Specters of the Dawn

Moreau #3

by S. Andrew Swann

The final novel in the Moreau trilogy. Set in 21st-century San Francisco, this is the story of Angelica Lopez, a moreau descended from genetically manipulated rabbit stock. Angel was a tough street fighter-turned-waitress until Byron the fox came into her life, dragging her into the deadly underground of information peddling.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Cyberpunk

284 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1994

About the author

S. Andrew Swann is the primary pseudonym of Steven Swiniarski, who also writes as S.A. Swiniarski, Steven Krane, and S.A. Swann.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun installment in the series! This one takes place about 6 months after the last one and features Angel, the 'rabbit' gang leader Nohar met in Forests of the Night. Angel played a minor role there, being taking under Nohar's wing and ended up being tortured by the morey's at the very end. Once she recovered, she packed up, sold her car, and moved to San Francisco.

This starts off a bit slow. Angel is working in a greasy spoon as a waitress and shares a flat with another morey. So, we are treated with her rather mundane life for a bit until one day in a bar she is accosted by some 'skin head' pinks-- 'pro-humans'-- and is saved by a handsome Brit fox. She falls head over her fuzzy tail for the guy, but after only a week or so, the fox is found dead. The cops take her to ID the body and the fox's lawyer contact her to inform her that the fox left her his condo and car, along with a sizable sum of cash.

While the last installment featured a genengineered human (Evi), Swann really shines here with Angel, bring her moreau character to life. Something fishy is going on, however, as the cops claim that the fox was killed by some skinheads with a knife, but when she IDed the body, clearly his neck was ripped out by a morey. Further, the cops claim the same group of skinheads that originally accosted her at the pub are the main suspects. Why would the fox go deep into their territory does not make sense. Further, the fox's condo is trashed when she goes there, and her own flat has been searched. It seems there are several parties involved in what is going on and poor Angel has to figure it on the run. In the background to all of this are rising human/morey tensions and a heated political campaign for the US presidency.

On one hand, this reads as a mystery. Who were the various parties after the fox and now Angel? What exactly did the fox do, working for a major corporation? And yes, we have the aliens again. At the end of the second book, the alien's presence is no longer a state secret, but the true extent of their meddling in human affairs is. On the other hand, this is a science fiction/first contact thriller with some truly morbid aliens. Lots of intrigue, some good politics and a really fun lead character make this a fun, fast read. 4 fluffy stars!

[Hidekisohma · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book was...interesting? Is that the right word? Sure. let's go with that.

The first thing yo'll notice is that it says book #3. I didn't know it was a book in a series, when i picked it up. However, thankfully, it isn't really a series where that matters. Apparently the main character is a character that the main character from the first book met for a few pages and then sent on her way. They mention this so at least i'm not really lost.

The story is your typical "girl gets involved in something way over her head and figure out what's goin on". The real difference between this story and others of this type is that we're in a kind of dystopia future where animal/human hybrids exist and there's racial tension.

I want to keep this spoiler free as if i go into the plot i'll have to explain the whole thing and i really don't want to do that. Needless to say, it gets super complicated with intrigue and stuff.

The book itself, while being pretty short was.....okay? I think the biggest problem was the main character was able to take care of herself a little TOO well. I think this story would have done better if the rabbit girl had a little more trouble. Like, she starts as a waitress and gets thrust into this world of espionage and murder, but she seems too well prepared (She was part of a gang in a previous book) it would have been more interesting to me if she had to evolve along the way. kind of like sarah conner from Terminator.

I don't know if the ending really counts as a "twist", but i THINK they were trying to do one? I unno. Either way, the setting was pretty cool. It was neat to see a world of animal/human hybrids and see how the world would actually react. like, the systemic racism the world had against them.

It was way better than "Spellsinger" where they just said "hey, that's an otter. trust us. it's an otter" and that's all the description you got. Her being a rabbit actually came into play and the fact she was non-human played a major role. So that was nice to see.

The story definitely dragged in a few parts and the main girl "Angel" could be a bit irritating at times, but overall....it wasn't bad. If she had another book in the series, i'd probably read it. But from what i can tell, she doesn't get another one of her own books.

All in all...2.5/5, but this time, i'm rounding up to a 3, because i actually enjoyed it more than the last 2.5 that i rounded down to a 2. So yeah...not bad..not great, but there's potential there.

[Vernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I love the entire Moreau series and I think all main protagonists are well developed, Angelica Lopez (a.k.a. Angel), the main protagonist from this book, is a character I can relate to the most.

I don't get why some readers criticise the author's writing style. I personally find Mr. Swiniarski's writing style decent, even after taking his amusingly colourful language into account. I like the way he keeps his sentences short and simple.

