.
Stormblood is a fast-paced debut, set in a vivid world, filled with brotherhood, comradeship, loyalty, and chosen family.
I recommend it to every science fiction fan who is intrigued by the premise. (And why wouldn't you be?)
May 6, 2020
Dammit Jeremy. It's good. Real good.
Ok! So let me explain why I love this book now. STORMBLOOD is absolutely bonkers and weird in the most wonderful way. In it, certain soldiers have been infected with alien DNA that grants them above average strength, faster healing, and the ability to neutralize toxins in their body. At the cost of them becoming addicted to adrenaline. Which on it's own should sell this book to anyone. But the true beauty of STORMBLOOD is that it's a wonderfully spun tale of two brothers who have ended up on opposite side of an addict's war. Each has valid reasons for what they're doing and why, but that doesn't make it any better when they have to fight each other.
Come for the soldiers infected with alien DNA that become addicted to adrenaline, but stay for the heartbreaking story of two brothers.
Ok! So let me explain why I love this book now. STORMBLOOD is absolutely bonkers and weird in the most wonderful way. In it, certain soldiers have been infected with alien DNA that grants them above average strength, faster healing, and the ability to neutralize toxins in their body. At the cost of them becoming addicted to adrenaline. Which on it's own should sell this book to anyone. But the true beauty of STORMBLOOD is that it's a wonderfully spun tale of two brothers who have ended up on opposite side of an addict's war. Each has valid reasons for what they're doing and why, but that doesn't make it any better when they have to fight each other.
Come for the soldiers infected with alien DNA that become addicted to adrenaline, but stay for the heartbreaking story of two brothers.
April 3, 2020
Stormblood is epic. It's a ridiculously cool scifi tale, written impeccably, with a story that is like an icepick to the face. In a really good way.
March 29, 2020
Review originally posted on Grimdark Magazine.
In Jeremy Szal’s barnstorming debut Stormblood, Harmony won the war against Harvest, but to do so it had to use super soldiers created through alien organisms injected irreversibly into human bodies. Those men and women are capable of the best and the worst, depending on if they can control the alien stormtech in their systems as it bays for blood and action. These men and women are the ultimate flesh-and-bone weapons, built for winning wars through unending grit and sheer bloody-mindedness.
Only, the war ended. Harmony had an army of battle-scarred super soldiers who were no longer needed to kill but had to integrate back into a normal civilisation once more, and a black market just waiting to get their hands on an almost irreversibly addictive drug.
Our protagonist Vak survived the war with Harmony and has alien tech all through his body—supercharging him and at the same time making him sometimes more a beast slaved to alien nature than man. Our story starts with Vak and his mate stealing from a local crime boss to help pay for his mate stay on Compass (the asteroid they call home) while in the back ground we start to hear about addiction to stormtech rising and addicts going mental on it.
Then the overdoses start happening not just to the addicts, but the soldiers who came back from the war and thought their stormtech under control—men and women our protagonist Vak went through hell with. People who should have been able to survive the urges. People Harmony were supposed to be helping manage to be a part of society, despite the stormtech and their mental war wounds.
Now, I’ll admit two things: Firstly, masses of soldiers being sent back into society after a big war and struggling to integrate is one of my favourite background stories to read–it works in fantasy just as well as science fiction, and always sets you up for a hard-bitten explosive story. So almost immediately I knew there was a good chance I was going to enjoy the foundation for this story as much as, say, Priest of Bones.
Secondly, this book is like a mixture of Altered Carbon and something I’ve not really read before, or even thought I wanted to read before, body horror (a lighter, non-sexual version of it, from the descriptions I can find online). And it bloody-well works. It creates a visceral experience that at times had me gritting my teeth and wincing–especially through a certain torture scene–and at other times sweating the action right alongside our hero.
With a solid foundational backstory, a heart-pumping opening, and a new genre splice I’d not read before, all Szal had to do was not take his foot off the accelerator from cover to cover to deliver an awesome reading experience. He doesn’t just do that, he mashes the pedal to the floor in a book that reads like an action movie but at the same time delivers such heart-wrenching and heart-warming relationships that enable him to deliver gut punches that hit home when it matters.
And this is a point I’d like to labour on a little. Vak’s relationships with Grimm and Katherine and his brother Artyom in the current timeline, and with his fireteam during the timeline that gives you a look at what the war with Harmony was like, are phenomenally written. By the end of it I was so engaged in the characters that Szal had my emotions on puppet strings. For such a young author to write such engaging characters speaks of more life experience than he could surely have. I can’t say enough good stuff about how engaging Szal’s relationships in Stormblood are.
Stormblood is a magnificent and explosive adrenaline-fest that ends with an absolute gut-punch that ties all the threads back into one tear-inducing moment. Szal’s debut is an absolute must read for fans of gritty, action-packed, detective / military SF. Whatever book two is, I’m in.
In Jeremy Szal’s barnstorming debut Stormblood, Harmony won the war against Harvest, but to do so it had to use super soldiers created through alien organisms injected irreversibly into human bodies. Those men and women are capable of the best and the worst, depending on if they can control the alien stormtech in their systems as it bays for blood and action. These men and women are the ultimate flesh-and-bone weapons, built for winning wars through unending grit and sheer bloody-mindedness.
Only, the war ended. Harmony had an army of battle-scarred super soldiers who were no longer needed to kill but had to integrate back into a normal civilisation once more, and a black market just waiting to get their hands on an almost irreversibly addictive drug.
Our protagonist Vak survived the war with Harmony and has alien tech all through his body—supercharging him and at the same time making him sometimes more a beast slaved to alien nature than man. Our story starts with Vak and his mate stealing from a local crime boss to help pay for his mate stay on Compass (the asteroid they call home) while in the back ground we start to hear about addiction to stormtech rising and addicts going mental on it.
Then the overdoses start happening not just to the addicts, but the soldiers who came back from the war and thought their stormtech under control—men and women our protagonist Vak went through hell with. People who should have been able to survive the urges. People Harmony were supposed to be helping manage to be a part of society, despite the stormtech and their mental war wounds.
Now, I’ll admit two things: Firstly, masses of soldiers being sent back into society after a big war and struggling to integrate is one of my favourite background stories to read–it works in fantasy just as well as science fiction, and always sets you up for a hard-bitten explosive story. So almost immediately I knew there was a good chance I was going to enjoy the foundation for this story as much as, say, Priest of Bones.
Secondly, this book is like a mixture of Altered Carbon and something I’ve not really read before, or even thought I wanted to read before, body horror (a lighter, non-sexual version of it, from the descriptions I can find online). And it bloody-well works. It creates a visceral experience that at times had me gritting my teeth and wincing–especially through a certain torture scene–and at other times sweating the action right alongside our hero.
With a solid foundational backstory, a heart-pumping opening, and a new genre splice I’d not read before, all Szal had to do was not take his foot off the accelerator from cover to cover to deliver an awesome reading experience. He doesn’t just do that, he mashes the pedal to the floor in a book that reads like an action movie but at the same time delivers such heart-wrenching and heart-warming relationships that enable him to deliver gut punches that hit home when it matters.
And this is a point I’d like to labour on a little. Vak’s relationships with Grimm and Katherine and his brother Artyom in the current timeline, and with his fireteam during the timeline that gives you a look at what the war with Harmony was like, are phenomenally written. By the end of it I was so engaged in the characters that Szal had my emotions on puppet strings. For such a young author to write such engaging characters speaks of more life experience than he could surely have. I can’t say enough good stuff about how engaging Szal’s relationships in Stormblood are.
Stormblood is a magnificent and explosive adrenaline-fest that ends with an absolute gut-punch that ties all the threads back into one tear-inducing moment. Szal’s debut is an absolute must read for fans of gritty, action-packed, detective / military SF. Whatever book two is, I’m in.
July 11, 2020
3.5 Stars
This was an entertaining techno noir science fiction thriller. The story jumped into the action from the first chapter and never stopped. Despite the length, this novel read incredibly quickly because the plot was constantly moving forward.
The Stormblood technology introduced in this book was really cool. This was definitely one of the most compelling aspects of the story. I loved learning how the technology affected the main character and the other bioengineered ex-soldiers. I just wished the technology had been explained in a more organic way. This was a case where I wanted more "showing" and less "telling". I probably would've appreciated this narrative style more when I was first getting into adult science fiction because it clearly laid out the technology in really clear, straightforward terms. However, as a more seasoned science fiction reader, I now tend to prefer more nuanced, subtle worldbuilding where we discover the technology more naturally as it is used throughout the story.
The story was perhaps not the most innovative piece of science fiction, but it was still a strong debut. The characters and worldbuilding were good, if not a bit stereotypical. This book incorporated many of my favourite tropes of the genre including witty hackers and gritty crime syndicates. Parts of the book reminded me of Robeteer by Alex Lamb along with other space operas in the vein of The Expanse series.
