Tobias S. Buckell’s rip-roaring Caribbean-infused novels have been delicious treats so far, but after the Aztec-alien dirigible battles of CRYSTAL RAIN and the grand-scope space rebellion of RAGAMUFFIN, I initially was skeptical of SLY MONGOOSE. Could Buckell keep cranking out good books on a yearly basis? The answer is “Holy crap, yes!”
The novel takes Pepper, Buckell’s dreadlocked cyborg superman; puts him in a floating city akin to a Third-World version of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK’s cloud city of Bespin; and adds … wait for it … space zombies.
That’s right. This is Buckell’s zombie book, with overwhelming odds, sympathetic infectees that must be put out of their misery before they turn, and massive, gory rampages. As the zombie horde grows and gains a sort of hive intelligence, all that stands between the monsters and the domination of the infected planet is Pepper — and he’s got issues of his own to deal with.
Yes, apparently Buckell decided that a full-strength warrior cyborg was a bit overpowered, even for a contagious swarm of alien zombies, so this time, Pepper has to face the bad guys without the advantage of a full set of limbs, and even worse, he has to get involved in something he’s hated his whole life: politics.
That plot on its own would be enough for many authors, but Buckell never squanders an opportunity to flesh out the universe that he’s created. Everything fits together, and if you’ve read CRYSTAL RAIN and RAGAMUFFIN, you’ll appreciate the new levels of complexity added to the overall story arc. But SLY MONGOOSE works sublimely on it own — the cultures he dreamed up for the floating cities of the planet Chilo offer a fairly intense exploration society and community, especially in contrast with the zombie masses intent on destroying them.
While Buckell’s books take place in a shared universe, SLY MONGOOSE demonstrates that while the author does write sequels, he doesn’t write the same story twice. That’s a tremendous accomplishment, and SLY MONGOOSE is hopefully a harbinger of even greater things. —Ryun Patterson
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• CRYSTAL RAIN by Tobias S. Buckell
• RAGAMUFFIN by Tobias S. Buckell
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Also, if you want to pick it up, don’t go to Borders. According to the author, Borders didn’t order any copies. What a crock.
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2008/08/28/sly-mongoose-comes-out-swinging/