The Service of Clouds

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Into the mystery....

incommunicable emotions

In the service of lovely but contrived prose

Well written but overwrought.

There cannot be many better first novels than this one.

The Service of Clouds
Delia Falconer
Manufacturer: Picador USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 031220969X

Amazon.com

A mystically inclined photographer who tries to find the face of God captured in clouds; a tubercular horticulturist who experiences others' dreams; a pharmacist's assistant who sells tonics to cure homesickness and unrequited love--these are the inhabitants of Katoomba, a town high in Australia's Blue Mountains where the air is "too thin to support any certainties." Opening in 1907 and spanning nearly two decades, The Service of Clouds follows the coming-of-age of young Eureka Jones, whose town springs into life once she sees it through the eyes of photographer Harry Kitchings. But plot is never this narrative's focus. "My mother, being possessed of a practical temperament, did not use metaphors lightly: she expected them to do a full day's work," writes Falconer, and the same could be said of her novel itself. Metaphors here are meant to be taken quite literally; clouds take on double and triple symbolic duty, but they also literally "soak into the pores" of her characters' skin, "improving its texture and the quality of our blood." In fact, Falconer's metaphors do the full day's work of both characterization and plot, and at times, that load is too much to bear. The prose is magical, but it is also sometimes frustratingly abstract. No matter: Katoomba itself is vivid, and the novel's language dazzling--even when it leaves the reader standing on less than solid ground.

Book Description

It is 1907 in the Blue Mountains of Australia. As the novelties of science begin to encroach on this beguiling landscape, Eureka Jones, a quiet young pharmacist's assistant, slowly begins to fall in love with Harry Kitchings, a distant stranger who has arrived to photograph clouds. The story of their courtship and its aftermath spans over seven years: a graceful, compelling meditation on the nature of love and the power of memory.

Customer Reviews:

Into the mystery...........2006-02-16

A staggering, wildly romantic, wildly poetic novel written by a woman with a profound gift. Achingly beautiful, achingly sad, slow, dreamy, with sentances which are sometimes wrought like grandiose set-pieces which seem to have lived a long time for a chance to escape the authour and other times strike with a quicksilver precision that leaves you breathless.

Falconer is a remarkable, gifted, sensitive and unique writer. "The Service of Clouds" is probably the best book I have read in the last 10 years. And it's only by accident I came to read it - I was looking for a book to make up a "Buy 3, pay for 2" offer and I picked it up at random. I think a kind spirit guided my hand that day!

incommunicable emotions.......2005-09-07

To all of those intoxicated by the machine, frenzied by the rhythms of urban life and driven by the spur of modernity, Falconer proposes a cure of overwhelming literary beauty. The imaginative poetic style of this outstanding first novel evokes the opulence of Garcia Marquez while weaving a rare tapestry of human tenderness, fragility and flaw. Falconer's eloquent tale of obsession, beauty and madness is a tribute to the beauty of metaphor and entices the reader to savour to the author's own passion for images. Her novel approaches a certain reign of the imagination and the age-old literary quest to portray essentially incommunicable emotions. The Service Of Clouds evokes magnificently the mystical beauty of the Blue Mountains and charts the obsessivve tenacity of a women who grasps for love and is ultimately smothered by it. A magnificent novel of haunting and persistent beauty.

In the service of lovely but contrived prose.......2005-09-04

I agree with the two other reviews from 'A reader' on the Amazon website. Although Delia uses lovely, poetic prose in this novel, it is very contrived. It appears as though she wrote it, but then 'workshopped' it too many times. I went to see Delia at the Melbourne Writer's Festival and she revealed how she researches books thoroughly and attends 'writer's workshops'. To be honest, I think she needs to cut out the writer's retreats, and try to focus on writing genuine stuff. As one of the other reviewer's on Amazon noted, a good book draws the reader in, and Delia unfortunately does not do this, she instead presents the book as a sort of prize/exhibit, to which we as the reader must pay homage. She undoubtedly has some nice turns of phrase, but I think a writer has to be careful when mixing poetry and prose, because in this instance, the prose gets far too much in the way of the story, its like wading through mud. Also, she uses too many complex words without any real sense of why that word is chosen, for instance, I think I found about 5 places where she used the word 'febrile' in the book. This is her favourite word (she used it 3-4 times in her short talk at the festival) and her over-use of it makes her language look far too contrived ("I want to put a really impressive word here, I think I'll use febrile again!")
I think the idea behind this book was an interesting one, but Delia needs to work on her language - I realise not all writers should write like Dickens or Steinbeck (my two favourites!) or even fantastic contemporary writers like Ron McLarty, whose prose is an excellent example of simplicity/sparseness, with which he conveys an amazing level of depth and meaning (I love him!); and I appreciate her efforts, but she needs to think less about how impressive her style is, and go with her instincts a bit more (ie; be more 'natural').