I would recommend this one to science fiction readers who enjoy action packed stories with cool technology and plenty of action.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy from the publisher.
This was an entertaining techno noir science fiction thriller. The story jumped into the action from the first chapter and never stopped. Despite the length, this novel read incredibly quickly because the plot was constantly moving forward.
The Stormblood technology introduced in this book was really cool. This was definitely one of the most compelling aspects of the story. I loved learning how the technology affected the main character and the other bioengineered ex-soldiers. I just wished the technology had been explained in a more organic way. This was a case where I wanted more "showing" and less "telling". I probably would've appreciated this narrative style more when I was first getting into adult science fiction because it clearly laid out the technology in really clear, straightforward terms. However, as a more seasoned science fiction reader, I now tend to prefer more nuanced, subtle worldbuilding where we discover the technology more naturally as it is used throughout the story.
The story was perhaps not the most innovative piece of science fiction, but it was still a strong debut. The characters and worldbuilding were good, if not a bit stereotypical. This book incorporated many of my favourite tropes of the genre including witty hackers and gritty crime syndicates. Parts of the book reminded me of Robeteer by Alex Lamb along with other space operas in the vein of The Expanse series.
I would recommend this one to science fiction readers who enjoy action packed stories with cool technology and plenty of action.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy from the publisher.
August 30, 2020
A solid debut: military sci-fi with grit and heart.
This was a fun, riotous romp through all the things I'd hope and expect to see in a good sci-fi novel: advanced weapons, alien civilizations and cultures, spaceships, future humans carving out their own dystopias. For good measure, Szal also serves you a hefty helping of military fic (complete with big guns and armored battle suits, soldiers with PTSD, and battles ranging from the claustrophobic invasion of your body caused by robotic malware to firefights on farflung planets). It's gritty, full of adrenaline, and filled with heart. The world building is tremendous and the prose is just exquisite. As if that weren't enough, you also get some great sci-fi noir rolled into the mix with Vakov acting as a sort of "mercenary P.I." who goes rogue half the time to get the answers he's searching for.
At the center of Stormblood, though, are the relationships revolving around the main character, Vakov Fukasawa. Because as much as this book is about Vakov's own PTSD and coping with the side-effects of having parasitic alien DNA bonded to his body, it's also about reconciling his relationship with a brother he abandoned, learning to open up to others and develop new relationships with people that care about him, and protecting his techie sidekick (and surrogate little brother) from Vakov's own dangerous impulses. There's a lot packed in here, so it's easy to overlook this last bit, but you'll miss that gem if you blink, because the writing is so fast and fluid that you are quickly carried along from the beginning to the end of the narrative with barely a moment to digest all the flashbacks, captures, and daring escapes.
An easy 5-stars.
This was a fun, riotous romp through all the things I'd hope and expect to see in a good sci-fi novel: advanced weapons, alien civilizations and cultures, spaceships, future humans carving out their own dystopias. For good measure, Szal also serves you a hefty helping of military fic (complete with big guns and armored battle suits, soldiers with PTSD, and battles ranging from the claustrophobic invasion of your body caused by robotic malware to firefights on farflung planets). It's gritty, full of adrenaline, and filled with heart. The world building is tremendous and the prose is just exquisite. As if that weren't enough, you also get some great sci-fi noir rolled into the mix with Vakov acting as a sort of "mercenary P.I." who goes rogue half the time to get the answers he's searching for.
At the center of Stormblood, though, are the relationships revolving around the main character, Vakov Fukasawa. Because as much as this book is about Vakov's own PTSD and coping with the side-effects of having parasitic alien DNA bonded to his body, it's also about reconciling his relationship with a brother he abandoned, learning to open up to others and develop new relationships with people that care about him, and protecting his techie sidekick (and surrogate little brother) from Vakov's own dangerous impulses. There's a lot packed in here, so it's easy to overlook this last bit, but you'll miss that gem if you blink, because the writing is so fast and fluid that you are quickly carried along from the beginning to the end of the narrative with barely a moment to digest all the flashbacks, captures, and daring escapes.
An easy 5-stars.
June 6, 2020
This is an incredibly well thought out, multi-faceted sci-fi story written with an emotional intelligence that can be lacking in the genre. Since I started reviewing ARCs a few months ago, it’s the first book I’ve come across that I can’t wait to re-read.
Stormblood is set two years after the brutal war between Harmony and Harvest came to a violent end. Harmony, the galaxy’s military organisation, gained the upper hand when they created Reapers, stormtech super soldiers developed with hasty bioengineering and DNA from an extinct alien species. Reapers possess a dark passenger that integrates fully with their physiology, giving them enhanced abilities in response to the aggression and threat associated with battle. While stormtech won Harmony the war, it left Reapers emotionally and physically broken - addicts withdrawing from adrenaline and craving violence.
Fukasawa is one of the lucky ones, an ex-Reaper who made it through rehab and established a life for himself on the asteroid nation of Compass. But stormtech has made its way into the illegal drug market, and now ex-Reapers are turning up dead after using stock that has been tampered with. When his brother is implicated in these deaths, a reluctant Fukasawa agrees to help Harmony one last time in order to uncover the truth.
This book is incredibly hard-hitting and Szal pulls out all the stops but none of the punches. It is set after the end of the war and focuses on how it has affected Fukasawa and his family. Brotherhood, both familial and found, is a central theme in the book, and it pulls ALL the heart strings. Szal also addresses other issues like addiction, mental health and radicalisation, each explored in a mature and powerful way.
While not set during the war there is a lot of violence in this book, though it is often harrowing and at times uncomfortable rather than glorified, making it impossible not to be moved by the atrocities of the Reaper war and the consequences of Harmony’s actions. Fukasawa’s flashbacks to the battlefield also provide gradual insight into his struggle to maintain relationships while clinging on to his humanity.
Being one of the more intense books I’ve read, there are also memorable moments of humour and friendship, and Szal’s worldbuilding is both fascinating and unique. For me, the setting of Compass is up there with Bas Lag and the Tower of Babel as a favourite fantasy/sci-fi location - it’s an immense asteroid containing tiers of massive cities and microenvironments like a vast, cosmic layer cake (for the sake of the simile it’s a very ugly layer cake). Szal also describes an interesting ethnic evolution, with intersystem colonisation having isolated and mixed together nationalities, overtime birthing new cultures. He writes with a visual language that hints at inspiration from cinema and gaming; in Compass, people stomp around in space armour of varying shapes and colours, and the story develops in various locations almost like levels in a game. As someone who was obsessed with Halo growing up, the one scene where Fukasawa goes shopping for new armour was just as magical as Harry’s first visit to Ollivander's. I feel like Szal has brought to life my favourite Xbox adventures in a fun, shockingly human and meaningful way.
Stormblood covers a surprising amount of thematic ground but it all fits together well, something that is emphasised when the meaning behind the book title becomes clear. I’d consider it a must read for any sci-fi lover, or any reader looking to be punched in the gut with words. Fans of John Scalzi will be thrilled to know they can find their new favourite author just a little to the right on the shelf.
Thank you Gollancz and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review, and congratulations to Jeremy Szal for an epic debut novel!
Stormblood is set two years after the brutal war between Harmony and Harvest came to a violent end. Harmony, the galaxy’s military organisation, gained the upper hand when they created Reapers, stormtech super soldiers developed with hasty bioengineering and DNA from an extinct alien species. Reapers possess a dark passenger that integrates fully with their physiology, giving them enhanced abilities in response to the aggression and threat associated with battle. While stormtech won Harmony the war, it left Reapers emotionally and physically broken - addicts withdrawing from adrenaline and craving violence.
Fukasawa is one of the lucky ones, an ex-Reaper who made it through rehab and established a life for himself on the asteroid nation of Compass. But stormtech has made its way into the illegal drug market, and now ex-Reapers are turning up dead after using stock that has been tampered with. When his brother is implicated in these deaths, a reluctant Fukasawa agrees to help Harmony one last time in order to uncover the truth.
This book is incredibly hard-hitting and Szal pulls out all the stops but none of the punches. It is set after the end of the war and focuses on how it has affected Fukasawa and his family. Brotherhood, both familial and found, is a central theme in the book, and it pulls ALL the heart strings. Szal also addresses other issues like addiction, mental health and radicalisation, each explored in a mature and powerful way.
While not set during the war there is a lot of violence in this book, though it is often harrowing and at times uncomfortable rather than glorified, making it impossible not to be moved by the atrocities of the Reaper war and the consequences of Harmony’s actions. Fukasawa’s flashbacks to the battlefield also provide gradual insight into his struggle to maintain relationships while clinging on to his humanity.
