After reading endless positive things about Pyr’s books, I acquired* six of their titles. With statements like “Pyr only publishes Gems” and “Pyr can do no wrong!” I wanted to see it for myself. I read through their list of available books, looked for a few themes that fit my tastes (and a few that didn’t) and when the pile arrived I randomly picked one. Assuming they only publish awesome stuff, it should be a good book right? It was. I loved The Martian General’s Daughter by Theodore Judson.
Set 250+ years in the future, North-America has spawned a world wide empire and done away with democracy in favor of a dictatorship. The Emperors control more than half of the world and rule like a throw back to Rome. Some are good and benevolent and others are evil and murderous. When China releases a nano-plague that consumes and infects metal, technology starts to crumble. This is where the story begins. Told from the point of view of his illegitimate daughter, General Peter Black is the last of a noble, loyal line of military men. Unfailingly loyal to whomever is on the throne he is recalled from Mars before the last of the transports fails. The rest of his life is spent serving, protecting, defending and being abused by the last of the Emperors as the Empire crumbles.
Summary: The Martian General’s Daughter isn’t quite a must-read, but it is excellent on many levels. The characters are awesome, the story is as compelling as it is bloody and the history-is-repeating theme all make for a memorable read.
Another interesting part is that if Mars and nanotech hadn’t been mentioned this book could easily have been set 1000 years ago, but with the characters having an understanding of modern science (well some of them at least).
There isn’t much more I can say about this book other than it’s an great choice for anyone who likes alternative history, historical fiction and military conquest. Pick up a copy and see for yourself. I’m very much looking forward to my other 5 books from Pyr now. I can’t wait.
* I contacted Pyr’s promotions team and inquired as to the availability of review copies. It never hurts to ask, especially when they say yes. I’ll be sharing this stack around (like all the other review copies) with the readers here as I finish with them.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This book was spotted in Episode 5×10 of Stargate Atlantis just as all hell breaks loose. Very cool and also unmistakable.
Great work.
Growing impatient for the next review =)
Really? I’ll have to rewatch that episode!
Just wanted to let you know that Theodore Judson’s book Hell Can Wait will be coming out in May. :-) Janice