Customer Reviews

Deathstalker Legacy

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Deathstalker Legacy is either the sixth novel in the Deathstalker series or the first in a successor series. Two hundred years ago, Owen Deathstalker and his friends defeated the forces of the Old Empire and saved humanity -- and aliens -- from the Dark Void. Now Owen is a legend, lost beyond the rim of the galaxy and some of his friends are also heroes or heroines out of mythology. For this is the Golden Age and as such, the people want myths, not the shabby truth.

In this novel, the Old King is retiring and his son will be the New King. Douglas doesn't want to be the King, but he sees it as his duty. A Queen has been selected for him, Jasmine Flowers, the darling of the opera set and his old buddy, Lewis Deathstalker, will be his Champion. Parliament feels certain that they can work with the New King, although the New King is less certain about that. It is a time of renewal ... and revolution.

For the mythology is following apart. Certain that he would be the new Champion, Finn Durandal feels bitter and angry when Lewis is named instead. Finn decides to forgo his role as the leading Paragon in the King's Justice and become a traitor, bringing down the Empire. He has plenty of help, first from a con artist named Brett Random and then from the Wild Rose of the Arenas, Rose Constantine, an undefeated gladiator. Then Finn brings in the Neuman of the Pure Humanity League and also helps Angelo Bellini create a new Church Militant. The Shadow Court and the Hellfire Club are also watching the action with interest. And the Terror comes to the galaxy.

This novel is very much a satire on modern society, where image is everything and even the highest level of peacekeepers, the Paragons, give autographs and maintain web sites for their fans. The King is just a figurehead with little power and Members of Parliament divide the riches of the Empire among themselves. Arenas stage daily duels to the death and other deadly sports, but hardly anyone is killed beyond regeneration. This is the Golden Age ... according to the media.

This novel sets up the background for the sequels that will surely follow. Thus, it is not very much fun until the last chapter or so, when Lewis stops being such a nice guy.

The story also provides a love interest; in fact, too much love interest: Douglas loves Jasmine and Jasmine love Lewis and Lewis loves Jasmine. Just to complicate the triangle further, Douglas and Lewis love and respect each other better that brothers.

For British readers, this book will surely provide a few laughs from parochial puns; I got the one about Emma Steel, but I only suspect others. There are also moments of action that recall the Avengers, but with blood and guts.

This novel has touches of Star Wars, particularly Episode 2, in the description of Logres at night from a gravity sled and the Esper city of New Hope hanging in the air. There is also the element of forbidden love, which echoes Lancelot and Guinevere, and the general feeling of decadence.

Recommended for Deathstalker fans and anyone who enjoyed Green's other action and intrigue stories.

I recently completed this book and have to say that it was very interesting. It takes the story of the Deathstalker Clan two hundred years into the future, and a Golden Age.

The Golden Age is how it starts and I seriously doubt that any reader of Simon R. Green would expect it to remain such. That is good because it does not.

At its core, Deathstalker Legacy is an intricate retailing of Arthurian legends, with a few twists. There is Douglas Campbell, the new King, his queen-to-be Jessamine Flowers and his best friend Lewis Deathstalker. From there you may surmise the unfolding events.

There are a number of other elements involved in this tapestry; friendship, honor, morality, politics, and revenge. Mr. Green admirably weaves these elements together to form a story so compelling that I found it difficult to put down.

The characters begin to develop as they meet adversity, and all characters develop. There are surprising twists and a considerable amount of backstabbing. Things are not always as they seem, and sometimes, even the reader is caused to reconsider to a different point of view. Behind all of this is the dark humor, sarcasm, and wit one would expect from Simon Green.

I would recommend this work to almost anyone. It is not so much Sci-Fi as Science Fiction. It seems to be an excellent space opera, which is unusual to run across in todays libraries.

One other thing. There is no requirement to have read the original Deathstalker series (Deathstalker, Deathstalker Rebellion, Deathstalker War, Deathstalker Honor, and Deathstalker Destiny). However, it may cause you to want to read them. You will, though, want to read them before you continue with Deathstalker Return.

The last few Deathstalkers were kind of like that extra slice of pie on thanksgiving. You want it, but you know you're going to regret it later. I liked the last few Deathstalker books but by the end, whew - I was glad it was over. There's only so much double cross and surprises and actions scenes even a space opera can stand.

