The Nemesis List [Paperback]

Frith conjures up an epic universe and one that has an important believability about it in the form of characterisation. The author has taken a leaf from the book of the venerated Jack Vance in that he seems to know that character is all and the sci-fi setting is mere backdrop to a very human drama.

The science, for what it is, is of the hard and reality based variety.

For a debut novel Frith writes with an assured hand that is confident yet restrained. He trusts the reader to bring something to the proceedings, a rare act of charity where an author actually entrusts the reader to have a bit of intelligence.

A promising book that stands the author in good stead for the future.

This debut sci-fi novel by R J Frith is about a fugitive called Jeven Jones, a victim of illegal medical experiments that have given him unusual abilities. A cargo ship captain called Frank Pak is paid to look for him, and begins to realise there is far more to this young man and his story than he has been told. A chase ensues, with both the government and some revolutionaries keen to capture Jeven, and Frank finds himself in the odd position of trying to save Jeven long enough to find out why everyone is really so interested in him.

The book is fast paced, and holds the readers interest. The plot is well developed, and has promise. Where the book fails somewhat is in the backdrop. Sci-fi is all about imagination - the ability to create a believable world for your characters and plot that draws the reader in, and allows them to escape into the world you have created. Frith spends too long on plot and action, and not enough time filling in the detail. I had a better impression of the ship Jeven was held prisoner on as a child, than of the cargo ship he is actually living aboard for most of the book. Descriptions were so sparse that I couldn't fill in the blanks for myself, and sometimes they were so limited that it was hard to visualise what was going on. There wasn't any real sense of awe at the world the author had created - it didn't feel like a complete universe - more like a couple of fairly run of the mill spacestations and a ship that could have belonged to any sci-fi novel.

The main characters were quite well depicted, although I did wonder at times who the central character was - sometimes it felt like Frank, sometimes Jeven. It's an exciting read with a sense of the chaos of the chase - but that tended to overspill into confusion for the reader about who the people chasing Jeven were, and the motives of the organisations they represented. For me, the delicate balance between showing the reader Jeven's abilities so that they know why he is valuable, and keeping them hidden so that the reader is kept wondering, wasn't always judged correctly. I'd have liked to know a bit more up front, so that some of the tension came from realising what a prize/loss to the world he would be if they caught him, rather than the tension being generated by the reader wondering what all the fuss is about.

Overall, it was a fair read, and held my interest. But I wouldn't feel obliged to read the next book in the series (assuming there is a sequel).

It should have been simple - find the kid, and take him home - and earn an unthinkable amount of money along the way. Or so Frank Pak had convinced himself. Except Jeven Jones is no ordinary young man, one without a home, and who has far too many people looking for him. Dangerous people. And Jones might just be the most dangerous of them all.

Nothing much is at it seems, nor as expected, in Frith's debut. Jones is a murderer, working his way down a list - or so Frank is told. Yet the longer they spend together, the more complicated and twisted things become. Especially the truth.

Which is kind of like the rest of the book. As a debut I wanted to like this, to give a new author a chance, but nothing is defined, the dialogue is often stilted and confusing as to who is saying what. There is far too much tell going on, minimal descriptions and little real action. The prejudice and politics are distant and vague, giving little reason for anything that is happening.

As for characters - Jones is messed up, as is his point of view, making it difficult to like or care about him. His reactions to the others adds to the confusion, though he did settle down in the second half. Frank confused me. I could never quite work out what the relationship between him and Jones was supposed to be, or how much he believed about what he had been told. He clearly was supposed to be heroic, but by the end I didn't care one way or the other what happened to any of them.

The plot needed more everything, but world-building (or universe-building) and motives would have helped most. Why do all these people want Jones? We know he's special, but how special? What specifically about his `powers' makes him so desirable? What exactly are the motives of either side? Why the conflict? Then Greely arrives, completely the opposite of what had been claimed, leaving me to wonder what else had been misrepresented. The ending is far, far too abrupt, as if there should be another hundred pages attached. Or already included to flesh everything out.

Tangled, confused and lacking, I learnt more about the plot from the back cover blurb than the 300-odd pages inside. With badly drawn characters, little description and a flat plot, I still felt there was a good story in here somewhere, it simply failed to get out.