Something different from J. D. Rhoades, writng as J. D. Nixx, a science fiction/vampire thriller. It was the most fun read I’d had, only a short while since the last one I posted on. I seem to read more crime these days and now to have another great science fiction novel so soon on top of the last reignites love of the genre.
Here’s the set-up:
It’s hundreds of years in the future. Humanity has spread throughout the local part of the galaxy through a series of jump gates. At some point in the past, a revolution had taken place, The Corporate Wars. Once that was put down, a lot of planets had been abandoned by the corporate executives on each, the inhabitants slaughtered or sold into slavery. The Howland-Wagner Corporation seems to be the one that came out on top, though there are others.
As usually happens when wars are over, the ones that did the actual fighting are dealt with. In this world, they’d gene-engineered their armies, monsters they were, along with computer enhancements as well. The Knightriders, vampires, the Hellhounds, werewolves, and the DeadBoys, reanimated corpses, zombies.
Our first person hero is Laura So, a knightrider. the name is a fiction based on her designation: LRR/A(SO), Long Range Reconnaissance/Attack(Special Operations). They are called augments because of the engineering with the help of nano machines.
The last of her kind, the rest killed with a special virus while she was recovering from serious injuries, she wants revenge on the three who ordered her people murdered and to find the creator. Aiding her is her lover, Jess, another augment, though he’s a baseline. He’s a medic and his augments run to fast healing, immunity, and stamina.
That’s the basic set-up. Within that, Nixx tells an action story with plenty of ideas tossed in and moves swiftly along. As I said earlier, the second SF novel I’ve read recently that revived my “lost” sense of wonder, I don’t know, just that I enjoyed the hell out of this one.
One other thing, this book is loaded with in-jokes related to the subject matter. I started listing them, then stopped when I got to a half dozen or so. I’m sure I missed a few, but that was the fun every time I found a new one. J. D. knows his subject much better than myself. I did have to check a couple of times to be sure.
Recommended and I’m ready for the sequel, or whatever else the author might have in the line of science fiction. MONSTER: KNIGHTRIDER"S VENGEANCE can be ordered here. Definitely worth the price.