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Out From Edom
Out From Edom
Book I of The Irredente Chronicles
Humanity in its "renormalized" form following an epoch of profligate genetic bioforming has sheltered itself in a theocratic hegemony along one arm of a barred-spiral galaxy. In seeking to protect its genome from further tampering and regulate technology, it has become complacent and ossified. The Irredente Chronicles series traces the lives of characters affected in various ways by humanity‚s desperate attempt to cling to a recognizably human self. When an unknown enemy begins wiping out hegemony worlds, the Irredente must rise to the threat or else face destruction.Is there a way to halt the march of science and technology without becoming vulnerable in a universe that embraces it?Over the course of 3 novels and 2000 pages, as the rescued urchin Henryk and the reactionary priest Hersey voyage separately across the hegemony and beyond, the dark secrets at the heart of the Irredente will be exposed, and Henryk and Hersey will lead humanity from complacent parochialism to an embrace of the multiversal computation.
Book Excerpt
own civilization that terraforming hadn't erased.
"The settlement is young," said the navy man. "And compensates by being singularly unattractive."
"It's not the worst place I've been, sir," said the marine. "But I know what you mean. It's your basic work planet, and there's not much to say beyond that. Still and all, they've made a go of it with not much in the way of natural resources. Repairs and such, some crafts, R&R, prisons. You see a lot of interesting machinery and craft come through the port here. Some incredible old stuff -- you wonder how they keep it running. That supports some decent skin trade, though a bit on the rough side of things, if you get my meaning, sir. People who work around metal and a fair number of biomechs."
"Sounds like the engine room on Andromache," said the navy man.
The marine captain looked momentarily solemn and made the sign of the tau-and-lambda across his chest.
"Sorry, Captain Titus," said the navy man. "It was a weak attempt at a
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This is quite a long story, and much of it is overwritten with unnecessary verbiage. That is not to say that it's boring - just that the author is more concerned with flowery language than concise storytelling.
As for storytelling, the author does know how to spin a yarn and maintain reader interest. The epic adventure has many threads, and it takes a little time to tie them together and see what's going on. It would seem the hero is a young boy, but there are other major characters in government and church that command the stage, so in some ways it's hard to say exactly what the story is about without launching into lengthy description. I will attempt to summarize...
In the far future, after five galactic empires have arisen and fallen, the sixth empire is tightly controlled by a humanistic "church" that is dedicated to purifying man - primarily in the physical sense, but psychologically and technologically as well. Though authoritarian, characters don't view the church as evil, most follow its edicts, and a few serve it wholeheartedly.
Henryk, the nominal hero, does not conform biologically to the church's guidelines. The story is basically about what happens to him, with a galactic rebellion thrown in for fun, and many other undercurrent stories woven into the overall tale.
The story has three primary downfalls:
1) I'm neither Catholic nor an expert on them, but I got the feeling throughout the story that the author specifically wanted to marginalize the Catholic church, and religion in general. I find that distasteful.
2) Though there are no explicit sex scenes, the author makes plenty of references to perverted sexual relationships, showing that everyone in the empire is OK with such arrangements. I found that disgusting, and almost kicked the story to the curb because of it.
3) The author drops you off a cliff at the end. A very disappointing "unfinished" ending.
Overall, a most interesting combination of entertainment and disappointment.
As for storytelling, the author does know how to spin a yarn and maintain reader interest. The epic adventure has many threads, and it takes a little time to tie them together and see what's going on. It would seem the hero is a young boy, but there are other major characters in government and church that command the stage, so in some ways it's hard to say exactly what the story is about without launching into lengthy description. I will attempt to summarize...
In the far future, after five galactic empires have arisen and fallen, the sixth empire is tightly controlled by a humanistic "church" that is dedicated to purifying man - primarily in the physical sense, but psychologically and technologically as well. Though authoritarian, characters don't view the church as evil, most follow its edicts, and a few serve it wholeheartedly.
Henryk, the nominal hero, does not conform biologically to the church's guidelines. The story is basically about what happens to him, with a galactic rebellion thrown in for fun, and many other undercurrent stories woven into the overall tale.
The story has three primary downfalls:
1) I'm neither Catholic nor an expert on them, but I got the feeling throughout the story that the author specifically wanted to marginalize the Catholic church, and religion in general. I find that distasteful.
2) Though there are no explicit sex scenes, the author makes plenty of references to perverted sexual relationships, showing that everyone in the empire is OK with such arrangements. I found that disgusting, and almost kicked the story to the curb because of it.
3) The author drops you off a cliff at the end. A very disappointing "unfinished" ending.
Overall, a most interesting combination of entertainment and disappointment.
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FEATURED AUTHOR - 'The Plotting Shed' (see her blog http://www.intheplottingshed.com/) was Alex Martin's first writing space at the bottom of her Welsh garden. Now she splits her time between Wales and France and plot wherever she is. She still wanders aimlessly in the countryside with her dog and her dreams and she can still be found typing away with imaginary friends whispering in her ear, but these days she has the joy of seeing her stories published and the treasured feedback from readers who've enjoyed them.