Xenopath (Bengal Station Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Eric Brown (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bengal Station Novels | Publication Date: May 26, 2009

Working for a telepathic detective agency, Vaughan investigates a series of murders linked to the colony world of Mallory, and the slaughter of innocent aliens there by a colonial organization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A gripping sci-fi noir tale" SciFi Now on 'Necropath' --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Born in West Yorkshire, England in 1960, Brown has lived in Australia, India, and Greece. He began writing when he was fifteen his first short story to Interzone in 1986. His story "The Time-Lapsed Man" won Interzone reader's poll for the most admired story of 1988. He has won the British Science Fiction Award twice for his short stories and has published over twenty books: SF novels, collections, books for teenagers and younger children, as well as radio plays, articles and reviews. His latest books include the collection Threshold Shift, the novella The Extraordinary Voyage of Jules Verne, and the children's book Crazy Love. He is married to the writer and mediaevalist Finn Sinclair, and has one daughter, Freya. His website can be found at:: :http://ericbrownsf.port.com/

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Solaris (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844167437
• ISBN-13: 978-1844167432
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #287,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story-telling and wonderful characters, May 17, 2010

By 

Mark Chitty (North Wales) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Xenopath (Bengal Station Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Xenopath is the second Bengal Station book by Eric Brown, focusing on a telepathic detective based in a huge spaceport off the coast of India. The first novel, Necropath, was a joy to read last year and it certainly whetted my appetite for more stories focusing on Jeff Vaughan and his abilities. With Xenopath I was hoping that the general feeling would be carried through and that the characters would continue to be as enjoyable as they were in Necropath. I was pleasantly surprised in the direction it went and managed to blast through it with no problem at all!

Set two years after Necropath, Jeff Vaughan has now married Sakura and they are expecting their first child. After having his pin removed he now works outside of the investigative area and enjoys a quiet, although not wealthy, life. This was the first thing that struck me when reading Xenopath. Gone is the depressed and moody Jeff Vaughan and here we are with a happy and content one, enjoying his life with Sakura even though they live in a relatively small apartment and don't have too much to show for themselves. What does come across very well is the love that Jeff and Sakura show for each other. It's a very real and very well written relationship - if you've ever been in love then you can relate to the deep feeling between the two and just how well Eric Brown puts that across.

So, it's clear from the off that we've got a different type of novel here with different motivations and well structured character relationships. When we move on to the investigative and telepathic side of things, once Jeff has had a new well paid job and state-of-the-art implant, the novel kicks into gear and moves along at a good and steady pace. The set-up is established and the case starts to get deeper and deeper until the pieces start to point to one place - but why? This is what kept me turning the pages and trying to figure out just what exactly was going on. It's fairly obvious from early on what the outcome could be, but the questions of how? why? when? what? - you know, that feeling you get when you're really enjoying a story and just want to get to the part where it all gets explained - pushes you on and on.

I was more than happy with the conclusion and Eric Brown managed to write a damned good story and got it across in a very effective way. I can't say that this is better than Necropath, but it certainly is different. The tone is lighter and more optimistic and the ideas and concepts dealt with are bigger, but it's just as good a read. I would recommend this without hesitation and strongly suggest that you start the journey from the beginning to fully appreciate it. Here's looking to book 3, Cosmopath!

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story with terminally stupid protagonist action being central to plot - why?, December 4, 2011

By 

Woofdog (Miami) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Xenopath (Bengal Station Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Fun book, like its predecessor, but the author does something (2 things, actually) here I found very annoying. If you ignore my complaint below, then I think this was a very well-crafted sci-fi set thriller which I enjoyed.

SPOILER WARNING

SPOILERS FOLLOW

DON'T READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

What kind of idiot, being put off a case with high pay where it appears the equivalent of a fortune 100 company is murdering people and doing it so well that they are impossible to catch, decides to pursue the matter for free? Out of that idiot set, how many would do it being fairly recently married with a baby on the way? At any rate, Vaughn finds it preferable to - for purely personal reasons - go after a company that is clearly a law unto itself and has shown no hesitation to kill when useful. Ignoring the constant and clumsy foreshadowing, it was obvious to anyone that they would come after him or his wife eventually.

Of course, then we reach the next deus ex machina - the alien's ability to raise the dead (and the fetus of the dead, too), fixing organic brain damage, etc. I thought this was a very cheap way to get out of the payoff of Vaughn's blind insistence on pursuing this resulting in the death of his wife. Alternately, you could conclude that the alien, being able to do this, should also be able to impact the cell functions that cause aging, thus offering the host increased longevity. The entire alien brain-guest parasite does remind me of Brian Stableford's Halcyon Drift sextology.