Well written but overwrought........2003-05-06

This would have been better as a novella or a short story. Evocatively written, Falconer nevertheless overwhelms the reader with fanciful yet strangely cold prose. The writing is all too clearly the product of intense labour, earnestly wrought, then wrought again and again and again. Clarity and simplicity are abandoned in the pursuit of hyperbole and in the end, the book is as insubstantial as fairy floss. Falconer could do better than this. Good writing should make the heart sing with pleasure at the apt word, the well chosen single phrase. This attenuated whimsy substitutes an infatuation with words for real meaning.

There cannot be many better first novels than this one........2003-04-10

Delia Falconer has written a brilliant first novel here in The Service of Clouds. I do not think this book has received the attention it deserves. There is no great storyline but the writing and the prose are heavenly.
Living in Australia I well know the Blue Mountains, which are to the west of Sydney, and they are a place of inspiring beauty. This is reflected in Delia's writing which is wonderfully descriptive.

Delia's observations of life, human nature and love are illuminating and magically alluring. This is a novel which may appeal to men as much as, if not more than, women. When I first read the blurbs I thought this might not be the book for me. I took the chance and it was. I reread The Service of Clouds recently and was even more impressed.

If you like Donna Tartt's writing you will love this novel. Delia is right up there in her ability to make you feel you are living with the characters in their hearts and lives. Such is the power of the time stopping qualities of her exquisitely distilled prose.

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This book left me scratching my head .. . .

Blending humor with authentic hazards

A Paranoid's Ultimate Survival Guide: Dust Mites to Meteorites, Tsunamis to Ticks, Killer Clouds to Jellyfish, Solar Flares to Salmonella
Patricia Barnes-Svarney , and Thomas E. Svarney
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1573929719

Book Description

Balls of lightning moving through your window? Waves on the beach as tall as a two-story building? Volcanoes in your backyard? Getting a sunburn in only seven minutes? Is anything safe anymore?

A PARANOID'S ULTIMATE SURVIVAL GUIDE is just what you need to help you decide. This entertaining book discusses the hidden (and sometimes not-so-hidden) dangers of our world--from what's lurking at your next picnic or on a kitchen sponge to the dangers of asteroids whizzing close to Earth.

The authors do more than just list the possible dangers we all face both inside and outside our homes. They also help you judge the severity of these lurking threats and suggest remedies and solutions.

If you're feeling anxious, this book will show why you have good reason to, and it will teach you how to cope with the very real threats in your world.

Customer Reviews:

This book left me scratching my head .. . . .......2007-01-27

. . . and wondering how Reviewer mcHAIKU survived all the trauma of Wars & Pestilence and lived to be 80 without becoming paranoid. (?) My blithe attitude may have to make an about face with one granddaughter studying in the San Andreas Fault area, another beginning studies in the vicinity of the New Madrid Fault, plus a family living in Indiana's Tormado Alley.

This book may be referred to with unhappy frequency. For 'head-scratching' there is plenty to be learned on pages 208-214, some of it rather revolting. The authors are practiced information-gatherers & they also offer lots of remedies. That's to balance the scary parts. It helps to have a good index & plenty of references in the EndNotes, to which you can add by stuffing your copy with newspaper & magazine clippings.

This reader is careful now to heat water for ONLY two minutes in the microwave, and my eye will scan more carefully the labels of toilet cleaners. The fire-builder in the family will be quizzed about chances that our wood-burning stove is a potential threat for carbon monoxide poisoning. I do applaud the authors for their challenge to adults on page 252, to "TURN OFF THE TV & GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!"

The book is formatted to encourage you to THOROUGHLY read all sections. In a race for time to get this re-mailed to the studious one in Santa Cruz, I admit to some skimming. I'll doubtless give up and order another copy. Who of us doesn't have a hang-up or two, anyway?

