Belarus by Lee Hogan
Set in the far future, this 2002 novel feels very 90s. A super-rich magnate named Andrei Mironenko has founded a colony world named Belarus where he will resurrect the glory of an Imperial Russia that once was – and could have been. But trouble is brewing in the Galactic Republic and the planet has inhabitants who have not been noticed until now. This was not suprisingly brilliant or refreshingly new.
Characters have casual insouciance and ethical showboating. This was milquetoast and increasingly bland. The cultural landscape is never really addressed nor is the instability in the Republic. This seems designed to irritate the sort of person who insists on accuracy. The fate of the colony and the Republic is one few predicted or wanted.
People are doctrinaire. Aliens were not fully taken into account. Sprites are around but it is never explained what sprites are. The aliens like to partake in muderous activities which cause mounting concern. There are no intriguing mysteries. A man's wife aggressively becomes a nutjob to spite him or something. There are awful possibilities, an underwhelming nemesis, confrontations, disturbing evidence of alien life which is ignored for some reason, dastardly transhumans and mad coincidence. Nutters blow up planets, a super killer (@@) lurks and there is irritating technobabble and tech speak. This was not good.
Best Lines:
“Discarded legacy.”
“Evil is perennial.”
“World engineer,”
“Weary beyond endurance.”
“Making it sound like a troubling thought.”
“Had earned the hatred of their enemies.”
“Built before our race dreamed of leaving Mother Earth,”
“Imagine the malice in their hearts that would cause them to strike from beyond the grave.”
“Idiots, herks, radicals, and lunatics are spoiling everything for everyone.”
“They did not listen. But Fancy supposed the doomed never did.”