Deathstalker

<img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1684783489i/34278771.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><b> <i>"Things would be different this time. He was the Deathstalker, and he had finally found his true destiny. More or less."</i> </b><br><br>3.75 ?<br><br><b> <u>Initial Thoughts </u> </b><br><br>Simon R Green's 1995 novel Deathstalker was originally recommended to me by a buddy from work who I normally pay zero attention to when it comes to books. He's one of those people who's idea of quality literature is Bigfoot Beach Massacre or something along those lines. But then I also seen reviews for it on <b>Brian Lee Durffee's</b> channel and <b>Words in Time</b> on YouTube, who both raved about it. The later stated that <b>"if Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos is fine dining, then Deathstalker is a greasy bucket of fried chicken." </b> And I do love me some fried chicken!<br><br>A bit of research revealed Simon R Green is an English author who has somewhat of a cult following, with a fiercely loyal fan base. He even appeared on the New York Times best seller list...that's now plastered on the cover of most of his books! Certainly worth checking out then. Wish me luck.<br><br><b> <u>The Story </u> </b><br><br>We begin with the central protagonist <b>Owen Deathstalker</b> on the run after the hot young lady he's sharing a bed with attempts to murder him. Turns out he's been outlawed by the leader of the galactic empire Queen Lionstone XIV, who goes by the nickname <b>"The Iron Bitch,"</b> and there's a sizeable sum of money on our young heroes head.<br><br>Although Deathstalker comes from a long line of renowned warriors, he's intent on taking his life a different direction. Studying history and enjoying the finer side of the elite lifestyle with minimal effort. But it looks like destiny has got something to say about that and he's not going to get his wish. Now every man, woman and their dog is trying to kill him. With only his sarcastic AI for company he's short on friends and he's going to need some of those if he has any chance of starting a rebellion against the woman who put him top of the galaxy's most wanted list. So begins a chase that's going to last till the very end of the book, with Owen set to meet some very interesting characters as he starts to form a renegade gang.<br><br>But if that's not enough the empire is also facing first contact with a potentially hostile alien race. And if that's still not enough, there's plenty of plotting and back stabbing taking place as different factions look to establish power during this volatile period. Did I also mention there's an underground rebellion taking place? Yes there's a hell of a lot going on in this one.<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1684912845i/34283683._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><b> <u>The Writing </u> </b><br><br>Straight away you can tell this story is a homage to that classic sci-fi, space opera<b> Star Wars</b>. Not to say it's a carbon copy but there's a hell of a lot of parallels. There's as much sword duels, rebellion and death rays as you could ask for. But there's still enough here to keep things fresh and entertaining.<br><br>But the actual writing is not without its problems. Not to say it's the worst I've experienced but certainly far, far away from the best.<br><br>First off, it drags on a bit. We're talking six hundred pages with huge chapters. And then it turns out you're still only 20% into the story with four books to follow. I'm always cautious in saying an author has overwritten things as what do I know about building a plot and developing characters? But when things are getting repetitive and I start loosing interest it's pretty clear this book could have used a thorough edit.<br><br>There's also a fair bit of exposition in the dialogue, when characters are saying stuff just to get information across to the reader, that felt a touch unnatural in parts. And my biggest turnoff, lots and lots of adverbs! Has Simon R Green never heard of the number one rule of effective writing...show not tell? Give me an awful sex scene any day over this! Well maybe I was going a bit far there.<br><br>But I don't want to come across as too critical because when this book gets it right it is exactly what I was looking for. Fun, action packed with a good bit of comedy. Extremely entertaining and what I like to call popcorn sci-fi.<br><br>There's also a lot of political intrigue and treachery going on that kept me thinking and the world building was very impressive. It's a fully fleshed out universe and Simon R Green manages to incorporate zombies into a space opera setting so gets extra marks there. You can see there's an equal amount of positive to outweigh the bad.<br><br><b> <i>"Anyone you see coming this way is almost certainly an enemy, so shoot on sight. If you kill the wrong person by accident, we can always apologise later."