Half Way Home by Hugh Howey

NOTE: Half Way Home was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Hugh Howey.


Regular readers of the site will recognize Hugh Howey’s by-line. He is growing quite a fan base for his Bern Saga, which began with last year’s Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue, continues in Molly Fyde and the Land of Light, and reaches its penultimate chapter with this summer’s Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions. Based on Hugh’s first two novels, I was very excited to check out his third, Half Way Home. This is his first non-Molly Fyde novel, and a bit of a departure for him, so I was intrigued.

In the future, countries send out ships full of unborn children to new planets. If the planet is deemed viable, the children are grown for a full thirty years, implanted with knowledge of their profession and their surroundings. If the planet is unviable, then the unborn are aborted. Yet, for one set of colonists, something else happens. Fifteen years into their growth, the abort sequence begins and then is terminated. Ninety percent of the colonists die in the ensuing debacle. Those who are left alive are trapped on their world, under their harsh AI task master, Colony. Yet, when Porter and a group of colonists set out to find freedom, a planet of striking danger and dark possibilities is discovered.

Initially, I was having problems with this novel. The first chapter, one of the longest in the book, breaks the tried-and-true “show, don’t tell” rule. Howey takes a very long time to tell us the background of his story, and it was like trying to run through mud. If he had worked these details into the story, letting them come up naturally, we could have gotten all of the information and none of the overbearing and slow introductory material. It was a very weak start that left me with doubts about the rest of the novel.

I also found myself frustrated with what I felt were a few logical lapses throughout the novel, most of them found in the very beginning. Frustratingly, one of them nullified the logic of the long and dry first chapter, thus making it necessary for story, but a breaking of story logic by its very need to exist. That likely makes no sense unless you have read the novel, but I don’t want to give details and spoil parts of the plot.

All of the above is a shame, because once Howey finally gets the story rolling, it becomes a very engaging novel. If you can get through the early chapters, past the background and the aborting of the mission chapters, then things finally begin to get good. Howey creates fun characters that readers will like to follow, and the relationships between characters are very engaging. The novel becomes the type of entertaining adventure that makes his other books so readable.

This one is certainly a bit of a change up for Howey, and it didn’t succeed on all levels. It is nice to see him expanding his scope, something necessary to long term success as an author, but I hope the next time he does so the results are a bit more like I had hoped for.

I ran into trouble on who to suggest this one for. I wouldn’t want new fans to begin this one, get mired in the lows, enjoy the highs, but not want to try more from a capable author. However, fans of Howey’s previous work will find this one a bit of a letdown. Thus, to any who choose to venture here, take the bad with a grain of salt: it’s not a typical turnout, and there is plenty of good to be found here. Relish the characters and the adventure in the later sections, because they are quite good. Skim through the beginning and the not-so-good parts, which can be derailing. If you are new to Howey, maybe try another of his books.

6/10

Molly Fyde and the Land of Light by Hugh Howey

NOTE: Molly Fyde and the Land of Light was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Hugh Howey.


The Top 15 Books of 2009 here at Luke Reviews included Hugh Howey’s entertaining first novel, Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue. It was a very fun tale, and I was much anticipating the sequel. This feeling increased when I saw that Luke Reviews was going to be getting its first ever cover blurb on Howey’s second book, Molly Fyde and the Land of Light. I was of course very excited, and couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

After the cliff-hanger ending of Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue, we are thrown right back into the story, as Molly tries to piece together the surprise appearance of her mother and the search for her father, all while on the run from the Navy. However, things go awry almost instantly, as the Navy attacks and a crew member’s life is in danger. The path leads them to the heart of humanity’s greatest enemy, the planet Drenard, and begins the quest to discover what Molly’s parents are working on, and just who the Bern (from the title of the series, The Bern Saga) are.

After the sweeping adventure of Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue, Molly Fyde and the Land of Light is the action epic of the series, with space battles, desert quests, and an explosive escape attempt from a moon overflowing with androids. The close escapes and explosions are provided aplenty. There is very little to find wrong with this novel. It has a different feel than the first, more fast-paced and a bit darker in tone, which suited the story.

The characters continue to work, as well. They don’t stray from their characterization, and their interactions never feel forced or flawed. The aliens are suitably alien, yet still are very relatable. The conclusion is suitably open-ended to facilitate the rest of the series, and far more is left up in the air than last time. With everyone broken into three groups and fighting to reach their goals, the suspense will make it hard for you to wait until the release of Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions. Give this series a go. It is small press gold.

