Customer Reviews

Steelheart

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

 

 

"Steel Heart" has a very strong setting, in-depth use of characterzation, and a solid story. Unlike the reader from CT, I liked the level detail provided for the minor characters. The only drawback is that the ending is somewhat rushed. "Steel Heart" is not quite as good as "legion of the Damned" and "The Final Battle", but it is still a good read.

Harley Doon is an android trying to survive the colapse of the civilization that he belongs to. He cares nothing about much of anything. The colony that was established on Zuul is rapidly failing because if an environmental collapse.

Harley gets caught up in a quest to save the planet. He is not happy about it. He is forced into a situation where he has to cart a program from a his new arm into the wilds of an unsafe veldt.

The premise and the execution of this book almost work. The characters are REALLY well done. The motivations and reasoning make perfect sense. The ideas are novel. The only flaw is that the war sequence was unneeded. It has been a long time since I have read a better treatment of "The World Needs Saving" scenerio.

STEELHEART is a fresh cyberpunk novel. I thought I was jaded, if not certainly poisoned, against reading anymore diffusive, anal retentive cyberpunk tales. And the title certainly fooled me into thinking that the novel was not a cyberpunk novel. But Dietz had the right blend, and was fresh enough to show it. In addition, he certainly had The right characters that I'd like to see more of in further sequels (including the McCade series) of the planet Zuul as well.

The only reason that I didn't give it a full five-star rating was that I felt that Willie spent way, way, way too much time on the s***heads in the story, especially those alien Zid characters and their associated sociological circles. I would have appreciated, as I'm certain quite a few other readers out there would have as well, to see a more elaborate epilogue/ending/whatever, if not a more detailed summary of what happened to our android and human mummy and daughter heroes. I wasn't especially c! harmed to find out that those insipid teenage Zid characters had survived and subsequently been allowed to reproduce. Sorry, those dips*** Zid teenyboppers didn't cut any ice with me, Willie. Except, maybe, as suckers who'll provide a good example in being zealous overpayers of their IRS taxes!...

I loved this book so much that I wrote the author telling him as much. As far as I am concerned, I wish this book was a trilogy. When Crono was buried under the avalanche and Solly got him out I thought : "You fool! Let the old bugger die". Well... I was wrong about Crono and glad he was kept alive. Not enough Mothri. I really really enjoyed them. Loved the way the original Zid settlers got screwed over and dropped on Zuul. Absolutely love the antitechnology church. You know it's well written when you read parts that make you angry.

I give this book 5 stars because of my disappointment at having finished the book only to realize that there was no sequel.

Does Dietz ever write anything not worth reading? Not yet. His story lines are solid and his characters are alive. If he had added a bit more detail to the technology and given just a little more thought to the ending, Wow! Mr. Dietz give us more!