So I approached this with some caution but guess what?! This book is great. It picks up approx 200 years later than the last books and we're dealing with some of the same people and groups. Good times are about to give way to bad times and of course we have a new Deathstalker heir on our hands. Events are similiar, but slightly changed so thats good. The first 2/3 of the book is background info for I guess the next 6-7 books but then books kicks off with fantastic action and a finish that left me begging for the next book! This is a great book to read while listen to, say, the Flash Gordon - Queen soundtrack or something real space opera like.

Simon, whatever your secret is that lets you switch between fantasy and sci fi so well, keep it up!

Three generations ago, Owen Deathstalker destroyed the Empress Lionstone and by that one feat alone, assured his place in history. He disappeared and nobody knows if he still is alive, but all the planets in the New Empire venerate his memory. At the time that King William passes the crown to his son Douglass, the empire was at its zenith, a golden age where peace was the norm and prejudices for the most part were set aside.

Upon becoming King, Douglas appointed Lewis Deathstalker as the king's champion. This turns into a grave and fatal error for it was expected that Finn Durandel would get the position. Both men were Paragons (heroic soldiers that represented the King's justice) but Lewis is Douglas's trusted and only friend. Finn did not know how much he wanted the position until he lost it and he vows to take away everything and everyone that means something to the king before he finally destroys his highness. He becomes a mole in the palace, spreading dissension everywhere he goes and making sure that his enemies pay the price for standing against him. The golden age of mankind is ending due to one man's jealousy.

DEATHSTALKER LEGACY is space opera at its action best. The novel is populated with heroic figures reminiscent of Lancelot and Arthur and villains that make Darth Vader seem like a nice person. The antagonist is so successful because he knows so many government secrets and enemies and willingly uses them to his own advantage. Once again, Simon R. Green has written a work that will appeal to Star War fans.

Harriet Klausner

Deathstalker Legacy returns the reader to the world of the Deathstalker's 200 years after the fall of the Empress Lionstone and the mysterious disappearance of Owen Deathstalker. The Empire has been enjoying a Golden Age of peace and prosperity but this is about to end.
The hero of the tale is Lewis Deathstalker, descendant of the 'Blessed Owen' who with the usual Deathstalker luck (always bad!) finds himself caught up in the struggle between good and evil. Not only has he managed to make an enemy of his old warrior partner Finn but he has also fallen out with King Douglas (Deathstalker's best friend).To add to his misery there is news of the coming of the 'Terror', an evil that had been prophesised by his illustrious ancestor. Along the way he manages to enlist the assistance of a reptiloid called Saturday, a con man who claims to be descended from the great Jack Random, a psychopathic killing machine called Rose and the Empires most famous opera singer, Jessamine Flowers. This motley crew is all that stands between humanity and total destruction.
Old friends and enemies from the first Deathstalker books reappear such as the A.I's of Shub, epers, ELFS etc. Simon R Green once again weaves a story that is eccentric, bloody, fast paced and extremely funny. This is sci-fi at its best and is highly recommended to anyone looking for a rollicking good yarn.

Green's newest Deathstalker book takes a different path from the original story with more character building, a deeper and more meaningful plot, and (I was amazed too) a more drawn out storyline. Deathstalker Legacy is a perfect foundation book for a new part of the continuing series that promises to delight fans and new readers by including characters that are reminiscent of the original core group of Owen, Hazel, Random, and Ruby, but with new and 3 dimensional emotions. That's not to take away from the main ideas of killing before breakfast and saving the world by dusk that the series has always employed. Rather, the intense relationship between the main characters adds a depth to Green's storytelling that could make this one of his most mature Deathstaker books to date. It seems that Green has finally slowed down his pen enough to let us see what kind of world he has created, in between the explosions, blood letting, and outright barbaric fun that the Deathstalker series is known for. It was such a great read I finished it in two days, and plan to re-read it many times.

This is unapologetic over-the-top space opera stuff. The villains are hissingly evil, the heroes are...hmm. Well, they're not chock full of virtue. Unless "butt-kicking" and "unleashing massive havoc" count as virtues. The so-called good guys are all pretty much rogues and misfits or folks that do what they do because of their own code of honor, even though they feel that society is worthless and weak. (Green tends to believe that the masses are ignorant and hateful swine.)

What I like about this entire series is that it's fast-paced and it takes pride in introducing characters with stupendous names like Kid Death, Jack Random, Valentine Wolfe, Captain Silence, Investigator Frost, and so forth. Not to mention uber-espers like the Mater Mundi and the Spider Harps and the Shatter Freak and so on. And even minor characters have spiffy backstories, like the one explorer dude who vanished, only to return years later with half his body replaced by an extradimensional force.

