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A beautiful story that I wished wouldn't come to an end. This is the second book of Eric Brown's that I have read and both were just superb.Read this book and you won't be disappointed.
2.5 StarsThis ia a very accessible science fiction novel that will appeal to new scifi readers and the young adult crowd. It probably will only come across as passable to hard scifi readers like myself. Eric Brown does an unusual thing with this novel. He takes a few deep and high tech science fiction themes / technologies and writes them in a way that totally down plays them. I understand that he wants this book to come across more as pulp-noir fiction novel than a scifi but I feel that the way...
I love Eric Brown. He's definitely my favourite sci-fi author and his books are almost always 5/5 for me. Here, I give only 4 stars because there was too much romance and not enough sci-fi elements. Although when they appear, they are really amazing - as always in Eric's books.
This reminds me of some of the work from Clifford D Simak. Ordinary people who have stumbled upon extraordinary doings. The humanity of the main character shines which was something Simak did so well and Brown also manages in this fine novel. One I will reread several times over the coming years.Ray Smillie
very similar to Buying Time: this is an equally masterful, earlier, science-fictional romance. either (but not necessarily both) recommended for your next beach holiday.
Last year I read a half dozen books by Eric Brown, and he very quickly became one of my favourite authors. It wasn't like I hadn't read anything by him before, I had all of his Solaris releases up to that point, but after reading the final Bengal Station book, Cosmopath, in late 2009 I knew I had to track down some of his other work. Eric Brown is the kind of author that can write about very human traits, crafting his stories to deliver an emotional and personal experience. The fact that he writ...
One of the best SF novels of 2011...The Kings of Eternity is the type of SF novel that should appeal to many readers. It has enough science fiction-y goodness for seasoned readers; conversely, it doesn’t thrust the reader into these elements unawares at the beginning of the story, thus lulling the reader into those elements; and perhaps most importantly: fully-rounded and believable characters. Though I didn’t completely like Jonathon all the time while I was reading, he felt real and I could em...
The first book I've read by Eric Brown, he's quite prolific but I've never heard of him before and have to say I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. The cover made me think it was going to be a B Movie style sci-fi story, but it wasn't at all, in fact for the first 50 pages or so, there is hardly any sci-fi at all. The setting for the earlier part of the storyline was reminiscent of Wells and Wyndham with the time and place setting. The technology involved seemed a bit too convenient...
An engaging story with early and late sections interleaved, turns into a thriller. Some familiar themes for Sci-Fi readers, but with a new mix. Marvelously done.
Since my experience with Eric Brown's work is mixed at best - liked Penumbra a lot, Helix mostly, but was meh on Necropath and sequels and thought that Engineman was badly dated and parochial to boot - I did not pay attention to this one until very enthusiastic reviews from Mark and Rob decided me to get it; on finishing it I have to say that the book is very well written, compelling and i stayed way too late to finish it. The Kings of Eternity is the kind of book that needed a different publish...
An unashamedly "old-fashioned" science fiction yarn. Set between the years 1935 and 1999, we follow the life of Jonathan Langham as he and his friend, Vaughan, along with their acquaintances Jasper and Charles, become embroiled within an interstellar war, a war that is very much in the background.This is very much a story told on earth, of how four friendships continue through the decades. Eric Brown writes in the style of the Edwardian scientific romance, with great character and narrative.Emin...
Takes a wee while to get into gear but once it does it is an enthralling read. A take on immortality with the human touch, where the main character has to move on before friends made start to question why they don't appear to be aging. You also find out why immortality has happened to a select few and touches on a galaxy wide battle. Another reason to love Eric Brown.
My first foray into Eric Brown work, and based on what I read here, to be followed soon by more, if they are as good as The Kings of Eternity.The main appeal for me was the transgenre appeal. The story goes beyond the immediate adventure of first contact and space battle epics. In fact these are secondary to character study, and the main character's search for love, for the meaning of life, for how to deal with his suddenly extraordinary circumstances.The different threads woven into the story a...
Intriguing science fiction flawed by a incompletely conceived extraterrestrial plot juxtaposed with an engaging terrestrial storyline.
This is the first novel I've ever read by Eric Brown, I'm glad I bought it and I did enjoy it. I suspect Eric Brown thinks of himself as something of a literary writer, and at his best I think he probably is. It was beautifully crafted in the early and middle sections of the book, with compelling and enjoyable plot lines, and characters who were constructed with integrity - although the 'Kings' of the title did seem to spend the first half of the book consuming so much alcohol that they must hav...
I almost gave up on this book several times. It's fairly short, but I was a full 25% of the way into it before anything happened. I was just done with it. I didn't particularly like the character, it kept jumping back and forth between two time periods and my lack of interest in the character made it difficult to follow (in one time period there is a girlfriend named Carla and in the other there is one named Caroline, and I'm bad with names so I kept getting them crossed with each other which ma...
Sort of 1920's melodrama about 3 blokes who discover an alien gateway then live forever. Boring
This is one of those book reviews that I find a little difficult to write, which may seem strange for a book to which I’ve given five stars, but as I begin to write I’m struggling to put down in words how much enjoyment I got from this. Therefore it’s probably going to be a rather short review.I’ve not read a book quite like it, and while this is a great sci-fi book written by one of today’s finest authors of any genre (in my humble opinion), it actually starts out quite different and it’s not u...
I'm certain the Kings of Eternity fancied themselves to be quite something. The only thing I would say is they were dependably bland. I had high hopes for this book and it just didn't reach those heights. Slightly up, slightly down, but never so far in either direction to force me to keep turning pages. It was almost a book without conflict.Even the most important choices in the book are delivered in such a way to minimize their impact. I'm not going to give anything away, but there were many ti...