Customer Reviews

Vigilant (League of Peoples, Bk. 2)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I disagree with the previous reviewer, Greg Dufner. Greg says that the book doesn't get going until page 268. I enjoyed the first 200+ pages. This is my first James Alan Gardner book, so I lapped up every word on this interesting universe that he's created. Perhaps Mr. Dufner found it dull because he was already familiar with the setting.

I enjoyed every page of this book. It's got action. It's got neat sci-fi thingamajigs. It's got a cool alien race. The only flaw I found in this book was the slightly whiny protagonist. Faye likes to put herself down. Poor Faye..Bad Faye..does get old. But in the end I found I'd read a very enjoyable book.

Recommended.

Gardner delivers another of his fine science fiction novels, set in the same universe as his previous two and including the return of Festina Ramos, the heroine of "Expendable." "Vigilant" concerns Faye Smallwood, daughter of the doctor who found the cure for the plague that wiped out most of the Oolom, the other sentient humanoid species on the planet Demoth, when she becomes a member of the Vigil, a government oversight body. She is paired with Tic, an elderly and eccentric Oolom Vigil member, when her original partner is murdered under suspicious circumstances. As she and Tic try to find out what really happened, she is drawn deeper and deeper into other mysteries, regarding her father, the plague, and the nature of the universe itself.

While this book was very good, Gardner tended to be uneven in his characterization of Faye. From time to time he fell back on breezy pseudo-characterization, and the story itself didn't start until page 56, after 55 pages of background information in this same breezy style. It's worth getting to page 56 and beyond, though, because Gardner delivers.

I am pretty much stuck on Festina Ramos, formerly an "Expendable" Explorer and presently a problematic Lieutenant Admiral of the futuristic Outward Fleet. She's tough, sharp, well trained and effective, and gets herself into righteously outrageous situations and, happily, out again.

I felt that Gardner's previous Festina tale, "Hunted", was not up to snuff, but this one had me fully in its grip! We learn about the Ooloms and the Freeps in this one as well as the "Peacocks", alien races all and vividly realized by Gardner. A mysterious phenomena on the planet Demoth has felled most of the Ooloms and threatens more horrendous disaster unless our new heroine, Faye Smallwood, can survive and conquer the many forces aligned against her. These include her own personal ghosts as well as vicious government agents and various other enemys.

I very much liked the personal side of Faye, her relationships with her human friends and "family", with Festina and with her alien friends and coworkers. Her personal development is a major factor in this story and is expertly handled by Gardner.

The action is enticing and exciting, driven by very interesting concepts and by characters that we really care about. The frequently humorous style and dialogue enhances this energetic ride to a most satisfying conclusion.

HIghly recommended, and I'm definitely looking forward to more of this series from Gardner.

Demoth is a world that was devastated by a plague. The disease decimated the Oolom population with whom humanity shares Demoth. The human minority suffered psychological trauma as it watched millions of Ooloms die. The protagonist, Faye Smallwood, suffered as much as anyone. Gardner's description of Faye's response to the illness and eventual death of one Oolom is particularly well-drawn. It was Faye's father, in fact, who found the cure in something as prosaic as olive oil, but only after the Oolom Faye admired and loved had died.

Eventually, Faye put the trauma behind her, becoming a member of the Vigil, Demoth's unique supra-governmental auditors and monitors. But her first assignment is a disaster. She narrowly escapes death; seven of her fellow members of the Vigil are killed. Faye escapes, in part, because of a peacock-like creature of light. And that narrow escape plummets her into an interplanetary plot with too many players, and an ancient, evil war that is still going on. With the help of Festina Ramos, the sensible heroine of "Expendable," she solves the nested mysteries and saves Demoth and its peoples.

This is a much better book than "Expendable," Gardner's first book. In particular, the plotting is far better and the mystery at the core of the story is much better conceived. Gardner's insistence on the implausible stupidity, corruption and arrogance of Earth's governing Council of Admirals is annoying, but not as critical to the story as it was in "Expendable" (and will be in "Hunted").

A good read, with clever plotting. Recommended.

It seems that when you read a science fiction novel you usually discover one of two things. One is great book and the other is garbage between two pieces of card stock. This book is neither one of those, it is something right in between.

