Book reviews: A.G. Riddle’s new trilogy…
Winter World + Solar War. A. G. Riddle, author. Okay, I haven’t read #3 yet—it’s a pre-order with an ugly cover, and I rarely sign up for them. (Why should I make a cash advance to Amazon?!) So far the series is a combo of post-apocalyptic and military sci-fi. And, so far, while a wee bit predictable, it’s better than the author’s other books, which is saying a lot—they were good, and so are these. There are only so many themes in sci-fi, so the stories often boil down to variations on themes. To wit…
The theme here, at least in the first two books, is similar to my Chaos Chronicles. An apocalypse occurs and humanity endeavors to survive it. In my case, humanity as well as bad ETs cause the problems. In Riddle’s, a collective intelligence formed by many galactic civilizations brushes away primitive civilizations like they were annoying gnats. If this reminds you of my own Swarm, good—that means you’ve already read my trilogy. If not, you might want to compare. My Swarm is aloof and impersonal; Riddle’s Grid is all that and evil—apparently bad ETs are welcome to join as well as good, and the bad corrupt the good. Swarm tries to stop the evil ETs. Mind you, I haven’t read #3. In spite of murdering billions of humans, maybe the Grid will turn out to be good?
Novel #1’s plot does have a twist. Maybe Riddle doesn’t believe in global warming? In any case, we do not have a global summer as the Earth turns into Venus, as one might expect from our current and very real climate crisis. The Grid goes around stealing the energy out of suns like ours, so that swatting of gnats is realized in our solar system by causing global winter on Earth via blocking the sunlight. That premise is a bit absurd. If the Grid were truly aloof and uncaring, they’d just construct a Dyson sphere between Earth’s orbit and be done with it! Of course, there would be no story then.
The story in Winter World becomes stopping the Grid’s deep-freeze attack on Earth. The reader is introduced to ex-prisoner and super-genius James as well as lovely astronaut Emma, who’s the only survivor of the Grid’s attack on ISS. They come together in those trying circumstances to lead the charge against the Grid…and find a bit of romance in a post-apocalyptic winter (lots of snuggling).
Novel #2’s plot is about the counterattack from the Grid and the aftermath. Asteroids are involved as the Grid avenges the dinosaurs. With all that energy they’ve collected, why doesn’t it just turn Earth into nuclear glass? The author posits it’s because that would be a waste of energy, and the Grid doesn’t like to do that. Hmm. With all the stars in the galaxy, you’d think the Grid doesn’t have to worry about wasting a few nukes. Of course, that would end the story too, and eliminate another tale of survival and the few remaining humans fleeing Earth for a new home around a red dwarf (yeah, the Grid isn’t interested in those puny little stars). Another twist…maybe? Guess who helps the humans on the multi-century-long trip. That trek also occurs in my Chaos Chronicles; readers can consider both an homage to Brian Aldiss.
There are some nitpicking negatives too. Readers might not like the ping-pong chapters flipping back and forth between Emma and James, and it seems forced at times, especially since they’re often keeping secrets from each other. The second book ends more on a cliffhanger. Probably #1 could stand alone; #2 can’t. I’m in luck: #3 will be out soon. It might be best to read all three in one sci-fi reading marathon.
Some characters are well-developed, others not. They all seem a bit stereotypical. Superman James has his evil Luther-like nemesis, as if the Grid weren’t enough. Politicians cave to the scientists too easily—that’s unrealistic because they either ignore us or exploit us. Everyone’s tested by disasters and starvation. While the author kills enough people to cause desires for revenge, that revenge is never realized even when it’s possible, which is unrealistic. Again, this keeps the story going—no Shakespearean tragedy here, for the most part.
I’ve mentioned Aldiss. There’s also a bit of Clarke too (Rama is a wee bit like the Grid, more aloof than evil, though). Niven and Pournelle come to mind too, for their Fallen Angels. Like I said, old themes done in new ways define these two books…and there’s nothing wrong with that.
I don’t want to give the wrong impression. These novels are a great read (and Riddle is one of my favorite sci-fi authors!). Epic sci-fi, if you like, and highly entertaining. They’re also much better than anything else Riddle has done. Will I read #3? Probably. I don’t know whether to root for the Grid or the humans, though. Some of the latter really suck—but we don’t need sci-fi to realize that!
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Comments are always welcome.
The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection. This three-book bundle starts on a dystopian Earth in the grip of the Chaos, where multinational corporations mercenaries maintain an uneasy peace as the corporations enrich themselves both on Earth and in the rest of the solar system. Fleeing the Chaos, three colony ships make century-long voyages to the 82 Eridani, Tau Ceti, and Delta Pavonis systems. On a planet in the first system, they make first contact with good ETs who are also refugees; they fled some bad ETs that eventually wipe out most life on Earth and try to make it into their home world. But a strange, collective intelligence called Swarm wants to punish them. Finally, humans and their ET friends must battle a human industrialist who wants to control all near-Earth space. This epic journey into the far future is available on Amazon and Smashwords and all the latter’s affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.).
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