</i> </b><br><br><b> <u>The Characters </u> </b><br><br>While the writing didn't quite hit the sweet spot for me, the characters in Deathstalker were unquestionably the high point. I'll freely admit that they weren't the most developed. This is coming from someone who recently read Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. But damn boy were they a lot of fun!<br><br>The book contains an impressive cast of murderous nobles, bounty hunters, lowlife criminals and strange alien races. There's a number of these that receive POV chapters and apart from the central character of Deathstalker the rest share a common theme of living a secret life away from the public eye.<br><br>If you were asking me to name a favourite I'd shy away from the main man, I'm controversial like that, as he did receive reduced screen time in favour of some of the others. The honour goes to <b>Valentine Wolfe</b> a drugged up, makeup wearing aristocrat with a fantastic sense of humour. When he wasn't busy killing people or avoiding being killed by his nefarious siblings he was investing his time wisely by sampling every drug on the market.<br><br>I also found the villains strangely likeable in this one as you got to spend time inside their headspace. Particularly<b>Captain Silence</b> the leader of the Imperial ship who was chasing down Deathstalker with his cold-blooded colleague <b>Inspector Frost</b>. Both were really entertaining and had a great relationship that almost had me rooting for them in parts.<br><br>But I've only scratched the surface here as there's an absolute army of characters in this one.<br><br><b> <i>"If there's one thing I've learned as a lifetime rebel, it's that you can't always choose your allies."</i> </b><br><br><b> <u>Final Thoughts</u> </b><br><br>The question is, did I enjoy Deathstalker? And the answer is it was a whole lot of fun as I was promised. So the answer is yes. But I'm finding in my later years I'm becoming a bit of a literary snob and the quality of writing did let this one down. That's what prevented me giving it four stars. So I guess it comes down to what you're after in a book. You can make you're mind up for yourself there.<br><br>This is a standard space opera affair thats very fun, but a little bit dated. With it being a five book series I guess you want to know if I'll be continuing with it. Well I think I owe it another shot and to be honest I am interested in spending more time with these characters. Particularly Valentine Wolfe. Hopefully Simon R Green's writing picks up.<br><br>But I won't be rushing into the next one. Fast food science fiction indeed. Nice once in a while, but too much is bad for your health! You need something with a bit more substance in your diet.<br><br>Thanks for reading and...cheers!

Deathstalker was a fast paced fun space opera in the Star Wars mould. It was not thought provoking sci-fi by any means but Simon R Green has an engaging writing style and despite using every sci-fi cliché in the book his story was still enjoyable and the characters even had a little depth to them! <br /><br />Owen Deathstalker is a historian who has moved to the fringe of the Imperial Empire to get away from the politics that got his famous warrior father killed. Unfortunately for him the tyrannical Empress Lionstone outlaws him anyway as she suspects he could have some useful information in the form of the Deathstalker family secrets that she could extract from him! Owen is forced to flee to the rebel haven Mistworld where he soon gets caught up in talks of a rebellion. <br /><br />The story was a lot of fun. Owen was not perfect but he was an easy character to like and root for. The story got a bit of added depth by the fact that the Empire was facing the threat of two newly discovered alien species as well as pressure from an existing rebel underground made up of various factions. Then we got POV's from a bunch of scheming aristocrat families. It all made for exciting reading! Owen's story arc was fun and the various other POV characters added a bit of depth to the story and were quite engaging in their own right. <br /><br />The world was a fun one but nothing complicated. It was a bit Star Wars in terms of setting and technology and we got everything from AI's, Cyborgs, and clones to aliens, telepaths, and vampires. It was a bit crazy at times but it just about worked.<br /><br />I first read this story way back in my teens and remember it being a crazy read even back then. I was a bit worried this would not hold up well but surprisingly it did. I think I might even have enjoyed this as much this time around as I did when I read it in my early days! <br /><br />Rating: 4.5 stars<br /><br />Audio Note: The audio of this was produced by Listen &amp; Live Audio who were the proto-Graphic Audio. It was very well done. The music and sound effects were done well and the narrators also did a great job with the characters.

