Customer Reviews

The Prodigal Sun (Evergence Trilogy)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Evergence" is a book which can appeal to a lot of sci fi fans who like futuristic space & planetary adventure novels. The story is set in the distant future when human beings have evolved into different species with different talents - some of which are rather surprising. There is fair amount of technology with an imaginative twist to it. But you never feel like you are reading a dull science journal. The characters are non traditional quasi heroes. You don't quite know who the good guys really are as the story unfolds. The suspense and mystery never lets up. There are lots of unexpected twists and turns in the plot with one fight and escape scene after another much like you find in Star Wars. But "Evergence" is definitely not kid stuff. You have to pay attention when you read this book or you will miss a piece of the puzzle, but the authors lucid writing style makes the story pretty easy to follow. There were a few too many kick and punch scenes for my taste, but outside of that, this book has never bored me. With only fifty pages to go in this first of the "Evergence" trilogy series, I am looking to buy parts II and III.

Set in the far future when humanity has fragmented into innumerable different species who fill the galaxy. This novel has the imagination and complexity of, "A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge, with the action of a David Drake novel. This is the first in a series I'm really looking forward to reading. This is good Science Fiction.

After reading this book, my first thought was, "When is the next book coming out?" Prodigal Sun is a unique space opera, with many charactes, a complex society, and a universe where you don't know who is on your side, or who to trust. Your friend may be you enemy, and your enemy just may turn out to be your friend. The story exemplifies the addage, "Politics makes strange bedfellows." I found the character of Morgan Roche to be as engaging at Ellen Ripley character from Alien. A strong enduring woman, who is an unwitting pawn in a grand scheme where the reader is unsure as to who is pulling the strings. The culture is portrayed in a richtapestry, where humanity exist in genetically modified caste system. I recommed this book for anyone looking to get involved in a space opera of a grand scale. Only downfall is that once you finish Emgerence, you're going to have to wait for the next book in the series to come out.

Straight off - the first book of this series reminded me an awful lot of a revamped version of Blakes 7, a classic british science fiction show. I loved that show, so this review may be a little biased.

Morgan Roche is a strong, competent, highly intelligent 'intelligence' officer for the Commonwealth. She has been ordered to transport a brand spanking new generation of AI to headquarters via a highly circutitious route that should 'throw off anyone chasing'. Needless to say, they catch up anyway. Thrown in with an old, sneaky trader, a young mutilated ESPer, a gentically engineered supwerwarrior from the distant past and a smart talking briefcase, Morgan has to escape from the prison planet she just happened to crashland on, and continue her mission.

That all sounds very pat, and it is the basic framework for the story. But its a lot more interesting thatn that, with a lot of plot twists, and a genuinely interesting universe thats guaranteed to keep your attention. Keep in mind that this is the first book in a series, probably a trilogy, and there are some questions raised that will be answered in later books.

This was the first science fiction book i read. I'm hooked. I can't wait for the next in the series to come out. First of all someone wrote about that this book would be hard to understand for a kid,I understood it and I am 15. Maybe i liked it so much because it was the first SF novel i read, but i think it is a great book. Morgan Roche is a commander for the CommonWealth of Empires. Her mission is to transport the Artifial Intelligence box known as "Box" to her superiors. She meets up with an unknow soldier, Adoni Cane. On the way her transport ship "Midnight" is ambushed by the Dato Bloc, an empire that has just succeeded the COE. Her only hope is to excape to the prison planet "Sciacca's world." Sean Williams and Shane Dix did a good job creating their own little world in this novel. I look forward to reading the rest in this series as they come out. Five Stars

I too, was instantly hooked on this series. The story moves at a great pace and keeps you on the edge of your seat. There were many nights I lost hours of sleep because I could not possibly put the story down. The characters are very complex and believable personalities set in a fantastic universe. The depth of the various factions that play with and against each other is vast. The setting that Dix and Williams have created is so rich that even upon completing the trilogy, I am left wanting to know more about their universe and those within it. The characters are vivid and easy to love. The science of their world is distributed evenly throughout the story so that you understand the mechanics without it getting in the way of the story. The action is non-stop and addictive and the plot takes turns that you simply don't see coming and yet leaves you feeling as if you should have, right up to the ending. I personally loved this series including the ending and placed it among my all time favorites. I hope to see many more from these very talented writers. I think everyone should email the Sci-Fi channel and ask to see this in a sci-fi channel series!

Two aussie up and coming authors write a sci-fi story with Indianna Jones like rolling action. Ideas and depth of culture and science I found most enjoyable. The book was full to the brim of twists, betrayals and action.

Two males writing from a female perspective, I found this intriguing, being a male I can't say whether they pulled it off or not with any authority.

Although this is the first of a trilogy it easily stands alone as a work with a begining and a definate outcome, which I find refreshing.

This was where it all began. I was hooked right from the start and I never looked back. After reading this one I went straight on to the second and third books, and loved the entire series. But this was the one that set the mood for the following saga. I had forgotten how good sci fi could be. And it wasn't just a boy's own adventure either. The central character is a female and a damn strong female too. I couldn't help thinking as I read this how good the story would be made into a movie and having read the following 2 books in the series I have to say the whole thing should be turned into a trilogy of films! This could be the next Star Wars! Maybe this type of reaing isn't for everyone but if you do like sci fi space opera as much as I do then I recommend these books. Utterly satisfying from beginning to end.

I had read a lot of hype about Williams and Dix's work of space opera. Since quality space opera (Vinge, Banks, Reynolds...), as opposed to stupid and tacky stuff, is one of my favourite genres, and since the authors are fellow aussies, I thought I'd give their book a try. I didn't expect another Van Vogt or Heinlein, but I thought it might be interesting.

Unfortunately what I too often found was an example of what bad SF is all about: today's world projected onto a galactic setting with space ships and ray guns. Many of the characters and events looked like they were lifeted straight from television sci fi. Cliches abound: loyal officer entrusted with an important mission, enigmatic AI, mysterious stranger, telepath girl, new adavanced ship, prison world, ruthless megacorp, brave rebels, toxic mutants, and so on and on. A few cliches are inevitable, even useful, in any good work of sci fi, but there's a limit. What's more, the various protagonists are never really fleshed out, or where they are it is not convincingly, their background is as cliched as the plot elements.

On the plus side, the pace was enjoyably snappy and fast - a refreshing trait so often missing in many stories - the writers have gone to some trouble to create their universe (there is a useful glossary at the back), and the cliche of the humanoid alien is thankfully missing. Instead there are castes of humans (races or species that evolved from the original "pristine" type) among which is the innovative transhumanist concept represented in the book by the High Humans.

Also, unlike other trilogies, this book doesn't end on a cliffhanger, another plus.

However, at least for me, these advantages - admirable as they are - are not sufficient to compensate for the rather banal story, characters, and setting, and I am not really inspired to read the other books of this series.

I will admit the beginning of this book seemed a little off to me, I had to read it a couple times, even put the book down at one point. But, eventually I picked it back up muscled through the beginning and then could not put it down. Lucky for me I started these books after they were out for a while so I got to read them one after the other. Boy were they good.

I love books that have an array of interesting characters that all work and fight together, each bringing their own unique element to the story. This had that and much more: an interesting interpretation of the future, unique bad guys, a flowing plot and a twist at the end.

Read these books you will love them.