Reviewer Wow from Analog
There is no publication more respected in the field of Hard SF. For my humble space opera to get a plaudit from the grim and strict reviewers at Analog, whose standards are high, is like Orpheus making Pluto smile. Here is the review: https://www.analogsf.com/2013_07-08/reflib.shtml
The Hermetic Millennia
In last year’s Count to a Trillion (reviewed in the March 2012 issue), John C. Wright began the story of Menelaus Montrose: twenty-third century hired gun and science fiction fan turned transhuman genius. In easy stages, we followed this improbable pilgrim’s progress through an interstellar alien society brimming with augmented intellects, artificial intelligences, and near-immortal races whose technology and motives were beyond comprehension.
Nevertheless, Menelaus gave as good as he got; he steadily advanced to demigodlike power without losing his own humanity. By the end of Count to a Trillion, Menelaus was well-positioned to be humanity’s protector in a hostile Universe.
Good thing, too, because there are some bad guys coming. An alien armada is on its way to Earth, bent on making slaves of the population. They’ll arrive in only eight thousand years.
There’s also danger closer to home: some of Menelaus’s former comrades, with powers as great as his own, decide that they can make an advantageous deal with the slavers—especially if they use the next eight millennia to evolve humans into something even more useful to the bad guys.
Menelaus sets his plans and goes into secure cryogenic suspension . . . but not for long. He finds that he must awaken periodically to deal with the machinations of his enemies.
Across eight millennia, humanity is split into various sub-species such as Chimera, Giants, Locusts, Witches, and others, each more bizarre than the last, and all hostile to one another. If Menelaus is going to pull these subspecies together and save them all, he has quite a job ahead of him.Wright does an excellent job of guiding the reader through this strange and wonderful future. With appealing characters and just the right bit of humor, he keeps all his plates spinning without letting the story slow down. There are even a few of those moments that make you say “Wow!”
The Hermetic Millennia is the second book of a projected four-book series, so there’s plenty more left in store for Menelaus and his associates.
The quote above comes from an article copyrighted by Mr Don Sakers, and my quote here is Fair Use, with no implied imposition on that copywright.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
