Xeelee: Vengeance by Stephen Baxter

Gollancz | 2017 (15 June) | 346p | Review copy | Buy the book

Xeelee: Vengeance by Stephen Baxter It is AD 3646 and mankind, and with it peace, has settled across the solar system. Earth has recovered from some of the environmental disasters of the past while the occupation of Mars, Mercury and other planets and moons has allowed humanity to harvest resources for a prosperous distant future. The Poole family has engineered some of Earth’s greatest technological achievements for centuries and Michael, its latest heir, is about to display arguably their greatest achievement yet – wormhole technology. But as the wormhole opens for the first time an object emerges from it – an immense alien vessel, the exact size and shape of the wormhole, and it brings with it a message. It tells of a future in which Michael Poole will be regarded as a prophet and, at the centre of the Galaxy, there will be an immense statue raised to Poole by a species that waged war against humans for thousands of years.

The Xeelee have arrived in the solar system using the wormholes created by Michael Poole. Their progress is slow and their intentions unknown but, when they arrive at Mercury and incredibly, amazingly extract from the planet a ‘cache’ or body that crashed onto the planet billions of years ago, it becomes clear that their intentions are not kind. It’s up to Michael Poole and his colleagues to try and understand their fixation on him as a person while offering resistance to an onslaught that has the potential to devastate the solar system once and for all.

In Vengeance, Stephen Baxter returns to his Xeelee universe and in it he gives the Xeelee the chance to wipe out the human that has caused their species so much harm over the millennia. I should say at this point that I’ve yet to read the Xeelee novels and I did wonder, heading into Vengeance, if I would be able to follow its story without having knowledge of what has come before and after. But Stephen Baxter is such a great writer, who always makes me step back and gasp in amazement at the universes that he creates, that I thought I’d give Vengeance a go. I’m so glad I did. And I’m equally pleased that I have the Xeelee novels ready to go on my reading pile. After this, I don’t want to miss them.

It’s true, not having read the other novels, that I have no background context for the characters (human or alien) that fill this novel. Nevertheless, I felt immediately invested in them, particularly Michael and his colleague in danger, Nicola. With Michael’s parents (and Nicola’s mother) playing a significant part in the events of Vengeance, it was very easy for me to become caught up in the family tensions that have such repercussions for the whole of mankind. Michael and his powerful father Harry are regarded as both saviours and devils. Michael has the weight of the world on his shoulders while expecting constantly to disappoint the world he wants to save.

This is a future world in which people have been genetically enhanced and artificial intelligences have equality and status. People can move around ‘virtually’ and some, such as Michael’s mother, have no choice but to do so. I really enjoyed the relationship between Michael and his mother, Muriel, but it’s easy to see why Michael should be drawn to his co-pilot Nicola, another of the novel’s exceptionally strong characters.

Although I have yet to discover the wider picture of the Xeelee universe, there is so much to enjoy here. Fundamentally, Vengeance is a first contact novel, describing the story of an alien attack on the solar system. It is both ingenious and utterly horrifying as well as being completely irresistible. I loved the premise and it delivered perfectly. The drama is intense, the science is fascinating and the wonder is awe-inspiring. The Xeelee species is enigmatic entirely. And its depiction here made me desperate to read the original novels to discover more of the truth.

The focus here is very much on a small group of people. The annihilation of so much life in the solar system is observed in horror rather than experienced ‘on the streets’. It is so well done. Stephen Baxter is such a brilliant writer of hard science fiction. He also captures ideas and makes them feel real and dazzling. There is plenty to enjoy in Vengeance and its forthcoming sequel if you haven’t read the Xeelee novels but I think after reading it you’ll not want to resist the pull of those earlier novels. For that, I’m so grateful to Vengeance which is, from start to finish, a wonderful and always thrilling novel about humanity’s ability to face the unknown and the harmful while still wishing to explore his or her potential and the reaches of space.

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The Real Wonder Woman – guest post by Emily Hauser, author of For the Winner

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Last month, Transworld published For the Winner by Emily Hauser. This is a fabulous novel – an interpretation of the Jason and the Golden Fleece myth that focuses on the extraordinary and unusual story of Atalanta, a female Argonaut. I’m delighted to host a guest post by Emily on an irresistible subject – ‘The Real Wonder Woman’.

For the Winner by Emily Hausner The Real Wonder Woman

I went to see Wonder Woman in the cinema a few weeks ago. I loved it. It was brilliant. But as I watched the astonishing feats of the Amazons – named after a mythical tribe of warrior women first mentioned in an ancient Greek epic over 2,500 years ago – I thought that the fantasy powers granted to them in the film paled into insignificance when compared to the achievements of the real Amazons, the real Wonder Women of the ancient world.

As a scholar of the ancient world and an author of historical fiction, it’s my job to bring those real, powerful ancient women back into the foreground.

