Customer Reviews

Liege-Killer (The Paratwa Saga, Book 1)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My friend bought this book for me as a joke because I found the cover art to be amusing. I had read the synopsis on the back of the book, but never seriously thought about reading it until my friend bought it for me. Boy am I glad she did! The book was an genuine page-turner with twists and surprises around every bend. It follows a paratwa - an assassin that is composed of two bodies but one mind - and the paratawa's hunters and victims. In a relatively peaceful existence where everything (including the weather) is controlled by technology, the citizens are literally sheep for the taking as the paratwa reaks havoc. Two paratwa hunters are unfrozen from stasis and sent on the hunt... with technolgoy enabling anybody to alter their identity and the Ash Ock able to fill any position of power, everybody becomes a suspect!

Not only is the book a fascinating and well-crafted story, it brings the eery question to mind of how much technology is too much? And when, not if, will humanity become its own worse enemy?

I will not bore you with details of the plot since other reviewers have already have done an excellent job at that. The big questions are: Is this a good book? Will I like it? What's it's like? Let me try to answer those.

This book is definitely in the genre of a science fiction thriller in the best sense. The action and the plot flows very quickly, very significant events happen that will determine the fate of human colonies, and conspiracies within conspiracies are plotted, revealed, thwarted, and rehatched. The pages do turn very quickly and the plot never stalls.

The only downside is that the characterization is somewhat minimal. The book is plot driven and the characters are interested but they're mostly there as standins for concepts rather than people you might be passionate about. If that doesn't bother you and if you like action oriented, plot driven stories, this is truly a great read.

On another note, there are two sequels to this book, Ash Ock and Paratwa. The two sequels combined to make one story, so if you're going to buy Ash Ock, you should definitely get Paratwa also. Ash Ock ends right in the middle of the action and Paratwa continues right where Ash Ock left off. Will you like the sequels? If you liked Liege-Killer, you'll definitely like Ash Ock and Paratwa. There's more of what makes Liege-Killer a thrilling read - more conspiracies, more revelations, more events that may decide the fate of the human colonies.

I haven't had this much fun reading science fiction for a long while. I highly recommend the entire series.

STORY: As one editorial review so nicely summariezed: "Two hundred years after Earth is devastated by nuclear war and genetically engineered Paratwa assassins, the humans of orbiting Earth colonies are at peace, until a series of murders reveal the reemergence of the Paratwa."

MY FEEDBACK:
1) SETTING - Prior to the destruction of all life on Earth, humans left for the stars. One group took off into spaceships headed for another solar system. The other group onto the colony capsule that orbits Earth. The later is where the story takes place. The colony capsule is 76 miles long, which is big enough to sustain different regions and groups. I had just come across a real-life group called the Lifeboat Foundation. Thus the setting seemed very plausible and real. It worked well for this story.

2) CHARACTERS - Our group of protagonists are likeable and plausible. Nick is my favorite character, but there is something to admire in each of them. The antagonists as gathered from the story description are a group of genetically created assassins. The Paratwa are very cool and deadly. The characters work well together in this story.

3) STORY - The only reason I gave this story a 4 star (very good read) vs. a 5 star (great read) is because of some of what I felt were long sections of exposition needed in order to explain man's history and how he go to this point in the future. Other than that, the story had plenty of intrigue, action and suspense. The author does give things away by page 122-125 out of 460+ page book. This worked for the most part because as characters came on stage there were two you kept looking for hints at to see which one was the "real" bad guy.

OVERALL: Fun read within a great sci-fi setting. It is not necessary to read the next book as this story resolved 95% of all plotlines. I've read that it the next two books are a bit of a let down anyhow. Nevertheless, get your hands on this book.

I found this book while browsing my library back in 1989. I have been a fan of Christopher Hinz ever since. Liege-Killer has become my favorite book of all time, and with good reason. It is fast paced and has a wonderful plot. I would tell everyone to read this book!

This opening novel of a space opera sets up an interesting world and is based on an interesting idea. In this world earth is destroyed in a biological and nuculear war and humanity has moved to colonies in orbit. A deadly killer has been released by earths old enemies. Killers that are superhumans enties that have two bodies controled by the same mind.

This book introduces several interesting characters. More importanly the book gets the mood and setting right. The characters move around in style and the story flows well. This book is really a modern dime novel, with the privet eye replaced by a special ops expert.