Deathstalker (Deathstalker, #1), Simon R. Green <br />The Deathstalker series of science fiction novels, by British author Simon R. Green, was written during the 1990s and early 2000s. Although referred to by a single name, the series consists of two major episodes (each dealing with a different member of the Deathstalker Clan), and other associated novels providing a backstory to the characters and events of the fictional universe.<br />Deathstalker Rebellion<br />Deathstalker War<br />Deathstalker Honor<br />Deathstalker Destiny<br />Deathstalker Legacy<br />Deathstalker Return<br />Deathstalker Coda<br />تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوازدهم ماه فوریه سال 2014 میلادی<br />عنوان: دث استاکر کتاب 1 دو جلدی - دث استاکر؛ نویسنده: سیمون آر گرین؛ مترجم: آرزو احمی؛ تهران، ویدا، چاپ اول و دوم 1392؛ در 415 ص؛ دوجلد در 800 ص؛ شابک: جلد 1: 9786002910318؛ جلد 2: 9786002910349؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان انگلیسی - سده 20 م<br />این مجموعه هشت کتاب است، شاید نام «استاکر» به گوشتان آشنا باشد. شاید با شنیدن نام «استاکر» کمی هم هول برتان دارد، و نگاهی به دوربرتان بیندازید تا مبادا سایه ای و شبحی شما را غافلگیر کند. چند دهه پیش، دو نویسنده در روسیه، رمانی علمی – تخیلی نوشتند، و کلمه ی استاکر وارد ادبیات جهان شد. پس از آن فیلمی نیز به همین نام ساخته شد. و اکنون «دث استاکر» برای خودش نام و آوازه ای به هم زده است. با همان رازآلودگی موجودات فضایی و دنیای عجیب و غریبشان. نقل از کتاب: (8- جهان زیرزمین: «ولنتاین ولف»، با خودش فکر میکرد، مشکل رسیدگی به مسئله ی جنبش نیروهای زیرزمینی، این بود که: گاهی اسمشان را، زیادی جدی میگرفتند. او به زحمت، با پشت قوز کرده، و سری که پایین گرفته بود، تا به سقف کوتاه تونل نخورد، از میان آن میگذشت. تونل، تنگ و تاریک، و دلگیر بود، و تا ابد ادامه داشت. فانوسهاییکه در فواصل منظم از سقف، آویزان بودند، چندان آنجا را روشن نمیکردند، و او همچنان مجبور بود، چشمهایش را، به شدت تنگ کند. سیمهای در هم پیچیده ای، روی دیوارها و سقف بودند، که احتمالاً، کسی کد رنگهای روی آنها را میفهمید. به نظر «ولنتاین» که جلف و، رنگی پنگی بودند. بعضی از سیمهای پوسیده، مثل پیچک، آویزان شده بودند، و او هنگام جلو رفتن، مجبور بود آنها را، با دست کنار بزند. همه جا، پر از گرد و خاک بود. کاملاً معلوم بود، که مدتهاست، کسی از آن تونل نگذشته بود، و «ولنتاین» هم، سرزنششان نمیکرد. تونل، منظره ی یکنواختی داشت، از کمردرد داشت میمرد، و بوی وحشتناکی میآمد. او در اعماق شکم جهان، و در عمیقترین جای مخفی آن بود. هزارتویی، از مجراهای فاضلاب و تونل، و جعبه های تقسیم، که جهانهای مستقل «جلجتا» را، به هم وصل میکردند. وجود این هزارتوی پیچیده، برای بقای جهانهای میانی، لازم بود، با اینهمه، تعداد اندکی از افراد، تا به حال به فکر آن، افتاده بودند. تنها کارکنان بخش خدماتی، حق داشتند، از اینراه استفاده کنند، اما خب، «ولنتاین» عادت داشت، به جاهایی برود، که حق قدم گذاشتن به آنها را، نداشت. با عمیقتر شدن لجنیکه میان آن راه میرفت، چهره اش را از فرط انزجار، در هم کشید. لجن، به مچ کفشهای چرمی بالای زانوی مد روزش رسیده بود، و حسابی برق آنرا، خراب کرده بود. «ولنتاین» نمیدانست، توی آن لجن چیست، و ابداً دوست نداشت آنرا بررسی کند. به شدت احساس میکرد، که بهتر است نداند. حس میکرد، بهتر است، بیش از آنچه مجبور است، آنرا هم نزند. او در حالیکه، یکدست را روی اسلحه ای گذاشته بود، که به کمرش بود، از میان تونل پیش رفت، و سعی کرد، عضلات کمر خمیده اش را، شل کند، اما در اینکار چندان موفق نبود. ...) پایان نقل. ا. شربیانی

<b>4.0 stars</b><br />This was a fun science fantasy story that was clearly heavily inspired by Star Wars. For that reason, the story felt incredibly tropey and predictable. Yet it was also very fun. I particularly loved the use of specific fantastical creatures. I liked this one, but I felt it would have worked better with a shorter number of pages.

