Scan barcode
A review by sjstuart
Coyote Rising by Allen M. Steele
3.0
This book had the same episodic format as the prior book (and later ones) in the series -- each chapter was previously published as a standalone short story. This time around I was expecting the format, and can appreciate it more. The approach gives the book a kaleidoscopic feel; each chapter presents a view of the same general society from an entirely different perspective, and they are only loosely connected by any overarching storyline. Once you get used to viewing the chapters as self-contained, and not expecting the loose ends to be wrapped up later in the book, it's not a bad structure. Plus it seems like Steele had learned something about how to write in this format by the time of this sequel, or perhaps spent more time rewriting the stories for inclusion in novel form: there was far less of the repetitive explanation of things that occurred in previous chapters.
The characters are a bit more fleshed out and less one-dimensional than in the previous book. Several of them show a little more complexity in their motivations. This is an improvement over one-dimensional characters that can be summed up in a single phrase. But even though the characters may be conflicted, they don't tend to evolve or show much growth, so they still seem somewhat predictable. Most of them are well drawn, and capture your imagination for the duration of the story or chapter that they are featured in, but then fade into predictable cardboard cutouts if they stick around longer.
This is still very much a frontier adventure tale, with some political drama mixed in. Personally, I enjoyed that less than I would have if it had focused more on aspects of the alien environment, or the challenge of bootstrapping from the dwindling supply of high-tech supplies. But I'm sure Steele would claim that the focus is on personalities, with the alien world is just a backdrop. And he does have a talent for constructing some fascinating characters, at least at the short story length.
The characters are a bit more fleshed out and less one-dimensional than in the previous book. Several of them show a little more complexity in their motivations. This is an improvement over one-dimensional characters that can be summed up in a single phrase. But even though the characters may be conflicted, they don't tend to evolve or show much growth, so they still seem somewhat predictable. Most of them are well drawn, and capture your imagination for the duration of the story or chapter that they are featured in, but then fade into predictable cardboard cutouts if they stick around longer.
This is still very much a frontier adventure tale, with some political drama mixed in. Personally, I enjoyed that less than I would have if it had focused more on aspects of the alien environment, or the challenge of bootstrapping from the dwindling supply of high-tech supplies. But I'm sure Steele would claim that the focus is on personalities, with the alien world is just a backdrop. And he does have a talent for constructing some fascinating characters, at least at the short story length.