Steven Harper - Offspring

The lush and beautiful forest planet of Bellerophon is home to a cacophony of noises, but its resident psychics are known as the Silent. Previously they could travel to the Dream, a telepathic plane of existence where they could twist the laws of reality. But that time is over...
One madman's lust for power tore the Dream asunder. Now only a handful of the Silent can enter it. Kendi Weaver is one of them.
As an election for the governorship of Bellerophon begins, Kendi is caught in the crossfire. Attempts on his life—and a rash of Silent kidnappings—point to a political enemy...or a personal one. Either way, the future of the Dream is at stake. And Kendi fears it may become a nightmare.

Comment: This is the fourth and final installment in the Silent Empire series by Steven Harper. I have enjoyed the series quite a lot, even though none of the books were totally perfect. Nevertheless, what joy it has been and I'm quite glad I've managed to read this sci fi/fantasy series.

In this final story, the events take place a while after what happened in the third book. Kendi and Ben are looking for to become fathers but the discovery that the cryo embryos are the direct descendants of pioneer Irfan Qasad and her betraying husband still weight heavily on Ben's mind, even more so when he is in the same situation himself. Things might not be so bad if not fore the political situation on the planet, and the fact Ben's grandmother Reza Salman is running for governor put the spotlight on everyone in her family, including Ben and Kendi. At first Ben believes he can stay under the radar, but someone starts blackmailing them... is this a random event or is it connected to the political situation? Once again, Kendi and Ben must use the Dream to try to find out more before something irreversible happens...

Clearly, since this is the fourth book in a complex fantasy series, this isn't the best place to start and I'd advise a new reader to read this in order. Having read the other books, I've come to conclude that it looks as if the author truly planned for the series to not be a simple linear plot, I think he is writing specific sub plots which happen to be part of the overall world; however, reading out of order might make this seem very confusing.

I feel invested in these characters because the author's writing style is appealing to me and reading was engaging. Perhaps a different author might have done certain things better and others the opposite, but I like this style in which we follow sympathetic characters like Kendi and Ben into what should be a boring domestic episode and it turns out that there is more to think of while they do debate on their personal issues. I liked being immersed in their lives and of those around them.

The guys are obviously worried and eager to have their child and at some point it felt as if the story would only be about that and how the parentage would be such a shock for everyone, but the author thought about a few more ideas to keep the pace. I can't say that some of those options were the best - in fact it did feel as if some ideas were just fillers - but to be fair I can't think of what should have been done instead. I also think the author must have planned to tidy up loose ends, for there is one big missing link from the past books which was solved definitely here, although I think that situation wasn't tackled as well as it could. There are also things which weren't solved...

It's true a few situations were rushed and the importance of why they were included felt like a missed opportunity. Perhaps the author wanted to write more stories and a few situations would have a resolution then. I feel satisfied enough with what happened, and my overall appreciation of this book is a positive one, but yes, I admit I did think about what else might have been done...

Kendi and Ben are a steady couple and I actually like this aspect of the stories so well. There isn't any specific focus on romance nor on intimacy, but I still feel they are a happy couple, who happen to be able to still go to the Dream, but deep down they only want to have a happy family. I liked how this panned out for them, in terms of the decision to have children and how, and the way they found friends who would be the children's mothers. It might sound silly, but I felt happy reading about people who were friendly and good and who wanted to be in a situation where everyone would be respected.

In regards to the whole Dream thing (in book #2 a major event happened which affected the Dream dimension) I think the author could have been braver and more incisive in what could happen. I suppose perhaps he might have wanted to exploit this further in following books and had to compromise if this was to be the last? I have not investigated, but it does feel that this element could have been solved in a much better way, considering the importance it had throughout the series.

Well, things are what they are and if this is the end result, as I've said, I feel satisfied with the general options. Let it be said things end well for our protagonists and I've finished the book thinking that, despite what wasn't included, the way things ended was good enough to make me feel as if I could let go of this world with a happy sigh.