Being one of the more intense books I’ve read, there are also memorable moments of humour and friendship, and Szal’s worldbuilding is both fascinating and unique. For me, the setting of Compass is up there with Bas Lag and the Tower of Babel as a favourite fantasy/sci-fi location - it’s an immense asteroid containing tiers of massive cities and microenvironments like a vast, cosmic layer cake (for the sake of the simile it’s a very ugly layer cake). Szal also describes an interesting ethnic evolution, with intersystem colonisation having isolated and mixed together nationalities, overtime birthing new cultures. He writes with a visual language that hints at inspiration from cinema and gaming; in Compass, people stomp around in space armour of varying shapes and colours, and the story develops in various locations almost like levels in a game. As someone who was obsessed with Halo growing up, the one scene where Fukasawa goes shopping for new armour was just as magical as Harry’s first visit to Ollivander's. I feel like Szal has brought to life my favourite Xbox adventures in a fun, shockingly human and meaningful way.
Stormblood covers a surprising amount of thematic ground but it all fits together well, something that is emphasised when the meaning behind the book title becomes clear. I’d consider it a must read for any sci-fi lover, or any reader looking to be punched in the gut with words. Fans of John Scalzi will be thrilled to know they can find their new favourite author just a little to the right on the shelf.
Thank you Gollancz and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review, and congratulations to Jeremy Szal for an epic debut novel!
Read
August 6, 2020This is dark, gritty military SF with excellent world-building and a side helping of really cool and imaginative sci-fi technology. Told from a first person point of view, it's got a bit of a noir feel to it (though darker). The main character is a war-vet and he carries realistic baggage from that, and the two major side characters are really well done. The villains (there are lots of them) are varied an interesting/terrifying in their own way. The Big Bad is one of those awesome villains who is *almost* justified in their actions--realistic in that you can see exactly why they took the path they did. If grimdark mil-sf was its own subgenre, this would be there. Not going to lie...there were a couple of parts that were so disturbing that I almost wanted to skip out of them. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
June 4, 2020
Mass Effect meets Cyberpunk in this thrilling debut from a powerful new voice in the Sci-Fi genre.
Stormblood tells the story of Vakov Fukasawa, an ex-Reaper (bio-enhanced soldiers imbued with addictive alien-tech and not to be mistaken with the giant squid robots from ME), who has survived one brutal war only to be dragged into another. Vakov makes a living by working small-time jobs with his hacker friend, Grim, on the space station, Compass. At the beginning of the novel he finds himself cornered by Harmony, the very organisation that had made him into a Reaper in the first place. Someone has been murdering his former comrades and they want him to find out who. The only lead they have is his estranged brother, Artyom, who he has not spoken to in years. What follows is an exciting, action-packed sci-fi detective thrill ride that explores the true meaning of family and the severe impact of drugs on both the individual and society.
Vakov is wonderfully depicted multi-layered character. He is a witty and charming individual who is unafraid to embrace his emotions. The war against the savage Harvesters may have ended but he still fights a daily battle against stormtech addiction. I found his story very moving. Accompanying Vakov on his difficult journey to overcoming PTSD and addiction, stopping the Reaper murders and possibly saving his brother is a handful of supporting characters. The two closest to him are the good-natured Grim, a hacker with a penchant for mischief and the unrelenting Katherine Kowalski, a Harmony operative and kindred-spirit. Both are well developed characters that not only serve to support Vakov but have stories of their own which are central to the plot in many ways. There are a handful more, the standout being Juvens, an alien Space Marshall with charming bluntness, serious pilot skills and horns. All in all, Stormblood boasts a great cast of characters.
One of the main other things I loved about this book is the setting. Compass is a towering space station of multiple cities sitting on top of each other in a hollowed-out asteroid. Each floor is thematic in nature, from the slum-built Changhao at the base of the asteroid and the derelict Warren home to stormtech dealers, to the labyrinth Upper Market and affluent paradise of Cloudstern at the top. Compass acts as a capital of sorts for the Common, a galactic commonwealth of alien races trying to live coexistent lives. The space station's denizens may not be as diverse as its multi-tiered levels, with only a handful getting page time, but this works well as it keeps the narrative tight. I have no doubt that we will get to learn more about these races and others in subsequent books. Also, I must mention the really cool yet sometimes disturbing technology that can be found throughout the novel. There is of course the stormtech and the various mutations it can cause to those it infects. There are also suits of armor that attach themselves to the wearer's skin, guns that 3D-print bullets as they fire and military-grade defence systems that create rooms from the DNA and biometrics of their owners. Like I said, cool and disturbing.
I also want to acknowledge the perfectly balanced nature of the plot, shifting naturally between detective thriller and military sci-fi fantasy. The former creates an atmosphere of suspense as Vakov begins to unravel the mystery of the Reaper murders while the latter delivers some of the coolest, blood-pumping tense firefights I have read in a sci-fi novel (and I have read a lot of Warhammer). I particularly enjoyed Vakov's flashbacks to the Harvester War which serves as the basis for some of the novel's most intense action, explores the sense of camaraderie that is so fundamental to Vakov's character and which shows the horrifying process of addiction that the stormtech forces upon its host.
I read this in two sittings with eight cups of tea, half of which had gone cold by the time I took a sip, so enamoured was I in Vakov's story and the world Szal has created. Stormblood is a fantastic debut. I cannot wait to see what comes next. Jeremy Szal, you have yourself a fan.
Stormblood tells the story of Vakov Fukasawa, an ex-Reaper (bio-enhanced soldiers imbued with addictive alien-tech and not to be mistaken with the giant squid robots from ME), who has survived one brutal war only to be dragged into another. Vakov makes a living by working small-time jobs with his hacker friend, Grim, on the space station, Compass. At the beginning of the novel he finds himself cornered by Harmony, the very organisation that had made him into a Reaper in the first place. Someone has been murdering his former comrades and they want him to find out who. The only lead they have is his estranged brother, Artyom, who he has not spoken to in years. What follows is an exciting, action-packed sci-fi detective thrill ride that explores the true meaning of family and the severe impact of drugs on both the individual and society.
Vakov is wonderfully depicted multi-layered character. He is a witty and charming individual who is unafraid to embrace his emotions. The war against the savage Harvesters may have ended but he still fights a daily battle against stormtech addiction. I found his story very moving. Accompanying Vakov on his difficult journey to overcoming PTSD and addiction, stopping the Reaper murders and possibly saving his brother is a handful of supporting characters. The two closest to him are the good-natured Grim, a hacker with a penchant for mischief and the unrelenting Katherine Kowalski, a Harmony operative and kindred-spirit. Both are well developed characters that not only serve to support Vakov but have stories of their own which are central to the plot in many ways. There are a handful more, the standout being Juvens, an alien Space Marshall with charming bluntness, serious pilot skills and horns. All in all, Stormblood boasts a great cast of characters.
One of the main other things I loved about this book is the setting. Compass is a towering space station of multiple cities sitting on top of each other in a hollowed-out asteroid. Each floor is thematic in nature, from the slum-built Changhao at the base of the asteroid and the derelict Warren home to stormtech dealers, to the labyrinth Upper Market and affluent paradise of Cloudstern at the top. Compass acts as a capital of sorts for the Common, a galactic commonwealth of alien races trying to live coexistent lives. The space station's denizens may not be as diverse as its multi-tiered levels, with only a handful getting page time, but this works well as it keeps the narrative tight. I have no doubt that we will get to learn more about these races and others in subsequent books. Also, I must mention the really cool yet sometimes disturbing technology that can be found throughout the novel. There is of course the stormtech and the various mutations it can cause to those it infects. There are also suits of armor that attach themselves to the wearer's skin, guns that 3D-print bullets as they fire and military-grade defence systems that create rooms from the DNA and biometrics of their owners. Like I said, cool and disturbing.
I also want to acknowledge the perfectly balanced nature of the plot, shifting naturally between detective thriller and military sci-fi fantasy. The former creates an atmosphere of suspense as Vakov begins to unravel the mystery of the Reaper murders while the latter delivers some of the coolest, blood-pumping tense firefights I have read in a sci-fi novel (and I have read a lot of Warhammer). I particularly enjoyed Vakov's flashbacks to the Harvester War which serves as the basis for some of the novel's most intense action, explores the sense of camaraderie that is so fundamental to Vakov's character and which shows the horrifying process of addiction that the stormtech forces upon its host.
I read this in two sittings with eight cups of tea, half of which had gone cold by the time I took a sip, so enamoured was I in Vakov's story and the world Szal has created. Stormblood is a fantastic debut. I cannot wait to see what comes next. Jeremy Szal, you have yourself a fan.
February 22, 2020
In the early chapters of Stormblood, one of the characters delivers my favorite Ambrose Bierce quote: "The covers of this book are too far apart."
I've always taken this to have two meanings. First, and probably the intended interpretation, that this book is too long and that much space between its covers is a reading crime. But I prefer the second, and the one that applies to Jeremy Szal's Stormblood: I've started this book, and I'm mad at the last page from being so far from the first, because I cannot put it down.