Unfortuneatly as a trilogy this story fails rather badly. The second and third books do not work nearly as well as the first two. Only the main two characters are kept through all three books and they simply don't stand up the rigor of another seven hundred pages. It is never truly awful the more of this you read the less interesting it is. I can recomend this first novel as a good quick read, but don't feel bad if you don't get around to the sequals.

The first page set you in what initially appears to be a worn-out subject: post-nuclear-war Earth. But within a few minutes you start to realize there is much more to this than you initially think, and by the time you're a quarter of the way though you are completely hooked. By the end of the novel, you find yourself amazed at how Christopher Hinz has managed to weave this story together out of so may complicated subplots and pretexts. The "pre-novel history" that is revealed throughout the story is utterly fascinating (I wish he would publish a prequel, or perhaps The Rigors by Meridian - you'll have to read the book to understand what I'm talking about!).

This is a must-read! I started at 2:00am one night, and didn't sleep until I was done. Since then I've read the book at least 20 or 30 times!

This book, the first in a trilogy of books really stands on its own as one of the most exciting reads I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy. It features the Paratwa Reemul, AKA the Liege Killer, a creature with two bodies but one mind. Set loose like a wolf among the sheep in a peaceful future, the authorities must awaken the ultimate Paratwa hunter to stop it. But what they awken may be worse that Reemul himself. If you like action this one is a must read, it's a real page turner. The followups move a little slower but build nicely on the foundation laid in this book. You'll definitely want more when you finish this one!

It has been over 10 years since I read this novel. Back in the 90's I had read it a few times and wondered how it now stands in the pantheon of sci-fi history that come before and since. Well I can honestly say there is still nothing to touch it. Brilliantly plotted, intelligent and descriptive world building, visceral action sequences, fast paced with not a page of fat (harkens back to the 60-70's era where sci-fi writers had honed their skills with short stories, unlike today's 1000 page soap opera's). The above sounds like a reviewer cliche but in this case it's true!

I still cannot believe this is a debut novel, such is the mastery displayed here. Forget that extremely bad cover artwork and just buy it. Liege-Killer is a stand alone novel, with 2 more books completing the trilogy thought they never reached the heights of this one.

The sad part is after releasing this masterpiece series in the late 80's, Christopher Hinz just disappeared off the face of the earth.

Super killer return.


This is now probably in the class of really good forgotten novels.

The Paratwa were engineered to be superhuman killing machines.

There were enough of them that they could decide to band together and try and take over themselves.

Everybody else thought that was a bad idea and decided on a process of elimination.

A long time later it seems there may still be some around, and a man who just happens to have the physical abilities, if helped by a team and some appropriate fancy weapons tech is tasked to hunt them down.

A violent, but well characterized novel that is far above your run of the mill adventure story.

Well worth looking into.


4.5 out of 5

This trilogy expresses the best hybrid hard-core/action Sci-Fi < > Imaginative Fiction since Heinlein, Asimov and Herbert. HAH! you say. You're a devout skeptic, but you're too clever by half. LIEGE KILLER<>PARATWA is: Outstanding on plot. Extraordinary for depiction (setting proper) and expressive description (sci-fi ideas). Excellent with characters and their world-views, dilemmas, gestalt, development and uniqueness. (Yes, that special characteristic has been done many times, but Mr. Hinz presents the specie with such ingenuity and vividness that the reader might be mesmerized- yeah, I was).When I say uniqueness, I don't mean merely weirdness for its own sake - though there's strango-a-plenty going on. The author doesn't sacrafice suspense for all this richness, either.

There's loads of action in the major plotline and the subplots. There's raftloads of suspense on the way. With the action, there's truckloads of gore too, but not, again, for its own sake. (Well MAYBE one or two scenes.) Unlike Hollywood Mr. Hinz knows that plots not only develop, and that such is needed if you want to build suspense; but that action is amplified by orders of ten through suspense.

Talk about your Evil Twin!

O.K., for those of you who MUST have the Cartesion, Craft Services reduction-on-a-platter; or in this case under-glass and spinning in space:

> 1/3 Blade Runner, 1/3 Dune, 1/3 Caves of Steel, 1/3 Stranger in a Strange Land; and a swirl of Farmer and a pinch of Sturgeon (More than Human). Yeah I know, but you always get more with Science Fiction.