Engineman [Paperback]

I won't make any excuses about how much I enjoy Eric Brown's novels. I'm pretty sure I've read more from him this year than any other author and every book I pick up is a joy to read. They may have some faults, but the journey I'm taken on more than makes up for them. When I heard that Solaris were reissuing Engineman, and as I hadn't got around to picking up a copy of the original release, I was rather excited and very much looking forward to it. The whole book is a thing of beauty - the cover makes it stand out from the crowd and the fact that it includes all the Engineman stories (well, except one - Pithecanthropus Blues) was a great bonus. A 350 page novel AND 150 pages of short stories in one book is not something to ignore.

The story follows Ralph Mirren, an ex-Engineman whose job was made redundant after the discovery and creation of the interfaces - wormholes that mean people can cross lightyears in a single step. Enginemen and women piloted ships through the nada continuum with the power of their minds, each time experiencing the joys of the flux, a state of near-euphoria that was a side product of the travel method. They miss this and even a religion has risen up because of it. While Ralph is not a believer, he still joins all other ex-Enginemen and women in wanting to experience flux again. When he gets that opportunity it's something he can't ignore, but someone wants to stop the trip no matter the cost.

Mirren is the main character and, as I've come to expect from Eric Brown's stories, he's one that is very easy to connect with. He's got an interesting past, one that is explored throughout the story, and his current situation is clearly not one he enjoys. His personality is clear from the start, but it's the exploration of events he has no memories of that proves to be the interesting point. He's not the only protagonist, we also follow much of Ella Fernandez, an artist residing in Paris who has connections to an ex-engineman called Eddie. She also has a big role in the story due to her heritage and origins, and this is also an aspect that is explored in further detail as the story progresses.

The story itself is fairly straightforward, although it does kick up some surprises along the way. The way that the colonised planet of Hennessy's Reach, a world that holds both secrets and trouble, plays a huge part in the story is great - it's always nice to read about an alien planet and what its past is about. Of course, much of this relates to the big reveal and resolution of the story so I won't go into any further detail. Suffice to say that all strands of the story are dealt with convincingly and very satisfyingly.

As for the extra short stories included, they are: The Girl Who Died for Art and Lived, The Phoenix Experiment, Big Trouble Upstairs, The Star of Epsilon, The Time-Lapsed Man, The Pineal Zen Equation, The Art of Acceptance and Elegy Perpetuum. While not all of these deal directly with Enginemen and women, they are clearly related to the subject of the novel and the tech that is present. I had two particular favourite: The Girl Who Died for Art and Lived, a story that melds art and technology together to give a really good character focused story; and The Time-Lapsed Man, an excellent story that looks at Black's syndrome where the patients senses start lapsing, so he doesn't see, hear or taste anything until a period of time after it's happened - a very interesting concept!

All in all I would highly recommend Engineman - it's got great characters, great tech and a wonderful story that is nicely wrapped up at the end. It's also the sort of sci-fi that doesn't throw the science in your face and uses it as a background detail to tell the story rather than depending on it. Another favourite of mine!

LOVED the artwork for this book!

I've only ever read one other novel by Eric Brown - Helix (see my Review for that title) and I must say; I do enjoy his style of writing. He somehow has the ability to make you feel you're actually 'there' beside the main characters - a quality I often fail to experience when reading much Sci-Fi lately.

I found 'Engineman' to be even better than 'Helix'! There's a death of what you might believe will be one of the main characters in the very first chapter. Sounds a bit odd and ironic I know, but early deaths in novels for some reason seem to bode for a good read in my experience - not sure why...

It's a great pity that though I love all the other qualities of 'Solaris' books; the size of print, clear type, binding, paper and so on, that their publications should always be so very full of errors... Countless spelling errors, and so many wrong words... Often, the word that should have read: 'through' was 'though' - and vice versa... A pretty good reflection on the standard of conscientiousness people give to their job of employment in this country these days - and they are severely overpaid in my opinion!

Eric Brown somehow makes the worlds and times he creates very 'real' and convincing. I just love it when I'm in the middle of reading a good book, pause, and when I stop to look up, feel I've just 'come back' from somewhere - as if I've been away to another world! I guess it's how it should be when having a really enjoyable read, but it isn't always the case - unfortunately. I would say the statement on the front of this book: 'Eric Brown is the name to watch in SF' to be certainly true and very accurate as far as I'm concerned, as I shall most definitely be reading more from 'Mr. Brown', and I don't usually 'follow' Authors.

The whole novel is riveting, but Chapter Twelve I thought particularly outstanding! All sorts of emotions (some you don't always expect to find between the pages of a Sci-Fi novel) and I felt that a complete novel could have been written concerning the wonderful alien race called the 'Lho'! If hesitating in a shop at buying this title, I would suggest you just read Chapter Twelve - you'll definitely come out with the book! It's the most beautiful, fascinating and totally transporting portion I have ever read in a book! I had to break off just after reading at that point, and as I did, I was quite disorientated - unsure where I was for a minute! No book has ever had that affect on me before! I also enjoyed the fact that we were reminded at regular intervals of 'Bobby's' curious affliction - I thought it was a fascinating concept.

There are several short stories at the back of this book, and I see a number of Reviewers have found cause to complain about this; they feel 'cheated' somehow, as one expects the thickness of any book to be that of the whole singular novel (unless otherwise stated) and I must say, I agree with them. I'm not a fan of short stories myself, and never buy them as a rule. I too did not realise that a good portion of the number of pages were in fact other stories, (for those interested, the main story is just 349 pages long) but in view of how good the main novel is, I personally am prepared to overlook it. I shall read them of course, but I don't feel in the mood having just finished such a good and full-sized novel right now. However; This being the second title I've so enjoyed by this Writer, I have no doubt that they will be very good indeed!

This is a novel and a collection of about 8 or so short stories all set in the same continuity. The short stories comprose about one third of the book.
The book serves to address and unite all the ideas that Eric explored in his 'Engineman' universe.

'Enginemen' are ex-spacers addicted to the Nada-continuum , but denied access since the closure of all space traffic in favor of more efficient portal technology. The fringe worlds are ruled by a brutal consortium controlling commerce and travel through access to the portals. Aliens are exterminated and humans supresssed. Enginemen will do anything to gain access to the nada continum. Something has to give.

My problem with the book is that it reads like 50's pulp. Ive read a fair bit of Eric brown this year and its all been very average stuff. The short stories are the best things Ive read that he has written. They are quick insightful social pieces that dont require any hard science and rely on characterisation rather than tight plotting. He is good at this. This book falls down in that it mixes mysticism , religion and SF and cant quite decide what it wants to be. Its certainly not the Hard SF that a lot of people promote it as.

For a multithreaded storyline its very badly put together. One of the main characters storylines is completely unneccessary to the plot. Apart from the two main characters and one supporting character there is no attempt to humanise any of the many others who appear in the book.

His style is better suited to social fiction like Necropath, rather than big concept pieces like this and Helix.