Just read - Rogue Star

Just finished reading a book set in the Warhammer 40k universe called Rogue Star, written by Andy Hoare.

Curious book this one, it's set in the Warhammer 40k universe, so it has a decent amount of backstory and structure to call upon. It feels a lot like an introduction, in terms of how it shows the 3 main characters experiencing their universe. There's space battles here, plus a look at the culture on a world of the Imperium of the 40th millenium.

Trouble is, it definitely is an introduction - at the end of its 250 pages, you feel as if the story is just beginning after a couple of skirmishes. That's a little disappointing, I guess I'm used to the Timothy Zahn's, the Iain M. Banks, the David Webers, where each book has its own definite story even though it's fitting into an epic sequence. Well, maybe Iain M. Banks' Culture novels don't slide into each other the way a Zahn trilogy would or Weber's Honor Harrington books do.

I think I'm in great danger of writing more about other books in this short review than I am about the one the review is about, which could probably be taken as a bad sign. It's a very readable book this one but I'm a little wary now about spending more cash on Warhammer books. It's a full price £5.99 for a 250 introduction. When that's compared to the same or a pound or two more for a Weber epic or a Banks masterpiece, I think I'll keep collecting the other novels.

Still, I managed to read it pretty quick, which probably shows how much attention the games are getting at the moment :-) I read Iain M. Banks's Excession novel before this one too, another book set in the universe of the Culture. That was a far more interesting book and introduced the dialogue that the Minds have too. The Culture is a society run by machines called Minds, with the Minds looking out for the people who live inside it. It's an interesting view on Utopia/Distopia, well worth a look if you've not been introduced to it.

Essential Iain M. Banks books - Consider Phlebas and The Algebraist. The second of those isn't Culture but is another Banks masterpiece.

Right - dinner's about to come out the oven, Ryder Cup is on the telly and I'm going to hide behind another book while it's on. This time it's the turn of 3001 by Arthur C. Clarke, which is a beneficiary of the A To Z book challenge :-)