| Home
¦ Reviews ¦ Durham
Red - The Omega Solution
 |
17th
July 05 |
Durham Red -
The Omega Solution
Peter J
Evans
Buy
this book from Amazon.co.uk
What to Expect:
What to expect: Guns and big BIG space ships. Machiavellian shenanigans between
humans and mutants. Exciting space battles. And did I mention the guns and BIG
space ships?
Review by Richmond
Clements
With his previous
Durham Red novel, Peter J Evans did a remarkable thing. He got me interested in
the character in a way I had not been previously.
This has carried
over into this book, where my reinvigorated enthusiasm for Red is met by Evans’
confidence with the character. Indeed, it is this confidence that is the most
noticeable aspect of his writing. Whether it’s the snappy, smartass dialogue
of Red herself, or the spectacular and fluidly written space battles, Evans’
has hit his stride in a way he didn’t in the first Red novel.
As before, he’s
got the characters off pat, with Godolkin, coming off as particularly well rounded.
But the best character of all is the Iconoclast Commander Antonia. She gets a
sizable piece of the plot to herself in this book, and for me they are easily
the best bits in the novel, as she gets deeper and deeper into just what is going
on with the human plans for the mutants. As in the previous book, she gets some
nice scenes with her father, but it’s when Evans examines her own belief
system and her relationship with her men that she really comes to life. This attention
to the character pays off high dividends too, and as her arc in this book moves
along helps deliver a genuinely emotional punch.
Plot ways, this
is a dense novel. There is a hell of a lot going on here, and the cast of characters
is large for a book of only 250 pages long. So Evans does well to successfully
juggle all these characters, and keep the plot moving along in an easily to follow
fashion. Something else that impressed my about it is the sheer scope of the thing.
It really is huge, galaxy wide Space Opera, with ships as big, and weapons as
destructive, as those lain M Banks can conjure up.
Looking back on
my review of the first book, I’m amazed that, in my description of it, I
didn’t use the phrase ‘Grand Guignol’, because it pretty much
is. While I enjoyed the first book, this one is even better, but I don’t
think it would be too easy to follow without having read the previous instalment.
Evans doesn’t waste time with any ‘previously on Durham Red’
nonsense, we’re straight into the action for the beginning.
Phew! I almost made a stupid pun about this book sinking its teeth into the reader
and not letting go. Thank sneck I didn’t.
So, if you’ve
read the first one, definitely read this one. If you haven’t, then read
the
first one, and then definitely read this.
Buy
this book from Amazon.co.uk
|