In short: this frenetic, grisly sucker-punch of a book manages to be everything you could want from sci-fi, while also carving out its own niche with a rusty slingshiv.
Vakov Fukasawa is a former Reaper who drinks with his techie friend Grim, has some family issues to sort through, and happens to be implanted with stormtech, a permanent resident in his body and an alien drug, which presents as a stormy blue presence swirling beneath his skin.
This stormtech drives the core narrative and the meat of the worldbuilding. Here's a drug that, in the right dose, enhances someone's physical abilities, with a high potential for a frankly terrifying addiction. Stormtech is powerful, fascinating, and extremely dangerous, a relic of a long-dead alien race, so of course people want to see what happens when we shoot it up. Stormblood demonstrates the galactic consequences of such a powerful and unknown force on the populace, and deals considerably with its effects on everyday people: civilians struggling with addiction, victims of the blooming drug trade, or former soldiers trying to adjust to life after a war that, in some ways, never truly ended. What happens when a market is created for exploitable citizens already struggling to get their life sorted? How do you take responsibility for its existence when you suddenly have an epidemic of people "blueing out" from taking modified iterations of the drug? And when that epidemic hits, how do you take down an entire drug trafficking empire, one that spans the galaxy?
The care given to these questions and the depiction of stormtech, paired with Szal's knack for setting a scene, build a vibrant galaxy that manages to be a cyberpunk thriller and a space opera and a great speculative read. There's a lot to enjoy on the surface level. The guns are cool, the body armor is cool, and the ships are cool. I enjoyed the various "skins," for medical and stealth and casualwear purposes, which feel appropriately techy and cumbersome and at times just a little gross.
I enjoyed how often (and how many!) characters cried freely in this book, from joy and sadness and anguish; no machismo suppression of feelings here. There is a subtle one-off mention that in New Vladi, Vakov's homeland, nudity is not a taboo. There is a true sense of place on the hollowed-out asteroid where most of the book is set, and in tandem with that are the trappings of great sci-fi. You've got seedy bars and aliens, obstinate ones and nerdy ones and frightening ones. You've got funky tech and plenty of weirdos willing to use it; one particularly memorable scene involves a character whose office is, essentially, his own body. While it is (perhaps realistically) depressing to see this future world depicted with all the capitalist, consumer-driven hierarchy we have today, the Common feels like a place I could walk around (but not alone).
What I appreciate most about Stormblood's tone is the unrelenting positivity of its ethos. Life can be brutal and unfair and will throw everything at you, but this never devolves into fatalistic grimdark action scenes or gratuitous horror. There is hope for our characters, although they certainly have to earn it.
This read was a great way to kick off the new year, and I look forward to everything Szal puts out.
I've always taken this to have two meanings. First, and probably the intended interpretation, that this book is too long and that much space between its covers is a reading crime. But I prefer the second, and the one that applies to Jeremy Szal's Stormblood: I've started this book, and I'm mad at the last page from being so far from the first, because I cannot put it down.
In short: this frenetic, grisly sucker-punch of a book manages to be everything you could want from sci-fi, while also carving out its own niche with a rusty slingshiv.
Vakov Fukasawa is a former Reaper who drinks with his techie friend Grim, has some family issues to sort through, and happens to be implanted with stormtech, a permanent resident in his body and an alien drug, which presents as a stormy blue presence swirling beneath his skin.
This stormtech drives the core narrative and the meat of the worldbuilding. Here's a drug that, in the right dose, enhances someone's physical abilities, with a high potential for a frankly terrifying addiction. Stormtech is powerful, fascinating, and extremely dangerous, a relic of a long-dead alien race, so of course people want to see what happens when we shoot it up. Stormblood demonstrates the galactic consequences of such a powerful and unknown force on the populace, and deals considerably with its effects on everyday people: civilians struggling with addiction, victims of the blooming drug trade, or former soldiers trying to adjust to life after a war that, in some ways, never truly ended. What happens when a market is created for exploitable citizens already struggling to get their life sorted? How do you take responsibility for its existence when you suddenly have an epidemic of people "blueing out" from taking modified iterations of the drug? And when that epidemic hits, how do you take down an entire drug trafficking empire, one that spans the galaxy?
The care given to these questions and the depiction of stormtech, paired with Szal's knack for setting a scene, build a vibrant galaxy that manages to be a cyberpunk thriller and a space opera and a great speculative read. There's a lot to enjoy on the surface level. The guns are cool, the body armor is cool, and the ships are cool. I enjoyed the various "skins," for medical and stealth and casualwear purposes, which feel appropriately techy and cumbersome and at times just a little gross.
I enjoyed how often (and how many!) characters cried freely in this book, from joy and sadness and anguish; no machismo suppression of feelings here. There is a subtle one-off mention that in New Vladi, Vakov's homeland, nudity is not a taboo. There is a true sense of place on the hollowed-out asteroid where most of the book is set, and in tandem with that are the trappings of great sci-fi. You've got seedy bars and aliens, obstinate ones and nerdy ones and frightening ones. You've got funky tech and plenty of weirdos willing to use it; one particularly memorable scene involves a character whose office is, essentially, his own body. While it is (perhaps realistically) depressing to see this future world depicted with all the capitalist, consumer-driven hierarchy we have today, the Common feels like a place I could walk around (but not alone).
What I appreciate most about Stormblood's tone is the unrelenting positivity of its ethos. Life can be brutal and unfair and will throw everything at you, but this never devolves into fatalistic grimdark action scenes or gratuitous horror. There is hope for our characters, although they certainly have to earn it.
This read was a great way to kick off the new year, and I look forward to everything Szal puts out.
May 6, 2020
Wow. How do you sum this beast up? A cyberpunk, sci-fi noir, ultraviolent thrill ride down to the depths of human emotion and endurance. It's a $100 billion film crammed into 500 pages. It's a head trip to another planet and just pure escapism. However you describe it, it's soooo damn good. Perfect for people who like their Pierce Brown put through the blender with Richard Morgan. Go buy it now.
July 15, 2020
This can be found on my blog among other reviews :)
The Book in Hand Blog
I wrote down so many little jottings while reading this book, and all were good things. So, here it goes, time to cobble them all together into a semi-cohesive review.
This is my first review of a science fiction book, while I read two books prior to this they were of the same series and where young adult books. While I don't have an issue with young adult, and enjoy reading them, they are light in nature but often more surface level, if that's an appropriate descriptions. Anywho, I wanted my first review to be of an adult sci-fi and what a first review to begin with. Stormblood was incredible.
The fact that this is Szal’s debut make it even more so. This book does not feel as though it was written by someone who hasn’t been writing for years.
I'm not going to pretend I know anything about the genre, but what you can find from this review is my thoughts on why I enjoyed this book.
I always find writing and publishing a review a little nerve wracking. It is with reviewers, as it is with authors, you let a little of yourself show in you writing, in the way you interpret a book. No review is unbiased, what we take from a book is subject to what we have lived and felt. What we have longed for, what we miss and what we have experienced.
So, while I am utterly new to this genre I’d like to think my review still counts.
Let’s do this.
Stormblood is such a fascinating and captivating story, and so well thought out. I can’t tell you any references or similar books/authors to who this book’s tastes will suit but I can tell you it is so much more than what the synopsis suggests. I really didn't expect this to have such a deep and profound emphasis on many of the topics it does, some being siblings/family, drug abuse, poverty, trauma, brotherhood and camaraderie.
”People compare overcoming addiction to climbing a mountain, but that assumes there’s a peak to climb towards. Stormtech was more like swimming in an endless, churning sea. You never truly beat it. You just found temporary ways not to drown.”
It's no secret that I don't often like flashbacks, though to be honest the last few I have encountered I haven't minded at all sooooo maybe I'm changing on that front. Annyyyway, where I usually dislike flashbacks I actually really enjoyed those I came across in stormblood. It was a nice way of answering the readers questions but what I enjoyed the most was the little insights into these culture rich memories. I got to experience the different places in the world Szal created through them being the home of a fellow reaper or the location of a current battle.
Szal’s writing is sharp and evocative. I genuinely felt gutted every time Vakov thought of the way things had turned out, each time it sunk in what his situation was. The highlight of this read though, has to be Vakov’s relationships. I cannot express how much I enjoyed watching them develop and grow. No relationship is the same, and all elicit such a level of emotion from the reader.
”But I’ve found friends to occasionally be like magnets: opposing forces attract.
Szal has created a thrilling world, one which you truly experience everything. It is so rich in detail, that you can picture each street and bar they visit, and Vakov and Grim visit a good few of those, they like their drink. There is a massive amount of detailing in this book, and not only in relation to the world building but in Vakov’s interactions, in his thought and feelings and in the tech that is used, especially his armour.
