Customer Reviews

Emperors of the Twilight (Moreau, Bk. 2)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Didn't know that this was a sequel until about halfway through with it. Didn't matter, great reading. The protagonist, a female Frank (Frankenstein) government agent in a future filled with genetically altered beings, gets caught up in a web of intrigue leading to an unexpected conclusion involving covert alien subversion and government involvement/cover-up. The Franks aren't supposed to exist any longer, making the agents job even more difficult. The other types of characters are a genetically souped-up mish-mash of humans and animals, bred for a past war and now the new second class citizens. Human-like dogs, lions, bears, rabbits, rats and others await in this tense story that keeps you guessing who is pulling the strings until you come face to face with a truly disgusting alien presence. And when you find out that the agent has to face a rogue Frank near the end, you can't wait for the inevitable showdown. Properly paced, with enough future high tech to keep just about every fan reading hungrily till the end. After reading this one I immediately went out and bought every book by this author that I could track down. Not a single one has dissappointed me. The future theme that Swann envisions in his novels (everything he has written so far is set in this future) is gritty, bleak, paranoid and thoroughly enjoyable. If you liked Forests of the Night you will love this one. Buy this book and have a great time

After reading all of the Moreau novels by Swann, there's one thing I've learned - The guy can't end a damn book. Instead the story just gets lopped off and everyone is left hanging. Forests of the Night worked out fine, and to a lesser extent so did the third book, Specters of the Dawn. But there always seems to be several loose ends hanging in the breeze at the end, and nowhere is it as bad as with this one. The ending is left open so wide that the events of the book are nearly rendered useless. There are HUGE issues brought up that are never resolved.

That's not to say this book was that bad. Something that Swann does really well is creating tension and putting together spectacular action sequences, and Emperors has plenty of action. Nearly the first forty pages is one long, extended chase/shootout.

The only problem with all this is that I never really felt compelled to care about Evi's character. For some reason I just didn't really like her. She could have lived or died at the end at it wouldn't have mattered to me. And the whole lesbian love story thing felt tacked on, as if hoping to recreate the chemestry of the first book.

Like all of Swann's books, the plot is twisted and complicated. I'm not really sure if I fully understood what went on by the end. But where the book really comes alive is when Nohar, the hero from the first book, makes an all too brief cameo. His scenes are just so alive with energy that it really makes you hope that Swann will continue the series from Nohar's perspective.

In building a Sci-Fi Universe, most authors reach a point where some Social/Economic/Geographic explanations have to be made. This was true with Asimov's "Foundation" Trilogy, Chalker's "Well of Souls" Series, Cherryh's "Chanur" books and,in the case of Swann's "Moreau" books, "Emperors of the Twilight" is the necessary "filler".

By no means does that place this as a lesser-quality story. However, if one is looking for a stand-alone book, you should not be reading series anyway.

The social/political results of modifying the human genome are very well examined and the status (in society) of the "Franks" demonstrates the creation of new slaves. Of course, this does not speak well of human nature, but then, if all you want are wine and roses, go read something Politically Correct. Reality is almost never all sweetness and light.

I did not fall head-over-heels in love with this book, but that was not the reason it was written. A very fine tie-in between "Forests of the Night" and "Specters of the Dawn", it also creates the background for "Profiteer" and other of Swann's books.

As I said, a necessary evil.

the best of the series in my opinion, tying in nicely with the first and last book and giving a ripping good story.

Swann takes the classic spy plot of an agent on the run from their employer and creates a very effective second entry in his moreau series. For the unitiated, moreaus are human/animal genetic chimeras designed for military use. In this world, after the Pan-Asiatic War ended, many of them ended up as refugees in the United States. However, Swann does a good enough job explaining the events of the earlier novel, Forests of the Night (Daw collectors No. 918), that you don't absolutely need to read the earlier novel to enjoy this book.

Moreaus and their politics show up here in significant ways, but the spy on the run, Evi Isham, is a "frank" as in frankenstein. In her case, her genome was modified by the Japanese, she was bred for the Jordanians, liberated by the Israelis, and, as a refugee after Israel's destruction, compelled to work for the US government.

Swann not only works out the implications and motivations behind the intrigue of the earlier novel - which takes place six years earlier and in which Isham shows up as a minor character - but greatly expands the geopolitical and technological background of his world. And it's all seamlessly delivered in a breakneck plot that takes place over a few days, days in which Evi not only has to figure out just how many conspiracies are gunning for her but why.

And it's not just geopolitical extrapolation Swann does. For those interested in the more intimate aspects of human/moreau interaction partially covered in the earlier novel, Swann has a scene in a Times Square porn theatre which extrapolates that trend too.

The only flaw in this book is too sketchy of motivations for a character at novel's end, but the novel is otherwise a very strong science fiction spy story which I liked even more than the first book in the series.