There’s been a lot of discussion around the web about self-publishing. Some people swear by it and believe that it does a better job of getting quality works to readers. Others believe that it’s all vanity and that if the books were any good, then a traditional publisher would grab them. Since I really don’t have an opinion one way or the other, I decided that maybe I should look at some of the self-published science fiction and see what is out there. I ended up choosing In Her Name: First Contact by Michael Hicks. The book is the first book in a trilogy, but the trilogy is the second trilogy in the series (if that makes sense). Hicks had a trilogy about a war between humans and an alien species. This book (and trilogy) is about the beginning of the contact between the two races and how the war started. So this is kinda like starting at Phantom Menace rather than A New Hope, but I’d rather not make any Star Wars comparisons. So, let’s check out the story.
In the far future, the human race has spread out to several additional planets. The TNS Aurora space ship has an exploration job. They jump to new solar systems and look for habitable planets and possibly new life. So, when they jump to a new system and their computers indicate that not only is there advance life, but four ships are headed their way, the crew is cautiously optimistic. When their electronics are disabled and the aliens start boarding the ship and killing crew members, they are terrified. Not just because of what is happening, but because they didn’t have time to scrub their logs. The aliens now know where the rest of humanity lives.
The alien species (later named Kreelans) are slowly dying and they know it. But they believe that there is a species they will find that will help them. However, they must challenge that species to prove their worth. They challenge other species by combat*. The Kreelans slaughter anyone who doesn’t fight back and then has a combat (almost gladiator like) between the survivors and members of their race. One human,Ichiro Sato, is picked to be the lone survivor. He will return to humanity and tell them what happened. Also warn them that the Kreelans are coming to a human planet in 18 months time to battle.
*Yes. The Kreelans are a lot like the Consu from John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War. They have similar motivations and warrior beliefs. They both wish to have an equal combat (e.g. only use technology that is at the same level as human technology) in order to purify humans and push them up to the next level. The biggest difference is that the Consu have told humans why they are doing what they do, while the Kreelans have made no attempt to let humans know their motivations. While the aliens are very similar, the books are very, very different.
The book takes on twin tales. The first is the Kreelans preparing for the war with some backstory about why they do this. The second story is the humans preparing for the war. The book has a lot of characters and the first half or so of the book is all about the different characters reacting to the first contact and preparing for the war. The last half of the book has a lot fewer characters and is mainly about the war. Since this is a trilogy, even though the book ends on a satisfying note, there is obviously more story to tell. The book touches on some of the politics of the human side and how that affects the way different planets.
The parts I liked about the book were the interactions of the various characters and preparations for the war. I enjoyed the actual fighting, but not quite as much. The biggest issue I had with the story was the fact that the Kreelans had specific goals in minds and didn’t seem to know why humans didn’t understand, but they made no attempt to pass that information along. Some of the humans seemed to figure part of it out when the Kreelans attacked (by noticing that they had downgraded their technology to match humans), but that was it. With all the abilities the Kreelans had, it should have been no problem for the Kreelans to let the humans know what they wanted from them. But it never happened and that made parts of the story very frustrating. Overall it was enjoyable if you like military science fiction. There was a lot of time spent on the various military aspects of the fighting and if you’re not into that, it could become very boring. The characters are done decently, but a little flat at times. I’d like to see a little more rounding of the characters and a little more humanity from them. At times they felt like ideas more than people, but overall I did like it. I’m probably going to read the rest of this trilogy, but haven’t made up my mind yet about the original trilogy. Recommended.