I really enjoyed the grittiness of this world, and when I say gritty I mean it has such a raw and real feel to it. The tone, in a way, reminded me of the film ’End of Watch’ in that it has a strong emphasis on the friendship of it's characters through the difficult times they face.
”No matter how hard someone tries to knock you down, having someone to lean against, someone who’s got your back, makes it possible to stand up again.”
While the list of characters you meet in this story are on the lower side, which is by no means a criticism, they are all brilliantly compelling. I found Vakov to be really well developed, I loved his story and personality. I especially liked his own emotional confusion, whether his decisions were his own and how things could have been different.
Szal did brilliantly in writing this book, I was filled with dread at times. When I met other members of Vakovs team through flashback I was genuinely worried for them. Would one of these reapers he had lived and fought with fall victim next to his present-day situations or his past. He had lost so much, given so much already.
As well, I enjoyed the reversal of character development, whether you call it that or not, it is how I see it. At the start we find out one of Vakov's old reaper brothers has become the victim of his current shitstorm, and at the start you don't really care that he died. Yeah, it's shit for vakov but you yourself don't care about the character but through vakov’s flashbacks I found myself caring more and more. Seeing this chap with his team and how he was I grew more and more saddened at his loss. It was a nice spin on charcter development.
”Home isn’t where you’re born, Vakov. It’s where you feel calm and peace, even in a storm.”
Ohhh and the Mass Effect references in this really tickled my fancy. I love the little inserts such as a character being called Saren and a race not so dissimilar to the krogans.
***A quick note, the quotes in this are from a Netgalley ARC and may have changed in the publishing of this book***
The Book in Hand Blog
I wrote down so many little jottings while reading this book, and all were good things. So, here it goes, time to cobble them all together into a semi-cohesive review.
This is my first review of a science fiction book, while I read two books prior to this they were of the same series and where young adult books. While I don't have an issue with young adult, and enjoy reading them, they are light in nature but often more surface level, if that's an appropriate descriptions. Anywho, I wanted my first review to be of an adult sci-fi and what a first review to begin with. Stormblood was incredible.
The fact that this is Szal’s debut make it even more so. This book does not feel as though it was written by someone who hasn’t been writing for years.
I'm not going to pretend I know anything about the genre, but what you can find from this review is my thoughts on why I enjoyed this book.
I always find writing and publishing a review a little nerve wracking. It is with reviewers, as it is with authors, you let a little of yourself show in you writing, in the way you interpret a book. No review is unbiased, what we take from a book is subject to what we have lived and felt. What we have longed for, what we miss and what we have experienced.
So, while I am utterly new to this genre I’d like to think my review still counts.
Let’s do this.
Stormblood is such a fascinating and captivating story, and so well thought out. I can’t tell you any references or similar books/authors to who this book’s tastes will suit but I can tell you it is so much more than what the synopsis suggests. I really didn't expect this to have such a deep and profound emphasis on many of the topics it does, some being siblings/family, drug abuse, poverty, trauma, brotherhood and camaraderie.
”People compare overcoming addiction to climbing a mountain, but that assumes there’s a peak to climb towards. Stormtech was more like swimming in an endless, churning sea. You never truly beat it. You just found temporary ways not to drown.”
It's no secret that I don't often like flashbacks, though to be honest the last few I have encountered I haven't minded at all sooooo maybe I'm changing on that front. Annyyyway, where I usually dislike flashbacks I actually really enjoyed those I came across in stormblood. It was a nice way of answering the readers questions but what I enjoyed the most was the little insights into these culture rich memories. I got to experience the different places in the world Szal created through them being the home of a fellow reaper or the location of a current battle.
Szal’s writing is sharp and evocative. I genuinely felt gutted every time Vakov thought of the way things had turned out, each time it sunk in what his situation was. The highlight of this read though, has to be Vakov’s relationships. I cannot express how much I enjoyed watching them develop and grow. No relationship is the same, and all elicit such a level of emotion from the reader.
”But I’ve found friends to occasionally be like magnets: opposing forces attract.
Szal has created a thrilling world, one which you truly experience everything. It is so rich in detail, that you can picture each street and bar they visit, and Vakov and Grim visit a good few of those, they like their drink. There is a massive amount of detailing in this book, and not only in relation to the world building but in Vakov’s interactions, in his thought and feelings and in the tech that is used, especially his armour.
I really enjoyed the grittiness of this world, and when I say gritty I mean it has such a raw and real feel to it. The tone, in a way, reminded me of the film ’End of Watch’ in that it has a strong emphasis on the friendship of it's characters through the difficult times they face.
”No matter how hard someone tries to knock you down, having someone to lean against, someone who’s got your back, makes it possible to stand up again.”
While the list of characters you meet in this story are on the lower side, which is by no means a criticism, they are all brilliantly compelling. I found Vakov to be really well developed, I loved his story and personality. I especially liked his own emotional confusion, whether his decisions were his own and how things could have been different.
Szal did brilliantly in writing this book, I was filled with dread at times. When I met other members of Vakovs team through flashback I was genuinely worried for them. Would one of these reapers he had lived and fought with fall victim next to his present-day situations or his past. He had lost so much, given so much already.
As well, I enjoyed the reversal of character development, whether you call it that or not, it is how I see it. At the start we find out one of Vakov's old reaper brothers has become the victim of his current shitstorm, and at the start you don't really care that he died. Yeah, it's shit for vakov but you yourself don't care about the character but through vakov’s flashbacks I found myself caring more and more. Seeing this chap with his team and how he was I grew more and more saddened at his loss. It was a nice spin on charcter development.
”Home isn’t where you’re born, Vakov. It’s where you feel calm and peace, even in a storm.”
Ohhh and the Mass Effect references in this really tickled my fancy. I love the little inserts such as a character being called Saren and a race not so dissimilar to the krogans.
***A quick note, the quotes in this are from a Netgalley ARC and may have changed in the publishing of this book***
June 5, 2020
An excellent debut from Jeremy Szal. I don't read much sci-fi, I tend to choose stabby over shooty but Stormblood certainly delivered, I may have been missing out. If Altered Carbon got together with Mass Effect & had a baby, and that baby was adopted & raised by Babylon 5 & Neal Asher's novels, I suspect the result would be Stormblood. A break neck pace with cinematic action scenes make the book unputdownable. I particularly enjoyed the flashbacks to the Reaper wars, put those chapters together & you're halfway to a decent prequel novel in itself. Look forward to seeing more of Vak, Grim & Kowalski (and Juvens)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2020
I received a copy of Stormblood from Hachette Australia to review.
Rating of 4.5.
In the mood for an epic and elaborate science fiction debut? Then you will definitely want to check out Stormblood by Australian author Jeremey Szal, a compelling and ingenious novel that was a heck of a lot of fun to read.
In humanity’s far future, our species has just emerged from a brutal and destructive civil war between the seemingly benevolent Harmony empire and the ruthless Harvester empire. Harmony were able to win the war by creating the Reapers, elite soldiers who were injected with stormtech, the DNA of an extinct alien race, which permanently altered their bodies, making them stronger, faster and more effective soldiers. However, stormtech also had terrible side effects, making the host become addicted to their own adrenaline, which impacted on their minds and dramatically increased their natural aggression.
When the war ends, millions of Reapers are left shells of their former selves, having to deal with the terrible addictive impact of the alien DNA in their system, while stormtech became widely traded as an illicit drug across the galaxy. Amongst these former soldiers is Vakov Fukasawa, a member of an elite Reaper fireteam, who has managed to overcome his addiction to stormtech and now makes a living taking on dangerous odd jobs on Compass, a mega-city built into a massive asteroid. Vakov has grown vastly disillusioned with Harmony and their methods, but when he is approached by their agents to assist with an investigation, he is once again compelled into their service.
Somebody is killing his fellow former Reapers by poisoning the stormtech being passed around the city. In order to save the comrades he fought beside, Vakov agrees to help with the investigation, especially when it is revealed that Harmony’s only lead is Vakov’s estranged brother. However, the more Vakov investigates, the more people keep trying to kill him, and he soon finds himself caught in a vast conspiracy that threatens Compass and the entirety of Harmony. Can Vakov put a stop to this horrifying plot, or will untold death and destruction rain down on him and everything he fought for?
To see the full review, click the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2020/07/14/...
An abridged version of this review ran in the Canberra Weekly on 25 June 2020:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2020/07/14/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
Rating of 4.5.
In the mood for an epic and elaborate science fiction debut? Then you will definitely want to check out Stormblood by Australian author Jeremey Szal, a compelling and ingenious novel that was a heck of a lot of fun to read.
