Customer Reviews

Helm

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This novel, while a good story in and of itself, makes your realize the importance of a good editor, or at the least, a good proofreader. Much of it was very good, but its goodness was marred by the countless errors present in the text.

The story itself is an excellent tale of a feudal-style colony of humans descended from those colonists who were sent to this planet after a global catastrophe made earth uninhabitable. Much of the story centers on the politics, interactions and betrayals amongst the nobles, as alliances are formed and broken in the quest to control more of the scant livable land on the planet. The sendentary peoples of the continent prepare for war against the nomadic tribes of Nullarbor, and dark plans are made against friendly nations while their armies are away.

The hero of the story, Leland du Laal, the youngest son of the local ruling noble, has for whatever reason climbed the Needle, a forbidding rock spire, and donned the Helm, which is supposed to be charging in the sun in preparation for Leland's oldest brother to put on. The Helm infuses the wearer with the total of all human knowledge, and was created to help the colonists set up a good colony. After months of punishment, Leland is sent away to study Aikido, and comes back to lead an army against the nomads.

The characters in the story are well drawn out, if not totally believable. The bad guys seem a little too needlessly cruel, in my opinion. Granted, it makes it easier to hate them and root for the good guys, but some of the things they do go beyond simple conquest of a neighboring province. Leland himself is very likeable as a character, as is his second in command, Gahnfeld. The interaction between the two is enjoyable, and most of the sections about Leland's army make the book worth reading.

My main problem with the book came from all the sloppy phrasings and editing errors that were spread throughout the whole book. Twice, two supporting characters change names, as do a couple place names. Typographical errors litter the prose. Several clumsy phrasings jar the otherwise expert writing style, which could have been cleared up with a slight rephrasing. Things like, "He stood up next to the table and put his hands down on the table." Clumsy phrasings that a simple pronoun would fix. Pedantic types might not be able to get past that.

This book might take a little more suspension of disbelief than either of Gould's previous two novels. I'm not quite sure why so many people in the colony world study Aikido, but overlooking that, it's a well-created fictional future Gould has formed for his story. The book is fast-paced, and very hard to put down. I'd say it's worth plodding through the errors. The ending was kind of a disappointment, but ignore the epilogue and it's much better.

I first met up with Gould's writing in Jumper, and loved it. I then read Wildside, and fell in love with the book. Later, I bought both books, found Helm in the library, read it, loved it, and an hour after I finished the book, I bought it.

What I love about Helm, is that I have to keep telling myself that this is NOT medieval times, but about a millenium in the future. I loved the aikido scenes, and the twisting plot. Out of all of Gould's books, this has to be the most vivid and gigantic in terms of the world that Gould has to explain and forsee. I recommend anyone who even liked Helm, to read Jumper, Wildside, and Blind Waves. I myself now have three out of these books, and am thinking of buying Blind Waves.

Good luck to all, and, Mr.Gould, keep on writing!

After reading 2 of the author's previous books, Jumper and Wildside, and really enjoying them, I had high expectations for Helm -- and fortunately I was not disappointed. Gould drives the plot relentlessly throughout the book. The martial arts parts are highly readable and very entertaining. My only criticisms with the book are 1) as a previous reviewer mentioned, a few of the characters were difficult to delineate from one another early on, but not overly so, and 2) the ending is good, but seems to be lackluster compared to the incredible first 90% of the book. Overall, Helm is a great and fairly quick read.

I found Helm to be as fun a read os Jumper. Gould seems to have a great talent for coming up with interesting ideas, or spins on old ones, and building a real page-turner around the idea. While I won't say that he's at the peak of his career, Gould definitely shows he's a talent to be watched.

I generally have 3 categories of books: 1. Buy this book 2. Borrow this book from the library/a friend 3. Forget about it.

I'd easily put this in the first category. This is a book I really enjoyed and would have no qualms recommending to anyone else.

This is one of the best books that I have read (and reread). I've read it at least three times since I got it. I have read hundreds if not thousands of books over my lifetime and at this point in time I think I would place this book in my top-20 or maybe even my top-10 list of best books.

I really liked the martial arts aspect of this book. I have had an interest in the martial arts for years and I really appreciate books like this. I know very little about aikido but I thought the aikido scenes were one of the best parts of the book. I also liked the "battle" scenes. I thought they were very well written and entertaining. The characters were also very interesting.

I have one complaint about this book...the fact that Mr. Gould made two of the major characters lesbians. Thankfully, he didn't make the lead character a homosexual or I wouldn't have been able to read this excellent book. And to be fair to the author, he didn't concentrate on or write about the physical/sexual acts of any of his characters whether they were hetero or homosexual. This absence of dwelling on the physical side of their "relationship" and the fact that they were not the main characters allowed me to read this book with great enjoyment. However, I believe their being homosexual was an unnecessary addition to the book and it kept me from being able to recommend it or loan to some of my more conservative friends and relatives.

Gould is just a great Author, Jumper was not a one hit wonder. There are similarities in his themes, young boy given an enhancement, an an ability, high moral compass, etc.

first off i don't know the slightest thing about martial arts so many of the detailed discriptions of the moves were lost on me, but it was my fault and not that of the author. i however found ths book to be very entertaining. even though the idea of a person being able to gain all the klowledge of history has been toyed with for longer than any one person can recall i have read few stories that handled with the fragile psyche of a person who has just gone through such an ordreal so well. i think that in itself makes this book a good read.

Once long ago I picked up a ragged looking copy of Jumper from a library sale and decided that I should give that book a chance. I loved it!!! No other auther seems to tell a story like Gould does. Just recently I read HELM and it was great! Just like Gould's other books I did not know what to expect. The fighting scenes were wonderful and seem to paint themselves across my mind. I cannot wait for his next book!

Speaking as Aikidoka -- a student of Aikido -- this book brought tears to my eyes. Happy tears, tears of remembrance of my own times on the mat. From the first utterance of "Onaigashimasu..." to the folding of the hakama, this was a complete, exact, and poignantly real depiction of what it is like to study Aikido. As Aikidoka say, this book has Ai-ki, harmonious energy. The philosophy of the martial art is woven delicately yet unswervingly through the plot, and everything balances at the end. A "TV show ending?" I think not. It simply did not bash the bad guys over the head like most stories. Instead, the characters followed the true principles of Aikido, the good guys using the energy of the bad guys to defeat them.

Well done, Mr. Gould, if you read this...and I would be honored to practice with you, should you ever come into the dojo where I practice.

This is a book that I couldn't put down. It has both science fiction and fantasy elements and a plot that doesn't bog down in the middle. I thought the premise of an instrument that could imbue you with knowledge or be used to turn you into a mush-minded puppet was a good balance. It gives a good example of the possible pros & cons of experimental mental/biological technology. This was the first book of Steven Gould's that I read and I plan on checking out more of his work because I enjoyed this one so much.