Rating: 
Summary: SWASHBUCKLING EPIC
Review: DEATHSTALKER IS A GREAT SF NOVEL. GREEN COMBINES HUMOR, INTRIGUE AND A AVALANCHE OF SWASHBUCKLING ACTION IN THIS
STAR WARS TYPE SAGA. DEATHSTALKER ALSO BOAST A VILLIANESS
THAT MAKES DARTH VADER LOOK LIKE GANDHI.
Rating: 
Summary: space opera on a grandiose scale
Review: Owen Deathstalker, a historian, is living the good life on an agricultural planet. Then her Imperial Majesty Lionstone
XIV declares him a outlaw for no apparent reason. He runs for his life, finds some unlikely allies, discovers his family heritage, and starts a rebellion. Like most space
operas, the action is somewhat implausible but enjoyable.
The Empire has clones and espers and aristocrats and augmented men. This is an enjoyable book with good characters and lots
of adventure.
Rating:
Summary: great fun
Review: Simon Green's Deathstalker saga should not work. The tales in this series are quirky to say the least, featuring such oddities as a castle that is really a spaceship, a world full of living toys, a madness maze to mention just a few. However, you would go a long way to find a better series than this.
From the first chapter you become caught up with the characters and care about them and what becomes of them. Owen Deathstalker is the hero of the title. His 'mission' is to destroy the empire that is being led by the tyrannical Lionstone (also known as the iron bitch). He is accompanied by Ruby, Hazel and Jack Random, all slightly psychopathic people. This is a fast paced adventure story with numerous characters and scenarios. In spite of the complexity of Deathstalker's universe the author has managed to keep the tale cohesive and easy to read. It is easy to remember who is who and where they belong within this story.
Suspend all your preconceptions of what a sci-fi book should be and give this a go...you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Sad, Sad Series
Review: Well, it's a bit unfair to rate the first book based on the entire series, but I don't feel like going through each book and finding where it went bad. The story starts out decently strong, but it eventually falls into the "let's just reach into our Madness Maze powers and do whatever we need to to solve this problem mentality". Very similar to the Blending series, which suffers from the same problem.
Rating:
Summary: The thrilling beginning of a monumental space opera epic
Review: If you like your science fiction short and sweet, Simon R. Green's Deathstalker series is not for you. This is space opera in the grand tradition, filled with sweeping turns and possibilities extending across an Empire of worlds and centuries, featuring a cast of human aristocrats, clones, espers (mutants with varying ESP capabilities), monstrous aliens, augmented men, genetically-enhanced creatures, legends and heroes from the past, and outlaws. The newest outlaw is none other than Owen Deathstalker, de facto leader of the Deathstalker clan ever since the imperial murder of his father. All Owen wanted was to be left alone to pursue his history studies, but destiny has a way of finding its chosen victims wherever they may be. Queen Lionstone XIV declares Owen an outlaw, and in an instant he is running for his life. Thus are sown the seeds of a rebellion that will change the Empire forever. Of course, that story only begins to be told in this first volume of the exploits of Owen Deathstalker.
Deathstalker first escapes - barely - to Mistworld, a cold stink-hole of a planet that serves as the one and only refuge of outlaws all across the Empire. In the company of fellow outlaw Hazel D'Ark, to whom he literally owes his life, Owen seeks out the Empire's most legendary rebel, Jack Random, to join his nascent little rebellion. Throw in a sassy female bounty hunter and one of the Hadenmen (augmented men who once sought to wipe out the inferior human race), and you've got quite an eclectic bunch of revolutionaries. Things only get weirder from here, as upcoming destinations for Owen include Shandrakor, the legendary planet where the founder of the Deathstalker clan reportedly lies in stasis, and - deep within the confines of the Dark Rim - the Wolfling World, home of the Tomb of the Hadenmen, the Madness Maze, and the Darkvoid Device, destroyer of worlds.