In humanity’s far future, our species has just emerged from a brutal and destructive civil war between the seemingly benevolent Harmony empire and the ruthless Harvester empire. Harmony were able to win the war by creating the Reapers, elite soldiers who were injected with stormtech, the DNA of an extinct alien race, which permanently altered their bodies, making them stronger, faster and more effective soldiers. However, stormtech also had terrible side effects, making the host become addicted to their own adrenaline, which impacted on their minds and dramatically increased their natural aggression.
When the war ends, millions of Reapers are left shells of their former selves, having to deal with the terrible addictive impact of the alien DNA in their system, while stormtech became widely traded as an illicit drug across the galaxy. Amongst these former soldiers is Vakov Fukasawa, a member of an elite Reaper fireteam, who has managed to overcome his addiction to stormtech and now makes a living taking on dangerous odd jobs on Compass, a mega-city built into a massive asteroid. Vakov has grown vastly disillusioned with Harmony and their methods, but when he is approached by their agents to assist with an investigation, he is once again compelled into their service.
Somebody is killing his fellow former Reapers by poisoning the stormtech being passed around the city. In order to save the comrades he fought beside, Vakov agrees to help with the investigation, especially when it is revealed that Harmony’s only lead is Vakov’s estranged brother. However, the more Vakov investigates, the more people keep trying to kill him, and he soon finds himself caught in a vast conspiracy that threatens Compass and the entirety of Harmony. Can Vakov put a stop to this horrifying plot, or will untold death and destruction rain down on him and everything he fought for?
To see the full review, click the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2020/07/14/...
An abridged version of this review ran in the Canberra Weekly on 25 June 2020:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2020/07/14/...
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September 10, 2020
Stormblood is one of those novels that blew me away. I finished reading this book in one day. Not only was I impressed with how beautiful this story is, I was also seeing the subject of wars and their brutal effects on humanity itself. Its an impressive debut. I read during the end Jeremy said he wished to see this book onto the bookshelves and worked hard on it. No doubt. He’s done an amazing piece of work. Amazing. The writing is mind-staggering. The dialogue is actually AMAZING. I cannot repeat it again. Oh. I will. It is AMAZING.
I loved every single second of this novel. Pat yourself on the back, you’ve made an amazing piece of work here. There is so much good in this. I felt I was watching a movie half the time. Cue in the references: The Orville, Star Trek, Cyberpunk 2077, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Star Wars, Marvel movies. I could point out to a lot of references within this novel. This novel is fantastic.
I don’t really have much to say but I don’t wish to spoil the story too much. But it follows a certain arc…that you’ll be quick to soon realise when you read this book. I loved Katherine, who I think is a great emotional character and has a great chemistry with Vakov. I also like the idea of the combination of the Russians and the Japanese – once at war in 1905 – and many generations later, you have new breeds of humans. That go away from all the racial conflicts that plagued them from the start. Vakov grew me on throughout the entire novel – and you’ll see why. He’s brave. He’s courageous. But he doesn’t act stupid. He knows when he makes mistakes. And Grim? A great character, I really need more of him. He’s a great complement and a great addition to the story.
There is a lot of blood-pumping action in this story. Brotherhood plays a big theme. And the Kaiji are now my new favorite alien species especially with their….you’ll figure it out. I won’t reveal much, but there’s war, there’s amazing descriptions of cities that make you feel really immersed into the sci-fi world that is introduced by Jeremy. You feel like, why the heck is this not a Netflix series or an amazing Hollywood adaption? It has all the right elements in place.
A great novel. Fantastic. Loved every single second of it. SO much amazing visual, splendour, it feels like a Hollywood movie. I cannot wait to read more adventures of Vakov, Katherine and Grim!
I loved every single second of this novel. Pat yourself on the back, you’ve made an amazing piece of work here. There is so much good in this. I felt I was watching a movie half the time. Cue in the references: The Orville, Star Trek, Cyberpunk 2077, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Star Wars, Marvel movies. I could point out to a lot of references within this novel. This novel is fantastic.
I don’t really have much to say but I don’t wish to spoil the story too much. But it follows a certain arc…that you’ll be quick to soon realise when you read this book. I loved Katherine, who I think is a great emotional character and has a great chemistry with Vakov. I also like the idea of the combination of the Russians and the Japanese – once at war in 1905 – and many generations later, you have new breeds of humans. That go away from all the racial conflicts that plagued them from the start. Vakov grew me on throughout the entire novel – and you’ll see why. He’s brave. He’s courageous. But he doesn’t act stupid. He knows when he makes mistakes. And Grim? A great character, I really need more of him. He’s a great complement and a great addition to the story.
There is a lot of blood-pumping action in this story. Brotherhood plays a big theme. And the Kaiji are now my new favorite alien species especially with their….you’ll figure it out. I won’t reveal much, but there’s war, there’s amazing descriptions of cities that make you feel really immersed into the sci-fi world that is introduced by Jeremy. You feel like, why the heck is this not a Netflix series or an amazing Hollywood adaption? It has all the right elements in place.
A great novel. Fantastic. Loved every single second of it. SO much amazing visual, splendour, it feels like a Hollywood movie. I cannot wait to read more adventures of Vakov, Katherine and Grim!
June 30, 2020
Kickstarting this review with a weird compliment: Stormblood is what would happen if a blockbuster screenwriter tried his hand at writing a novel, and discovered he's also great at the whole prose aspect of it. This is an intensely visual book, with some of the most vivid, sensorial descriptions I've read in a long while. It's all the more impressive because we're stuck in Vakov's deliciously tormented first-person POV the whole time, jumping from his mangled introspections to well-crafted scenes of worldbuilding and climaxing in good old ultraviolence.
I didn't expect to enjoy Stormblood this much. I'm usually more into literary-ish spec fic. I could throw a couple nitpicks here and there: some of the dialogue can be Hollywood-cheesy, Grim's hacking abilities stretches suspension of disbelief, and the talk about stormblood itself overstays its welcome a couple times.
But, really, these flaws are peanuts. It's 4:06 am over here and I gotta be up in 5, pretty sure that's a resounding quality stamp. Stormblood is simply fun. If you're a fan of stuff like Mass Effect, The Expanse and Altered Carbon, you'll love this. If you're more of the Kim Stanley Robinson type, you'll probably still like Stormblood, but you might lament the lack of 5-page intricate explanations of space toilet plumbing physics (I kid! - Kim Stanley Robinson is the OG).
One more piece of praise before I drag myself to what'll by now be a night-time nap: the interspersed slice-of-life details are great. Making the setting of a novel feel lived in is an overlooked quality, and more difficult to do than one would think.
Finally, shout out to the Bunny. I'm with you. Vakov and Grim are meanies.
I didn't expect to enjoy Stormblood this much. I'm usually more into literary-ish spec fic. I could throw a couple nitpicks here and there: some of the dialogue can be Hollywood-cheesy, Grim's hacking abilities stretches suspension of disbelief, and the talk about stormblood itself overstays its welcome a couple times.
But, really, these flaws are peanuts. It's 4:06 am over here and I gotta be up in 5, pretty sure that's a resounding quality stamp. Stormblood is simply fun. If you're a fan of stuff like Mass Effect, The Expanse and Altered Carbon, you'll love this. If you're more of the Kim Stanley Robinson type, you'll probably still like Stormblood, but you might lament the lack of 5-page intricate explanations of space toilet plumbing physics (I kid! - Kim Stanley Robinson is the OG).
One more piece of praise before I drag myself to what'll by now be a night-time nap: the interspersed slice-of-life details are great. Making the setting of a novel feel lived in is an overlooked quality, and more difficult to do than one would think.
Finally, shout out to the Bunny. I'm with you. Vakov and Grim are meanies.
June 13, 2020
What an awesome debut novel. It truly has vibes of Mass Effect, Altered Carbon and Red Rising, but it's the drug addiction aspect that sets it apart and gives the characters depth. For me, the book was close to unputdownable and I eagerly await the next installment!
April 25, 2020
Holy shit.
This book is insane. A wild, weird, adrenaline-fuelled, dread-filled, insane ride that rips your heart out through your throat. The last quarter of the book is a non-stop emotional slaughterhouse that guts you out of nowhere. I haven't loved being this brutalized by a piece of fiction since Breaking Bad.
The premise revolves around a drug harvested from an extinct alien race that’s pumped into men and women, making them supersoldiers equipped with extra strength, healing abilities, enhanced bone structure and senses, all to fight back against a galaxy-threatening military force. It feels very similar to the Spartans in the Halo game series; soldiers with advanced bodies and armour fighting an interstellar war. Only, this alien drug also made the soldiers addicted to adrenaline and aggression. This book isn’t about the war, but when happens afterwards, when countless trauma-ridden soldiers are put back into society, now with an alien drug in their bodies that makes them want to go on a roaring, killing rampage, just for the adrenaline boost. Only, it looks like someone is murdering them. And it’s fallen to Vakov Fukasawa, one of these soldiers who survived the war, to investigate the murders. Only, his brother is the prime suspect.