Blending humor with authentic hazards.......2002-12-05

Blending humor with authentic hazards, this tells how to cope with feelings of terror over everything from dust mites and meteorites to solar flares and poisoning. These are everyday hazards for the most part: the authors assess the severity of these threats and offer suggestions for overcoming them.

Air Service boys over the Rhine, or Fighting above the clouds

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Air Service boys over the Rhine, or Fighting above the clouds
Charles Amory Beach
Manufacturer: The Goldsmith Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0008C4J6G

The Cloud of witnesses: A companion to the lesser festivals and holydays of the Alternative service book 1980

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The Cloud of witnesses: A companion to the lesser festivals and holydays of the Alternative service book 1980

Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0005997194

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Clouds and Rainbows
Ursula Madden
Manufacturer: Lazarus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1898546169

Control and Consolation in American Culture and Politics: Rhetoric of Therapy (Rhetoric and Society series)

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Material Marxist Hits Home- We're not Crazy After All

Control and Consolation in American Culture and Politics: Rhetoric of Therapy (Rhetoric and Society series)
Dana L. Cloud
Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Rhetorical Homologies: Form, Culture, Experience (Albma Rhetoric Cult & Soc Crit)

ASIN: 0761905073

Book Description

What are the consequences in American society when social and political activism is replaced by pursuit of personal, psychological change? How does such a shift happen? Where is it visible? In wide-ranging case studies, Control and Consolation in American Culture and Politics points out this change in American culture and attributes it to the "rhetoric of therapy." This rhetoric is defined as a pervasive cultural discourse that applies psychotherapyÆs lexiconùthe constructive language of healing, coping, adaptation, and restoration of a previously existing orderùto social and political conflict. The purpose of this therapeutic discourse is to encourage people to focus on themselves and their private lives rather than to attempt to reform flawed systems of social and political power. Author Dana L. Cloud focuses on the therapeutic discourse that emerged after the Vietnam War and links its rise to specific political and economic interests. The critical case studies describe in detail not only what the therapeutic style looks like, but how and why therapeutic discourses are persuasive. These studies include: the rhetoric of "family values"; media coverage of "support groups" during the Persian Gulf War; Gloria SteinenÆs Revolution from Within; the film Thelma and Louise; and literature of the New Age Movement. Cloud concludes with a chapter urging resistance to the therapeutic persuasion she describes envisioning in its place engaged public politics. At once unique and engaging, Control and Consolation in American Culture and Politics is a must read for academics and students interested in communication studies, cultural studies, sociology, political science, and media studies.

Customer Reviews:

Material Marxist Hits Home- We're not Crazy After All.......2000-04-06

This book was one of the most popular graduate seminar texts in my school this year. Dr. Cloud uses a wide range of analytical techniques to construct a brilliant and liberating critique of the modern therapeutic. She goes a step further than most critical theorists and offers pragmatic effective suggestions for political action to address the problems she illuminates. Plus, you get to read analysis of "Thelma and Louise" AND "Boyz in the Hood"!

Couriers of the clouds: The romance of the air mail

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Couriers of the clouds: The romance of the air mail
Edward Shenton
Manufacturer: Macrae Smith
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00087F1CW

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Dinner in the Clouds
Glenn Howe
Manufacturer: Interurban Pr
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Flying Through Clouds: Navigating Uncertainty And Change In The Student Affairs Profession

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Flying Through Clouds: Navigating Uncertainty And Change In The Student Affairs Profession
Randy L. Mitchell
Manufacturer: Atwood Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

When flying, oftentimes the transition between flying into clouds or out of clouds is bumpy. It's referred to as turbulence. Flight crews understand turbulence for what it is and instinctively differentiate normal turbulence from more dangerous turbulence. That specialized understanding equips crews to respond to the needs and concerns of the passengers.

Randy Mitchell maintains that the student affairs profession is experiencing turbulence. He states: "To plot a reliable course through uncertainty and change...we...must be capable of effectively using three navigational resources."

* Instruments: the ability to fly on instruments when we're not really sure what's out there. These are resources we use to achieve our goals.

*Instincts: using our intuition and intrinsic abilities to make quick decisions. These are innate aspects of our behavior.