Great laser-mounted cannons of excess! What is this nonsense?<br /><br />In one first volume of a space opera we have, in no discernible order: Mob-style family feuds! A merciless and corrupt ruler! A hope for the future of Humanity* macguffin! Imprisoned empaths! Clones! A lecherous old woman-hater in charge! Two ninjas who both disguise themselves as Emo Philips! A reluctant hero! A rag-tag band of sidekicks! Killer whores! Naked assassin sex-slaves! Gay assassins in love! Rooftop-guardian-angel-assassin! A washed-up ex-hero who comes out of retirement To Do the Right Thing! A washed-up dead hero who comes back to life To Do the Right Thing! Lesbian polyamory which everyone goes out of their way to point out is icky! Flying bouncy castle!<br /><br />Now, all of these things are fine by themselves** and I could, I think, see them working together in a much better book. Think, for instance, what they might be like all together in a Discworld book. <br /><br />But here, they not just beggar belief but strip it of tickets, money, passport, clothes and dignity. What. In the everloving fuck. <br /><br />Owen Deathstalker (historian, no death-stalking thank you very much) is mysteriously and suddenly outlawed by Empress Lionstone and very much a persona non-grata in the Empire, with a very big price on his head. He teams up with another outlaw on the run, who mysteriously does not turn him in for the reward, and they put together a band of ragtag sidekicks, none of whom turn Owen in for the reward because apparently no one in this book is into food*** or paying rent. The sidekicks go on a macguffin quest put in place by Owen's dead father, and somewhere along the way Owen quits being a historian and is all OH TOTALLY I DEATHSTALK, THIS IS WHAT I DO and is naturally a bamf despite the fact that on the cover of my copy, he is portrayed as cross-eyed and kind of skinny, wearing a jester-style catsuit (none of which says bamf as much as it says "escaped from an institution"). <br /><br />Meanwhile, in a whole other part of the book, there is lots of court intrigue, starring many Mob-style families who vie for power. Which is all fine and good, except that Green likes to go on at length about the rules of vying, and then halfway through the book one of the families blatantly ignores all those rules and goes batshit on another <i>with exactly zero consequences</i>. <br /><br />Plot wherefore art thou. <br /><br />This could've been a fun romp. But instead it's just a mess. Green writes his characters out of way too many tight spots by introducing new mythology or a secret weapon CONVENIENTLY HIDDEN RIGHT HERE and immediately deploying it, or having characters step...out of character for a moment. FOR PLOT! (Huzzah).<br /><br />It's hacky. It's clunky. It's sad. <br /><br />And they're really bad Emo Phillips impersonators. <br /><br />No love.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />*Yes, capitalized. Which always tits me off sideways. <br />**Except the lesbian polyamory-shaming, which can just foad, thanks.<br />***Seriously. Not one meal is eaten in 550 pages. Including, at one point, when Owen and friends have been on the run, bopping bad guys on the head for like, two days. Without eating.