Grade: 8/10

Steven Harper - Trickster

The Dream has been shattered, and the majority of Silent who telepathically communicated through it have been cast out by the event known as the Despair, unable to reenter. Now the remaining Silent still capable of linking to the Dream have become a valuable commodity to those in power seeing to keep the lines of galactic communication open...In the midst of the Despair, Father Kendi Weaver and the crew of the Poltergeist have a limited window of opportunity to find the loved ones they have lost--including Kendi's parents and siblings, who were sold into slavery more than fifteen years ago.But just as Kendi closes in on the whereabouts of his brother and sister, they are taken by a mysterious group intent on using them for their own secret agenda...

Comment: This is the third installment in the Silent Empire series and I'm so happy it went out to be as addictive to me as the first one had been.

In this third story, we keep following Kendi and his closest friends after the terrible events in the second book. Now that only a few can reach The Dream, Kendi and Ben among them, life has to be reorganized everywhere, although the use of slaves doesn't seem to end. As soon as they successfully rescue Harenn's son from slavery, it's time to finally follow the clue about two of Kendi's missing family members. The problem is that they had been sold again, merely two days before and Kendi can't help but feeling he lost his chance after so many years. Thankfully, a chance encounter allows Harenn to pay Kendi back, for she recognizes her ex and where he is, slaves must have been sold, thus making them aware of where the two people they are looking for will be. To rescue them is the issue, for they are in a place with heavy security... they all need to work together to find a way to get the keys to enter the place... but how?

What a heist romp this was! I will have to say that my favorite element in this story was how the plot was focused on helping rescuing people from slavery and reuniting families, instead of battling a vicious enemy as it happened in Dreamer. This means I was always eager to keep reading, to see what they would do next and, more importantly, how would they do it!

In fact, the plot of this book is basically a big adventure of how to help, first Harenn's son, and then Kendi's family. The antagonists are the slavers and those who have the keys which would allow our protagonists to help those they need and the story is centered on how this can be done without them being caught. I really liked this story, it had adventure and suspense here and there, but in the big scheme of things, there wasn't a bad outcome to fear because it seemed kind of a given that the good guys would succeed in what they needed.

I liked this story because it made me think the plot was very closed off, instead of how things were in the previous book, which was in a way that it felt many things were getting out of control and something not easily fixed might occur. I was also quite invested in seeing how they could solve things, how could they help the people they needed in the time frame available. In a way, this made me think of a slightly simple plot where the biggest adversity was that they couldn't just act, they had to have a plan.

And a what a plan, Kendi calls for a favor and somehow a bigger than life situation is possible to be put into action. I will confess that some scenes weren't as appealing but I was always eager to keep reading. I was also very curious to see how the end would be, and if Kendi could save the two members of his family, how would their reunion be, especially because I liked the first book where we see how they got separated and how Kendi always thought about finding them again.

The two members are his siblings, and they leave the place where Kendi thought he would find them into a new place where they are told some unlikely things. Since we also have the POV of his sister, we can understand what is going on and it seems as if they ended up in a weirdly cult like place, but for what is the question. I also liked these sections and they weren't too heavy to read. I was curious as well about their state of mind and who they were after years as slaves, and if Kendi could hope for a happy reunion...

As expected, not everything goes as smoothly and a few things have to be dealt with, but despite some situations which seemed to be more nerve wracking, things go on to develop pretty much as predicted, except a scene at the end which felt like doom was about to happen for them all, but a twist made everything be solved as one would hope for. Well, I did. Then, although the end was what I hoped for, it was still not too lengthy, but there was still time for a final revelation, which I bet will be developed in the last book and now I can't wait to get to that one!

Grade: 8/10

Steven Harper - Dreamer

It is through first contact with an alien species that humanity learns of the Dream. It is a plane of mental existence where people are able to communicate by their thoughts alone--over distances of thousands of light-years. To ensure that future generations will have this ability, human genetic engineering produces newborns capable of finding and navigating the Dream.
They become known as the Silent.
Rust is just one planet among many in the Empire of Human Unity. It's nothing special, nothing unusual...except for the fact that it is home to an unknown boy who may be the most powerful Silent telepath ever born--a Silent with the ability to possess the bodies of others against their will. This mysterious child may be causing tremors within the Dream itself.
For now, only the Children of Irfan know about him. A monastic-like order of the Silent, the Children protect their members even as they barter their services with the governments and corporations that control known space. But power like that cannot be hidden, and soon every Silent in the universe will know about the boy--and every government will be willing to go to war to control him.
And if the Children of Irfan cannot find him first, the Dream itself may be shattered...

