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Seeds Of Earth: Book One of Humanity's Fire [Paperback]

Michael Cobley
3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Book Description

21 Jan 2010 Humanity's Fire (Book 1)

The first intelligent species to encounter mankind attacked without warning. Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable. With little hope of halting the invasion, Earth's last roll of the dice was to dispatch three colony ships, seeds of Earth, to different parts of the galaxy. The human race would live on . . . somewhere.

150 years later, the planet Darien hosts a thriving human settlement, which enjoys a peaceful relationship with an indigenous race, the scholarly Uvovo. But there are secrets buried on Darien's forest moon. Secrets that go back to an apocalyptic battle fought between ancient races at the dawn of galactic civilisation. Unknown to its colonists Darien is about to become the focus of an intergalactic power struggle, where the true stakes are beyond their comprehension. And what choices will the Uvovo make when their true nature is revealed and the skies grow dark with the enemy?


Frequently Bought Together

Seeds Of Earth: Book One of Humanity's Fire + The Orphaned Worlds: Book Two of Humanity's Fire + The Ascendant Stars: Book Three of Humanity's Fire
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Product details

  • Paperback: 656 pages
  • Publisher: Orbit (21 Jan 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1841496316
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841496313
  • Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 4.3 x 17.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 158,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

'Proper galaxy-spanning Space Opera ... a worthy addition to the genre' Iain M. Banks, 'A complex, finely detailed thriller-cum-space opera' GUARDIAN, 'The invention is endless' SFX, 'A tightly plotted, action packed epic that leaves you wanting more' SCI FI NOW, 'An inventive and entertaining read' INTERZONE

Book Description

A multi-layered, 21st century take on the classic tropes of space opera by a bold new voice in British science fiction.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Readable 12 April 2009
By Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Renowned for his Shadowkings trilogy, its with a completely different tale that he now returns to the fold with this strange blend of sci-fi along with space opera with a touch of star wars built in. Mankind faces extermination from an alien species whose insectoid tendancies focus with their hive mind on the single goal. Interesting in concept, creative in scale however I was left feeling that it didn't quite deliver on the promise of the cover along with allowing me to feel that theres a lot more development that could have gone into the tale. That said, the sheer scope is not only ambitious but will allow the author to continue the tale in such a way that the tale could take any direction which hopefully the author will exploit along with the continual development of characters, I await the second novel with interest but its not going to be top of my reading pile.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Sprouts, blooms and withers rather quickly 18 Mar 2009
By Me
Format:Paperback
I picked this up on the basis the blurb on the back said it was 'space opera' and I quite fancied something to get my teeth into. I was hoping for Peter Hamilton but I feel a bit like I got Kevin J Anderson instead.

* Plot: Although the premise is good, I feel the author reveals too much too early. The reader knows all the factions and (seemingly) their agendas quite quickly. I think one of the things I enjoy about epic stories is that the reader cannot tell where it's going to end up, or necessarily even the direction it's going. A lot of hints have been dropped and I rarely felt gripped enough to continue reading (so it lasted longer than a similarly sized small novel).

* Characters: Each chapter follows a different character, about half of whom know each other. However, I don't feel I've really got to know them in the course of this first book, perhaps because the chapters are so short there is not much time for each of them to develop.

* Composition: The author is painting on rather a large canvas. The world of Darien sits centre stage and some effort has gone into developing its background as a frontier world, but more could be done - I don't feel it compares well to contemporary authors' takes on a similar theme (e.g. Alan Steele's Coyote or Peter Hamilton's Lalonde). Its forest moon of Nyvesta is more interesting, but some of its mystery is taken away too early (as above). Meanwhile the political machinations of the wider alien societies - revealed by one of the characters careering across the galaxy to get to Darien - reminded me of the TV show "Babylon 5", which certainly brings in some needed colour.

Overall I think the author is trying to develop a rich tapestry, but the pacing is spoiling the tension. Admittedly that's subjective and some readers might enjoy events progressing quickly, but I don't associate this with 'space opera' which should be more of a slow burn. I'll probably buy the next book, but I'll definitely be keeping my guard up to avoid getting roped in to buying another "Saga of Seven Suns", which is what this most closely reminded me of.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting! 31 Mar 2010
By R. M. Lindley VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I like Michael Cobley a lot - his Shadowkings trilogy was an interesting deconstruction of the fantasy trilogy, and sadly overlooked IMHO.

Seeds of Earth is more conventional space opera. Gutsy, outnumbered humanity - check. A multitude of vaguely humanoid aliens with all too familiar (ie human) motives and politics - check. AIs running amok - check. Early ancient aliens with forgotten technology left over from the War at the Beginning of Time (TM) - check.

But it reads well, is funny and has some excellent action scenes. It very much reminds me of David Brin's superb Uplift series, right down to the assortment of aliens and client species. All it needs is a bunch of dolphins and a really bad pun about guerilla warfare.... Which is by no means a criticism. If you like Brin, or Hamilton at a pinch, you will like this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars read it, but I wont bother with vol 2
Well I read it from cover to cover -- just -- I was hoping that it would get better but it did not!!
Published 2 days ago by Andrew
4.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable read
I really enjoyed this book :) It was very entertaining and had many different plots and characters to keep you interested. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Heather
2.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Ring True
Initially I read perhaps 20 pages or so and then deleted this from my e-reader. There were some aliens on a forest moon and some human settlers and a lot of bad dialogue. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kublai Dom
3.0 out of 5 stars A book of two halves
I almost gave up on the book, it's long winding introduction takes a long time to get any real rhythm and excitement. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Owen Evans
4.0 out of 5 stars A great read
After reading the first had to buy the others always a good sign. Plenty of sub plots and an unusual plot line
Published 3 months ago by Rov
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
This is a brilliant book and starts a fantastic trilogy. The characters are well thought out and the story keeps you guess and wanting more.
Published 4 months ago by Tim Wells
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
An interesting and quite original ScFi that I have enjoyed immensely. Won't be ordering through Amazon.co.uk in future though given that they pay no UK tax
Published 5 months ago by C. Gale
4.0 out of 5 stars A slow start but fantastic once it gets going!
I picked this book up while browsing for my next SciFi fix on Amazon. Boy am I glad I did!

The book does seem to start a little slow at first and like most books, it... Read more
Published 7 months ago by S. M. Gedeon
5.0 out of 5 stars good read
Not an expert on sci-fi, but I know what I like,

I've brought quite a few books over the past month or so where people recommend so highly the books, that quite frankly... Read more
Published 10 months ago by fatman
1.0 out of 5 stars Broad aproach,to political to be enjoyable,complex and mainly...
I am a great fun of SF and this is the most boring book I ever read...on page 90 and nothing exiting happened exept of very many and VERY VAGUE explanations about different... Read more
Published 10 months ago by jaxy71
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