1397. The Cruel Stars

I have a confession to make. I love the work of writer John Birmingham. I have read, ALMOST everything he ever wrote, and those things I haven't read, I either own and will soon read, or I am in the process of buying (see further pics below).  Additionally, I follow his blog (along with the blogs of many other writers I like.) However, I do not personally know the author, nor have I been paid to write the following review.

Having said all of that.... Sometime in July 2019, NetGalley, gave me the opportunity to read an electronic copy before its publication and then review it. As a fan of Birmingham, since the "Axis of Time series" and then "The Disappearance series" I was thrilled to read his first foray into Space Opera, in this particular instance, Military, Hard Science Fiction.

Now, ever since "The Axis of Time" and "The Disappearance", I knew that John Birmingham could write on "military" matters and subjects. Military subjects involving battles fought, the language of warfighting and even tactics. Mind you, I do not know what his military background is, but the grasp of the subject matter is accurate. Similarly, in this new novel, his grasp of the themes of science is very very good. Therefore, making this book, both "military" and "hard" in the science-fiction department.

On to the story...

We begin as Lieutenant Lucinda Hardy boards hew new ship. She comes to it after receiving a field commission. But, and this is really important, she does not come from the type of background that would give her, not just her Space Navy rank, but status and position within society. She does not come from Royal or Corporate background, and should therefore be a non-person. Yes, she's an augmented human, but really, in this universe, who cares? Alas, even though she started as an Ensign and received a field commission, she also received a medal for gallantry during her last tour, putting her in this position, as the tactical officer of the Defiant.

Lucinda's Universe  is populated by humans who left the homeworld and established new colony worlds over which they became corporate rulers, and eventually promoted themselves to nobility and royalty. In this universe, humanity contains, robots, AI, and are themselves technically augmented. As Hard Science Fiction goes all the types of augmentation proposed within this story are feasible today OR have been discussed in various formats. Humanity WILL merge with technology. The when of it is the only unknown. This movement is called transhumanism.

But, not everyone, in this Universe, is on-board human-augmentation, infinite rebirths, and virtual immortality. There is an offshoot of humanity called "The Sturm"...(I am presuming, based on the German origin of the word, it means, "The Storm".) The Sturm  are opposed to these modern, augmented, humans,  and have already fought one war with Earth (almost completely destroying it in the process.)  They are now on the way back into the human sphere of influence, after rebuilding their strength. As the "big bad" (if you see them as such), they're not that bad of a people, meaning, some readers might actually agree with their viewpoint. And John Birmingham does a great job not painting them as a totally evil caricature. They are, the way they are, because of what they believe -- and isn't that true of all of us?

There are other major players in this Space Opera, including a Princess, an almost Ancient, General, from Earth's first forays into interplanetary space, and a bunch of criminals (from a certain point of view.) In many ways, you will, as I did, fall in love with these varied characters, but, my first love, throughout book one of this story was Lucinda Hardy. I would follow her, I would serve under her and obey her orders. Not because as a transhumanist she's perfect, but because of it. She is anything BUT -- she struggles with what she is, what she has accomplished. She is unsure of her footing and second guesses her decisions. In short, she is perfect in her human imperfection.

If you're a fan of a richly detailed future, immersed in high technology, AI and almost instantaneous space travel, then this book is for you. But beware, this future is populated with LGBTQ characters and faulty human beings. If you're looking for "perfect" and "completely ethical" human beings, look into the work of a different author. This author, lavishes every page with human failings and faults. Because today's "Humans" are faulty, and not perfect. This book then, puts up a mirror for us to look into what we have become and what we might become.

OH!, and it's a great action-adventure to boot.

When I first read the book (I have since re-read my paper copy -- yay "stay-at-home" orders), I posted a one word review for John Birmingham on facebook: WOW!

I would not presume to suggest that this book is "the greatest space opera" or "the greatest military science fiction" ever... However, I would presume to say that John Birmingham's first attempt at a space opera is magnificent. Be forewarned, it is the first book in a trilogy, and you will have to come back for more dips in the pool. From me it gets a 5 out of 5 or "five stars". Back when I first started reviewing books in my book-journal, I used to place a huge "star" next to my super-favorite books... those books that gave me such an amazing thrill, such a great feeling, and that transported me to a universe that I so completely wanted to live in. It is not a perfect place, then again, where in the world, past or present, is perfect?