* Institutions: accomplishing tasks through cooperation with the organized bodies of people we work with. These are interactions that help us build effective relationships.

Book Description

The vast literature pertaining to Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) systems provides general instructions, but no article or book explains exactly how to develop and manage them. Until now. How to Develop and Manage Standard Operating Procedures describes the necessity of SOPs, explains how to develop and use them, and details how to manage their documentation. The author provides insight into how the SOPs relate to each other and to the overall documentation system. Readers will learn which SOPs need to be written, how many are enough, how to assign identification numbers, how to manage changes, and how to create a history file. They will be able to demonstrate that their SOPs are released and ready for use.

Book Description

Three things have the power to destroy the Secret Country: the Border Magic, the Crystal of Earth, and the whim of the dragon. The cousins have faced the first two; now they face the third. The Country's most trusted counselors know that the five are impostors, but no one knows who has been playing with their destinies. They must find and speak with Chryse the unicorn and Belaparthalion the dragon in order to learn the truth.

Customer Reviews:

The Whim of the Dragon.......2006-05-18

The end of this book was terrible. The end of a series should be catacalismic for someone, but in this book everyone, even the bad guys, get what they want. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

The Secret: Each Book Gets Better.......2006-01-08

I originally picked up this trilogy because it looked interesting and the other reviewers raved about it. Chapters into the first book, I began to wonder why it was so beloved. More questions than answers swam across the page, drowning me in confusion and frustration. I felt thrown into a sea without a life preserver. The language was too archaic at times, and I constantly felt I was not being given enough information to process the storyline.

I felt like I was plowing through the book with an old, tired horse in a massive field full of rocks while the burning sun beat down from above. Being a complete-ist, however, I trudged on and picked up book #2. Halfway through, I pleasantly discovered that my horse was more spry, the rocks had disappeared from the field, and I was wearing a broad-rimmed hat. I was still plowing, but it wasn't nearly as painful. By book #3, I had a tractor, cool breeze, and lemonade in my hand. The work was no longer a chore but a welcome vacation I found thoroughly enjoyable.

I can hardly account for the transition, but it did happen. I recommend the trilogy to those who are not afraid to persevere in the beginning to achieve a great reward in the end.

Great news!.......2002-02-06

Review-wise, I can't really add much to those who have spoken before me (see below), but I can pass on that the series is to be reprinted starting in 2003! Great for those of us who were having problems finding all three books!

This book should not be out of print!.......2000-01-09

The Whim of the Dragon is the final book in an incredible series, and it lives up to the first two splendidly.

In this book the children are forced to grow up, to realize that their game really has affected other people's lives. They have to take responsibility for their Secret. Dean pulls no punches. The book is bittersweet; it made me cry and laugh together, not sure which emotion was in control.

Definitely one of the best things I've read. I would recommend it to everyone, but since it's unavailable that's not very useful. It's now almost impossible to find, a fact which I find frustrating to the point of tragedy.

Six stars!.......1999-07-22

_The Whim of the Dragon_ is the last book in the trilogy that begins with _The Secret Country_ and _The Hidden Land._ I cannot praise Pamela Dean's unique writing style highly enough. It sings. Magic and poetry are interwoven in a setting in which the mage's talent is essentially poetic; literary allusions, most commonly to Shakespeare, are everywhere. A superlative read for children and adults alike.

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The Whim of the Dragon
Pamela Dean
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ438M

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The Whim of the Dragon
Pamela Dean
Manufacturer: Firebird
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000MBDYIM

Average customer rating:

A great read

Eccentric journeys to the far corners of the world

A pleasant travelogue, slightly dated but that's ok

Harkening to the last, faint echoes of "Rule Britannia"

Outposts still out there...

Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire
Simon Winchester
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0060598611
Release Date: 2004-06-15

Book Description

Simon Winchester, struck by a sudden need to discover exactly what was left of the British Empire, set out across the globe to visit the far-flung islands that are all that remain of what once made Britain great. He traveled 100,000 miles back and forth, from Antarctica to the Caribbean, from the Mediterranean to the Far East, to capture a last glint of imperial glory.

His adventures in these distant and forgotten ends of the earth make compelling, often funny reading and tell a story most of us had thought was over: a tale of the last outposts in Britain's imperial career and those who keep the flag flying.

With a new introduction, this updated edition tells us what has happened to these extraordinary places while the author's been away.

