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The Zhen rescued all that was left of humanity from a deep space colony vessel and for hundreds of years have treated them as second class citizens, telling them that Earth had been lost. Tajen Hunt climbed as high as any human could climb in the Zhen military. Hero of one battle, loser of the next, he left the forces and now pilots his own spacecraft, alone by choice. When he rescues an old military buddy and her crew from marauders he acquires a family of sorts. They sign on as his crew when he gets an urgent call from his estranged brother. Come quickly, come quietly and bring a crew you can trust. He does, but he's too late. His eighteen year old computer whizz-kid niece tells him her historian dad is dead, but he uncovered a secret. Earth is not lost, and the Zhen have been lying. They know where it is, and Tajen must find it. That's the start of a rip-roaring space adventure as Tajen and his crew in The Dream of Earth set out to make that dream a reality. Unfortunately the Zhen have other ideas. This is fast paced space opera with good characters in impossible situations. It doesn't quite end on a cliffhanger, but there's obviously going to be a sequel. The next book is The Blood-Dimmed Tide, but don't hold your breath, it's not due until 2020.Apr. 22nd, 2019
The Zhen rescued all that was left of humanity from a deep space colony vessel and for hundreds of years have treated them as second class citizens, telling them that Earth had been lost. Tajen Hunt climbed as high as any human could climb in the Zhen military. Hero of one battle, loser of the next, he left the forces and now pilots his own spacecraft, alone by choice. When he rescues an old military buddy and her crew from marauders he acquires a family of sorts. They sign on as his crew when he gets an urgent call from his estranged brother. Come quickly, come quietly and bring a crew you can trust. He does, but he's too late. His eighteen year old computer whizz-kid niece tells him her historian dad is dead, but he uncovered a secret. Earth is not lost, and the Zhen have been lying. They know where it is, and Tajen must find it. That's the start of a rip-roaring space adventure as Tajen and his crew in The Dream of Earth set out to make that dream a reality. Unfortunately the Zhen have other ideas. This is fast paced space opera with good characters in impossible situations. It doesn't quite end on a cliffhanger, but there's obviously going to be a sequel. The next book is The Blood-Dimmed Tide, but don't hold your breath, it's not due until 2020.
The gods fell to Earth over a decade ago. Lagos is in chaos, broken and flooded. David Mogo, demigod and godhunter has to capture twin gods—twin Orishas—high gods—and deliver them to Ajala, the city's most notorious wizard.
I was delighted to get an advance reading copy of this from Netgalley because I read it in its early stages when it was a single novella which Suyi brought to the Milford SF Writers' Conference in 2017, all the way from Lagos to a misty North Wales. Several of us said then, that it was excellent, but it should be a novel. Now, it is, though it still feels like novellas tacked together. That's not a bad thing, of course (ref Nnedi Okirafor's Binti books).
David Mogo feels like a Nigerian Harry Dresden. He’s streetwise but not without empathy. Because it's told in the first person there's a lot of exposition, but the 'voice' is good. I really like Papa Udi, his foster wizard. There's a lot of description which adds to the supernatural Nigerian setting. Even without knowing present Lagos, it feels like something familiar yet strange. The dialogue in Nigerian dialect can be a bit boggling, but mostly it's understandable. The internal monologue of the viewpoint character is in standard English. The dialect and Nigerian words add to the worldbuilding and there’s not much that I can’t infer from the context.
As a bonus, the cover art is gorgeous..