Comment: Last year I've read and liked Nightmare by this author. At that time, I read that book because it was part of a series (The Silent Empire) and many readers kept suggesting that book should be read before Dreamer, because chronologically the events in Nightmare occurred before those in Dreamer. 

I've decided to follow that advice and what a good one, for I've found this one to be slightly convoluted and having the base of what was going on from the other book helped a lot.

Kendi, the hero from the first book, is now older and has studied enough to become a Brother, which means he can do his own investigations in the attempt to help other Silent people. On planet Rust, he and the others are looking for someone who seems to have a powerful ability in the Dream, the place where all of those who are Silent can communicate. But this person's abilities don't seem to be controlled and fearing a war, the Empress to which the Children of Irfan answer to, demands that this individual has to be captured. While Kendi and his friends know they will help as much as they can, someone else is after this person and who knows what will happen if the enemy can manipulate them at will...

As I've said, I did like Nightmare a lot. It wasn't a perfect read but there were plenty elements to win me over and, of course, I was hoping to have the same experience with this one. I will say it was as adventurous and creative to me as the first, but some plot choices definitely disappointed. I think a few things happened for shock factor and while I was able to maintain a certain emotional distance, it still annoyed me terribly that some characters had determined fate.

I will repeat that it was a good option to not read the series in order of publication. This book has a lot of information which makes so much more sense after reading the other. In fact, now I cannot imagine starting with this, I would likely not carry on. There are moments that yes, I feel that it was as if the author assumed the readers would easily follow the ideas described, and some don't always make a lot of sense. Having read Nightmare not only make me more interested in what was happening but also invested in some of the characters (thus my disappointment, I suppose one cannot have it all).

To summarize, in this world there are people/beings who are Silent, meaning they can kind of access a dream world and what they do there does affect "real life". As expected a lot in society is dependent on these people and, as well, there are those who would benefit from the opposite. Basically, the plot of this book is precisely that: someone with an uncontrolled power needs be caught before it's impossible to reverse a terrible situation in the Dream world, but someone wants the Dream to disappear.

Kendi and his friends are still key characters and Kendi is happy he became a Brother because this allows him to travel and he desperately wants to find his family who, like himself, were sold into slavery. I still liked Kendi a lot despite discovering one little thing about him I disliked. Nothing can only suit the preferences of one, isn't it, but even then I was glad he was still the same curious and likable boy I had met in the other book. I think the end of the book, despite the negative situations faced by everyone, also make me confident I will keep on rooting for him.

The plot was captivating, fast paced and included many amazing descriptions, some things more than others of course, and the reason behind the major problems ongoing was quite ingenious but I will say that while I understand the need to develop things in a way that would make some sense, my personal taste is one for positivism and I was annoyed at the amount of scenes where characters managed to accomplish wrong decisions instead! I kept thinking why some characters couldn't be smarter... such as Sejal, the individual everyone is looking for. I can understand he didn't have all the knowledge and he was rather immature, but... how frustrating.

Since this Sejal was "conveniently" easy to manipulate, despite some promising scenes at a certain point, the villain still got to him. I'd say the villain was pretty basic in how villains are, in terms of motivation and characterization, but considering what happens and how some characters were deeply affected by the villain's actions, it's obvious I ended up despising him. Surely, this is the whole point, but it still gets on my nerves how some characters had to suffer and not even the possibility something will be redeemed in the next books will change things for me.

I think this fantasy world is engaging and I liked the overall notion of it. I now some readers thought it to be a little pretentious but to me, most of the construction worked out well, because it offered the necessary for things to have meaning. I'm not particularly interested if the idea "x" is better than the idea "y", what I want is a world to make sense and to want to see what happens next. In this regard, I think the author accomplished it, and I will read the third book next month.

