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by: Chris Roberson  Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: Mass Market PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 813.6 EAN: 9781844165247 ISBN: 1844165248 Label: Solaris Manufacturer: Solaris Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 432 Publication Date: January 29, 2008 Publisher: Solaris Studio: Solaris Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Product Description: In a distant future where the Chinese have seized control of the world and colonised the stars, a disgraced naval captain and a commando who knows secrets he should never have learned are picked to lead a suicide mission. Piloting a salvaged Mexica spacecraft to Xolotl, the asteroid stronghold of their enemies, they are armed with enough explosives to reduce the Mexica base to dust. But when they arrive to find dozens of Chinese prisoners destined to be used as human sacrifices, their suicide mission suddenly becomes a rescue operation. This is a clash of empires old and new. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - The Chinese Dirty Dozen in Space!I'm a bit of a fan of Roberson's work, but this particular novel left me infected with an advanced case of "meh". The basic plot, as everyone has noted, is little more than a take on the movie "The Dirty Dozen", with a dollop of "The Canterbury Tales" thrown in as the titular nine sequentially relate their backstories during the long voyage to their mission's target. So originality is not going to be a strong point. Recycling storylines, of course, is extremely common, but the only thing ... Read More Rating:  - Well done!His knowledge and grasp of Qing dynasty Chinese and Meso-american history is apparent in the way he is able to take known 18th century Chinese and 16th century Aztec/Mayan institutions and attitudes and extend it into the future, something many authors who attempt this usually fail to do convincingly. He manages to stay away from rehashing stereotypical views of imperial China and therefore manages to do an impressively convincing job of putting together a world where a completely different ... Read More Rating:  - Another ReviewThere is already a quite complete review for this book, here at amazon. I just wanted to throw my hat in and say Chris Roberson does a terrific job on this alternate history/sci-fi novel. Rating: - Decent read, but nothing specialAs the other reviews have said, this is basically the Dirty Dozen (or 9 in the case) set in an alternate future. It's almost impossible to read this book and not compare it to the Dirty Dozen. The book is consistently okay, and the author makes a good attempt at character development, but the problem is he attempts to tell the story of all nine characters and move the plot along, it's just too much for one book so everything feels too quick. There's more pages spent discussing the trip to their objective, ... Read More Rating: - It's the dirty dozen in space...in an alternate history space war between the Chinese and the Aztecs.I love alternate history. One of my favorite sub-genres within the lands of Fantasy and Science Fiction, I've alternate history from Lest Darkness Fall and Guns of the South, and through newer authors like Charles Stross, Naomi Novik and S.M. Stirling. Another favored sub-genre of mine is space opera and adventure. From Planet of Adventure and Vance's novels in the Gaean Reach, through Vorkosigan's adventures, Alistair Reynolds, and others. Chris Roberson (whose Paragaea ... Read More 
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