Transmission

Ragnarok #2

by John Meaney

The dark matter in the universe is alive and is seeking to pervert human history to its own ends. Its influence has reached back into the dark ages, to the centre of the 3rd Reich and 600 years into the future.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Mythology, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

John Meaney also writes as Thomas Blackthorne.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the first novel in the series, but this second one... it annoyed me. There are some good aspects, but the faults are too annoying (and in some cases worrying) to overlook.

SPOILERS AHEAD...

First of all, the fact that, for a character who is supposed to be the hero of his timeline, Roger Blackstone is a rather unlikeable person. His best friend/girlfriend from the previous novel suffers severe trauma - and rather than looking after her as we might expect, he runs off and shacks up with the first woman he sees. Hardly heroic behaviour - and the sex scenes are written in a cringeworthy "poetic" fashion that just comes across as silly. They don't even serve any purpose to the plot. The author has just thrown in sex scenes because he can and it seems like the author doesn't know what else to do with many of the female characters.

Then, in the WW2-set section, our scientific genius and independent lady, Gavriela inexplicably ends up having sex with a colleague with whom there has been no trace of any relationship at all, no hint of any kind of chemistry, but we're meant to believe that she simply submits to him because he rubs himself up against her? In my book, if a bloke does that, it's sexual assault. The whole scene just leaves an unpleasant taste - and makes little sense given that we later learn that said bloke prefers other blokes anyway... it seems the whole thing is contrived as an excuse to create a lineage of future characters. Surely the author could have done better than that???

And that's before we mention the repeated use of the world b**** to refer to the (female) villain. And by repeated, I mean multiple times on certain pages by the supposedly heroic main character who seems to have no other insults in his vocabulary. As if the author wants to imply that somehow her gender has anything to do with her being a villain. You're left with a sense of misogynistic bias.

And then there's the repeated emphasis on the villainous entity being a "shape-shifter and gender changer". For most SF/Fantasy readers, we automatically assume that shape-shifting includes the ability to change gender anyway - so why does the author feel the need to emphasise it? It comes across as if the author is trying to imply that there is something evil about changing gender - and that sounds uncomfortably transphobic.

I could carry on, but I'd be here all evening. There some good ideas in this book - the different timelines are interesting, because now we are starting to get hints of how they link together. The technology and different worlds are imaginative - but the book is let down by inconsistent characterisation, an unlikeable brat of a hero and the writer's awful treatment of female characters. No doubt some people will think I'm being overly critical, but it's my honest opinion.

As I said, I liked the first book in this series, but this second one is such a let-down.

[Andrew Ten broek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that some patterns have emerged in this 2nd novel and the Ragnarok council is explained as Calabi-Yau Manifold centred place outside the normal space-time continuum I think this novel grew in depth. Lots of great Norse mythology and then it's get connected to a future because of war against a Darkness that is about to change humanity. Story is massive in scope and written in a more fast way than most Peter F. Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds novels but still up there as a future classic.

[Willy Eckerslike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought ‘Absorption’ was ambitious, trying to cram five independent narrative threads into a few hundred pages but it seems that Meaney was just warming up. In volume two the reader is catapulted straight back into the worlds of Roger, Gavriela, Ulfr and Rekka & the shiny bloke but not being content with just consolidating the characters and very gradually weaving the threads together, Meaney introduces another thread and a lot more secondary characters and interwoven labyrinthine plot lines to the existing threads. It requires more than average concentration to keep track of it all but rather than being a chore, I found the depth & complexity thoroughly engaging – shallow it is most definitely not.

The pace of the first volume now seems positively stately compared to volume two; Meaney’s masterly prose continues to avoid insulting (or confusing) the reader’s intelligence with pace-killing info dumps and the chapters are just the right length being longer during character & plot development and shorter & punchy when the action hots-up. There is always so much either gently hinted-at, imminent or actually going-on that the novel attained the ultimate accolade – becoming un-put-down-able, even after a long & tiring day.

I‘m more than eagerly awaiting the third volume to bring everything together, but when it does eventually become available, I’ll definitely have to re-read the first two volumes beforehand – there’s no chance of me remembering the story so far in sufficient detail to do the final instalment justice.

On the strength of Ragnarok Volumes 2 & 1 alone, Meaney is worthy of a position on the masters of modern science fiction podium alongside Banks & Reynolds; I just wish I’d discovered him sooner as a lot of his earlier works are out of print.

[Robin Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review

First let me start this by saying i really am not a fan of Sci-fi, i will watch it, but cant really read it. I think most of the authors are amazingly talented and have imaginations that are bizarre and inspiring, after all that's how we have Star Trek, Star Wars, Dr Who, etc..

So when i got this book to review i groaned but at the same time i knew i had to read the book, getting a freebie deserves the decency of a read.

John Meaney's writing came across as edgy, exciting, fast paced and well plotted, it wasn't the depth of the last sci-fi series i read (Otherland by Tad Williams) but it was still very clever, weaving some mythology alongside the authors fantastic imagination.

I actually enjoyed this, would i buy another of his books? No probably not, but that's just me and Sci-fi, but i can see anyone who liked the genre giving this 4 stars + (so i will do the same).

Product Description

The second volume of Meaney's epic Ragnarok space opera trilogy. The dark matter in the universe is alive and is seeking to pervert human history to its own ends. Its influence has reached back into the dark ages, to the centre of the 3rd Reich and 600 years into the future. The Ragnarok universe not only provides a stunning SF rationale for Norse mythology but posits a world where pilots are locked into symbiotic relationships with their ships and the cities can come alive

[arjuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, complicated, big-idea, huge-canvas stuff - a few familiar riffs in the Earthbound sequences but that's no bad thing. Mystifying and wondrous and really very satisfying, although less so than book one because it's still not *complete*... I am very narked that this is being published in such ridiculously small instalments. I should have waited until book 3 was out before reading this one! it is very frustrating to be left "up in the air" and not know what happens next. I normally hate that... but Meaney's writing is so good and interesting one is sort of mollified. *Sort of*. In any case: bring on volume 3, and I'll hunt down his other stuff while I'm waiting. This guy is *good* and I really want to know more about his conceptual universes...

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

To give credit to John Meaney, he does have a knack for writing books where you often feel that you have only a slight grasp of what is going on yet that are still hugely enjoyable.

Here it works because the jeopardy of the individual characters is always immediate and clear - even if the why and how is quite mystifying.

A strong second book, that looks to be setting up an epic ending.

[Martin Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is taking time to come together, the multiple narrative threads (and timeframes) making for a fragmented story which is difficult to pace. Nevertheless, it moves the existing central plot (Pilots, Nulaperion subversion, Bletchley Park and WW2) along nicely whilst hinting at the wider 'reveal' to come. Recommended intellectually stretching SF.

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this, although not as much as I did volume 1 of the series. Like a lot of second acts, the action wanes a little in this one, but it still kept me turning pages at a rate of knots trying to find out what would happen next. I'm eagerly looking forward to the conclusion.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled for days with this book, I just couldn't understand it & it gave me headaches. I hate to give up on a book, & this is the 2nd in a month, but after getting through three quarters of the book I had to give in :(

[Igor Raffaele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Getting there, great improvement on the prequel

[Adrian Leaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, it's hugely ambitious but will really depend on the final volume. I really hope Meaney manages to pull off this vast, bizarre and mind expanding space opera trilogy.

[Wellington City Libraries]

A great 2nd book in the trilogy. Look forward to the third.