9/10

Top 15 Books for 2009

After celebrating the end of the year, and the whole of of the 2009 releases reviewed at Luke Reviews, it is time to celebrate the best.  After some tough calls while narrowing down the list, Luke Reviews presents "The Luke Reviews Top 15 Books of 2009"!  Listed in alphabetical order of the author's last name, here are the books selected as the creme of the crop from 2009, along with comments from a number of the authors (and editor!) who made the list.  A huge thanks goes out to all of the people who got back to me and said something (particularly those of you who went above and beyond the call of duty; your responses were pure gold to read), and for all of the kind words.

The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two by Dan Abnett & Mike Lee


From Dan Abnett: I'd just like to say that Mike and I are delighted and honoured that the second Darkblade omnibus has made your best of 2009 list.  Thank you for the accolade--Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2010!


Resistance: The Gathering Storm by William C. Dietz


From William C. Dietz: It was a thrill to learn that Luke had chosen Resistance: The Gathering Storm as one of his top fifteen books of the year.  Working with the folks at Insomniac and Sony is a wonderful way to build out a really compelling universe in a way that compliments the games.  I'm writing a second book for them now and enjoying every moment of it.  I write original novels too, like my Legion of the Damned books, but tie-in work provides an opportunity to be part of a team.  And an excuse to play games and call it work!


Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan


(Sadly, Luke Reviews never heard back from Harry Dolan)


The Hidden Man by David Ellis


(Sadly, Luke Reviews never heard back from David Ellis)


Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman


(Neil Gaiman has a rule of thumb that he doesn't answer questions for websites unless you go through his agent, so Luke Reviews didn't contact him)


Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue by Hugh Howey


From Hugh Howey: It's a real honor to make an "best of" list, but this is a special thrill for me (and not because it's my first and only one).  That it comes from a reviewer brave enough to be a critic, someone I trust to point out my work's faults and help me improve as a storyteller, makes inclusion a real treat.


When I wrote the book, I didn't dare dream of it getting picked up by a publisher.  I just wanted to please my wife, the most discerning and ornery reader I know (in a good way).  That it has gone on to win rave reviews, selling far more copies than I have friends and family, was quite unexpected.  That it landed on an end-of-the-year list such as this, I can only say: publish in October, not in January.


Thanks, Luke.  And congratulations to all the other authors.  They are now on my reading list.


The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Volume Twenty edited by Stephen Jones


From Stephen Jones: One of the reasons I put together anthologies is for people like you.  As an editor, I don't expect the reader to like every story in a book--after all, it reflects my taste--but I do hope that most readers enjoy the majority of them.  What I loved about your review of The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #20 is that you "got" every single story in the book--you understood exactly why I chose a particular tale, and in an age where most online "reviews" are little more than personal blogs, it is refreshing to find a site that actually still makes an effort to review books intelligently and insightfully.


I am extremely honoured that you have chosen The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #20 as one of your Top 15 Books of the Year--it was an obvious milestone in the series and my career--and I hope that you will continue to spread the word for all genre material in 2010.


My best wishes to you and all your readers for a happy and prosperous New Year!


Storm Approaching by Brian Libby


From Brian Libby: Gold and Glory, the second volume in the Mercenaries series, should be available by early summer.  Check http://www.blibby.com, or write me at brnlbb(at)gmail.com, for more information  on my books.  No glory without honor!


Courage and Honour by Graham McNeill

From Graham McNeill: This was a fun book to write, as it was a chance to get back o basics with the Ultramarines.  I'd taken them off to the Eye of Terror in Dead Sky, Black Sun and left them there for a while, as I went off and did other projects, but they were always itching to get back to Ultramar.  I knew right away that I couldn't just have them turn up at the gates of their Chapter Monastery and say, 'Hi, we're home...' so that entailed The Killing Ground, a novel about the steps on the way home.  Like DS, BS, it was a novel that took the Space Marines out of their comfort zone and had them doing very un-Space Marine-like things, so with Courage and Honour, it was time to rectify that.


I wanted this to be the book that reminds the reader why Space Marines are the premier fighting force in the galaxy.  The Imperial Guard may number in the millions, but it's the Space Marines that do the really hard work, the missions that absolutely cannot be allowed to fail.  This was going to be a war novel, a book that had the Space Marines doing what they did best, killing their foes with complete and utter dedication and professionalism.  I wanted Courage and Honour to be a simple story, and when I say that I don't mean without complexity, I mean that is showed the Ultramarines--and Uriel--in the most classic Space Marine light possible.


These weren't Space Marines operating outside the Codex Astartes, these were warriors who fought with their Primarch's holy tome as their guide, and were winning with it at their side.  Of course, I wanted elements that weren't exactly codex, which is what led to Learchus going behind enemy lines and learning what had driven Uriel to make the choices he made.  It's a book with plenty of action, from all levels of the conflict, and I hope shows the brutality of warfare in the 40K universe, while also highlighting the heroism and horror that can come out of such desperate conflicts.