Customer Reviews:

A great read.......2007-09-20

Simon Winchester's book on the remnants of the British Empire is a fine piece of reportage from a geologist turned journalist turned writer.

Part travel book, part history, part reportage, it takes the reader on various fascinating journeys - sea, rail, air - to outposts ranging from fly specks such as Tristan Da Cunha and Pitcairn Island to teeming Hong Kong on the brink of the handover to the PRC and its new status as a special administrative region.

Like all Winchester's books it is well written, with a lovely light touch that makes the read a pleasure. Much recommended to those who enjoy the travel genre

Eccentric journeys to the far corners of the world.......2007-02-02

Simon Winchester is an interesting guy. Like Scott Turow, he wanted to be a writer when he was young, but was pushed into something else instead. In Turow's case he became a lawyer; Winchester became a geologist. After working for twenty years as a geologist, he took up writing and has worked at it for the last twenty or twenty-five years. He writes on various non-fiction topics, some of them rather unusual, including the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary, the explosion of Krakatoa, and the San Francisco Earthquake. The current book is a recounting of several years during the late 70s and early 80s when the author worked as a journalist, and contrived to visit all of the inhabited remnants of the British Empire, save the smallest.

Winchester is a gifted writer, and he recreates his visits to each of these "outposts" with the British eccentricity and humor you'd expect from a good writer in this genre. He wouldn't be British if he didn't express some huffy disapproval at the way the British government depopulated the island of Diego Garcia and then leased it to the US Armed forces. At various points the places he describes come off as wonderfully British and yet colonial, that zany combination of efficiency and nonsensical tradition that pervades everything the British did when they were overseas.

I generally enjoyed this book, and would recommend it. It is a bit dated, and some of the predictions haven't come true: for instance, the author predicts that Pitcairn Island will be depopulated by the end of the century, and of course there are still people there. The author makes recommendations as to how the islands should be administered in the future as part of Great Britain, which of course are of little interest to someone who isn't British.

Given the shortcomings recounted above, this is a good book and rather fun. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it.

A pleasant travelogue, slightly dated but that's ok.......2006-06-07

Ejoyable stories from the early 1980's by an author who waxes a bit nostalgic for the British Empire. Well written with dry humor. A languid pace. Never dull.

Harkening to the last, faint echoes of "Rule Britannia".......2006-04-14

In 1914, the globe was spanned by the British Empire, on which the sun truly never set. As a boy, I collected stamps, and I was in awe of the number of faraway and exotic places that featured the likeness of the British monarch on their issues. It was, perhaps, these colorful bits of paper, along with the tales of Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart, and King Arthur that engendered in me a lasting love for and fascination with Great Britain. I've visited the mother island on more than a dozen occasions; I long to be there now. Simon Winchester's OUTPOSTS took me in a different direction - outward to the last vestiges of Empire.

British Indian Ocean Territory, Tristan da Cunha, Gibraltar, Ascension Island, St. Helena, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, and the Pitcairn Islands. These, minus Hong Kong - OUTPOSTS was published in 1985 - are now all that are left of the once proud imperial possessions. Simon visited them over a three year period, except the inaccessible Pitcairn, and tells us about his odyssey in this sterling travel narrative.

Winchester, a Brit himself, is ambiguous about the Empire. On one hand, he apparently feels that the Crown's dominions, protectorates, trustee states, mandated territories and colonies were better left to go their separate ways, if only for the sake of political correctness. On the other hand, he maintains that, of all the European colonial empires, Britain's was the one administered with the greatest degree of good intentions. And, Simon isn't above becoming sentimental, as on Tristan da Cunha, a dependency of St. Helena, during a visit by the Colonial Governor:

"A bugle was blown, a banner was raised, a salute was made, an anthem was played - and the Colonial Governor of St. Helena was formally welcomed on to the tiniest and loneliest dependency in the remanent British Empire. I found I was watching it through a strange golden haze, which cleared if I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand: the children looked so proud, so eager to please, so keen to touch the hand from England, from the wellspring of their official existence."

The volume contains a rudimentary map of each colony visited, but no photographs - a deplorable deficiency in any travel essay, I think. I had to go onto the Web to satisfy my curiosity for visuals; the Tristan de Cunha, St.Helena, and Falkland Islands websites are particularly helpful in this regard.