I have to say, that if you can't read a book without analyzing and reading to actively criticize, then you will certainly find loads of things to criticize about this book - the gore, the incessantly repeated phrases often within a couple of pages of each other, the cliche's and the ways that the main characters get out of situations. But, I read for pure enjoyment, nothing else, and if like me you read for enjoyment, love fantasy, science-fiction, and pure fun, then you will love this book.<br /><br />For anyone who is slightly confused - yes, this book has the flaws that I have mentioned, and many other people mention them also, but I either don't see them as "flaws" or they barely influenced my enjoyment for more than a few milliseconds at a time - hence the five star rating.<br /><br />Deathstalker is a book centered around a young man named Owen Deathstalker, an amateur historian, outlawed with a price on his head by the Empress (also known as the Iron Bitch). The novel follows his adventures to several enigmatic planets with his companions - Hazel D'Ark, ex-clone-legger and pirate; Ruby Journey, the bounty hunter; Jack Random, the professional rebel; Tobias Moon, the cyborg; Ozymandius, the AI (artificial intelligence); and Giles, the 900 year old original Deathstalker, founder of his clan. <br /><br />The book also follows the movements of the Empress's court and the nobility, with intriguing and diverting characters here also - Finlay Campbell, the fop and dandy with a deadly secret; Evangeline Shrek, lover to Finlay and, as seems to be common among the nobility, with dark secrets of her own; Kit Summerisle, Kid Death, the Smiling Killer; David Deathstalker, cousin to Owen who became head of the Family upon Owen's outlawing. And perhaps my favorite character (in terms of disposition, not character, mind you); Valentine Wolfe. Valentine is an amazing character - a "professional" drug user, with cunning fighting skills and intelligence hidden behind the everyday mask of his scarlet mouth and mascaraed eyes. Despite his (to be frank) oddness, and (not so much in this book but certainly later on in the series) his increasingly unpleasant or downright evil actions, you cannot help but love this character, with his unique attitude and dialogue - a marvelous character to read. <br /><br />And lastly, this book follows Captain Silence of the Darkwind, and later the Dauntless, and his comrades Security Office Stelmach and Investigator Frost, in his attempts to do his duty and follow orders from the Iron Bitch that he often has no taste for.<br /><br />I think perhaps, aside from the dialogue (which I shall get to later), my favorite thing about this book and the later books in the series (which have their own charms) is that Simon R. Green shows us without a doubt that there are good people on both sides of a war. People whose differing beliefs prevent them from ever being able to agree or work together or even like each other - but because of the different points of view we are given, people on both sides are wonderful and like-able, or if not that then at least enjoyable characters nonetheless.<br /><br />The dialogue, though as mentioned containing many cliches and barely disguised repeated phrasing, is consistently light and amusing, with friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) banter, jokes, and overall, a unique tone that Simon R. Green has throughout Deathstalker. This tone is not always "funny" as such, but it does certainly have a light touch and vague air of amusement to it at all times - except when there are heads exploding and the like. But the overall tone of the dialogue and descriptions, which is hard to explain unless you have read the book, prevents you from taking things like that too seriously - but just seriously enough. <br /><br />Perhaps one of my favorite sequences where this banter and amusement is brought in is the sequence where Owen and Hazel go to find a name from a clerk, who subsequently goes on a rant about being "up to his lower lip in paperwork and sinking fast." He is certainly unhappy with his job - "the lunch break's a joke, there's only one toilet, and the pay's rotten. I'd quit if it wasn't for the pension. And the constant chances to screw up peoples lives... it's either this or planting explosives, and explosives are expensive." :D<br /><br />Lastly, I should like to mention