It's an honour to write about such an illustrious Chapter, and to have Courage and Honour chosen as one of the fifteen top books of 2009 by Luke gives me the pleasant thought that I did something right.  Let's just hope that the follow up book, The Chapter's Due is similarly well received.


The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa


(With the language barrier--Luke doesn't speak Japanese and Issui Ogawa's entire site was in said language--Luke Reviews was unable to contact Issui Ogawa for comment)


Hunt at the Well of Eternity by James Reasoner


From James Reasoner: Thank you so much for including Hunt at the Well of Eternity on your list.  I had a great time writing the book, and the fact that so many people have enjoyed reading it is very gratifying.


Kell's Legend by Andy Remic


(Andy Remic was kind enough to explain his very busy situation right now, and our schedules just wouldn't line up, so Luke Reviews couldn't get a comment from him)


Harbinger by Jack Skillingstead

From Jack Skillingstead: Harbinger is based on a loosely connected series of stories I published in Asimov's.  In fact, the connection is so loose, I doubt most readers even noticed it--and it may be the connection exists mostly in my own head.  The idea of so-called consciousness evolution was the starting point, a sort of organic singularity.  But in writing the novel I became fascinated by how individuals interpret experience/phenomenon through their own filters, and that took the narrative in different directions.  I'm gratified the book has been so well received, generally, and am especially happy to see it make Luke's Top Fifteen.


Slights by Kaaron Warren


From Kaaron Warren: Writing Slights was difficult.  It took a lot out of me emotionally, because I devoted myself to understanding the character Stevie, who is harsh, murderous, funny, and at times repugnant.  It was worth the pain if she works on the page.


Emperor's Mercy by Henry Zou


(Luke couldn't find any way to contact Henry Zou and let him know of his selection, so no comment was collected)

Interview with Hugh Howey

Hugh Howey’s novel Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue was recently reviewed here at Luke Reviews, and I had the opportunity to ask Hugh a few questions. Enjoy!

Hugh, thank you for the interview!

Congratulations on having your first novel published, Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue, out from NorLights Press! You have been pretty open about your progression into becoming a published novelist over at your site, but for the readers here, can you give us a brief overview of what it is like getting your first novel published in today's market?

The great thing about publishing a book today is that it can be as grueling a task as you want it to be. If your goal is to have your first novel released by Random House and featured on Oprah, I would liken that to climbing Mt. Everest and finding a winning lottery ticket swirling around up on the summit. It takes an enormous amount of hard work and good fortune. I think the reason so many writers are jaded and cynical is that they all set off with this dream, despite the odds of them making it to the top.

I chose to go with a small publisher primarily because of my impatience. I was less than a month into the querying process when NorLightsPress expressed interest. They also said they could release the book in six months, which is half the time a larger house would take. The reason books have a long delay to market is because the finished product spends several months in the hands of reviewers before it’s released. The big publishers have to gauge a work’s reception before they know how many books to print, and also how much to spend on marketing. I think it’s sad that readers are left in the lurch, especially in the era of Amazon reviews, GoodReads, and blogs like Luke Reviews. With a small publisher, I can release the book as soon as it’s complete and get my feedback from readers. Flexible printing technology allows us to scale according to demand, rather than printing tens of thousands of books and pulping the unread ones.

There are, of course, other options for the aspiring writer. If you can’t find a small press, you can self-publish. Last year, for the first time in the modern era, more self-published books were released than those published traditionally. Of course, the quality is probably not as consistent, and you aren’t going to become rich and famous by going this route, but the option is there.
The key to publishing these days is to accurately gauge the quality of your work (which is harder than it sounds), and then determine which peak to strive for. I think most people that set off on this trek falter because they can’t handle that first step. Everyone thinks they are in better shape than they actually, and naturally set off for a summit they’ll never make.

Now, with all of the (justified) hype over your new novel, what is being lost in the shuffle is that you are also a very apt short story writer, with a few available for free over at your site. Do you have any plans to write more in the shorter lengths, and maybe release a collection, or are you going to just stick with novels for now?

I’m going to keep writing both. I try to put together one short story a month, on top of my other writing and editing duties. The reason I haven’t had anything new on my site the last two months is partly because of the launch of the Molly Fyde series, and partly because the last short story I wrote is too controversial for print. I’m almost done with another Melanie/Daniel story entitled “Mouth Breathers” that should be up in early October.

I would love to release a collection of my short stories. Once I have enough of their lives written out, Melanie and Daniel will probably get an anthology. I also have a collection of four novellas planned that I would like to turn into a book.

With the wide range of genres you are using in your novel, who are the inspirations for your work, both literary and not?