OUTPOSTS is, of course, dated; Hong Kong has long since reverted to the mandarins in Peking. Luckily, I was able to visit the place in 1994 when it was still a jewel in the British crown. Oddly, the chapter on HK is surprisingly short considering the size and importance of the place at the time the book was written. Winchester didn't even mention one of the best E-rides in the world, the short Star Ferry trip from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island.

One of the best reasons to read OUTPOSTS, if your interested in the subject, is the author's brief, chatty history of each colony. And then there's the occasional trivia. Did you know, for example, that during the Falkland Islands War a team of Argentine frogman arrived in Spain with plans to blow up Royal Navy ships anchored off Gibraltar? They were arrested by the Spanish police on a tip from British Intelligence. And, do you know the location of the only land border between Holland and France? It's not where you might think.

OUTPOSTS grandly took me to places I shall likely never visit, and I'm indebted to Winchester for that.

Outposts still out there..........2005-10-16

Having visited some of the far-flung places mentioned in Outposts, I was really floored by Winchester's style and prose: he really brings these remote islands alive, and tells a very readable, factual yet humorous tale of the inhabitants of Britain's remaining colonies, their lives and the daily issues they face.

Brilliantly written and extremely captivating, even those without an apparent interest in the subject would be moved by this book. I think it would at least further their curiosity in these remote patriots and their daily trials on such remote outcrops.

Harry Ritchie writes on a similar line in his book The Last Pink Bits, yet his research is noticeably less than Winchester's, by far. His tone at the start even appears one of mild annoyance at having to travel the world on the subject (surely his own idea?!) to the extent that I actually wondered why he bothered. New-found UK celebrity Ben Fogle also attempts a work entitled The Teatime Islands, and although a brave attempt at starting his writing career, I think he should stick to presenting daytime television.

Outposts is an extremely well-leafed book in my collection, which I keep revisiting. I cannot recommend it highly enough for those interested in travel, days of empire and island life.

Average customer rating:

A sequel that surpasses its original! I enjoyed this even more than "Requiem for the Conquerer"...
Painfully obvious plot progression
Staffa now finds himself torn between duty and love...
Staffa now finds himself torn between duty and love...

Relic of Empire (Forbidden Borders)
W. Michael Gear
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0886774926

Book Description

Second in the trilogy by the bestselling coauthor of People of the Masks

This stunning and complex novel continues the story of the ultimate general, the penultimate killing machine, searching for the son he's never known. But the son--now a general himself--is mobilizing forces for a preemptive strike...against his own father.

Praise for W. Michael Gear's novels:

"Galactic intrigue...highly recommended."--Library Journal

"Exhilarating high adventure." --Locus

Customer Reviews:

A sequel that surpasses its original! I enjoyed this even more than "Requiem for the Conquerer"..........2006-07-21

It's been 14 years since I first read this book; the second installment in the Forbidden Borders trilogy by W. Michael Gear. Whereas the first book has dimmed somewhat with the passage of time, and the gaining of experience, I found "Relic" to be every bit as gripping and page-turning as I remembered it being when I was a teen back in the early 1990's.

A few of my gripes from the first book are still there, namely in that Gear takes certain liberties with the military world, and goes out of his way to render almost every lead female character in Playboy Playmate proportions.

But now that we've dispensed with the genesis of Sinklar Fist and the rise of his revolutionary, hybrid army from Targa, we can get down to the juicy business of politics within the Forbidden Borders.

When last we left the decrepit empires of Sassa and Rega, they were poised at eachothers' throats; having been essentially placed in that position prior to the conversion of the Lord Commander to Seddism at the hands of his former victim and current Seddi Magister, Kaylla Dawn. Staffa kar Therma must wrestle with his newfound conscience and the dilemma of the coming apocalypse, while at the same time relying on his former enemies, the Seddi, to supply Free Space with a new way of thinking, which will help break humanity out of the fascist trap which seems ready to doom them all.

The deliciously maniacal Illy Taka is using Fist, and everyone else she can get her hands on, to establish her permanent power base at the top of the Regan heirarchy, with the psychopathic clone Arta Fera as a personal attack dog for reaching out and touching Illy's enemies, including Staffa's number one soldier and lover, Skyla Lyma.

