A great close to this trilogy, well-paced with plenty of good space opera action though it did have its flaws.
The science in this trilogy is all very speculative with computer brain interfaces, back up brains, Alcubierre drive and mach-effect drive which doesn’t usually bother me particularly and yet in this book it somehow did. Lots of science fiction is based upon hand-wavium science, of course, but maybe here, where the latter two are based on current theories which most scientists dismiss as, well, science fiction, it just didn’t feel right. Or maybe I’m trying to treat a straight science fiction story as a hard science fiction story which is rather unfair.
Jupiter War is very much plot driven with three main threads neatly woven together with plenty of obstacles to be overcome (though in overcoming them some of that dodgy science really does lean towards deus ex machina) and plenty of good seat of the pants action. Though the flip side is that the book is not particularly strong on characterisation. In each thread the main character is pretty well fleshed out but most of the rest are pretty thin, I wouldn’t go quite so far as to say cardboard, but they never really establish their voices. Saul himself presents a significant problem; he has become post human and is now so omniscient it seems impossible that anyone could ever stand a chance against him. This is a difficult one for Asher; Saul must make mistakes or there’s no real story, but the mistakes he does make are, to me, so obvious that they belie that omniscience. Asher gets around this by having Saul keep rebuking himself for his arrogance but, for me, that just wasn’t enough to cover it. Arrogant or not he should easily have been able to anticipate the things that he actually missed.
One character that was particularly disappointing was Saul’s sister, Var, in the second book Zero Point, she came across as a strong character who deals with a difficult situation in as ethical a manner as is possible. I was expecting more of the same in Jupiter War but instead she comes across as stupid and petty. A shame; she was a distinct let down in this book.
Despite the criticisms Jupiter War was a great book that delivered an exciting conclusion to this trilogy though it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine Asher coming back to the Owner and continuing the story. He’s certainly left it open enough for that possibility.
4/5 stars
The science in this trilogy is all very speculative with computer brain interfaces, back up brains, Alcubierre drive and mach-effect drive which doesn’t usually bother me particularly and yet in this book it somehow did. Lots of science fiction is based upon hand-wavium science, of course, but maybe here, where the latter two are based on current theories which most scientists dismiss as, well, science fiction, it just didn’t feel right. Or maybe I’m trying to treat a straight science fiction story as a hard science fiction story which is rather unfair.
Jupiter War is very much plot driven with three main threads neatly woven together with plenty of obstacles to be overcome (though in overcoming them some of that dodgy science really does lean towards deus ex machina) and plenty of good seat of the pants action. Though the flip side is that the book is not particularly strong on characterisation. In each thread the main character is pretty well fleshed out but most of the rest are pretty thin, I wouldn’t go quite so far as to say cardboard, but they never really establish their voices. Saul himself presents a significant problem; he has become post human and is now so omniscient it seems impossible that anyone could ever stand a chance against him. This is a difficult one for Asher; Saul must make mistakes or there’s no real story, but the mistakes he does make are, to me, so obvious that they belie that omniscience. Asher gets around this by having Saul keep rebuking himself for his arrogance but, for me, that just wasn’t enough to cover it. Arrogant or not he should easily have been able to anticipate the things that he actually missed.
One character that was particularly disappointing was Saul’s sister, Var, in the second book Zero Point, she came across as a strong character who deals with a difficult situation in as ethical a manner as is possible. I was expecting more of the same in Jupiter War but instead she comes across as stupid and petty. A shame; she was a distinct let down in this book.
Despite the criticisms Jupiter War was a great book that delivered an exciting conclusion to this trilogy though it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine Asher coming back to the Owner and continuing the story. He’s certainly left it open enough for that possibility.
4/5 stars
