Deathstalker (Paperback)

~ (Author) "It gets dark out on the Rim..." (more)
Key Phrases: battle espers, esper leaders, main pinnace, Jack Random, Ruby Journey, Stevie Blues (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When Owen Deathstalker, foppish aristocrat-about-the-galaxy and master of the martial arts who'd rather write history, is outlawed by the maximally evil empress Lionstone, it's a pretty sure bet that narrow escapes and desperate deeds will follow. They do. This first-in-a-series is populated by a suave and suitably blas{‚}e hero, nasty villains galore, a wide assortment of peculiar supporting characters of many bizarre species, and the requisite confused love interest; and it is set on a criminal planet, Mistworld, at an imperial court, and all over a wildly variegated galaxy. Green blends derring-do, space battles, and wry banter aplenty to form an eminently satisfying space opera. Dennis Winters

Review

"Green blends derring-do, space battles and wry banter aplenty to form an eminently satisfying space opera."
-Booklist

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Roc; 9th printing edition (February 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451454359
• ISBN-13: 978-0451454355
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #220,780 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The thrilling beginning of a monumental space opera epic, December 22, 2004

By	Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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If you like your science fiction short and sweet, Simon R. Green's Deathstalker series is not for you. This is space opera in the grand tradition, filled with sweeping turns and possibilities extending across an Empire of worlds and centuries, featuring a cast of human aristocrats, clones, espers (mutants with varying ESP capabilities), monstrous aliens, augmented men, genetically-enhanced creatures, legends and heroes from the past, and outlaws. The newest outlaw is none other than Owen Deathstalker, de facto leader of the Deathstalker clan ever since the imperial murder of his father. All Owen wanted was to be left alone to pursue his history studies, but destiny has a way of finding its chosen victims wherever they may be. Queen Lionstone XIV declares Owen an outlaw, and in an instant he is running for his life. Thus are sown the seeds of a rebellion that will change the Empire forever. Of course, that story only begins to be told in this first volume of the exploits of Owen Deathstalker.

Deathstalker first escapes - barely - to Mistworld, a cold stink-hole of a planet that serves as the one and only refuge of outlaws all across the Empire. In the company of fellow outlaw Hazel D'Ark, to whom he literally owes his life, Owen seeks out the Empire's most legendary rebel, Jack Random, to join his nascent little rebellion. Throw in a sassy female bounty hunter and one of the Hadenmen (augmented men who once sought to wipe out the inferior human race), and you've got quite an eclectic bunch of revolutionaries. Things only get weirder from here, as upcoming destinations for Owen include Shandrakor, the legendary planet where the founder of the Deathstalker clan reportedly lies in stasis, and - deep within the confines of the Dark Rim - the Wolfling World, home of the Tomb of the Hadenmen, the Madness Maze, and the Darkvoid Device, destroyer of worlds.

Strangely enough, however, especially given all of the action Owen Deathstalker and his allies see - and, brother, they see all kinds of fierce, bloody action - at least half of this novel takes place back on the home world of the Empire. Here we see just how big a mess the Empire is really in. Besides the Queen's constantly dastardly plans, we see an aristocracy run amuck with intrigues, secret deals, betrayals, murderous vendettas, and all kinds of juicy stuff that truly reeks of decadence. No one is really who they seem, especially the likes of Valentine Wolfe, the Empire's most famous drug addict, and Finlay Campbell, a comical little fop whose secret identity as the Empire's greatest fighter is unknown to everyone but the woman he loves, a woman who just so happens to be a clone - but that is only one of many other secrets that slowly reveal themselves as this epic novel proceeds. Several personal roads lead us deep into the underground, where a secret alliance of clones, espers, and humans plan their own revolution against the Iron Throne. I found this aspect of the novel even more fascinating than Owen Deathstalker's remarkable story, and the rebel assault on the esper prison known as Wormboy Hell proves even more exciting than the novel's closing engagement on the Wolfling World.

Brimming with intrigue, harboring a number of significant and genuinely shocking surprises along the way, and filled with fascinating characters of all sorts, Deathstalker is quite an exhilarating read. It's a rather long read, as well, and you should keep in mind that it is really just the beginning. This is a story that will play out over literally thousands of pages, and Deathstalker represents only an initial plunge into the vast ocean of Simon R. Green's creative genius. The book has a few shortcomings in terms of specific plot events, and it can be disconcerting to see how much of the novel does not involve the main character, but this is awe-inspiring science fiction played out on an epic scale. Only a select few writers can realistically give life to such a large and complex world, but Green proves himself to be a master juggler of words and ideas - best of all, he seems to have a full bag of startling surprises and plot twists at his disposal that promises to make the Deathstalker series something really special and vastly entertaining.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Part of The Mystery!, February 26, 2003

By	Eric Formic (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

It's a true pity that only one thousand words are available for me to describe how passionate I am about this book and about the Deathstalker books in general. Lucky for me, I can summarize my feelings in just one simple sentence:

DEATHSTALKER RULES.

(My temptation is to add a "supreme" at the end of that, but such a majestic addition is reserved in my heart for the Mack Bolan books by Don Pendleton, et. al).

I originally discovered Green's Deathstalker while travelling abroad in Europe, and I still consider Deathstalker the ultimate European travel book. The super-cool and super-intense sci-fi space opera drama is a great complement to the dusty museums and memorials of Berlin, the mouth-watering restaurants of Warsaw, or even the charming bridges of Sweden. Simon R. Green has done a down-right astonishing job capturing, with great accuracy and consistency, the technology and lifestyles humankind may face in the distant future. Faster that the eye can see, you will be caught up in his world, a world Tolkien-like in scope but a lot less boring and stupid.

One last thing- The super-gorgeous hottie evil witch queen of the universe-- she who sends the very deathsquads against the mighty battle-hardened yet sensitive Owen D.S.-- is the best arch-villian since Moriarty's goons stalked Victorian London in search of the great Sherlock Holmes. Anything more would be a terrible spoiler...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great and gory space opera, July 18, 2000

By	Robert James (Culver City, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having cut my teeth as an adolescent on E.E. Doc Smith's space operas, I still have a sweet tooth for the guilty pleasures of space opera. And this one's a doozy. Owen Deathstalker is a historian forced to become a hero; once the world falls apart for him, the action never stops. Filled with an astonishing blend of every cliche you've ever heard of in science fiction (rogue AIs, espers, aliens, gladiators, an evil empress, corrupt lords, and genetic engineering, just to name a few), the novel keeps moving like there's no tomorrow. I got down in the mud and had a good wallow with this one. My only caveat about the novel is that the dialogue tends to be somewhat jarringly reminiscent of half-remembered lines from Hollywood movies at times, with sayings better suited to the 1990s coming out as if they were newly minted. Fortunately, Green's use of these sayings declines in his sequels, which are actually even better than the first one.