that I first stumbled across these books when my dad gave me the audio-books by Defiance audio for Deathstalker, Deathstalker Rebellion and Deathstalker War. The later books were done on audio with the same voice-actors, but by a company called Graphic Audio. I can justifiably say that the audio-books of Deathstalker are by far the best I've ever encountered. There is one amazing narrator, who does some of the voices along with the main descriptions, and he is accompanied by three or four other voice-actors - two men and two woman, I think. And these voice-actors also have wonderful variety and seem to me very talented. On top of this, the books have special effects (like making the voices echo slightly when said characters are, for example, in tunnels), sound effects (like the sounds of rushing water, sword fighting or energy guns firing), and also various fitting pieces of music that play along at suitable moments. The audio-books are quite expensive, but I would highly recommend them.<br /><br />I have both the paperbacks and audio-books - for reasons mentioned above, the audio-books have their own charm, but the paperbacks do have things that the audio-books left out, and make the story feel less interrupted. Plus, they're far more fun to have on your bookshelf. :D<br /><br />Overall, a wonderful, fun book that definitely has it's many flaws, but none of which ever bothered me in the slightest.

<b>2.5 Silver Stars</b><br /><br />good concept, interesting world (galactic empire) but slow, so I might abandon the series.<br /><br />Writing style: unique, sometimes fun, but lots of descriptions &amp; thoughts, thus slow pace. Sometimes it jumped into another POV that I really didn’t care. (not the main thread of story (MC), mostly to explain world building &amp; politics) &amp; I was tempted to jump the whole chapter- also, veryyyy long &amp; slow chapters.<br />Language: Adult<br /><br />World building: Complicated, maybe too rich (too much descriptions)- lots of Politics- Dark- sometimes violent<br /><br />Characters: good, deep, sometimes fun. I liked Owen, but I lost interest after a while. He was whiny. &amp; when I started to care for another one (Robert) the POV jumped once more. in general, my main problem: TOO Many characters!<br /><br />Plot: intriguing- but slow &amp; bloody<br />-<br />Plot: ★★★/5<br />(Pace: ★★/5- Excitement: ★★★/5 (bloody violent wiped out the adrenaline effect)- Fun: ★★/5- Romance: ★★/5)<br />Characters: ★★/5 (too many)<br />(Depth: ★★★★/5 (but too political, rude &amp; sneaky)- likability: ★★/5)<br />Writing style: ★★(★)/5 (bad language- too much jumping- too much descriptions)<br />World building: ★★★/5 (too much politics)<br />general idea: ★★/5

This is an sprawling, epic read and I found it very entertaining. I listened to the audiobook, which I would recommend. The narrator has a British accent, but he also manages to change his cadence and intonation very well to convey the many, many characters. <i>Deathstalker</i> is a space opera set in a space empire currently under a merciless tyrant with no regard for life. It has a lot of gore and some sexual content. The characters run the gamut from slightly heroic to invidiously villainous. It demonstrates Simon R. Green's keen imagination in coming up with some very strange and fascinating subject matter. His vision of a future where people regularly travel from planet to planet, are capable of sky's the limit genetic engineering, and feats of artificial intelligence invention, is often nightmarish. He also manages to bring an interesting archaism to the world-building, with a sword and sandals feel in which one of the planets has gladiatorial games. There are characters who are essentially warlords with spaceships. Additionally, many of the big families fight duels with each other, in the style of 17-18th century Europe. And throw in some weird monsters and humanoids with highly developed extra-sensory abilities. Oh, and a nice forbidden love story as well, with a <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> meets <i>The Scarlet Pimpernel</i> angle. There's something for everyone in this book. I would warn those who are sensitive to descriptive gore because there's a fair amount in this book. Some scenes are not for the squeamish.<br /><br />Definitely worth the money for an audiobook because it is quite long. I plan on continuing this series.