Grade: 7/10

Steven Harper - Nightmare

In the future, dreams keep the universe running. Dreamers, known as "Silent," are able to look into other people's dreams, communicate with other Silent across the galaxy, and speak to aliens. Silent construct dreams for themselves more vivid than reality.
But some dreams have become nightmares...
Kendi Weaver doesn't know he's Silent. Hijacked into slavery, he has resigned himself to a life of servitude. Then the discovery of his innate gift for dream communication changes everything. Suddenly Kendi is a very valuable commodity. He is rescued by the Children of Irfan--a society dedicated to freeing enslaved Silent--and taken to their planet, Bellerophon.
But Bellerophon is hardly a safe refuge. A brutal serial killer is murdering Silent in their telepathic dreams, and Kendi is soon embroiled in a world of madness and murder. To catch the killer, he must enter the victims' dreams...

Comment: I've had this book in the pile for years, in this case I had written down in pencil the date and it was 2009. What can I say, better late than never...?

This is a science fiction story set in an alien planet, centuries after a ship left Earth to another planet. The ship had been traveling for a long time and everyone on board was in cryogenic sleep, but the ship was caught by alien slavers and everyone was sold as such. The story is told from the POV of Evan, who was traveling with his family (father, mother and two siblings) for they are of Aboriginal origin and they had decided to travel so they could be part of a group establishing a Real People community in the new planet. Now, here is everyone being sold as slaves and Evan is separated from his family, although his mother is sold with him to the same owner. Some years after this, someone in his owner's house touches him and realizes he is Silent, someone who can travel and communicate with others in dreams if they have same ability. This does changes life for him, although sadly he is separated from his mother once more, and he goes to live in a planet where people are like him and he hopes to learn skills so he can find his similarly Silent family some day in dreams. But there is danger and challenges to overcome everywhere....

What a delightful read this was! Even though the slavery theme isn't an appealing one, the author wrote things in such a way that Evan remains likable and funny and someone we root for even while he is in slavery. This is never something to be considered good, but thankfully seeing things from Evan's POV (in third person, though) diminishes some of the unfairness of his situation and we can concentrate on his adventure and progress. 

I suppose I could say there are actually a few moments in which i think the author was a little too loose with the true unfairness of things happening to Evan. He was being separated from his family, hurting and unable to avoid it and I confess I wasn't as emotionally devastated as I'd think. Part of this happens because of how this is written but also because of the tone. I hope the vibe doesn't change, for it makes reading about terrible themes in an easier way, even bearing in mind the seriousness of it. There were also some glitches, in my opinion, about the pace and the jumps in the narrative, which made some chapters a little disorienting.

When the story begins, Evan is 12, then he is discovered as being Silent when he is 15 and most of the action takes place in Bellerophon, the planet where most of the Silent individuals can live and be free, as he is 16 and he then decides to change his name to one of Aboriginal meaning, Kendi. In fact, everyone is free there, as there's this foundation, which goes back to first humans who arrived at the planet centuries ago, which has the goal to offer help to everyone who is Silent, even aliens. There are some references to some of these, but the majority of characters is human.

I really liked reading this novel and it was a bother to have to put it down for real life. The plot is actually very interesting because it's not only a study on what it means to survive slavery or what it means to imagine an alien and extra planetary society, or even what is identity (Kendi is of Australian Aboriginal origin and this is sometimes referenced and some details are actually key for Evan's life as a Silent individual), but we have a lot of Kendi's development as a person, as someone who has a goal - to study and get good at his skills so he can find his family - and as someone trying to get a grasp of what this new life means. Evan also realizes he is gay, which thankfully isn't a big deal, although he does worry about it for a long time, but I've felt this was realistically done.

A huge part of adapting to this new reality is to learn about the Silent, the history of them and of the planet they now live in, how life is in this time in contrast to his memories on Earth, but I've found this to be an easy thing because the author isn't info dumping, he shares things as they become necessary to be done, and reading this style makes it a lot more captivating. Another good part of the story is focused on a murder investigation, someone is killing Silent individuals in dreams, which then has psychosomatic effects on their real bodies. The more the plot advances and we learn new things, this started to become a little predictable, but I was surprised with the workings of the big twist anyway.

I've seen this is a prequel to the other books, for there are three more in this series. But this is the 2nd, which many readers liked way more then the others, so... I feel a little confused. Nevertheless, I will read the other books too, not right away but perhaps next year, because I liked Kendi and I definitely need to know if he finds his family and, if so, how that happens!

Grade: 8/10