I was expecting the narrative to be focused on action and detective work, and there’s certainly a lot of that in the book. But of greater focus are the character relationships. Vakov’s relationship with his brother. With his hacker best friend. The operative who helps him solve the murder. And Vakov’s squadmates, shown in flashback sequences before they were murdered.
All of these relationships feel so well fleshed out, with all the characters distinct and the characterization sharp and authentic. I did not expect to care about these people so much. Their friendship admist the horrors of war and the darkness surrounding them made it all the more powerful. There’s a certain chapter that’s so beautiful and yet so heart-breaking that I still haven’t recovered from it. But even that doesn’t compare to the last few chapters – reading them was like getting stabbed in the face.
Vakov’s love for his brother feels real, which is helped by references to their time growing up together. But my favourite character was Grim. He’s great fun, you never know what craziness is going to come out of his mouth or what hijinks he’s going to get up to next. Having Vak and Grim are a great duo, and having them bounce off each other as they narrowly escape trouble was a blast. Overall, The portrayal of brotherhood and family and (non-sexualized) love is some of the very best I’ve seen in science-fiction. If there’s one reason to read Stormblood, it’s this one.
Vakov himself is extremely well characterized, with his reasons for his actions and his thought process, as well as his emotional state, clear on the page. When he’s tense from the alien biotech in him, you can almost smell the sweat coming from him, and when he gets enraged (and boy, does he get furious) you can almost see the fire burning in his eyes.
Speaking of Vakov: I wasn’t prepared for how dark this book gets. Not The Poppy War dark, but dark. Not least of all Vakov. He’s damaged individual, suffering from several traumatic incidents from his childhood and from the war. There’s some terrible and viciously cruel things inflicted on both him and the other characters in this book. He’s brutally mistreated and horrifically tortured over the course of the narrative (nightware.... *shudder*). But the book never sinks into nihilism or depressive self-wallowing. There’s always a glimmer of hope, always a way forward to redemption. The characters are always trying to be better people and help each other out, and I really appreciated that.
Otherwise, there’s a lot of deliciously weird, cool stuff going on in this book. Interrogation software. AIs who turn into animals. Space-stations shaped like skulls. Gothic superstructures. Wacko aliens running drug trafficking and smuggling rings. Shopping centres the length of an asteroid. Entire rooms that are, basically, grown from a person’s body. Suits of armour equipped with tendrils and body-massaging functions to help drug addicts cope. And, of course, the alien DNA stuffed inside human bodies, making them sweat, salivate, and all other kinds of deliciously gross things.
If there's any criticism here, it's with plot. Vakov took some strange and very risky methods of tackling a problem, when a much easier and less dangerous route would have been sufficient. His justification for doing so also had me scratching my head at times.
Overall, Stormblood is one of the most hard-hitting and cut-throat debuts I’ve ever read. It’s a fantastic and well-paced adventure with fantastic characters and thought-provoking ideas regarding humanity and free-will. Just be prepared to be dragged kicking and screaming through a gauntlet of chaos and raw emotions. Read it.
This book is insane. A wild, weird, adrenaline-fuelled, dread-filled, insane ride that rips your heart out through your throat. The last quarter of the book is a non-stop emotional slaughterhouse that guts you out of nowhere. I haven't loved being this brutalized by a piece of fiction since Breaking Bad.
The premise revolves around a drug harvested from an extinct alien race that’s pumped into men and women, making them supersoldiers equipped with extra strength, healing abilities, enhanced bone structure and senses, all to fight back against a galaxy-threatening military force. It feels very similar to the Spartans in the Halo game series; soldiers with advanced bodies and armour fighting an interstellar war. Only, this alien drug also made the soldiers addicted to adrenaline and aggression. This book isn’t about the war, but when happens afterwards, when countless trauma-ridden soldiers are put back into society, now with an alien drug in their bodies that makes them want to go on a roaring, killing rampage, just for the adrenaline boost. Only, it looks like someone is murdering them. And it’s fallen to Vakov Fukasawa, one of these soldiers who survived the war, to investigate the murders. Only, his brother is the prime suspect.
I was expecting the narrative to be focused on action and detective work, and there’s certainly a lot of that in the book. But of greater focus are the character relationships. Vakov’s relationship with his brother. With his hacker best friend. The operative who helps him solve the murder. And Vakov’s squadmates, shown in flashback sequences before they were murdered.
All of these relationships feel so well fleshed out, with all the characters distinct and the characterization sharp and authentic. I did not expect to care about these people so much. Their friendship admist the horrors of war and the darkness surrounding them made it all the more powerful. There’s a certain chapter that’s so beautiful and yet so heart-breaking that I still haven’t recovered from it. But even that doesn’t compare to the last few chapters – reading them was like getting stabbed in the face.
Vakov’s love for his brother feels real, which is helped by references to their time growing up together. But my favourite character was Grim. He’s great fun, you never know what craziness is going to come out of his mouth or what hijinks he’s going to get up to next. Having Vak and Grim are a great duo, and having them bounce off each other as they narrowly escape trouble was a blast. Overall, The portrayal of brotherhood and family and (non-sexualized) love is some of the very best I’ve seen in science-fiction. If there’s one reason to read Stormblood, it’s this one.
Vakov himself is extremely well characterized, with his reasons for his actions and his thought process, as well as his emotional state, clear on the page. When he’s tense from the alien biotech in him, you can almost smell the sweat coming from him, and when he gets enraged (and boy, does he get furious) you can almost see the fire burning in his eyes.
Speaking of Vakov: I wasn’t prepared for how dark this book gets. Not The Poppy War dark, but dark. Not least of all Vakov. He’s damaged individual, suffering from several traumatic incidents from his childhood and from the war. There’s some terrible and viciously cruel things inflicted on both him and the other characters in this book. He’s brutally mistreated and horrifically tortured over the course of the narrative (nightware.... *shudder*). But the book never sinks into nihilism or depressive self-wallowing. There’s always a glimmer of hope, always a way forward to redemption. The characters are always trying to be better people and help each other out, and I really appreciated that.
Otherwise, there’s a lot of deliciously weird, cool stuff going on in this book. Interrogation software. AIs who turn into animals. Space-stations shaped like skulls. Gothic superstructures. Wacko aliens running drug trafficking and smuggling rings. Shopping centres the length of an asteroid. Entire rooms that are, basically, grown from a person’s body. Suits of armour equipped with tendrils and body-massaging functions to help drug addicts cope. And, of course, the alien DNA stuffed inside human bodies, making them sweat, salivate, and all other kinds of deliciously gross things.
If there's any criticism here, it's with plot. Vakov took some strange and very risky methods of tackling a problem, when a much easier and less dangerous route would have been sufficient. His justification for doing so also had me scratching my head at times.
Overall, Stormblood is one of the most hard-hitting and cut-throat debuts I’ve ever read. It’s a fantastic and well-paced adventure with fantastic characters and thought-provoking ideas regarding humanity and free-will. Just be prepared to be dragged kicking and screaming through a gauntlet of chaos and raw emotions. Read it.
July 2, 2020
What happens when you put Halo, Mass Effect, and the Expanse in a blender? Everything turns blue. This is kinda how Stormblood felt. Like the Master Chief from Halo wondering around a space station like the Citadel from Mass Effect, with the looming threat of the proto-molecule from Expanse. Oh, and the Master Chief has PTSD and crippling drug addiction. It's a mash up, but one that works surprisingly well.
We follow Vakov. He's a Reaper, which means he's an elite super soldier who was pumped full of a drug made of alien DNA (Stormtech). This makes him super strong, super fast, super sensed, and super addicted to adrenaline. And the biggest catch... you don't get clean... Ever.
There's a lot of mysteries in play with this one and many are revealed slowly over the course, while others are held back for later books. There's also a bunch of really cool tech on display from stealth suits, to giant mechs, to warships. At times the book delves into these with wild abandon, so for anyone who likes to read about cool tech... check this one out! Do it!
There's also a deep character drama unfurling as Vakov wars with a side of him he's been trying to deny for a long time, while also discovering some new facets to his own personality.
It's a fun, action-packed ride full epic battles, mysteries, detective work, and a lot of heart.
4 well-earned stars.
Oh, and the narrator was Colin Mace who nails the bitter soldier voice to the wall!
We follow Vakov. He's a Reaper, which means he's an elite super soldier who was pumped full of a drug made of alien DNA (Stormtech). This makes him super strong, super fast, super sensed, and super addicted to adrenaline. And the biggest catch... you don't get clean... Ever.
There's a lot of mysteries in play with this one and many are revealed slowly over the course, while others are held back for later books. There's also a bunch of really cool tech on display from stealth suits, to giant mechs, to warships. At times the book delves into these with wild abandon, so for anyone who likes to read about cool tech... check this one out! Do it!
