Review by a_r_egerton -- Masters and Bastards
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Review by a_r_egerton -- Masters and Bastards
[Following is a volunteer review of "Masters and Bastards" by Christopher J. Penington.]
Masters and Bastards is a science fiction novel by Christopher J. Penington, who is also the author of The Hand Bringer. According to his forward, Masters and Bastards will be the first book in a series.
Masters and Bastards is set in the distant future after the extinction of life on Earth. Humans now live on a world called Poltervaut, and they have also established colonies on two other worlds, Rubicon and Gideon. Poltervaut has at least two countries, Scythia and the Iberian Empire, which have a history of conflict. The blond and blue-eyed Arpathians are a despised minority within the Iberian Empire.
Andreas Marset, the protagonist, is a teenager who has recently joined the Iberian army. He is also something called a “psionipath,” which means he has a variety of psychic abilities. Andreas is an illegitimate descendant of the long-defunct Arpathian royal family.
I disliked most the Isabella subplot, as I frankly found it repulsive. Isabella is the Emperor’s bastard daughter, and she literally decides to mate with Andreas in order to have children by him. At least at first, she treats Andreas like a stud on a horse farm. Mercifully, Penington doesn’t devote much space or description to the book’s sex scenes.
During his time with Isabella, Andreas meets other members of the royal family, plus various nobles. Given his age and background, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t have a clue how to handle himself. It’s still frustrating to watch the protagonist flounder for the first third of the book.
Things improve when Andreas finally goes to war, for he turns out to have a talent for combat and military strategy. He also finds life in the army far more straightforward and easier to navigate than politics. Andreas eventually ends up fighting in two wars.
The Iberian Empire learns that gaunt, canine aliens called the Vulgari plan to invade within the next two years. The Iberians realize that humanity will have to unite in order to face the alien menace – and decide the best way to achieve said unity is to invade and conquer their long-time rivals, the Scythians. Apparently, nobody considered the more diplomatic (and intelligent) approach of assembling an alliance. Andreas and his fellow soldiers thus end up killing humans who might have been able to help fight the aliens.
I most liked some of the characters that Andreas encounters. The Iberian Emperor, Constantine, turns out to be a case of “poor boy made very good,” and he has the cunning and earthiness that would go with such a background. Sergeant Holst is a capable veteran soldier with an aversion to the very idea of rising through the ranks. He starts off as a mentor to the much younger Andreas and gradually becomes his staunchest supporter.
Many of the characters are soldiers or simply rough around the edges, and their dialogue reflects that. People who don’t like obscene language may thus want to read something else.
I have mixed feelings about Penington’s handling of technology. Early on, he states that a lot of the consumer technology has been kept at a 21st-century level, while military, transportation, and government technology is far more advanced. For example, humans developed space arks carrying genetic material from various Earth organisms, so all three planets are now inhabited by plants and animals from Earth. One world has prehistoric animals like saber-toothed cats living on it.
On the other hand, people use computers and cars similar to the ones we have, and the army uses tanks, along with plasma guns, to fight some of their battles. The familiar technology does make it easier to follow the action, and the reader is spared the techno-babble that can accompany many science fiction stories. I just find the idea of unchanging technology somewhat hard to swallow.
I rate this book one out of four stars. As it’s a decent military sci-fi novel with some fun characters, I would have given it two stars. Unfortunately, the book contains multiple grammar and spelling errors that include such howlers as “shone” being misspelled as “shinned.” Penington really needs to hire a professional editor to proofread his work.
******
Masters and Bastards
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Masters and Bastards is a science fiction novel by Christopher J. Penington, who is also the author of The Hand Bringer. According to his forward, Masters and Bastards will be the first book in a series.
Masters and Bastards is set in the distant future after the extinction of life on Earth. Humans now live on a world called Poltervaut, and they have also established colonies on two other worlds, Rubicon and Gideon. Poltervaut has at least two countries, Scythia and the Iberian Empire, which have a history of conflict. The blond and blue-eyed Arpathians are a despised minority within the Iberian Empire.
Andreas Marset, the protagonist, is a teenager who has recently joined the Iberian army. He is also something called a “psionipath,” which means he has a variety of psychic abilities. Andreas is an illegitimate descendant of the long-defunct Arpathian royal family.
I disliked most the Isabella subplot, as I frankly found it repulsive. Isabella is the Emperor’s bastard daughter, and she literally decides to mate with Andreas in order to have children by him. At least at first, she treats Andreas like a stud on a horse farm. Mercifully, Penington doesn’t devote much space or description to the book’s sex scenes.
During his time with Isabella, Andreas meets other members of the royal family, plus various nobles. Given his age and background, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t have a clue how to handle himself. It’s still frustrating to watch the protagonist flounder for the first third of the book.
Things improve when Andreas finally goes to war, for he turns out to have a talent for combat and military strategy. He also finds life in the army far more straightforward and easier to navigate than politics. Andreas eventually ends up fighting in two wars.
The Iberian Empire learns that gaunt, canine aliens called the Vulgari plan to invade within the next two years. The Iberians realize that humanity will have to unite in order to face the alien menace – and decide the best way to achieve said unity is to invade and conquer their long-time rivals, the Scythians. Apparently, nobody considered the more diplomatic (and intelligent) approach of assembling an alliance. Andreas and his fellow soldiers thus end up killing humans who might have been able to help fight the aliens.
I most liked some of the characters that Andreas encounters. The Iberian Emperor, Constantine, turns out to be a case of “poor boy made very good,” and he has the cunning and earthiness that would go with such a background. Sergeant Holst is a capable veteran soldier with an aversion to the very idea of rising through the ranks. He starts off as a mentor to the much younger Andreas and gradually becomes his staunchest supporter.
Many of the characters are soldiers or simply rough around the edges, and their dialogue reflects that. People who don’t like obscene language may thus want to read something else.
I have mixed feelings about Penington’s handling of technology. Early on, he states that a lot of the consumer technology has been kept at a 21st-century level, while military, transportation, and government technology is far more advanced. For example, humans developed space arks carrying genetic material from various Earth organisms, so all three planets are now inhabited by plants and animals from Earth. One world has prehistoric animals like saber-toothed cats living on it.
On the other hand, people use computers and cars similar to the ones we have, and the army uses tanks, along with plasma guns, to fight some of their battles. The familiar technology does make it easier to follow the action, and the reader is spared the techno-babble that can accompany many science fiction stories. I just find the idea of unchanging technology somewhat hard to swallow.
I rate this book one out of four stars. As it’s a decent military sci-fi novel with some fun characters, I would have given it two stars. Unfortunately, the book contains multiple grammar and spelling errors that include such howlers as “shone” being misspelled as “shinned.” Penington really needs to hire a professional editor to proofread his work.
******
Masters and Bastards
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