The ending of the book was great! I completely enjoyed the end, however the first 268 pages of the book (I'm not kidding, it started getting really good on page 268.) were a little slow. Not slow enough to make me put down though. I enjoyed the characters and the setting VERY much, I think he could have spent less time with giving us the back ground of the characters (I was sick of hearing about Bad-Girl Faye pretty quickly.) and more time giving us alien plots, which is what makes up the best part of the novel. I do think that this is a good book to fill your time while searching for pieces of great science fiction.

One more thing, read EXPENDABLE first, it'll help you get a feel for the universe. Without reading that book I feeling you'll be disappointed with the setting and you won't enjoy the book nearly as much.

I really like James Allan Gardner's writing, and that's no something you can say about every sci-fi author. You might like their ideas, or their plots or even their characters, but you won't necessarily say that their writing is exemplary. But Gardner's is. I buy his books as much for his use of language (Douglas Adams with a dash Arthur Clarke's sense of wonder) as for anything else. There's lots of plot synopsis already here, so I won't spoil anymore of it, except to say I disagree with the fellow who said the book was slow getting going. Not for me it wasn't. Gardner had me in his spell from the beginning.

When our story begins, fifteen-year-old Faye Smallwood lives in Sallysweet River on the planet of Demoth. She is human, the daughter of a doctor. A species called the Ooloms (think flying squirrels whose skin changes color like a chamaeleon) peacefully coexist with the humans. A new and deadly plague is wiping out millions of the Ooloms. Humans are somehow immune. Faye's father, Dr. Henry Smallwood finds the cure. The last Oolom to die is Proctor Zillif, a member of the Vigil, who Faye has become close to. Her father dies in a mining accident shortly thereafter.

Once an adult, Faye joins the Vigil, a band of fiercely independent monitors charged with rooting out government corruption. To help in this struggle, her mind is linked to the powerful datasphere that regulates the planet, Xé (pronounced Chay). While on her first assignment a couple of robots try to assassinate her. It is one of multiple attacks on proctors around the globe.

Ooloms and humans were not the first species to inhabit Demoth. The planet is riddled with long-abandoned mines and settlements. Somewhere deep among them is something that had been left behind: an alien technology of unimaginable potential to build or destroy. Enemy agents want desperately to find it. Even some of Faye's own people would kill to find it and unravel its mysteries. Proctor Faye Smallwood teams up with Admiral Festina Ramos (from the books "Expendable" and "Radiant") to discover who or what is behind a sinister conspiracy. During it all, new plagues are forming.

***** Author James Alan Gardner won me as a fan from the book "Expendable". From then on, I have been scrambling to get my hands on each of his previously published novels. I worried that none of his other books would equal the wonder I felt upon reading the first. Fortunately, the author has yet to let me down. As it stands, this is the third book by the author I have finished reading and I could not choose upon which I have enjoyed best. Therefore, I will plainly state that if you come across a book written by James Alan Gardner, do not bother reading the back to learn what it is about. Simply purchase the book. It is more than worth the money! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

On the planet Demoth, a deadly plague decimates the Oolom race, while leaving their human neighbors unaffected, at least physically. Faye helps care for the patients, and is a witness when her father finds a cure. After her father's mysterious death a few days later, Faye drifts through life, enters into a group marriage (her culture is bisexual), and eventually becomes a member of the Vigil, a watchdog group who fiercely monitor the government. On her first assignment, her partner is killed and Faye finds herself fleeing not only the assassins, but also a couple of government agents who feels she is hiding something. With the help of her new Oolom partner and of Festina Ramos (from Gardner's first book "Expendable"), Faye sifts through the mystery of this multilayered conspiracy which is connected not only to Demoth's past before the Ooloms arrived, but also to Faye's father. Now if Faye could only stop being distracted by the enigmatic Festina, so she could concentrate on surviving... "Vigilant" starts slow, but after the arrival of Festina, the story flares to life and the reader can hardly read quickly enough. James Alan Gardner is a gifted writer whose stories capture the imagination and entertain readers for all their worth.

Gardner doesn't write the stereotypical future. Not everything is dark and metallic. This story is actually rather quaint, and is an easy read. It is enjoyable and moves well. The one caveat is that Gardner does not create a grand universe like Herbert does in Dune, so this series of books will be somewhat limited. But overall, this is a good read.

Gardner's Faye reminds me of Anne Lamott, author of Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird. Her biting, sarcastic humor and references to a wild past are very similar. The world he has created is fascinating and rich in detail. I haven't read his other books, but I will now.