Book Review: Redspace Rising by Brian Trent

In the far future revenge does not stop with death. For readers of John Scalzi's Old Man's War and Neuromancer by William Gibson.

Harris Alexander Pope is the man who ended the Partisan War on Mars. All he seeks now is solitude and a return to the life that was stolen from him. Yet when he learns that the worst war criminals are hiding in other bodies, he is forced into an interplanetary pursuit.

Teaming up with other survivors eager for their own brand of vengeance, Harris begins to suspect a darker truth:

Maybe what he remembers about the war isn't what happened at all...

GENRE: Science Fiction

PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon | Flame Tree Publishing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Brian Trent’s speculative fiction appears regularly in the world’s top speculative fiction markets including ANALOG, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, Daily Science Fiction, Apex (winning the Story of the Year Reader’s Poll), Escape Pod, Flash Fiction Online, COSMOS, Galaxy’s Edge, Nature, The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, Pseudopod, and numerous year’s best anthologies. His work has been featured in several volumes of Flame Tree Publishing’s popular Gothic Fantasy Series.

The author of the historical fantasy series Rahotep, Trent is also a Baen Fantasy Adventure Award finalist and Writers of the Future winner. His nonfiction works have also appeared in Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Humanist, and UTNE.

Combining a fascination for history with a unique vision of the future, Trent’s novel Ten Thousand Thunders is the beginning of an exciting new science fiction universe.

Trent lives in New England, where he works as a novelist, screenwriter, and poet. His website and blog are located at www.briantrent.com.

Review & Recommended Listening

Military scifi lovers will be in for a treat: this book is fast-paced, action-packed and engaging! We're thrust right into the chaos in the first few chapters, and there's no shortage of twists and turns. I was, in fact, immediately hooked when Harris was introduced as someone who'd been "killed and brought back from deep undercover" because... what was that again? And then he had to continue acting like he was still undercover, only to be reunited with his partner and apparent love interest. Oh boy. I tend to get a little wary when romance is thrown into the mix in these sort of stories, but his interactions with Umerah weren't cheesy, even if they had their own "I love you" "I know" kind of banter.

It's hard to say anything more without giving the plot away, to be honest. But let me just tell you that this is the kind of story that I thoroughly enjoy: one with so many clever surprises it's impossible to guess the ending — or what even happens next — and you're simply compelled to keep reading to the very end. So if you like multilayered plots, interesting and badass characters, war and politics and intrigue, and lots of action, then this new book just might be for you. 😎

PS. You might also want to check out Ten Thousand Thunders. I haven't read it yet, but I plan to; it doesn't only sound fun, it also features some familiar faces!

Having just been killed in a mysterious shuttle explosion, Gethin Bryce is back to uncover what happened. An unusually gifted investigator with the InterPlanetary Council, Gethin is tasked with seeking out the truth behind unexplained anomalies that lie outside IPC control.

His investigation takes him from the luxurious enclaves of Earth’s elite, to the battered Wastelands beyond civilization’s protective thrall. Linking up with an inquiry team from a planet-spanning corporate powerhouse, he also befriends a grim and reluctant outlander who has an important piece of the puzzle—evidence of a sadistic entity which threatens not just civilization, but all life…

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommended Listening: As I mentioned in my open call for books to review, I’ll now be adding a song to my reviews! It’ll be one that either sums up the book for me, what I’d imagine in a trailer were it a movie, something that I associate with the story or one of the characters for whatever reason… or maybe even an original inspired by it 😉