Humonoid Dragons – The Unseen Library

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publication Date – 19 February 2018

Can humanity survive the arrival of an alien dragon with an offer of love? Find out in this curious novel about first contact with aliens from bestselling Australian author Kylie Chan.

In the near future, Earth’s ecosystem is failing and humanity’s only hope for survival lies in escaping our solar system and finding viable new planets to colonise. Corporal Jian Choumali has been chosen to accompany one of the huge generation ships that is preparing to journey to a distant planet. However, the launch is interrupted by the arrival of a giant alien spaceship above Earth that will change humanity forever.

The ship is piloted by an alien known as a dragon, which bears a striking resemblance to the beasts of legend. Dragons are the ruling members of a vast technologically and culturally advanced empire made up of numerous alien races. The Dragon emissary, Shiumo, brings offers of peace, love and advanced technology to humanity as she introduces Earth to a wider universe.

Jian and her commander, Richard Alto, are chosen to be the first delegates to meet with Shiumo, and they soon become her guides to Earth. Shiumo becomes a sensation overnight, providing humanity with longer lives, faster-than-light travel and a solution to Earth’s failing ecosystem.

However, the more Jian gets to know Shiumo, the more it becomes apparent that the Dragons may not be as benevolent as they seem. What price will humanity really have to pay to join the Empire, and what role will the Dragons’ cat-like enemies play in the future of Earth?

Scales of Empire is the first book in the intriguing Dragon Empire trilogy, written by Australian author Kylie Chan. This is Chan’s first voyage into science fiction, having previously written the Chinese mythology inspired Xuan Wu series.

Scales of Empire has a number of cool features that make it an amusing and thought-provoking science fiction novel. Chan has constructed a first contact story that explores how humanity could potentially interact with an advanced alien race. Chan provides a series of fascinating postulations about what human products would prove desirable to an alien species, what humanity could use in our defence against potential alien threats, and what our place would be among a vast interstellar empire. The Dragons are the stars of this book, as Chan has imbued them with several distinctive abilities and personality quirks. There is also a fun origin story to explain the similarities between the alien Dragons and the Earth dragons of myth and legend. Having the other main alien race also resemble an Earth species, in this case cats, is a little over the top very unrealistic. However, the behaviour of this other species acts as a good foil to the apparently benevolent and socially advanced Dragons.

Science fiction aficionados will also appreciate Chan’s descriptions and theories about what would be required for humans to reach and colonise other inhabitable planets in the galaxy. Chan spends some of the early parts of the book highlighting her theories about how humans in the near future would achieve this. Her descriptions of large ships that would require ten generations of its crew to live in space before they even reached the planet is fascinating, as are her suggestions about the ideal initial crewmembers; not a lot of other writers would suggest that colonisation ships should have large crews mostly made up of bisexual women with good genetic diversity. In addition, there is also some intriguing discussion about the colonisation of other planets, and several chapters are dedicated to the training and initial colonisation of a planet, which many readers will find enticing.

While these science fiction aspects of the book are good reasons to try Scales of Empire, one of the most compelling and memorable aspect of this book is the constant examination of whether the Dragons are as benevolent as they seem, or if they have their own secret agenda. This becomes a central focus of the story as the human characters analyse all of the Dragons’ actions while coming up with countermoves and their own attempts at manipulation. There are many twists and turns, and at points it becomes hard to tell whether the Dragons or the humans come off as the worst species during these interactions. This results in a really compelling narrative which serves as a superb central focus for the book and will keep you hooked until the final reveal.

The new book from Kylie Chan is an intriguing start to a promising science fiction trilogy. Examining humanity’s potential first contact with an alien species, Chan asks the question: between an alien species with its own agenda and mistrustful and calculating humans, who is the greater evil? This is a brilliant bit of fiction that provides a distinctive and in-depth discussion and is definitely worth exploring.

Vallista Cover

Publisher: Tor

Australian Publication Date – 28 November 2017

World Publication Date – 17 October 2017

Amazon Book Depository

One of fantasy’s most iconic heroes returns in Vallista, the latest book from acclaimed fantasy writer Steven Brust.