There's also a deep character drama unfurling as Vakov wars with a side of him he's been trying to deny for a long time, while also discovering some new facets to his own personality.
It's a fun, action-packed ride full epic battles, mysteries, detective work, and a lot of heart.
4 well-earned stars.
Oh, and the narrator was Colin Mace who nails the bitter soldier voice to the wall!
June 26, 2020
Kickass Grimdark sci-fi book. Absolutely loved it!
June 10, 2020
Well, this book was not at all what I expected! I came to the book without knowing anything about it and, from the title (I hadn't at that point seen the cover art), I was expecting what a friend of mine calls “dragons n shit” – a high fantasy, swords and sorcery malarkey – probably due to it sharing a name with a Final Fantasy computer game expansion pack. Instead, what I got was a brilliant military sci-fi space-opera thriller involving alien biotech, war veterans, hackers, AI and authority figures whom you were never quite sure were on the “good” side.
Vakov Fukasawa used to be a Reaper: a bio-enhanced soldier fighting for the Harmony, against a brutal invading empire. He's still fighting now, on a different battlefield: taking on stormtech. To make him a perfect soldier, Harmony injected him with the DNA of an extinct alien race, altering his body chemistry and leaving him permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. But although they meant to create soldiers, at the same time Harmony created a new drug market that has millions hopelessly addicted to their own body chemistry.
Vakov may have walked away from Harmony, but they still know where to find him, and his former Reaper colleagues are being murdered by someone, or something - and Vakov is appalled to learn his estranged brother is involved. Suddenly it's an investigation he can't turn down . . . but the closer he comes to the truth, the more addicted to stormtech he becomes.
And it's possible the war isn't over, after all . . .
It is truly remarkable for a first novel! The world-building is superb and I was totally immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the different “floors” in Compass, the hollowed out asteroid that provides the main setting for the story. There are definite shades of Bladerunner about how it all looked in my mind, with a class system dictating where and how people lived – the nearer the base of the structure you live, the less affluent you are. Action-wise, too, the book was a definite page-turner and it kept up a breathless pace from beginning to end. It really helped that the story itself was not an overly complex one with hundreds of characters and lots of intertwining threads, as can sometimes be the case with these sprawling tales. This simplicity is very deftly accomplished by having Vakov narrate everything from his own, first-person, viewpoint; something that is quite difficult to do well but Szal has managed his main character effortlessly.
And, for me, it is the characters that make this story so very engaging. Vakov himself is multi-layered and his internal monologues provide a highly credible backstory to explain why he is how he is – both physically and emotionally. But this same attention to detail is also given to the more minor characters in the book. My favourite was Vakov’s hacker best friend Grim and I really found myself rooting for them throughout their many battles.
Is it the perfect book? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. As I said before, the story, once you get to the crux of it is not complex but it is highly entertaining and the final battle is very “Hollywood” friendly, being all action and explosions. I could seriously see this book adapted for the big screen without losing any of the nuance of the writing and it would be a great fun watch.
It’s fantastic to know that this is just the first book in a trilogy, as I look forward to meeting Vakov and co again to see how the next part of the war plays out, but that doesn’t mean that Stormblood feels like a “book one” in the way some do – there’s a lot more than just character building and scene setting here and it makes a very enjoyable read in its own right.
Review first published on The DreamCage website
Vakov Fukasawa used to be a Reaper: a bio-enhanced soldier fighting for the Harmony, against a brutal invading empire. He's still fighting now, on a different battlefield: taking on stormtech. To make him a perfect soldier, Harmony injected him with the DNA of an extinct alien race, altering his body chemistry and leaving him permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. But although they meant to create soldiers, at the same time Harmony created a new drug market that has millions hopelessly addicted to their own body chemistry.
Vakov may have walked away from Harmony, but they still know where to find him, and his former Reaper colleagues are being murdered by someone, or something - and Vakov is appalled to learn his estranged brother is involved. Suddenly it's an investigation he can't turn down . . . but the closer he comes to the truth, the more addicted to stormtech he becomes.
And it's possible the war isn't over, after all . . .
It is truly remarkable for a first novel! The world-building is superb and I was totally immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the different “floors” in Compass, the hollowed out asteroid that provides the main setting for the story. There are definite shades of Bladerunner about how it all looked in my mind, with a class system dictating where and how people lived – the nearer the base of the structure you live, the less affluent you are. Action-wise, too, the book was a definite page-turner and it kept up a breathless pace from beginning to end. It really helped that the story itself was not an overly complex one with hundreds of characters and lots of intertwining threads, as can sometimes be the case with these sprawling tales. This simplicity is very deftly accomplished by having Vakov narrate everything from his own, first-person, viewpoint; something that is quite difficult to do well but Szal has managed his main character effortlessly.
And, for me, it is the characters that make this story so very engaging. Vakov himself is multi-layered and his internal monologues provide a highly credible backstory to explain why he is how he is – both physically and emotionally. But this same attention to detail is also given to the more minor characters in the book. My favourite was Vakov’s hacker best friend Grim and I really found myself rooting for them throughout their many battles.
Is it the perfect book? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. As I said before, the story, once you get to the crux of it is not complex but it is highly entertaining and the final battle is very “Hollywood” friendly, being all action and explosions. I could seriously see this book adapted for the big screen without losing any of the nuance of the writing and it would be a great fun watch.
It’s fantastic to know that this is just the first book in a trilogy, as I look forward to meeting Vakov and co again to see how the next part of the war plays out, but that doesn’t mean that Stormblood feels like a “book one” in the way some do – there’s a lot more than just character building and scene setting here and it makes a very enjoyable read in its own right.
Review first published on The DreamCage website
September 20, 2020
This is a military SF /space opera debut novel by Jeremy Szal. I read is as a part of monthly reading for September 2020 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group.
The story is about Vakov Fukasawa, a human, who lived in a colony planet called New Vladivostok. As a young boy he was recruited by an alien intergalactic governing body of Harmony against a brutal invading empire of Harvest. “Reapers to clear the Harvest away.” – was a chart of Harmony’s bio-modified soldiers and he was one of them. They were changed using a virus from an extinct alien race, which gave them almost superpowers (including a kind of spider sense and quick regeneration), but made almost impossible to withstand urges and mood swings. It is known as stormtech or stormblood.
Seven years passed after the war, which Reapers helped to win. Now Vak is living in an asteroid turned space post called Compass, one of the major Harmony’s space hubs. After some recovery, Vak, together with a hacker genius Grim, is in semi-legal business of helping clients getting what they need. In this case attempting to steel a genome from an organized crime lab. However, the work hasn’t gone smoothly and quite soon Vak in in the middle of political and social crisis.
The start of the novel was quite strong and the concept – quite interesting. This is more a story in SF entourage than true SF, with wars between hi-tech aliens won by grunts, even in hand-to-hand combat; the asteroid has no problems with different gravitation pull, etc. This is no different from say, Star Wars, so this is only a problem if one expects SF.
The story is partially a variant of a soldier, who was addicted to drugs during the war and now in a painful withdrawal/recovery. To some extent as a story set after the global conflict as opposed to mil-SF in the middle of it, it reminded me of Embers of War, despite the plots are quite different. In addition, there is a history of abusive parenting, a family turned against each other…
While the beginning was strong, the story weakened as it progressed, so the result is just an average space opera
The story is about Vakov Fukasawa, a human, who lived in a colony planet called New Vladivostok. As a young boy he was recruited by an alien intergalactic governing body of Harmony against a brutal invading empire of Harvest. “Reapers to clear the Harvest away.” – was a chart of Harmony’s bio-modified soldiers and he was one of them. They were changed using a virus from an extinct alien race, which gave them almost superpowers (including a kind of spider sense and quick regeneration), but made almost impossible to withstand urges and mood swings. It is known as stormtech or stormblood.
Seven years passed after the war, which Reapers helped to win. Now Vak is living in an asteroid turned space post called Compass, one of the major Harmony’s space hubs. After some recovery, Vak, together with a hacker genius Grim, is in semi-legal business of helping clients getting what they need. In this case attempting to steel a genome from an organized crime lab. However, the work hasn’t gone smoothly and quite soon Vak in in the middle of political and social crisis.
The start of the novel was quite strong and the concept – quite interesting. This is more a story in SF entourage than true SF, with wars between hi-tech aliens won by grunts, even in hand-to-hand combat; the asteroid has no problems with different gravitation pull, etc. This is no different from say, Star Wars, so this is only a problem if one expects SF.
The story is partially a variant of a soldier, who was addicted to drugs during the war and now in a painful withdrawal/recovery. To some extent as a story set after the global conflict as opposed to mil-SF in the middle of it, it reminded me of Embers of War, despite the plots are quite different. In addition, there is a history of abusive parenting, a family turned against each other…
While the beginning was strong, the story weakened as it progressed, so the result is just an average space opera
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