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Review: Heart of Veridon
Oct. 27th, 2009 08:26 amI met Tim Akers (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
timakers) at a local science fiction convention, via Tobias Buckell (they share an agent). Tim, who also lives in Chicago, was talking about his first novel, Heart of Veridon
Alas for Tim, the book has been a bit of a hard-luck story, as his publisher, Solaris, got sold and the new owners basically dumped the book on the market. That’s really sad, because Heart of Veridon is a rip-roaringly good read.
Some folks are talking about “noird” as a sub-genre. This is the mixing of crime-noir (AKA “hard-boiled detectives”) and weird speculative fiction. I really can’t think of a better way to describe Tim’s work then that.
The novel opens with Jacob Burn, hard-case operative, busily trying to survive the crash of the zeppelin Glory of Day (cool name for a ship - I maysteal borrow it someday!) Jacob does live, largely because he’s been surgically altered with “cog,” which is a mixture of steampunk and nano-technology. Jacob’s city, Veridon, which is perched on a river near a massive waterfall, runs on the stuff. It’s all really cool steampunk science fiction.
To say Jacob’s life is not getting any better after his zeppelin crash is an understatement. Jacob has come in possession of a small cog device, which it seems like everybody wants to get their hands on. Really badly, as in “kill anybody who’s got it.” Worst on the list of Jacob’s new enemies is a cog machine, an Angel – as in “Angel of Death.” The Angel is every bit as unstoppable and determined as Death, which gives poor Jacob no end of heartburn. What Jacob also discovers is that it’s not only his life that’s at stake, but the life of his city.
Tim has delivered a real page-turner here, with the right amount of action and sense of wonder. Veridon is an interesting place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. The amount of world-building Tim has put into this book is amazing, and truly inspiring.
It’s really up in the air as to whether Solaris' new ownership will want more books in the Veridon series. I hope they do – I want to read them! In the meantime, Tim as sold a book to Tor, so I’ll have to ask when we can expect to see that. Until then, go get a copy of Heart of Veridon. It’ll do you good.
Note: I purchased my review copy at list price. Book link takes you to my Amazon Associates link.
timakers) at a local science fiction convention, via Tobias Buckell (they share an agent). Tim, who also lives in Chicago, was talking about his first novel, Heart of VeridonAlas for Tim, the book has been a bit of a hard-luck story, as his publisher, Solaris, got sold and the new owners basically dumped the book on the market. That’s really sad, because Heart of Veridon is a rip-roaringly good read.
Some folks are talking about “noird” as a sub-genre. This is the mixing of crime-noir (AKA “hard-boiled detectives”) and weird speculative fiction. I really can’t think of a better way to describe Tim’s work then that.
The novel opens with Jacob Burn, hard-case operative, busily trying to survive the crash of the zeppelin Glory of Day (cool name for a ship - I may
To say Jacob’s life is not getting any better after his zeppelin crash is an understatement. Jacob has come in possession of a small cog device, which it seems like everybody wants to get their hands on. Really badly, as in “kill anybody who’s got it.” Worst on the list of Jacob’s new enemies is a cog machine, an Angel – as in “Angel of Death.” The Angel is every bit as unstoppable and determined as Death, which gives poor Jacob no end of heartburn. What Jacob also discovers is that it’s not only his life that’s at stake, but the life of his city.
Tim has delivered a real page-turner here, with the right amount of action and sense of wonder. Veridon is an interesting place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. The amount of world-building Tim has put into this book is amazing, and truly inspiring.
It’s really up in the air as to whether Solaris' new ownership will want more books in the Veridon series. I hope they do – I want to read them! In the meantime, Tim as sold a book to Tor, so I’ll have to ask when we can expect to see that. Until then, go get a copy of Heart of Veridon. It’ll do you good.
Note: I purchased my review copy at list price. Book link takes you to my Amazon Associates link.
