|
||
Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand |
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
 |
Seeds Of Earth by Michael Colby Orbit Supplied for review by Harper Collins New Zealand |
Reviewed By: Alan Robson |
| This novel is the first of a space opera trilogy. The scene
is set in an introduction which explains how the solar system was invaded by the Swarm, a
militaristic and utterly ruthless race. However the Earth manages to construct and launch
three starships packed with refugees who escape from the carnage. The novel itself is set many years after these events and concerns itself with what happens to these starships. The galaxy, it seems, is crawling with life and conflict as the various societies vie for power with each other. The starship crews find themselves caught up in this complex power play, sometimes as victims, sometimes as wheelers and dealers. Space operas are ten a penny these days. After years of neglect, they have become fashionable again. There was a time when it seemed that the writers of the 1930s and 1940s had rung all the possible changes on the theme -- the genre is very self-limiting; after all, how much can you say about galaxy spanning organisations before you descend into cliche? Parodies such as Harry Harrison's Star Smashers Of The Galaxy Rangers also suggested quite strongly that there was nothing new to say. Nevertheless the genre has enjoyed a recent revival and writers such as Peter Hamilton and Alistair Reynolds have managed to breath new life into it. Unfortunately, Michael Colby's Seeds Of Earth exhibits all of the faults of the genre and has few of its virtues. His galaxy spanning aliens are all too recognisably human in their motives and ideas. The intergalactic political machinations are nothing we haven't seen before. Indeed, if you stripped the aliens of their strange shapes and corrugated foreheads, called the spaceships aeroplanes and the super-weapons guns, the novel could be pretty much any contemporary political thriller set on Earth. In order to transcend the essential dullness of the genre, a space opera needs to
exhibit genuine insight and imagination. Seeds Of Earth has neither of
these. The novel is tedious, unimaginative and ploddingly plotted. -Alan Robson I was surprised to find that this is Michael Cobley's fourth book, and not his first,
because it definitely lacks a certain polish. No shortage of ideas though. Michael Cobley has managed to surprise me with his new novel Seeds of Earth – he has produced a star-spanning space opera that I want to read. I will admit to being a bit of a jaundiced reader when it comes to trilogies and view them with the same appetite as last week’s leftovers. So what is about this trilogy that makes me want to read on? Seeds of Earth begins with a bang and then jumps forward 150 years to pick up the pieces that have been thrown far and wide. And what curious pieces they are. The galaxy abounds with intelligent alien life and only some of it is friendly. Earth’s three colony ships (that bang at the beginning) have run into several different flavours of it after escaping a particularly nasty version. Seeds of Earth is the story, told at the human level, of those three colony ships rediscovering each other and Earth. The story is told with a straightforwardness that is surprising given the manifold layers of plot twist (there are wheels within wheels within wheels, not everything is as it seems, and major players are lying) with characters, even the villains, I care about. If this was a pirate story there would be swashbuckling; whatever the science-fictional analogue of that term is is here too, but only a couple of trowels’ worth so the flavour isn’t ruined. I am looking forward to volume two (now out, hurray) to administer more plot twists and resolve others. In the meantime sit back and enjoy the ride, the view’s out of this world. -Simon Litten |
||
 |
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
SFFANZ is a non-profit organisation
and registered charity designed to bring together fans of the fantastic in New Zealand |
|
Contact us by email at: enquiries@sffanz.org.nz |
|