Not bad, but not exactly good either.
I picked this up due to a thread on rpg.net about science fiction set in the Solar System. Being a fan of what I call planetary space opera, I snagged it from PBS. I satisfied my curiosity, but was it worth it? Maybe.
The book is about the quest of Marc Detrs to avoid his predicted death. And to do that, he has to find a legendary treasure. That quest takes him to the Hybrid Legions, where he is rebuilt as a combat Hybrid, able to survive in a lot of environments, to fight in the interminable hybrid rebellions off Earth. And as one review put it "It's about soldiers. They fight, then they have sex, then they do drugs, then they fight some more."
This is a weird book, with an odd mix. There is pantropic spread of humanity to the major bodies of the Solar System. Its also got artificial gravity, crystal technology with the barest gloss of scientific rationalization and psi powers.
Its also weird in that the author doesn't have any trouble portraying sex and sexual abuse, but has Marc swearing by city name. One that stuck with me was "Get the L.A. out." To me, that was odd.
Characters aren't very deep and not too engaging. I think we're supposed to sympathize with Marc since he's been sexually abused by his elder brother and physically abused by his parents. He was sort of glibly interesting, but by the end of the book, I didn't care.
Did I like it? Two and a half stars worth.
Likes: Colonized Solar System.
Dislikes: Characters; Way too casual sex; Crystal technology
Suggested for: Teen age boys and folks who read Omni in their teens.
I picked this up due to a thread on rpg.net about science fiction set in the Solar System. Being a fan of what I call planetary space opera, I snagged it from PBS. I satisfied my curiosity, but was it worth it? Maybe.
The book is about the quest of Marc Detrs to avoid his predicted death. And to do that, he has to find a legendary treasure. That quest takes him to the Hybrid Legions, where he is rebuilt as a combat Hybrid, able to survive in a lot of environments, to fight in the interminable hybrid rebellions off Earth. And as one review put it "It's about soldiers. They fight, then they have sex, then they do drugs, then they fight some more."
This is a weird book, with an odd mix. There is pantropic spread of humanity to the major bodies of the Solar System. Its also got artificial gravity, crystal technology with the barest gloss of scientific rationalization and psi powers.
Its also weird in that the author doesn't have any trouble portraying sex and sexual abuse, but has Marc swearing by city name. One that stuck with me was "Get the L.A. out." To me, that was odd.
Characters aren't very deep and not too engaging. I think we're supposed to sympathize with Marc since he's been sexually abused by his elder brother and physically abused by his parents. He was sort of glibly interesting, but by the end of the book, I didn't care.
Did I like it? Two and a half stars worth.
Likes: Colonized Solar System.
Dislikes: Characters; Way too casual sex; Crystal technology
Suggested for: Teen age boys and folks who read Omni in their teens.