I’m inspired by an entire mob of creative people. I’ve read thousands of books, and all of them inspire me to some degree. Looking back on the first Molly Fyde book, I think I can pick out a few of the sources that I pulled from or was inspired by. The brilliant Scandinavian crime writer, Håkan Nesser, certainly helped me voice the darker moments in Molly’s story. I had just finished GIRL WITH BIRTHMARK, and was able to borrow from his dark and dreary angst. The satire and social commentary surely came from my love of Swift and his GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. My treatment of young characters was probably a result of a childhood spent with Orson Scott Card. The action and adventure that drives the novel ever-forward may have been inspired by my fondness for action films such as ROMANCING THE STONE and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARC. Oh, and I’m probably one of the few geeks out there that loves Star Wars and Star Trek equally, so I wanted the space opera from the former and the ethical considerations from the latter.

Do you have any non-Molly Fyde writing plans in the near future?

I’m already outlining two non-Molly books that will come out after book three. One is a contemporary novel about a young girl raised by a cruel father. A psychologist shunned by his peers, he now performs his experiments on his twin daughters, one of whom he named Constance, the other he named Experimental Variable. The book is going to give me a chance to explore parenthood and developmental psychology, while maybe highlighting two facts: no parent really knows what they are doing, and most kids turn out just fine, anyway. The book will be entitled “INVARIABLE” and I can’t wait to get it wrapped up.

I have another science fiction novel in the works as well, tentatively called HALF WAY HOME. It’s about a human colony on a foreign planet, a sci-fi staple. However, I think people are going to be blown away with the premise for this story. I got goose bumps while outlining it.

After the cliff-hanger ending of Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue, can you tell us a little bit more about the sequel, Molly Fyde and the Land of Light, than the epilogue hints at?

I can tell you that the second book focuses on Molly’s mother. It also fleshes out what’s going on between the humans and the Drenards. The Bern are also introduced (formally) in the second book, giving the reader a glimpse of the saga’s scale.

My goal with the Molly books is to introduce a new audience to the magic of science fiction. The genre can be just as compelling and moving as fantasy, but with the added bonus of plausibility. Each book is going to expand the scope a bit, easing the readers into a complex universe without overwhelming them at any point.

Your first novel is subtitled "Book 1 of the Bern Saga." Do you have a plan for the number of volumes this series will be, and an over-arcing conclusion, or do you hope to keep this an ongoing series, at least for now? When will we learn about these Bern and the Bern Seer, and how they relate to Molly Fyde?

There will be four books in the “Bern Saga,” and several other Molly books afterward. I have six total Molly books outlined right now, and I’m sure more will come to me.

The saga definitely has a conclusion. The end of book three (Molly Fyde and the Fight for Peace) will wrap up a lot of the story, forming a mini-conclusion of sorts. I think readers will be extremely satisfied with where things stand at that point. It’ll allow me the time to get out a different book before returning to conclude the saga with book four.

Any final comments, Hugh?

Just to thank you for the excellent questions. You did a great job of pulling secrets and spoilers out of me. I’m really proud of myself for going back and deleting them before returning these to you.

Keep up the great work on your site!

Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue by Hugh Howey

In the world of science fiction, there are a huge number of small presses, or presses that just dabble in SF without that being their main focus. The large publishing houses seem to always take the attention, but SF is the perfect example of small presses holding the gems as well. Many small press, such as Fairwood Press, PS Publishing, Apex Publishing, Galaxy Press, Overlook Press, and many others are out there, with great works that just don’t get the publicity of a new book out from Tor, Ace, DAW, the new Angry Robot Books, etc. One of the main goals of Luke Reviews is to get the word out on the great fiction out there that is just a little bit harder to find. Among these more hidden gems you can now add to the list Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue by Hugh Howey, out from NorLights Press.

Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue follows the titular Molly Fyde and her adventures as she goes on a galaxy-spanning quest to recover her father’s ship, the Parsona. Along the way, she runs into a number of messes, and gains friends that will be the core of her new crew. From the dungeons of Palan to the verdant forests of Glemot, Molly struggles with her past, her need to save her ship, and her constant attraction to her partner, Cole, all while trying to maintain unity among her new crew and somehow survive in the process.

Howey’s first novel is fast-paced, combining elements of military science fiction, space opera, and even romance, to flesh out his story of a young girl learning to become a woman. The excitement truly never lets up (although the beginning—a simulator scene that didn’t fool me—had me wondering at first, but the book recovered almost instantly), and Molly, Cole, and the other characters (who I can’t name for fear of given up important plot points) never fall out of character. You really come to care about each of them, and the conclusions works perfectly to both wrap up the novel but leave a huge tease for the second book, 2010’s Molly Fyde and the Land of Light.

Howey does an excellent job in a book that rarely reminds you that it is a first novel, and is a wonderful example of the big boys not always having the best books. This is one not to miss. And after you read it, you will be waiting in line, along with me, for the sequel.

9/10