Release Date: 07/04/16
Publisher: Del Rey
SYNOPSIS:
Part Two of The Roads to Moscow
The War For Time Continues.
From the frozen tundra of 13th Century Russia to the battle of Paltava in 1709 and beyond, Otto Behr has waged an unquestioning, unending war across time for his people.
But now a third unidentified power has joined the game across the ocean of time, and everything Otto holds dear could be unmade...
REVIEW:
OK I'm going to keep this simple, if you haven't read the first book The Roads of Time, then don't even think about picking up this title. Yes its a seperate tale but you have to have a good understanding of the twists and turns of what has gone before for this title to make sense and for you to see how the author manipulates time alongside events in constantly changing events as two sides vie for what they beleive is right.
It is a very complex novel and once you've wrapped your head around a good few of the concepts is one that you will more than likely enjoy as the characters really do help make it all beleivable. Its pretty twisty in a weird, to quote Dr Who "Timey Wimey" sort of way and you, at times, have to see this more as a three d or in some cases 4d game of chess played by the unseen hands of the two sides.
For me this is a title that I'm more than happy I spent time with but lets just say that I shoul dbe thanking some deities that I reread the original just before otherwise I may have gotten lost due tot he complexity. Cracking.
Release Date: 10/04/14
Publisher: Del Rey
SYNOPSIS:
There is only the war. Otto Behr is a German agent, fighting his Russian counterparts across three millennia, manipulating history for moments in time that can change everything. Only the remnants of two great nations stand and for Otto, the war is life itself, the last hope for his people. But in a world where realities shift and memory is never constant, nothing is certain, least of all the chance of a future with his Russian love...
REVIEW:
I originally came across David’s writing when I read his Chung Kuo series and to be honest it was something that was not only epic but huge. It took time to get into the story and when added to the sheer scope kept the reader going long after the final page as they wondered what would happen in the next instalment.
Here in his newest series readers are taken on a tale of “what if” as the world revolves round a conflict between Russia and Germany over three centuries. Its captivating, it has a cracking set of characters and when added to a rich deep feeling to the piece all round generates something that I had a very hard time to put down. Back this up with great pace as well as some great dialogue and all round I was a more than happy reader.
Release Date: 01/03/11
SYNOPSIS:
The year is 2085, two decades after the great economic collapse that destroyed Western civilization. With its power broken and its cities ruined, life in the West continues in scattered communities. In rural Dorset Jake Reed lives with his 14-year-old son and memories of the great collapse. Back in '43, Jake was a rich, young futures broker, immersed in the datascape of the world's financial markets. He saw what was coming - and who was behind it. Forewarned, he was one of the few to escape the fall. For 22 years he has lived in fear of the future, and finally it is coming - quite literally - across the plain towards him. Chinese airships are in the skies and a strange, glacial structure has begun to dominate the horizon. Jake finds himself forcibly incorporated into the ever-expanding 'World of Levels' a global city of some 34 billion souls, where social status is reflected by how far above the ground you live. Here, under the rule of the mighty Tsao Ch'un, a resurgent China is seeking to abolish the past and bring about world peace through rigidly enforced order. But a civil war looms, and Jake will find himself at the heart of the struggle for the future.
REVIEW:
With Steven Erikson’s current Malazan series having finished I was looking for something new to not only step into but a world that would take me far away to an environment of danger, of adventure and perhaps best of all great character building. Whilst I’ve not read David’s work before I was aware of this series previous incarnation of the series from 1989-97 and whilst it had a lot going for it, it lost its way and fizzled.
Now with Corvus at the helm, the series has been brought back to life and knowing what a top notch job they’ve done with bringing some new talent to the fore I felt that it was probably time that I gave this series a go. What unfurls within is a story that has some serious world building, some pretty decent characters and a whole lot to play with. Unfortunately to get to the start of the title a hell of a lot has had to go wrong with the rest of the world for China to take over as well as a lot of improbably far-fetched possibilities to help make this even believable. That said, once you gloss over that, the tale has a lot of potential especially when you take the characters into consideration who are starting to find out exactly what they’ve let themselves in for. It is cleverly done, the prose is reasonable and when taken into account with the sheer scope of the project I only hope that the author can maintain not only the pace but the overall arc without it fizzling out. I suppose I’ll have to wait and see but for a first novel in a series it was pretty hard to put down.
