Saturn Returns – Sean Williams

This is great – go out and get a copy now, I couldn’t put it down :)

Orbit describes it as a “space opera balancing cosmic-level threats with a very human murder mystery”. I think its a fast paced guns-a-blazing-mystery dealing with questions of identity PLUS a central character with partial amnesia, what more could you want?

Sean Williams has created a fascinating gothic galaxy recovering from a galactic-wide disaster. Humans have spread far and wide across the galaxy, some remaining in one body, Primes, living and dying others, Singletons, opt for having many clones and absorbing and sharing memories and then there are the group minds.

The hero, Imre Bergamasc, is a Singleton and has been resurrected with half of his memories wondering who tried to kill him. He is driven to reunite with his old comrades from the ‘Corps’, find ‘Himself’ and discover what kind of person this Imre Bergamasc really is.

Williams uses the idea of Tempo and being able to manage the rate of time passing with relish in car chases, starship clashes and travel.

PLUS there is a character who speaks only in Gary Numan lyrics (what the? you think) …but it works.

This is the blurb from Sean Williams’ site

Dark experiments, dangerous ruins, fleeting ghosts and deadly conspiracies…

On the edge of the galaxy in a distant and terrible future, Imre Bergamasc reborn into a pieced-together body with the certain knowledge that he was the victim of an elaborate murder plot. But neither his mind nor the history of his former life are as easily reassembled, so he sets out to follow the fragments of his memories and discover the reason for his elimination. Through interstellar graveyards megacities and bizarre star systems, he pursues whispers connecting the death of the worlds he once knew to his own murdersp. Tracked by forces determined to thwart his efforts, Imre combs the wreckage of the future for the truth about himself–no matter how unbearable it may be.

Here’s another good review from Graeme. You can also visit Sean’s blog.

Q> What the heck is gothic-noir? I’m not even sure the difference between space opera and sci-fi… but I like it!

UDPATE – Sean Willians has just completed Book 2 – and a book 1.5 is coming out in October in the UK. I’m looking forward.