I've just read Crystal Rain and it's sequel Ragamuffin , by Tobias Buckell, back-to-back, so I thought I'd review them both in one go.
First
of all I'd like to make a comment about the cover art - it's not really
my sort of thing. Maybe this is a transatlantic thing? When everyone
was recently raving about the US Ian McDonald covers I found myself
liking the UK ones much more, even if they were less "SciFi". Anwyway,
the covers would not really have enticed me to pick up the book,
Crystal rain especially, which looks like a pirate novel.
So, onto Crystal Rain, with a quick disclaimer, I'm not really into steampunk, and as Tobias said it was his take on steampunk, well, it didn't bode too well. The story started in an interesting manner, with the crash landing of the mysterious Pepper, but then I found myself struggling to get involved in the story. The frequent changes of point of view didn't help, usually I really like multiple plots, but I found it distracting, mainly because I didn't really like many of the characters, and also because some of the characters seemed redundant. The many nameless Mongoose men coming and going also didn't help me build a relationship with characters. The part that interested me was the background, the glimmers of more technology and wars with aliens, but mostly this stays as background. Plot wise the whole novel feels like a build-up, which finally is resolved in a rather anticlimactic and disappointing manner. After finishing I couldn't help wondering if my taste was just not geared towards Crystal Rain.
Enter Ragamuffin.
Ragamuffin is the Space Opera to Crystal Rain's steampunk. From the first paragraph I knew I was going to enjoy it more than Crystal Rain. For a start it had lots of spaceships, and let's face it, everything is better with spaceships. It also had habitats, and aliens, and nukes and a "dead hard" main character. It also has fewer points of view, making it more focused. And there's a wonderful set-piece about a third of the way through. It was with dismay then, that I found the story returning to the world of Crystal Rain. Fortunately it doesn't last too long, and Pepper gets to do lots of killing, which is entertaining. Meanwhile I still found John a bit of wimp and didn't really like him. The book culminates in a grand scale: more spaceships, more nukes, lots of violence. Good stuff. However, once again I felt a little let down by the ultimate climax, but enjoyed the denouement.
So, both books are straightforward adventure, with functional language. That sounds a bit harsh, what I mean is that there weren't any passages that I reread for the sheer joy of the language (ie. more like Charles Stross than Ian McDonald). If you're into steampunk you may enjoy Crystal Rain more than me, but I thought Ragamuffin was much more fun.
A comment about the Carribean dialect that some people seem to have had problems with: I found it fine and refreshingly unusual, although all the characters did sound like Viv Richards in my head.
Sly Mongoose is the next book in the series, and Tobias has said that it will only have two points of view. I reckon this will make a better, more focussed book. If it has more of the human struggle / war in the wider universe (and more rampaging Pepper) it should be good fun.
So, onto Crystal Rain, with a quick disclaimer, I'm not really into steampunk, and as Tobias said it was his take on steampunk, well, it didn't bode too well. The story started in an interesting manner, with the crash landing of the mysterious Pepper, but then I found myself struggling to get involved in the story. The frequent changes of point of view didn't help, usually I really like multiple plots, but I found it distracting, mainly because I didn't really like many of the characters, and also because some of the characters seemed redundant. The many nameless Mongoose men coming and going also didn't help me build a relationship with characters. The part that interested me was the background, the glimmers of more technology and wars with aliens, but mostly this stays as background. Plot wise the whole novel feels like a build-up, which finally is resolved in a rather anticlimactic and disappointing manner. After finishing I couldn't help wondering if my taste was just not geared towards Crystal Rain.
Enter Ragamuffin.
Ragamuffin is the Space Opera to Crystal Rain's steampunk. From the first paragraph I knew I was going to enjoy it more than Crystal Rain. For a start it had lots of spaceships, and let's face it, everything is better with spaceships. It also had habitats, and aliens, and nukes and a "dead hard" main character. It also has fewer points of view, making it more focused. And there's a wonderful set-piece about a third of the way through. It was with dismay then, that I found the story returning to the world of Crystal Rain. Fortunately it doesn't last too long, and Pepper gets to do lots of killing, which is entertaining. Meanwhile I still found John a bit of wimp and didn't really like him. The book culminates in a grand scale: more spaceships, more nukes, lots of violence. Good stuff. However, once again I felt a little let down by the ultimate climax, but enjoyed the denouement.
So, both books are straightforward adventure, with functional language. That sounds a bit harsh, what I mean is that there weren't any passages that I reread for the sheer joy of the language (ie. more like Charles Stross than Ian McDonald). If you're into steampunk you may enjoy Crystal Rain more than me, but I thought Ragamuffin was much more fun.
A comment about the Carribean dialect that some people seem to have had problems with: I found it fine and refreshingly unusual, although all the characters did sound like Viv Richards in my head.
Sly Mongoose is the next book in the series, and Tobias has said that it will only have two points of view. I reckon this will make a better, more focussed book. If it has more of the human struggle / war in the wider universe (and more rampaging Pepper) it should be good fun.
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