Deathstalker Destiny [Paperback]

Simon R. Green (Author)

Book Description

Series: Deathstalker | Publication Date: September 1, 1999

Owen Deathstalker’s greatest love—Hazel d’Ark—has been abducted by the Blood Runners, a culture dedicated to the extremes of genetic experimentation. Stranded in a mission on Lachrymae Christi, Owen busies himself with the task of ensuring the survival of the leper colony living there, awaiting an opportunity to rescue Hazel…or avenge her death.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“An incredible romp through a wonderful universe of space opera.”
—SF Site

About the Author

SALES POINTS * Final volume in a bestselling series of big, chunky novels which will also appeal to the Robert Jordan and Star Wars markets. * Simon R. Green has established himself as one of Britain's best and most prolific young fantasy writers. * He is a frequent guest at SF conventions and Interzone has devoted a 3-page profile to him. * New York Times bestselling author. * Action-packed and exciting --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Roc (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451457560
• ISBN-13: 978-0451457561
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Series

More About the Author

Simon Green is the author of the bestselling DEATHSTALKER cycle, the New York Times bestseller ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES, and many other novels. He lives in Bradford-upon-Avon in Wiltshire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What can I say... I sure enjoyed it!, November 6, 1999

By 

Steve (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deathstalker Destiny (Paperback)

Okay, I'm probably dumb for actually trying to argue with my highly educated and esteemed friend Yoon Ha (previous reviewer), but I'll give it a shot, just because I think it's worth having a dissenting viewpoint posted here.

Yoon's points are all very much valid, and I really can't argue with her on a purely technical level.

So instead I'll just tell it experientially--I LOVED this book.

Regarding characters: I felt for them, I loved them, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen to them. I cheered them and I cursed them. I never for a moment thought they were REAL, or even anything resembling real, but I didn't care--this is space opera, and their apocalyptic and melodramatic personalities just flat-out worked for me.

Regarding shattering events, I loved them all. In fact, I was impressed at how many different catastrophes Green managed to throw in there--he must have set some kind of record. Sure, it got pretty ridiculous, but again, I didn't think that mattered--it was just FUN. I don't think this whole series is meant to be taken that seriously anyway.

Regarding "pat" endings: I loved them. Especially the Shub ending. I literally shouted with excitement when I read that. The whole experience was immensely satisfying, and of course totally unrealistic--and, one more time, I didn't care about the realism. In this kind of epic tale of good and evil, wrapping things up like that is a necessity--space opera isn't real life, it's the most awesome aspects of real life distilled into a form so threadbare and larger-than-life that we lose all sense of reality and instead just have a roaring good time the whole way through.

Want a textbook example of good writing? This sure isn't it. Want to have a blast reading the best space opera there is? Then Deathstalker is for you.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading to finish up the series, but..., October 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deathstalker Destiny (Paperback)

Just finished this. It's a good read in the sense that it wraps things up, and Green "keeps his promises" with the prophecies and so on. At the same time, though, I'm disappointed that a series that started strong kept weakening through the end.

Characters: The characters, with a few exceptions, just didn't change much throughout the series--didn't grow as they should have through their experiences. One of the most interesting pairs, Silence and Frost, was broken up earlier in the series--and from then on, Silence's ability to change seems almost frozen. Considering the shattering events that go on, I would have expected much, much more dynamic characters.

2. Shattering events: Too many of them. At first the Empire was a decently well-detailed setting sociologically and historically (*especially* for space opera, which isn't really known for detailed backgrounds). After a while, though, all the new and suddenly-revealed-without-foreshadowing plot elements became almost repetitious. It's as if Green was wracking his brains for something new to happen. I would rather have seen new twists in the existing situation than adding more crises. The human brain can only take in so much death, destruction and chaos before feeling almost blasé about it. This is probably my biggest complaint with the way the series concludes, ESPECIALLY the "last threat" (it involves the Maze's purpose).