One of these Wonder Women of antiquity was Atalanta, an extraordinary woman and a warrior who lived over three thousand years ago in ancient Greece, not far from modern-day Thessaloniki. She was a self-taught warrior, the fastest runner in the world, one of the best archers of her time, and the only woman, according to history, to accompany Jason and the Argonauts on the legendary voyage of the Golden Fleece. And it’s the story of this extraordinary warrior – a Wonder Woman before her time – that I set out to tell in the second novel of the Golden Apple trilogy, For the Winner (Transworld 2017).

Atalanta is in many ways a forerunner of the character of Diana in DC Comics’ Wonder Woman. She was a formidable fighter, one of the greatest heroes of her generation, and yet she struggled to gain recognition and credibility as a woman. She was abandoned by her father, who (in Atalanta’s case) cast her out on a mountain to die because he had wanted a son and heir. She was a devotee of the goddess Artemis – the Greek goddess of the hunt who later, in the Roman world, would be called Diana.

But what I love most about Atalanta is that, in contrast to today’s Wonder Woman, she is entirely human. She does not need to rely on superpowers or her birthright as the daughter of a god to vanquish her enemies. Her strength comes from her own determination, her own training, her own will to survive. She fights in battles alongside heroes like Hercules and Theseus. She earns her place on the voyage with Jason and the Argonauts and travels to the ends of the earth, disguised as a man – and when she is discovered and exiled in the wildnerness, she refuses to give up. When she returns to Greece and her father – having recognised her at last – wants to force her to marry, she will only do so on her own terms. She demands that the man she will wed should outrun her in a footrace – which she believes will be impossible, until she makes a fatal mistake… And as Atalanta is forced to make a choice during that final footrace that will change her life forever, we see not only her strength, but also her courage as she faces all the odds and… you’ll have to read For the Winner to find out what happens next!

Wonder Woman is, without a doubt, a brilliant and necessary demonstration of the power of a female lead who does not need a man to survive; a woman who can fight as well as – if not better than – a man.

But the ancient Greeks got there first.

Reviews
For the Winner
For the Most Beautiful

For the Most Beautiful by Emily Hauser Giveaway!
The giveaway has now closed and the winners have been contacted.

The publisher has kindly given me signed copies of For the Winner and its predecessor For the Most Beautiful to give away here and/or on Twitter. If you’d like to go into the hat, just let me know which you’d like in the comments below or retweet the post on Twitter, again saying which you’d like to go for. The deadline is this Friday (7 July) at 4pm (UK and Ireland entries only – sorry about that.).

HWA Endeavour Ink Gold Crown 2017 Longlist

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It’s a big day today. After several months of intense and enjoyable reading and lively discussion with fellow judges, the Historical Writers Association today announced the longlist for the HWA Endeavour Ink Gold Crown 2017. It was an honour – and a lot of fun – to be among the judges. So many good books were submitted and the task might have been pleasurable but it wasn’t easy. The result, though, is a longlist that we’re all proud of and I hope they give you ideas for future reading.

But, before the books, I must thank Antonia Senior, our marvellous Chair, Imogen Robertson, judge and HWA representative, and the publisher Endeavour Ink for its sponsorship, as well as fellow judges Amy Durant, Robin Carter, Nick Rennison and Richard Foreman.

Here in alphabetical order is the longlist. Congratulations to all twelve authors!

All together they make a lovely set. But what a challenge to get a shortlist from twelve such brilliant books!

A couple of years ago I was one of the judges for the HWA Debut Crown and I’ve been looking forward to seeing the 2017 shortlist for that and today there it was. Such good books! Completing the trio of awards, the longlist for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown 2017 was also announced today. You can see all three of the longlists here on the HWA website.

Soot by Andrew Martin

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Corsair | 2017 (6 July) | 352p | Review copy | Buy the book

Soot by Andrew Martin It is November 1799 and York freezes under a blanket of snow. Life is especially grim for Fletcher Rigge, a gentleman who has fallen on hard times, who languishes in York’s debtor’s prison. An unexpected opportunity for release comes in the form of a proposition from a Captain Harvey. The Captain’s father, a painter of silhouette portraits or shades, has been murdered and Harvey is convinced that one of his last sitters was the one to do the deed. If Rigge can discover which it was within a month then the Captain will clear all of his debts. All Rigge has to go on is the outline of a face’s profile, a hat, a pet dog – this will be no easy task – but Rigge is a gifted and observant man. He is also on the verge of desperation.

It doesn’t take Rigge long to identify the shades’ six subjects – their shadows – and in their pursuit Rigge moves across York and further afield to London. His investigations take him into the assembly rooms of the fashionable, into literary circles, into the world of the theatre (in which an unpopular actor is lucky if the missiles lobbed at him miss), of gambling and seedy inns populated by prostitutes, thugs and spies. Much of what happens is told in Rigge’s own words via his journal entries, but we’re also given other viewpoints thanks to the letters and diaries of others involved in the case. Watching over it all are the lawyers, who seem more interested in Rigge’s own story than in the murder he’s investigating.

