Hit the Turtle to Return Home.
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KIRKUS REVIEWS
TITLE INFORMATION
THE LAST ETERNAL SUNMerlin TurtleXlibrisAU (320 pp.)$27.50 paperback, $3.99 e-bookISBN: 978-1-66410-042-8August 27, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Turtle’s SF novel follows the remnants of humanity as they look for their society’s founding engineer.
In the future, the Earth is no more, and what’s left of humanity lives on a Dyson Ring that rotates around the titular sun. The massive technological structure supports land and water formations and always exposes its population to light. The Bard Ambrose has left his village of Avalon to find the resting place of the chief engineer, Arthur C. Pendragon of earthly legend. The bard possesses a tabletlike Time-Keeper that connects him to other Druids. He eventually comes to a river, where he meets a vessel called The Sea Turtle. Ambrose tells Kevin the Pirate King and Capt. Fredric that he’s attempting to renew contact with the Druids of the ruined city of Mirador. After coming through a storm, the ship reaches the paradisical island of Otaheite. Fredric, on a prior visit, found that Mirador’s ruins are within Otaheite’s jungle. With the ship damaged, Ambrose and the crew risk the wrath of locals as they sneak through the jungle, where they discover the well-protected city and its protein library and cafeteria. During a private moment, Ambrose tells Ruth, the ship’s engineer, that the universe is closer to death, than anyone realizes. In this series starter, Turtle sets up an SF adventure akin to Larry Niven’s classic novel Ringworld (1970). He plays with language to place readers in a disorienting, yet still recognizable, environment; rather than “left” or “right,” for example, characters refer to “widdershins” or “fylfot,” and time and distance measurements are also unfamiliar (“five or six dekam wide”). Still, there’s plenty of hard science, Arthurian legend, and even worship of a pig god to push the narrative along. However, it feels as if Turtle uses denser prose than is necessary to tell the tale; multiple characters often speak within the space of a single paragraph, which keeps dramatic moments from properly standing out. Occasionally, sentences don’t scan at all (“Breakfast, by previous agreement was it the garden tree”). A more cleanly organized sequel might help to highlight the engaging plot.
Compelling ideas clash with unpolished prose in this far-future adventure
NOTE from the Author.This is the first book in a trilogy.
KIRKUS REVIEWS
TITLE INFORMATION
THE LAST ETERNAL SUNMerlin TurtleXlibrisAU (320 pp.)$27.50 paperback, $3.99 e-bookISBN: 978-1-66410-042-8August 27, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Turtle’s SF novel follows the remnants of humanity as they look for their society’s founding engineer.
In the future, the Earth is no more, and what’s left of humanity lives on a Dyson Ring that rotates around the titular sun. The massive technological structure supports land and water formations and always exposes its population to light. The Bard Ambrose has left his village of Avalon to find the resting place of the chief engineer, Arthur C. Pendragon of earthly legend. The bard possesses a tabletlike Time-Keeper that connects him to other Druids. He eventually comes to a river, where he meets a vessel called The Sea Turtle. Ambrose tells Kevin the Pirate King and Capt. Fredric that he’s attempting to renew contact with the Druids of the ruined city of Mirador. After coming through a storm, the ship reaches the paradisical island of Otaheite. Fredric, on a prior visit, found that Mirador’s ruins are within Otaheite’s jungle. With the ship damaged, Ambrose and the crew risk the wrath of locals as they sneak through the jungle, where they discover the well-protected city and its protein library and cafeteria. During a private moment, Ambrose tells Ruth, the ship’s engineer, that the universe is closer to death, than anyone realizes. In this series starter, Turtle sets up an SF adventure akin to Larry Niven’s classic novel Ringworld (1970). He plays with language to place readers in a disorienting, yet still recognizable, environment; rather than “left” or “right,” for example, characters refer to “widdershins” or “fylfot,” and time and distance measurements are also unfamiliar (“five or six dekam wide”). Still, there’s plenty of hard science, Arthurian legend, and even worship of a pig god to push the narrative along. However, it feels as if Turtle uses denser prose than is necessary to tell the tale; multiple characters often speak within the space of a single paragraph, which keeps dramatic moments from properly standing out. Occasionally, sentences don’t scan at all (“Breakfast, by previous agreement was it the garden tree”). A more cleanly organized sequel might help to highlight the engaging plot.
Compelling ideas clash with unpolished prose in this far-future adventure
NOTE from the Author.This is the first book in a trilogy.