Anyway, this series is targeted at young adults because it contains sexually suggestive contains, profanities, drug references and violence. If you are sensitive to cuss words(American style), this series may not be for you.

[Leela4 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, really. A milieu story with a lot of action. Not a mystery despite the setup. At heart it's an indictment of how monomaniacs tend to congregate and create disasters while maintaining it's not their fault. Not my thing; I want a story that moves rather than marinates.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really get into this book from the Moreau series. It wasn't as exciting as the others and the main character, Angel, wasn't as strong or as likable as the others. It was cool to see where Angel went after the first Moreau book, but I didn't think that she should have gotten a book on her own.
The writing was just as good as the other books and the plot fit with the overall story but it just didn't grab me the way the first book did.
Overall 2.5 out of 5 stars.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. The story feels a little scattered in places but like the previous two books this one is also a page turner.

[Kass Whitaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as strong of a narrative as its two predecessors, the plot of Specters of the Dawn meanders for the first half of the book as Angel deals with legal affairs concerning Byron, her vulpine lover. The second half of the book introduces us to Mr. K, a frank whose body has been bioengineered to integrate with a massive supercomputer. With Mr. K’s help, Angel discovers that the animosity and tension between Moreys and humans may not be entirely organic.

Angel is a hotheaded, but relatable character, and her motivation to pursue Byron's sketchy past is fueled by emotional betrayal. It's a weak motivation compared to Nohar and Evi's stories; one is motivated by money and the latter by revenge, but it works.

More than once I caught myself thinking that Angel was needlessly putting herself in danger in her pursuit of the truth. She is not a detective or a highly trained mercenary. She's a street kid turned waitress with a penchant for making impulsive decisions that come back to bite her in the butt.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, though it wasn’t as strong as its prequels. Swann’s choppy style of writing has improved with each entry into this series, and I look forward to finishing his quartet.

[James Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angel Lopez, another secondary character from book 1, is the star of this tale of conspiracy. When she meets a fox who sweeps her off her feet, she finally thinks she might have a chance for actual love in her life. She might marry up, start a real life... That is, until her fox winds up dead and Angel is pushed center stage into a conspiracy that, once again, involves the aliens. This time they are minor players. Now that everyone knows about them, the effects of how they’ve manipulated the world to their own design are coming out. The information is very valuable because it can tell very powerful figures in industry and government what they need to do to manipulate the world to their end. Angel has this information now, and it’s the hot potato that gets her kidnapped by humans who want to see moreaus exterminated, planted in the middle of riots, and gunned down by dangerous felines. For the third time in a row the web of conspiracy gets too complex for its own good, but this plot is actually the easiest to understand out of the series. By now Swann has finally shown exactly how the aliens influenced the world to keep Earth primitive and at war so we’ll never explore the galaxy and interfere with their way of life. The world has become fully realized and it’s easy to accept them as part of this world. They made it what it is, and it makes sense that now humans are trying to take advantage of their technique to manipulate it. This is a gritty, violent world. The aliens are repulsive, humans and moreaus hate each other, the world is lawless and everybody has an agenda. There is just plain no romance in this world and I like that.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed the two Swann Moreau books that I have read to date, but I also find them a bit frustrating. In trying to determine what my issue is with Swann's books, I think its falls into his writing.

He is not a bad writer, oh I have read much worse, but I think I would describe his overall style as stiff. And, that stiffness I think is why it takes me awhile to get into his books. With some writer's I pick up up the rhythm and fall into that rhythm as I read. I have trouble picking up Swann's beat.

The concept is a good one, and arguably takes David Brin's Uplift concept a bit further. Humanity has uplifted multiple species, primarily because of wars fought in the Asian sub-continent. Those wars have also led to refugees fleeing those conflicts and settling into ghettos in the U.S.

Swann doesn't rely on the same protagonist in each book. Angel, a rabbit, is the main character here, and she accidentally falls into a conspiracy that has world shattering proportions. I did like the slow reveal of the conspiracy, because I thought both the reveal's pacing and facts made sense for the story.

Nohar, a tiger private investigator from the first Moreau book, makes a cameo appearance. A timeline for this world is attached at the end of the book and for a world building/history buff like myself I appreciated these snippets of added detail.

As an aside Swann has written three trilogies, which appear loosely tied together of which the Moreau books are the first trilogy.

[Eran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow both better and worse than the previous books in the series. and nothing much more to say about it, just more fun, light/cheap reading. This time a rehabilitated-grown-on-the-street bunny character for a main one. and more of the aliens conspiracy plot development.

[Joerg Grau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thrird novel of the amazing Moreau series. And who would have thought a rabbit would be this entertaining? First rate!