I adored Soot and the reasons for this are many. It’s a far more sophisticated plot than is first revealed and it is uncovered in an increasing number of layers. Plenty of perspectives are given and, as the novel proceeds, they change our opinion of almost everything. Nobody is safe. As time goes by, we learn that we’re not quite certain where we stand. Some of the ‘interpolations’ suggest that there is at least one perspective written with the benefit of hindsight. The lawyers make a brilliant contribution to the style of the novel as well as its plot. And because we can have two commentators interpreting one scene, we’re given intriguing insights. A character might think that his true nature is revealed, while another voice makes it clear that it isn’t. There is delicious irony at work here, which fits in so well with this late Georgian age of coffee houses, literary musings, hedonism and theatrical entertainments.

There are several thoroughly enjoyable character portraits in Soot – at first, they appear as shadows or shades but, as the pages go by, we learn much more than they would wish to give away. The most fascinating character for me, though, is Rigge himself. We know very little about him at the beginning and he doesn’t give much away but there is quite a journey ahead as his past and his beliefs become known. There is one moment in particular when I raged at him, and another that shocked me as Rigge truly surprised me, but I never stopped hoping for the best. It’s an incredible story, slowly built up with great skill by the author.

I loved the style of Soot with its multitude of voices, each individual and so evocative of the times. The language captures the spirit of the very late 18th century but it doesn’t labour it. It is never hard work to read. Instead, the narrative is light, witty and very clever, rich in social commentary, humour, irony and, now and again, sarcasm. At times they invite the reader in for intimacy while at other times they keep us at bay.

Soot does such a good job of bringing the Georgian world of York and London to life, with its fashions, pleasure-seeking, hypocrisy and sins. It’s a fascinating world in which morality occupies an uncomfortable space, as shown by the enigmatic, troubled and so likeable Fletcher Rigge.

The True Soldier by Paul Fraser Collard

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Headline | 2017 (13 July) | c.400p | Review copy | Buy the book

The True Soldier by Paul Fraser Collard It is 1861 and Jack Lark has turned his back on the British army after hard years fighting campaigns in Europe, Crimea and India. It’s a sad sense of duty and responsibility that drives Jack to Boston in the United States – Thomas Kearney, a comrade from the French Foreign Legion, never felt able to send his letters back to his family in America while alive but, since his death in battle, in Jack’s arms, it’s now fallen to Jack to do it for him. And so Jack arrives at the door of the wealthy and influential Kearney family in Boston and it’s there he is given new purpose.

War is imminent between the Union and Confederation – volunteers are joining both sides in their thousands. Samuel Kearney is a leading figure behind the scenes for the Unionists and his younger son Robert, as expected, has enlisted as a lieutenant in its army. But Kearney is under no illusion. Charming he might be, but Robert is not a natural soldier and the army he will fight in is untrained and untested. Samuel Kearney has no wish to lose another son to war and so he makes Jack an offer that is hard to refuse – Jack will become a sergeant in Robert’s Company and will be paid to do two jobs: to give the Company the benefit of his experience and skill and, above all else, to keep Robert safe. Elizabeth, Robert’s beautiful sister, adds her pleas to her father’s and she is not easy to turn down. It seems that Jack will also be fighting alongside Elizabeth’s fiancé Captain Ethan Rowell. That could prove to be as much a trial for Jack as facing the Confederates across a battlefield.

The Jack Lark series is one of my very favourites and it’s been a joy (albeit at times an anxious pleasure) to follow Jack’s exploits over the last few years. The novels differ in mood as Jack takes on a succession of different enemies in some of the most famous conflicts of the mid 19th century. In the past Jack has stolen identities and ranks, fighting as an officer under a false name, but his courage and military prowess have never been less than true. But there has been something of the loveable rogue about Jack and this is borne out in some of his exploits and relationships – of which there have been a fair few. But in The True Soldier, the sixth in the series, we have a very different Jack Lark.

Jack now fights as himself and he is no longer an officer. There is no cause left that he wishes to fight for. He is purposeless and his soul is bruised and hardened. But he discovers something of the old Jack Lark in this new challenge in a country that he knows very little about. He learns about the Union cause, the origins of the Civil War, and the drive to rid the United States of slavery. There is much for Jack to believe in, although it’s not that straightforward. Rich Union families, including the Kearneys, employ black servants and the divide between master and servant goes way beyond differences in social standing and wealth. Paul Fraser Collard informs us about all this through the wonderful medium of Rose, Elizabeth’s maid. Rose is a very intriguing and enigmatic character and is a refreshing change from some of the other women that Jack Lark has been drawn to in the past.