This is definitely not a book for every sci-fi lover. Especially those who like serious space adventures. This book is satirical in nature and explores most standard plot lines for a space opera. Evil ruler, gigantic empire, and epic battles are a given in this book. Plus he adds zombies and all sorts of things you won't find in, say, Star Wars. Also, this book has some of the most reprehensible villains that you find yourself growing a little fond of. My personal favorite is Valentine (though, he's more in the later books than the first). Smiling, aristocratic, drug addicted, immoral and very humorous Valentine. The kind of guy you love reading about but if you met him in person, you'd be running in the other direction. <br /><br />If you don't like anything over the top or the unexplained or hell, anything that drags on, you're not going to like this book.

<b>5 stars<br>One of the best soap operas and political intrigue's in a story I've read till date, tops the political struggle in ASOIAF !!!<br></b><br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1670478600i/33700888.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><blockquote> <b> <i><br>"Death is very democratic"<br></i> </b> </blockquote><br><br>The book is the first in the series of five books and damn it's a delight to read it. The story starts with out protagonist Owen Deathstalker waking up and finding his mistress trying to kill him; the story kicks of from there. The book have only a small amount of chapter but the chapter are really long. The prose is rathe satirical in nature even in serious situations and it's one of the charms of the book. The book does cracks you up time to time.<br><br><blockquote> <b> <i><br>"As usual, man proposes and the empress disposes"<br></i> </b> </blockquote><br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1670478600i/33700889.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>The worldbuilding featured in this book is marvellous, the societal structure is that of a empress at top and several Clans and Lords and a Parliament to the side(which is of no use). There are maids of the empress who are brainwashed and equipped with technology to protect the empress at all cost, there's a champion of sorts for the monarch, there are also espers or elves(not the pointy eared ones); these espers and psychics, There are enemy AI and there are enemy cyborgs there are clones and there are esper clones, there are investigators which are basically humans trianed from they are a child to kill monsters and aliens. there is a gladiator arena, battle drugs, starships, force fields energy weapons and man sword play and lot's of aliens from different enemy factions there's also a hackers known as the cyberrats... Phew......... there is a lot here; you'll not be dissapointed<br><br><blockquote> <b> <i><br>"Jack: Never win an argument with a woman. They'll forgive anything but that<br>Owen: But I was right<br>Jack: What's that got to do with anything ? "<br></i> </b> </blockquote><br><br>There are lot of Pov's in here and every Pov is entertaining as the other, we have our hero Owen Deathstalker, his reluctant Companion Hazel d'Ark, Jack Random the professional rebel, Ruby Journey the professional bounty hunter, Empress Lionstone XIV aka The Iron Bitch, Valentine wolfe a drug addict aritrocrat, Finlay Cambell a dandy and a fashion symbol of the empire, Investigator Forst really frosty lady, her companion Captain Silence but he's not silent at the least, Security officer Valiant Stelmach who happens to be not so Valiant, The Masked Gladiator who could be anyone mentioned above or below, The Three Esper leader who has the projections of a multicoloured swirling ribbon of colors, a nude muscular man, a 15foot dragon, the esper clones Stevie Blues who happens to be clones, espers, sisters and wifes to each other. Evangeline Shreck a nice woman with a good heart, Adrienne Cambell a woman with a mouth like a tomy gun with tongue with unlimited ammunition of words, AI's whose aim is to eradicate humanity, Cyborgs whose goal is to change humans into them, Monsters in all shapes and forms, and everyone has a bloody personal AI with thier own personality..........Phewwww .... what more could you ask for ; there are multiple good guys and heroes one main hero, a lot of internal threats and alien ones all seeking for their own goals which sometimes happen to overlap and contradict with each other. Just go read it, chances are you'll love it<br>