In the world of Dragaera powerful and long-lived humanoids known as the Dragaerans are the planet’s dominant species, while humans, called Easterners, are second-class citizens.

Vlad Taltos is a rare anomaly, being an Easterner with a title, money and influence. Having made his name as an enforcer and assassin, Vlad was a respected member of House Jhereg, the Dragaeran clan in charge of the Empire’s organised crime. However, Vlad’s relationship with the Jhereg has deteriorated. Having betrayed his clan, Vlad has spent the last few years on the run, hunted day and night by ruthless assassins. Luckily, Vlad has friends in very high places, including the Empress, some powerful sorcerers, a necromancer and even a Dragaeran god.

Throughout his travels, Vlad has had several meetings with Devera, a small Dragaeran girl who is the daughter of one of his many powerful friends. Devera is a mysterious creature of considerable power, an overabundance of enigma and a casual relationship with the rules of time. Devera has once again appeared to Vlad, requesting his help and leading him to a mysterious manor that has suddenly materialised by the sea.

Despite the fact that the manor should not even exist, Vlad enters, only to find himself trapped with the manor’s mysterious inhabitants. The inside of the manor is a weird collection of rooms and corridors altered by magic and no longer obeying the rules of reality. Mirrors teleport people from room to room, mysterious portals lead to the ancient past, and a certain door leads to the Halls of Judgement, the Dragaeran afterlife.

The more Vlad explores, the more he understands that the manor is home to many lies and death. The overly helpful servants are determined to keep the manor’s past a secret. No one will explain how an unused and empty kitchen keeps providing Vlad with warm meals. On top of this, Vlad encounters a ghost unaware of how she died, a mutant deformed by magic, and a powerful demon determined to kill him.

In order to escape, Vlad must uncover the manor’s bloody history and reveal all of its inhabitants’ dark secrets. With his sarcastic familiars and a sentient sword to aid him, Vlad must use every trick at his disposal to survive while trying to interpret some beguiling visions of his own past lives. If only Devera, his only guide, would stop disappearing in the middle of every conversation.

Vallista is the 15th book in Brust’s iconic Vlad Taltos series, and is set before the 14th book in the series, Hawk.

One of the most appealing features of Brust’s books has always been their trademark combination of fantasy world-building, action, adventure and fun comedic undertone. Brust continues this trend in Vallista, creating a fast-paced book that delivers several exhilarating action scenes and a good amount of comedy without compromising the fantasy elements of the plot. Fans of the Vlad Taltos series will be excited to see an in-depth look at Devera, a minor character who has long mystified readers, as well as visions into several of the titular character’s past lives.

Brust also has an enjoyable habit of combining elements of other genres into his stories. This ensures that many of the books in the Vlad Taltos series are transformed into different genres, such as murder mysteries, political thrillers or heists contained within the fantasy setting. Vallista continues this trend with its interesting and unique fantasy mystery. The main character is forced to uncover the secrets of the mysterious manor in which he is trapped in order to escape. As a result, Vallista reads a lot like a typical mystery, which is enhanced by the book’s various fantasy elements.

Vallista also borrows several elements from classic haunted house tales. The main character is trapped and imperilled, the house is filled with servants reluctant to reveal their secrets, and ghosts, monsters and strange events are around every corner. However, as this is a fantasy book, our hero has far more experience in dealing with such things, and quite a lot of the book’s humour revolves around Vlad responding to the manor’s various challenges.

Unsurprisingly, this book will appeal greatly to those readers who enjoyed the previous instalments of the Vlad Taltos series. At the same time, this is one of the most inclusive fantasy series that I have ever read. Burst is very good at succinctly explaining the universe’s lore so that new readers will easily be able to enjoy Vallista every bit as much as any seasoned veteran of the Vlad Taltos series.

Overall, Vallista is fun fantasy adventure that will appeal both to Brust’s established fans and to casual fantasy readers.