In these novels, Paul Fraser Collard never flinches from portraying the true horror of Victorian war and The True Soldier is no different. The American Civil War is shown to be particularly brutal due in part to the contrasting naivety of the American population. The Civil War is only just beginning and soldiers are being seen off with parades, flowers and kisses. Members of Washington’s society drive out in their carriages to watch the first ‘proper’ battle of the war with their picnics. But Jack knows what war is like and he’s proven right here time after time after time, and always in graphic technicolour. Some of the battle sequences are painful to read as men line up to face one another and then shoot. There’s nothing glamorous here about war or Jack’s role in it. It’s angry and bloody. But it never goes too far. Paul Fraser Collard is never gratuitous in his descriptions of battle. You know from what is implied that the reality would have been unimaginably worse.

I’ve always been interested in the American Civil War and I was delighted to hear that the author was sending Jack overseas to experience it. It works well that Jack is placed at the very beginning of the conflict. It means we can watch people change – both those who fought and those who spectated. Much of the second half of the novel is concerned with the Battle of Bull Run and it is brilliantly depicted. Jack Lark might be a fictional character but his role in the conflict seems real and likely, just another of the many immigrants who filled the army’s ranks.

The True Soldier both informs and entertains as, I believe, all good historical fiction should. This novel made me want to do more research on the events it depicts while also immersing me in the more intimate stories of Jack, Elizabeth, Robert, Ethan and Rose – and O’Dowd. I mustn’t forget O’Dowd. This is such a strong series and, while I have such a soft spot for The Maharajah’s General, I do believe The True Soldier could be among the best. I cannot wait to find out what happens next because surely this novel marks a new beginning for this fantastic hero, Jack Lark. As such, if you want to read it as a stand alone novel, then you certainly can.

Disclaimer: Paul Fraser Collard is, I’m honoured to say, a friend of mine. But this in no way affects the honesty of this review. Paul just happens to write great books.

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The Child by Fiona Barton

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Bantam Press | 2017 (29 June) | 368p | Review copy | Buy the book

The Child by Fiona Barton When the remains of a young baby, long buried, are found in the demolished ruins of a London suburb street, more lives than one are thrown into turmoil. For some the skeleton brings hope, for others there’s nothing but guilt, while for journalist Kate Waters it’s a powerful human interest story that deserves to be told.

Only hours after Angela Irving gave birth to her daughter, little Alice was stolen from her hospital cot. Over forty years have passed since then but many still remember the event. Everybody wants the remains of this little baby to be Alice, Angela and Kate more than ever. At last there would be a resolution to a terrible crime and mystery – and to Angela’s constant agonising grief. Who wouldn’t want to read about that? But it isn’t going to be that simple. Another woman, Emma, is consumed by the news of the discovery at the building site. She, too, is in need of finding peace. Both Angela and Emma hope that Kate, in tandem with the police, will find the answers they desperately seek.

I loved The Widow, Fiona Barton’s 2016 debut novel, and I was delighted to learn that Kate Waters – and Bob Sparks, her police contact – would return in The Child, and it is so good to see them again. Once more, Kate finds herself at the centre of a mystery with the power to grip her readers but her ambition is here kept in check by her determination that Angela and Emma will receive the answers they need. Kate’s own investigations move the police case along and, except for some blips, she works closely with Bob and Andy – she is most definitely on first-name terms now with these dedicated police officers.

A lot has changed since the first novel. While there is less Bob Sparkes than before, Kate is now depicted much more sympathetically. For the first time I was aware of her older age and now we learn more about her home life. I liked Kate much more in this novel than in The Widow. This is largely because she’s a more rounded individual now, but it’s also because of her commitment to Angela and Emma. Kate always has her eye on the case but I sensed that here the women come first. But I also warmed to Kate for her role as mentor to young novice reporter, Joe. I love how this relationship develops. It also adds a splash of humour when it’s needed.

The stories of Angela and Emma are engrossing to say the least and Fiona Barton tells them with enormous compassion and care. I felt for these two women so much and became completely wrapped up in their lives, relationships and torment. The novel moves between Kate, Angela and Emma and this works brilliantly. Slowly the lives of these three women connect but so too do the lives of their partners, children, parents, friends.

As you’d expect from a mystery based around the discovery of a baby’s skeleton, The Child tells a tragic tale and the infant is as central to the novel as its title suggests. But it is also an enthralling read, driven on by a thoroughly satisfying story and some wonderful characters. It’s not often I shed a tear when I read a crime novel but I did with this one, and it came from an unexpected place – from Joe, the novice reporter. There are lots of little touches in Fiona Barton’s delicious writing that really add to the mood of the read. As a result, I gobbled it up. Kate has grown in my eyes with The Child and I can’t wait to meet her again.

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