Humanity has finally begun to settle into their new home.   The new colony is coming along well with the ship locked in orbit at the end of an orbital lift providing all their needs, but Mei and the rest of the unbound have decided they don't want to be any part of this new society and go off on their own across the ocean to meet the natives.

Then all hell breaks loose and Bryan, our illustrious detective from the first book (who is now the chief re-creation officer for the colony), ends up in the thick of it all on the other side of the planet.

All in all, a super good first-contact story, without none of that Star Trek first directive getting in anyone's way: oh dear!

And now i'm really looking forward to Children of the Divide, the third book of this thoroughly enjoyable trilogy. ( )

This book is set a few years after the first book but for the most part if you pick this one up in error and start first you will pick up the background without any problems. Benson is no longer a police officer but since he is a hero to many he is drafted to go with several other people to deal with a first contact with the natives of Atlantis that wasn’t supposed to happen but did thanks to the separatists that snuck away and made a village near them. Most people are worried about the one group warning the aliens against the others with examples of our past but it doesn’t seem to be the case. When a gathering of the tribes is called to let everyone know of the Earthlings then things go down the tubes quickly.

Benson and a native truth digger set out with others to find out who and why the gathering was attacked. And of course things are not what they seem there and problems back at the colony’s first city keep all the action moving quickly. This was a good read and I’ll be looking for the next book when it comes out.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
( )

This is a sequel to the author’s The Ark, book two of a three part series. While it may be possible to read this as a stand alone work, I don’t know why you would want to do so. Read The Ark, and if you like it, follow up with this one.

In The Ark, mankind has fled the Earth in a generation starship, after the Earth was destroyed by a black hole that was apparently guided by a hostile alien species. This sequel finds the ship’s inhabitants having arrived and become established on Gaia. Surprisingly, there is an evolved alien species already in place on the planet. This book focuses on the interaction between the humans and the Atlantians. The hero of The Ark, Benson, is again the main protagonist in this story, when conflict erupts between the species.

This book is very similar in style to The Ark. If you liked one, you’ll like the other.

ADDITION AFTER READING BOOK THREE: I originally thought this was a trilogy, given that there were three paperback books available with no mention of any follow up, however while there is some kind of closure on the particular storyline that is the basis of this particular book, it ends with a major cliffhanger that ensures at least one follow-up work. In other words, don’t start reading this series if you are expecting resolution of the main question hanging in the air since early in book one: Who destroyed Earth? ( )

Received via Angry Robot Books in exchange for an completely unbiased review.
Also posted on Silk & Serif

The Ark, a massive space shuttle outfitted to harbor thirty thousands souls away from a dying Earth in the hopes of finding a new home world, has arrived at a suitable planet. The residents of the Ark have begun to build a new colony by the sea on this strange planet inhabited by strange creatures called the G'tel. The G'tel have called the Tau Ceti G home for generations and have a primitive social structure based on gods and ritual rather than logic and technology. The two very different cultures are bound to clash - and do - when the first official greeting ceremony for humans is interrupted with violence that causes losses for both species. Bryan Benson, ex-detective and current football coach, teams up with an alien 'turth-digger' Kexx in order to bring those culpable to justice. Benson is thrust into an alien landscape with interstellar strangers whom he must trust to keep him alive while he proves that his colony is not to blame for the grisly greeting ceremony slaughter.

Meanwhile, the Cheif of Police and Bensons wife, Theresa, is dealing with violent outbursts within the human colony. The general populace suddenly wants to wipe out the G'tel, whom they claim, are dangerous species bent on war with the humans. In a rush to ensure that the colony remains peaceful with their new neighbours, Theresa uncovers a plot to manipulate the populace to commit genocide.

Guys, I don't even know where to start with this one. I requested Trident's Forge from NetGalley without really knowing what to expect. I'd never read Patrick S. Tomlinson before and I certainly wasn't sure how the plot would go, but thankfully I decided to take a chance. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself immersed into a world of strange beings, deep questions about the dishonesty of humanity, a whodunit mystery supported by a strong cast of characters.

The G'tel is a cleverly crafted, plausible but alien society that exists on a world that is, for the most part, familiar to humans.

I have always enjoyed science fiction because of the pure creativity that goes into creating new worlds, cultures and species. The entire spirit of science fiction is one that allows anything to be possible - entire worlds can be created and entire cultures can be developed no matter how implausible they seem. Tomlinson obviously did plenty of research to develop the G'tel: a species composed of loose limbs, headcress and shifting-coloured skin for communication. These elements of biology in the G'tel are both foreign and familiar in our current world's animal populations and yet, at their very core, the G'tel have similar drives and motivations as humans: love, loss and honor. In the end, the G'tel are an unfamiliar civilization, with some interesting social characteristics, which are explored sufficiently to emphasize the exotic while illuminating the key qualities that make us human.

Trident's Forge is a fast action science fiction novel that doesn't disappoint with strong characters that continue to develop as they begin to understand their new, alien neighbours. This novel is also exceptionally good at creating interesting mysteries that span a continent and that initially appear to be completely unrelated. In the end, Trident's Forge is an exciting second installment of what appears to be a fantastic series. I am definitely looking forward to book three of the Children of a Dead Earth series!

Trident's Forge is a well written novel that kept me obsessively reading until the last page.

This book will appeal to readers who enjoy science fiction, whodunit mysteries, action and adventure and first contact novels. I would definitely recommend reading Trident's Forge if you're in the mood to read something unique and exceptionally well written. It's not required to read The Ark, book one of the Children of a Dead Earth series, as Trident's Forge is a book that can be consumed as a stand alone. ( )

I love old-school outer space science fiction, especially when it contains a twist. I devoured Patrick S. Tomlinson’s The Ark, Book #1 in the Children of a Dead Earth series. It not only combined two of my favorite genres, scifi and detective fiction (a locked-room mystery), but the writing style was completely addictive. (A link to that review is at the end of this review.)

I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen in Book #2, Trident’s Forge. There’s always a fear that an author will suffer from second book slump in a series after successfully building a world we love. No fear of that with Trident’s Forge, which is a riveting tale about first contact. The characters we grew to love or hate in Book #1 still captivate and are brought entirely new challenges in Book #2. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=9026. ( )