1394. A Matter For Men

 I became a science fiction reader because of my friends - in particular my best friends. I was raised in a very religious, very conservative household. However, the truth was that my father allowed us to read. He never locked the home library away, and we were allowed to pick any book from it to read. Most of it of course was christian themed. The highlight of that library was some literature and a set of Encyclopedias, bought when I was around eight years old from a traveling encyclopedia salesman. Yes, we still had those where I grew up. Before I turned ten I had read through the complete encyclopedia and all the literature in that library. Still, I wanted my horizons expanded further. 

To further my reading horizons, along came comic books and my best friend Yiannis T. (Ioannis in Greek parlance). His family was not as heavily into the religious book reading and so, they read pulp novels. The idea of pulps, originated in the U.S. of course, but in the late sixties and early seventies, really took off in Greece. A lot of these were "adventure", "mysteries" (like Agatha Christie), and "Science Fiction" stories, translated and reprinted in the greek language. The other thing that was very popular of course were the Greek Language versions of romance stories. So, my best friend Yiannis, introduced me to science fiction. And by the way, not all of the science fiction that I read was from US authors. One of the first science fiction books I ever liked was "Τhe Black Blot" (La Tache Noire) by French Author Robert Clauzel. Suffice it to say, I read all the adventures of Claude Eridan. At age thirteen I got my first "library card" and borrowed the translation of  "The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury. I have not looked back since then.

Why do I share the story above? Well, when I finally got my first job on my own, in this little corner of Alabama, my new best friend, Mike H., was an avid science fiction reader. By the time we became best friends, we had read many of the same books, and had very similar interests in authors, as well as type of stories. But while I had read a David Gerrold book back in the 80s, I had not read this particular series, The War Against the Chtorr. Mike had the first 4 books. Mike also refused to lend me his copies of the series to read, even though we had lend each other books from our respective libraries. To this day of course, Mike has not returned to me my hard cover copies of The Foundation series by Asimov.

So many years later, in part because I see a lot of the books that come in to our bookstore, as a member of the Friends of the Library group at our local library branch, I got my hands on the first two books in the series. And let me tell you something, the wait was worth it. "A matter for men" is the first book in the series.

Was the wait worth it, you might ask?

Yes. This is one of the best books I have ever read. And in many ways very frustrating. I am not saying that it's frustrating to read because of the way it's written, or because of "language", or because of any other literary virtue. No. It's frustrating because of the lessons Jim McCarthy, the hero of this tale, has to learn.

Jim McCarthy is your average young Biologist with a bright future. It's just that when he was a young kid, various plagues hit the world, decimating (or worse) the population. He lost much of his family. Eventually, the plagues were discovered to be aspects of an invasion by alien organisms which are eventually called "The Chtorr." Are the Chtorr intelligent? Are they trying to conquer the planet? Whoa, slow down there cowboy. It appears so, but so far I've only read book one. I'm not sure that's the conclusion the author wants you to reach. What is fascinating is the way humanity as a whole deals with the problem of the Chtorr. There are parallels to many crises we face today, especially "Climate Change" (what we used to call the Greenhouse Effect.) There is a certain inattentiveness, inaction through words, a certain "shrug your shoulders, what can we do" type of reaction. This is very evident in  "A matter for men."

The reason I got frustrated was not only this human indifference to events (and this might be a spoiler for some - so, don't read the rest of this paragraph, ok?), but....

[ Attention: SPOILERS BELOW]

...the way Jim McCarthy was manipulated by some of those in power and some of his superiors. Used? Don't get me wrong, REALLY GOOD WRITERS will do that to you (er, I mean their characters.) But pulling the curtain back and dispelling the reader's misconceptions is very dramatic in this book. Because, although this book starts as a standard "us" against "them" adventure sci-fi story, it becomes something else, something better by the end. Without giving anything away, I can say clearly that your expectations will be subverted.

Did I get OR did I understand everything the author was going for in this book? Probably not. But, just as Jim McCarthy learned more about himself and about the enemy, so did I learn something about myself. And, I also learned that the simple act of writing good characters is a lot more complicated than what I, as I attempt to write my own fiction, can even envision, let alone master. (No, I won't quit writing.)

"A matter for men" is an exceptional novel that deserves a read, even 30 plus years since its publication. I plan to review individually subsequent parts of this story.

Easily, a five star read.