- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Meisha Merlin Publishing, Inc. (Feb 8 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1892065657
- ISBN-13: 978-1892065650
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,282,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
The second novel in Tiedemann's Secantis Sequence series is convincing military science fiction with an emphasis on the human costs of war.
Cira Kalinge and Alexan Cambion are officers of the Armada, the military force that keeps the peace among the settled worlds of the Pan Humana. When Alexan's home world declares secession from the Pan, Cira and Alexan are part of the force dispatched to enforce order among the dissidents. What seems like a straightforward mission escalates into a conflict that will force all parties into difficult and damaging choices, and will change their lives irrevocably.
Although this is a standalone novel, Tiedemann builds successfully on the background established in his first Secantis novel, Compass Reach (a Philip K. Dick Award nominee), to create a highly believable historical background and political system, weaving the experiences of various characters together in a fast-paced story that never loses its emotional focus on the effects of war on the people involved. --Roz Genessee
Product Description
When Cira Kalinge signed on with the Armada, she thought her staid, provincial family disowning her was the worst thing that could happen. Then the Secession happened and she found herself on a carrier heading for the Distal colonies to carry out a suppression of other humans, humans who had apparently chosen to cast their fortunes with nonhumans in defiance of the Pan Humana edicts severing all contact with the seti races. And when she ended up the sole survivor of the entire fighter contingent of her task force, grounded on Finders during the worst days of the chaos of open rebellion, living precariously for the day the Armada returned to reclaim Finders, the last thing she expected was to be betrayed by the very service for which she had given up everything else. For Alexan Cambion, volunteering for combat duty seemed the ideal way to justify his father's faith in him, fighting to preserve the Pan Humana. But when he returns to his homeworld--Finders--shot down and captured in the first open engagement of the Secession, he learns to his dismay that every action he has taken since leaving Finders for Armada service has been exactly the opposite of what his father intended, and the welcome he expects becomes a nightmare. Sean Merrick did not start his career as a double agent, but as the Secession began he found his sympathies siding more and more with the secessionists. As the battle of Finders rages and he travels the boundary between the Distals and the Pan, he learns how impossible it is to stay aloof and uncommitted. In the end, all of them must decide between loyalty and morality, family and integrity, duty and truth.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
antidote to feelgood war,
By A Customer
This review is from: Metal Of Night (Paperback)
Too much military SF glories in body count and massive destruction and is ultimately pretty much a lie about what war is really like. Of course, in science fiction I guess you can make up anything and who's to say you got it wrong. But if you're going to write about human beings truthfully, then you have to be honest about how things are.When I saw that METAL OF NIGHT was military fiction I almost put it down. But I really enjoyed COMPASS REACH and I thought maybe this wouldn't be the standard fare. It's not. I don't know if Mark W. Tiedemann was ever in combat--I've never been--but his prose comes across like the real thing. This is a novel about civil war, basically, and the inhuman things people do in the name of causes. It's about how much chaos and calamity really come out of war. It's about costs and consequences. And the thing is, it holds you because you really care about these characters. They aren't cardboard cutouts like--well, like a lot of others in SF. It's also about the remarkable kindnesses that can happen and the sacrifices people make under the toughest circumstances and the power of the human spirit to survive and flourish even in what is essentially hell. And it follows on logically from COMPASS REACH--it's the revolt after the disaster. The thing is, he makes it personal. He focuses on a few people--on both sides of the conflict--and tells the story from inside their heads. You rarely see this. And the universe just gets better. He's making it complex and interesting and tantalizing. This might be a good book to read given the current state of the world. It takes the shine off all the fake heroics we usually get in milSF. I can't wait for his next one. This is a writer to follow.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Look at this!,
By "dmosblech" (St. Louis, MO.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Metal Of Night (Paperback)
Here's a new(?) author for your up and coming list. Mark Tiedemann is that anachronism in writing today, an author who won't bore you with shallow characters or a thinly veiled space opera plot. This guy really does his homework on Metal of Night, the much awaited 'second' to Compass Reach in his Secantis series. As he draws you into his universe, his storytelling ability will remind you of Asimov, for whom he recently penned a new Robot Mystery Trilogy(Mirage, Chimera & Aurora) Check him out, you know you want to!
5.0 out of 5 stars
sf for adults,
By sherry haskins (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Metal Of Night (Paperback)
Thoughtful, intelligent storytelling by a writer who envisions a future full of complex and diverse beings - beings who continually question their world and who, thereby, continually evolve.Tiedemann not only gives us a female protagonist with "dark skin like polished wood," but allows Cira and others to question the classism and isolationism that (unfortunately) still pervade their time. And, if you're not in the mood for deep thoughts, Metal of Night works just fine as a "...to the wind" action/adventure story.
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