In any case, throughout the series there's plenty of sword-fighting, evil AIs and cyborgs, psi-freaks, Shrike-like aliens, bizarre artifacts, and sadistic empresses. In short, everything you need for a successful book (except flying ninja chimps).

This volume takes place 200 years after the first four, after the good guys of the preceding books have established a Golden Age and vanished into legend. Now, however, the rejuvenated Empire is threatened both from within by a sociopathic Paragon and from without by the Terror (which essentially seems to be the Shadows from B5's Z'ha'dum). Nineteen or so evil organizations band together in a plot to overthrow the government, betrayals abound, revelations are revealed, AIs and aliens posture cryptically, and heroes blast holes in everything that moves.

Tragically, the book is flawed in three serious respects.

Flaw the first: Green forgets his own timelines, and he'll state at one point that several key events took place within two weeks, and then later contradicts himself and says that they covered the span of a couple of months. It's hard to figure out just how slowly or rapidly things are falling apart. He seems to want to indicate that all of this stuff really did take place over 14 days, but that's ludicrously improbable and he lazily confuses the issue with conflicting depictions of the passage of time.

Flaw the second: Overnight, the state church turns to Pure Evil, and all of its millions of followers are quite content to openly slaughter any sects that have suddenly been deemed schismatic. If a major Western religious leader of our world abruptly declared that some hateful group preaching intolerance was right all along, I somehow doubt that all adherents world-wide would erupt into a killing spree against minorities, but that's pretty much what happens in this book.

Flaw the third: Green anchors the central plotline on the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot conceit, with King Douglas, opera diva Jessamine Flowers, and the Paragon Lewis Deathstalker filling those roles. I always hated the idea that Guinevere and Lancelot were tragic lovers, when in my opinion they were adulterous lechers who couldn't keep their pants zipped, and so I feel exactly the same here where Jessamine and Lewis decide to essentially wreak grievous harm to the Empire in the name of True Love. To heck with that.

Oh, also, Green has some problems with female characters. Most of them in this series are either psychopathic monsters who live only to kill and seem to be devoid of any human emotion (Frost, Rose Constantine), brawling and profane adventurers of dubious goodness who also live to kill (Hazel d'Arc, Ruby Journey, the Paragon Emma Steel), or twittery and uselessly decorative lightweights like Jessamine. Pretty much all of his women are either out slaying or engaging in debauchery. The only notable exception is a Plain Jane in this book who everyone ignores and who is counted on to do all the scutwork to make everyone else look good.

But while these objections seem significant, really you just kind of shrug and roll with it. I mean, it's space opera, not high literature. And when you willingly pick up a book from something called the Deathstalker Series, you really have no grounds for complaints.

This book takes place two hundred years after the last Deathstalker novel and the galaxy seems to be a better place. But everything is not as it seems and the same evils that plauged the last empire under Lionstone are surfacing here, just with new faces. I loved this book but that's no suprise as I loved the entire Deathstalker series. Lewis is the Deathstalker now as he was a distant cousin and someone had to be named Deathstalker but as the book goes on you can plainly see that he truly is a Deathstalker. The villians in this book are as heartless and as evil as Shub, Valentine, and the Recreated were at their peak. And the Terror.......what I know I won't say but I will say they are bad bad bad. If you have read the other books I know you'll get this one as well, so basically I am preaching to the choir here but I just had to say what an awesome read this was. Can't wait to read the next one.

If you're looking for highbrow, intellectual Science Fiction, read Frank Herberts' Dune series. But if you just want to relax and be thoroughly entertained read 'Deathstalker Legacy'. This is Space Opera at its' finest and just plain fun. It's filled with larger than life characters and as in all of the 'Deathstalker' books a threat that is completely impossible to overcome.
As long as you don't expect some deep meaning or a treatise on religion and politics, you will enjoy 'Deathstalker Legacy'.
Can't wait for the next installment Mr. Green!

This is a great sequel to the Deathstalker series. You knew they had to come back. Who the heck is Chevron? He has to be one of the Maze people, but which one? I have a guess. Ozimandus is back and the motley crew that the Deathstalker ends up with is more screwy than the one Owen was with, but what a crew! The universe had better watch out, because the Deathstalker is back ...

I read it fast and furious and now I have to wait for the next one!