Posts Tagged Tobias S Buckell

Sly Mongoose by Tobias S. Buckell

30 November 2008 at 10:51 pm · Filed under Books ·Tagged ,

Sly Mongoose by Tobias S. BuckellI’ve already written briefly here and here about Tobias S. Buckell’s two previous books, Crystal Rain and Ragamuffin. I just finished his most recent novel in the series, Sly Mongoose, and while I don’t think it’s quite as good as its predecessors, it’s still a great read.

It’s also, believe it or not, a space zombie novel.  Which, obviously, means there’s going to be a fair amount of gore along with the action.  The plot moves along swiftly, and as usual Buckell does a great job of fleshing out a new corner of his fictional universe.  My only complaint is that, compared to the epic Ragamuffin, this book felt a bit more limited in scope — the stakes seemed lower, the mysteries of the plot a bit less compelling.

But that’s minor quibbling, and this is really a great addition to the series.

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Ragamuffin by Tobias S. Buckell

20 October 2008 at 7:49 am · Filed under Books ·Tagged ,

Ragamuffin

Ragamuffin

Whenever I go on a big trip, one rule holds true:  if I only bring one book along, I finish it on the plane flight over and then have nothing to read all week.  But if I bring a bunch of books, I generally barely finish one.  My trip last week to Tokyo was a case of the latter – I brought along four books, and only finished one.

That book was Ragamuffin by Tobias S. Buckell, the sequel to Crystal Rain which I recommended here.  Definitely read that one first – but this book is excellent as well.  The author has defined quite an interesting, complex universe here, and I’m hoping that he sticks with it for a while to flesh it out a lot more (the third book, Sly Mongoose, is out in hardback now).

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Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell

5 October 2008 at 11:46 pm · Filed under Books ·Tagged ,

Crystal Rain

Crystal Rain

Another one of my random book recommendations ….

I don’t read a lot of science fiction these days (though I went on quite a run in my early 20′s), but after reading this review raving about Tobias S. Buckell, I decided to try out his first novel, Crystal Rain.  Absolutely first rate.  Although it’s very much an action story, it doesn’t skimp on the characters nor the setting.

As the cover drawing shows, this is sort of a steam-punk novel, but set on a distant world largely inhabited by Caribbeans, facing off against an army of bloodthirsty Aztecs invading their land.  Which makes the novel sound absolutely terrible, but figuring out the convoluted backstory, which (eventually) quite satisfactorily explains how things reached this state, is part of the fun of the book, and I don’t want to spoil it.

Buckell has followed this up with two more novels set in the same universe, but this is a stand-alone novel, and a very satisfying one.  I’m planning to pick up a copy of his second novel, Ragamuffin, to keep me company on my trip to Japan next week.

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