Sinklar Fist himself is like a fish out of water in Illy's political games, and old foes from the Old Guard of the Regan Imperial military threaten to derail Sink's desperate attempts to reform Rega's forces before the Sassans, or Staffa kar Therma, can seize Regan space with a concerted military strike. The question of his origins continues to plague, and an old friend surfaces amidst the confusion to both shock and enlighten Fist before he must come face to face with horrid betrayal.

In spite of this heady setup, there is not as much "military" to this military SF novel, when compared to the first installment. Far more than the first book, this one is a giant game of spying, lying, power brokering, and assassination. Much of the book centers on the machinations of the malevolent spook-turned-Empress, Illy Taka, and Gear does a good job building Illy into an enemy the reader loves to hate; as if the reader doesn't already hate her after "Requiem for the Conquerer."

Ben MacRuder also comes into his own as a major figure, now out from under Sinklar's shadow. The character depth of MacRuder is greatly expanded in this book, and he gets involved in a complicated love affair which could possibly rip apart his relationship with his best friend and commander, to say nothing of Staffa, who has taken a liking to MacRuder on account of their shared experiences on Targa at the end of the last book.

Whereas "Requiem" stocked the crock pot and turned on the heat, "Relic" brings the contents to a nice boil and sets up the whole of Free Space for the final, climactic events of "Countermeasures", the final volume in this three-volume series.

Lastly, the alien Mag Comm waits, and thinks. Mostly forgotten by the humans, who careen through this book on the knife-edge of disaster, the Mag Comm silently watches and listens, learning and growing. No longer sure of its allegience to the Others, whom the Mag Comm doesn't completely trust, the artificial intelligence is frustrated that it cannot reach out to rescue the humans from their self-created doom. If only events would transpire that might drive the humans back to the rubble of Makarta Mountain, to the gleaming gold headset which waits for a Seddi, or Staffa kar Therma, to close the mental circuit, and establish direct human/machine communication.

Hooked yet? Read the series!!

Painfully obvious plot progression.......2003-11-14

This book continues the over-the-top characterization of the first installment, as well as the obvious plotting. The author seemed to go out of his way to make sure readers would know where the plot was headed -- one sledgehammer-like hint was seldom enough. The two dominant 'religions' are set-up to fail, paving the way for the irrelevant broadcasts of Sedi propaganda. The journal entries he throws in are somewhat interesting looks into their representative characters, but are obviously designed to be such. They are not believable as journal entries, though. The only reason this book got two stars instead of one is the interesting way the author accomplishes what he so artlessly telegraphs.

Staffa now finds himself torn between duty and love..........1999-05-18

A definite jewel in the deep voids of the SF world, Michael Gear has created yet another masterpiece. A coalesce of complex ideas: epistemology, mythology, philosophy. Michael Gear uses his masterful skills to create an artificial universe in which the Forbidden Borders trap Humanity, a synthetic gravity-well that has been placed by the "gods." Staffa starts to question whether or not these gods are real, and if it is possible to raze the walls that confine Humanity to only a few selected planets. However, Staffa quickly finds himself looking into the face of oblivion. Fixed between two warring empires, Staffa starts to wonder if death is the only option. A definite find, it will be enjoyed through all of the 626 pages. Bravo to Michael Gear, and his fine piece of literature. *Note: it would be best to read the first book, Requiem for the Conquer, as to the fact that many of the characters went through key and significant changes.

Staffa now finds himself torn between duty and love..........1999-05-18

In the empire of the Aztecs: Mexico City is rich in relics of a people who practiced human sacrifice, yet loved flowers, education, and art

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In the empire of the Aztecs: Mexico City is rich in relics of a people who practiced human sacrifice, yet loved flowers, education, and art
Frank H. H Roberts
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Outposts CD: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire

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Simon; Simon, Winchester Winchester
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Relic of Empire Forbidden Borders #2

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Relic of Empire Forbidden Borders #2
W. Michael Gear
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Relics of the Vijayanagar glory ; or, Never to be forgotten Hampi ruins as a relic of the magnificent Hindu empire of South India in medieval times, in pictures

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Relics of the Vijayanagar glory ; or, Never to be forgotten Hampi ruins as a relic of the magnificent Hindu empire of South India in medieval times, in pictures
A. K Balasundaram
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Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 2
Teresa of Avila
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Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 1
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