Rating: 
Summary: Fast-paced coming-of-age fantasy in science fiction clothing
Review: "The Forlorn" is at once familiar and intriguingly strange, blending high fantasy archetypes with a fast-paced science fiction plot. Against a backdrop of programmed medieval culture, alien invasion and centuries-old betrayal, a street-rat, a spoiled princess and a born-and-bred warrior must live, learn, grow up and try to save the world from the devilish insectoid Morkth. Guiding our heroes is someone very like an ageless wizard, subtle and quick to anger. The objects of their quest are the gem-like shards of a transporter, a technology so advanced, it is almost indistinguishable from magic."The Forlorn' is classic science fiction. It is high fantasy. It is a coming-of-age story reminiscent of S.E. Hinton's works. Read it. It's good.
Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced coming-of-age fantasy in science fiction clothing
Review: "The Forlorn" is at once familiar and intriguingly strange, blending high fantasy archetypes with a fast-paced science fiction plot. Against a backdrop of programmed medieval culture, alien invasion and centuries-old betrayal, a street-rat, a spoiled princess and a born-and-bred warrior must live, learn, grow up and try to save the world from the devilish insectoid Morkth. Guiding our heroes is someone very like an ageless wizard, subtle and quick to anger. The objects of their quest are the gem-like shards of a transporter, a technology so advanced, it is almost indistinguishable from magic. "The Forlorn' is classic science fiction. It is high fantasy. It is a coming-of-age story reminiscent of S.E. Hinton's works. Read it. It's good.
Rating: 
Summary: Science fiction the fantasy way
Review: A streetwise thief, a princess, a deadly warrior and a revered hero. Armed with some magical gems and seeking an artifact of power to defeat a deadly race bent on the annihilation of all mankind amidst an even older betrayal. Sounds like your everyday, garden variety herioc fantasy adventure right? Wrong! This is a sci-fi novel with a twist. Our young thief is a boy who hasn't got a clue what makes people tick. That is until he leaves the city and meets a a garrulous old prospector who takes him in and teaches him to be a man out in the desert wastes. His education is further complicated when he discovers the 'joys?' of the opposite sex. How not to appear an idiot in front of girls should be on every school's curriculum. The princess is a spoiled, selfish young girl (but then aren't all princesses?). She learns to understand the common people when a palace coup forces her to flee and learn to live as a commoner with the couple who take her in. Our deadly warrior is hollow man, born and bred to fight. Bred as a warrior of the aliens, he earns his freedom due to the machinations of the broodsows themselves. Adrift in the world of free humans, he learns what it is to be truly human. That all humans, no matter how debased, have a soul. And the upstanding hero? A man determined to right the betrayal perpetrated by his captain centuries ago. He learns how the common stock can rise above their station to defend and protect all of humanity. And that all betrayal will be avenged, sometimes at the hands of someone unexpected for the role. Dave Freer takes an ordinary coming of age story, adds a sci-fi background to it and then proceeds to overturn almost every fantasy cliche in existence during the course of an often hilarious, sometimes poignent and always relevant goal, how to grow up. Leavened with interesting campfire recipes (his years as a chef are shining through), deep characters, sneaky plot twists and a fast pace, this a science fiction-cum-fantasy novel with its roots undeniably in the human condition endemic to us all. If you want a good book, filled with real characters and their problems then get The Forlorn. The humour conceals great truths about the human condition that'll have you thinking about what it means to be a human being long after you finished reading it. Then you'll come back and read it again...and again...and again...
Rating:
Summary: Fine, well-constructed and well written hard sf adventure.
Review: Find the sections of the key or humanity on this colony planet will be wiped out by the alien space-traveling Morkth. Interesting characters are forced to co-operate in an impossible task.
Rating:
Summary: Well-drawn, sympathetic characters and really bad villains
Review: I enjoyed 'The Forlorn' for its well-drawn, sympathetic characters - who can resist a spoiled princess and an orphan pickpocket who lives under the floor of a library? The aliens are totally evil and get their just desserts (some of them end up as dessert, in a really original ending). The plot is very fast-paced - definitely not to be read in bed, unless you plan to read through the night.
Rating: 
Summary: A good Read
Review: I haven't seen any other books by this author, so maybe this is his first novel. If so, he's certainly off to a good start. While not exactly a classic, the story moves along quite nicely and there are a few interesting twists to keep the reader on his toes.
Rating:
Summary: A good Read
Review: I haven't seen any other books by this author, so maybe this is his first novel. If so, he's certainly off to a good start. While not exactly a classic, the story moves along quite nicely and there are a few interesting twists to keep the reader on his toes.
Rating:
Summary: Readable but flawed.
Review: I wanted to like this book. I wanted to REALLY like this book. The plot was right the premise was grand and even the characters seemed interesting. What really annoyed me about this book was the fact that they included a plot mechanism that I don't feel was necessary and to me was very distracting from the story. Basically this is a lost colony story. It appears humanity lost or was losing some sort of interstellar conflict and fled to the stars. The world we see through the eyes of the primary character is the fruit of one these colony ships. Whether this is the only colony or one of many we really are never told. The colonist are several generations into life on the planet and live at a low-tech level without any real recollection of what their heritage is. Somehow it appears members of the original enemy are on the planet making mischief but are limited in some way. The heroes and villains all have some sort of sexual theme around them. This is the plot device I am talking about that I don't think was necessary and I don't think it worked. Somehow every major event in the book is precipitated or concluded with either sexual fantasy or sexual frustration. I understand the author used this device as the underpinning plot agitator but I do believe the story would have been told better using some other device. On the flip side the author does an excellent job of making us wonder whom the real good guys and bad guys are. I enjoy these kind of plot twists. The changes were welcome but the characters themselves often seemed to change direction without motivation or justification. Overall and adequate novel that was enjoyable once but will probably not rate a second reading. I would recommend this as a quick read if nothing else is around but would suggest that younger readers be kept away.
Rating:
Summary: Readable but flawed.
Review: I wanted to like this book. I wanted to REALLY like this book. The plot was right the premise was grand and even the characters seemed interesting. What really annoyed me about this book was the fact that they included a plot mechanism that I don't feel was necessary and to me was very distracting from the story. Basically this is a lost colony story. It appears humanity lost or was losing some sort of interstellar conflict and fled to the stars. The world we see through the eyes of the primary character is the fruit of one these colony ships. Whether this is the only colony or one of many we really are never told. The colonist are several generations into life on the planet and live at a low-tech level without any real recollection of what their heritage is. Somehow it appears members of the original enemy are on the planet making mischief but are limited in some way. The heroes and villains all have some sort of sexual theme around them. This is the plot device I am talking about that I don't think was necessary and I don't think it worked. Somehow every major event in the book is precipitated or concluded with either sexual fantasy or sexual frustration. I understand the author used this device as the underpinning plot agitator but I do believe the story would have been told better using some other device. On the flip side the author does an excellent job of making us wonder whom the real good guys and bad guys are. I enjoy these kind of plot twists. The changes were welcome but the characters themselves often seemed to change direction without motivation or justification. Overall and adequate novel that was enjoyable once but will probably not rate a second reading. I would recommend this as a quick read if nothing else is around but would suggest that younger readers be kept away.
Rating:
Summary: Fast read with interesting characters
Review: If you like a fast paced book with interesting characters that grow, yummy sounding food and not figuring out who the bad guy is until the end, then try this. Sample chapters can be found at Baen's website.
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