Strangely enough, however, especially given all of the action Owen Deathstalker and his allies see - and, brother, they see all kinds of fierce, bloody action - at least half of this novel takes place back on the home world of the Empire. Here we see just how big a mess the Empire is really in. Besides the Queen's constantly dastardly plans, we see an aristocracy run amuck with intrigues, secret deals, betrayals, murderous vendettas, and all kinds of juicy stuff that truly reeks of decadence. No one is really who they seem, especially the likes of Valentine Wolfe, the Empire's most famous drug addict, and Finlay Campbell, a comical little fop whose secret identity as the Empire's greatest fighter is unknown to everyone but the woman he loves, a woman who just so happens to be a clone - but that is only one of many other secrets that slowly reveal themselves as this epic novel proceeds. Several personal roads lead us deep into the underground, where a secret alliance of clones, espers, and humans plan their own revolution against the Iron Throne. I found this aspect of the novel even more fascinating than Owen Deathstalker's remarkable story, and the rebel assault on the esper prison known as Wormboy Hell proves even more exciting than the novel's closing engagement on the Wolfling World.
Brimming with intrigue, harboring a number of significant and genuinely shocking surprises along the way, and filled with fascinating characters of all sorts, Deathstalker is quite an exhilarating read. It's a rather long read, as well, and you should keep in mind that it is really just the beginning. This is a story that will play out over literally thousands of pages, and Deathstalker represents only an initial plunge into the vast ocean of Simon R. Green's creative genius. The book has a few shortcomings in terms of specific plot events, and it can be disconcerting to see how much of the novel does not involve the main character, but this is awe-inspiring science fiction played out on an epic scale. Only a select few writers can realistically give life to such a large and complex world, but Green proves himself to be a master juggler of words and ideas - best of all, he seems to have a full bag of startling surprises and plot twists at his disposal that promises to make the Deathstalker series something really special and vastly entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Great Space Opera
Review: I've read some of Simon Green's other works, and while he's a great storyteller, he is a bit wordy. (I don't need to know every secret thought and wish of each character during times of action.) But the scope of the story and the characters are great, I've enjoyed the way a new character gets introduced into the mix every so often and how the characters' separate storylines intersect. The different worlds and technologies are interesting as well. Would recommend for anyone who favors sci-fi over fantasy.
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid at all costs.
Review: If it is hackneyed situations, seen-'em-all-before characters, and plain poor writing that you are after, this is the book for you.
Play the game of "spot the source" for many of the plot devices and characters in this book. Even the lead character name is (*ahem*) "an echo" of a Roger Corman movie title.
How this poorly written tripe got past agents, publisher's readers, and commissioning editors leaves me baffled. I started using a highlighter pen to mark up the cliches, mis-spellings, poor grammar, plot contradictions, mixed metaphors, etc, etc. Constant Reader, my pen ran dry.
Question to author - are you aware of the difference between "aesthetic" and "ascetic"?
Rating:
Summary: Part of The Mystery!
Review: It's a true pity that only one thousand words are available for me to describe how passionate I am about this book and about the Deathstalker books in general. Lucky for me, I can summarize my feelings in just one simple sentence:DEATHSTALKER RULES. (My temptation is to add a "supreme" at the end of that, but such a majestic addition is reserved in my heart for the Mack Bolan books by Don Pendleton, et. al). I originally discovered Green's Deathstalker while travelling abroad in Europe, and I still consider Deathstalker the ultimate European travel book. The super-cool and super-intense sci-fi space opera drama is a great complement to the dusty museums and memorials of Berlin, the mouth-watering restaurants of Warsaw, or even the charming bridges of Sweden. Simon R. Green has done a down-right astonishing job capturing, with great accuracy and consistency, the technology and lifestyles humankind may face in the distant future. Faster that the eye can see, you will be caught up in his world, a world Tolkien-like in scope but a lot less boring and stupid. One last thing- The super-gorgeous hottie evil witch queen of the universe-- she who sends the very deathsquads against the mighty battle-hardened yet sensitive Owen D.S.-- is the best arch-villian since Moriarty's goons stalked Victorian London in search of the great Sherlock Holmes. Anything more would be a terrible spoiler...
Rating:
Summary: A good book in the grand tradition of Space Operas
Review: Green does a very good job of painting a picture of a society that needs overthrowing - badly! Owen Deathstalker is not the most endearing character, nor particularly interesting frankly, initially. However, over the course of the several novels he comes to be a very interesting character, and better yet his companions are, generally, also very interesting. A good escape into heros, simple solutions, and possibilities.
|