3. The ending. Without giving too much away, a lot of the answers and solutions seem too pat. In some cases the salvation seems undeserved--despite all the characters have gone through, they don't quite seem to have earned it (Related to point #1). OTOH, the tragedy of the ending was interesting, but I've seen similar situations better handled elsewhere (Alfred Bester's _The Stars My Destination_, among others) and seemed, again, to be an act of desperation on Green's part: how do I end this by keeping the prophecy (recapitulated for the reader's convenience at the beginning of the book) intact?

===

All in all, though, I have to give credit to Green for even *trying* to handle a scenario of this scope. It was probably too late to salvage more of the ending after book 3 or so: bigger problems require bigger guns, etc. (when negotiation just isn't an option). And given that, I will say I enjoyed the series. I just wish that it had lived up to its promise better, since I *know* Green is a darn fine writer when he gets everything working.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wildly entertaining and full of shocking surprises, January 17, 2005

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deathstalker Destiny (Paperback)

A part of me didn't want to read this book. Deathstalker Destiny is the fifth and final installment in the life and times of Owen Deathstalker. I've been through a lot with the main characters of this Deathstalker series. Heck, we overthrew a seemingly impervious evil Empire, liberated worlds, saved great big chunks of humanity time and time again, and overcame superhuman enemies the likes of which I had never dreamed of. Now, it's all coming to an end. It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't this really depressing prophecy hanging over Owen Deathstalker's head since early in the first novel - Owen Deathstalker, the greatest kind of hero, the only honorable aristocrat from a court of power-hungry villains, the last great hope of humanity itself predicted to die alone far from his friends without ever coming to know the love that helped drive him.

Things certainly aren't going too well as the book opens. The Empire is still mightily struggling internally to develop an effective form of government after the end of the rebellion; seemingly all of humanity's enemies are attacking almost everywhere in force- the rogue AI of Shub, the self-augmented Hadenmen, and some kind of souped-up giant insects; a far greater enemy called the Recreated is now on its way; and the worst plague in history is decimating one planet after another. Owen Deathstalker doesn't have time to think of these things, though. Hazel D'Ark, the former clonelegger and pirate who became Owen's best friend as well as the woman he loved, has been taken by the Blood Runners (who will torture her in order to learn the secrets of the powers she acquired in the alien Madness Maze on the Wolfing World), and Owen sits helplessly on the leper planet Lachrymae Christi - without a ship and without the Maze-given powers he had come to depend on.

Of course, Owen's attention eventually shifts back to the Empire's losing struggle against unstoppable alien forces. Owen has always understood duty, and he really has little choice in the matter. He does truly become humanity's last and only hope for survival. Everything comes full circle by the end, but at least Owen finally does get to hear the story behind this awful destiny he has never been able to elude. A lot of big issues are resolved over the course of this book, including some surprisingly important ones involving some of the most fascinating and unique secondary characters I've ever encountered in science fiction.

I have to say that Simon R. Green floored me several times over the course of this novel. After well over 2000 pages with this series' heroes, I thought I knew these characters pretty well. I was nothing less than shocked by a few of the events in Deathstalker Destiny. I can accept everything that happened, but I surely didn't see some of it coming. Green truly closes this series out with one bang after another, and that goes a long way toward making this the most exhilarating novel in an already exhilarating series. There is, however, one weakness that takes a little something away from the reader's enjoyment - some crucial plot points are resolved much too easily. Up until now, nothing has come easy for Owen Deathstalker and his friends, and the new challenges now facing our heroes are even more daunting and formidable than ever before. As a reader, you can't see how the characters can possibly get themselves out of all the troubles now facing them - and then, in the matter of a page or two, all is said and done and you're heading off toward the next impossible challenge on the list. When all is said and done, though, this novel (and this whole series) is just way too much fun to miss. Green sometimes goes way out on a limb in terms of the rules of his universe, but the Deathstalker series makes for amazingly entertaining reading. And I guarantee you won't forget the unique cast of characters who call this universe home.