Chaos Space / Marianne de Pierres

Chaos Space

category: science fiction, author:

Marianne de Pierres

book 2 of Sentients of Orion
original copyright 2008,
read in October 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

This book was a sad disappointment.

It's entertaining. It's imaginative. There is action and adventure.

So why is it disappointing?!

It is simply one chapter of a continuing saga... There are incidents but no story. The book ends with cliffhangers but no conclusion.

The first Sentients book (Dark Space) had a similar approach: a broad story with several threads, each represented by a chapter with the focus on a single character. But Dark Space at least reached a conclusion! A weak conclusion, with one thread-defining character escaping from the planet-of-certain-doom. One stay of execution though with another six or seven still hanging by their fingernails.

But Chaos Space does not even have that token nod to the art of writing a novel. The book ends with one person missing -- kidnapped -- others separated, most in trouble.

Come on! People are expected to pay for one chapter of a never-ending story?!

I still rate this narrative effort as "six: read to pass the time". But don't even bother unless you have read book one.

The imagined universe is imaginative though somewhat depressing. To match their universe, none of the characters are sympathetic. One or two show signs that they could -- eventually -- learn to be more than narrow-minded ignorant creeps. With this no-end-in-sight approach to writing -- will "eventually" ever arrive?

Okay, a quick check of the de Pierres website... There are four books in the series -- so far. They are classed as "space opera". Big, broad action across far-future space. No worries with that. But even space opera needs a conclusion.

A quick check of the Wikipedia article on space opera. No mention of "endless and pointless".

This is a book which may be read and enjoyed. Just don't expect it to have any point or conclusion.

But wait! There's more!

The book includes a preview chapter from Saturn Returns, by Sean Williams. Thank goodness it's there -- otherwise I could have wasted my time by reading the actual book!

Man wakes up with no memory except his name. He wakes up as a woman.

Mysterious yet helpful alien says, "We will explain." They then spend several pages wandering through the alien spaceship, saying nothing. Following which the alien says, to paraphrase, "We can't explain."

The man has been reconstituted from his exploded atoms. Sorry, says the alien, We were not able to reconstitute your memories... You will have to do that yourself...

Come on now! The memories are either there -- or they are not there. They may be buried -- in which case they have been reconstituted. Or the memories do not exist -- in which case there is no way that the man can recover them.

Willing suspension of disbelief is one thing. Williams is offering absolute contradiction.

Perhaps the rest of that book is better. Based on chapter one, it rates 3 out of 10: so bad it's embarrassing.

..o0o..

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