Friday 29 May 2009

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: The Centauri Device - M John Harrison


BOOK BLURB:

John Truck was to outward appearances just another lowlife spaceship captain. But he was also the last of the Centaurans, or at least half of him was, which meant that he was the only person who could operate the Centauri Device, a sentient bomb which might hold the key to settling a vicious space war. M. John Harrison's classic novel turns the conventions of space opera on their head, and is written with the precision and brilliance for which is famed.


REVIEW:

Reissued for a new generation, this offering by M John Harrison, whilst dated to a certain degree does contain a suitable amount of irony to keep the modern reader entertained. Its cunningly crafted, its ironic in its look at the genre as a whole but also brings the elements that will keep the modern reader happy with epic space battles along with a realistically dark and dirty universe.

Whilst this isn’t perhaps Harrison’s best work, it is something that proves why he became a name of note and why his earlier titles are being reissued.

No comments: