#michael mammay

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Polish Covers for Planetside #1-3 (Planetside, Spaceside, Colonyside)

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Generation ship, par Michael Mammay (Harper Voyager, octobre 2023)

Après deux siècles et demi de traversée le « Voyager », un « Generation ship », est sur le point d’arriver à destination et cela va provoquer de sérieux tumultes parmi les voyageurs. En plus toutes les sondes envoyées vers le sol de la planète Promissa restent muettes !

Les premiers chapitres de l’ouvrages sont prometteurs mais la suite est un peu décevante. Au final il reste le sentiment d’une apparence de rigueur enveloppant un fond peu crédible.

[flourmelon]

I could let go of the dead, but I couldn’t let go of the living.

Planetside

Michael Mammay

6.04.2023

🪐🔫💣🐌📧

[likopinina]

Welcome to Detective Review part 3!

Once again I rate entertainment value of fictional detectives. I know last time I said there will be more books. There's four. Not much, but I did try. Let's get to it!

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Andri Ólafsson

from: Trapped (2015), tv series type: police chief

A pro with a team of zero experience, stuck in a middle of nowhere in a snowstorm. He's too tired for all this. And his throat is unable to feel cold, apparently. 2/10, pretty much no entertainment.

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Franciszek Kary

from: Cham z kulą w głowie (2020), novel by Ziemowit Szczerek type: private investigator

This guy is far from perfect but it's not often that I actually laugh out loud at a book. People complain online that he swears too much but I say it adds to the vibe. A lot happens to him. 8/10

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Gregory House & James Wilson

from: House MD (2004-2012), tv series type: doctors

Easiest 9/10 ever. Iconic.

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Tereesz Machejek, Inayat Khan & Jesper de la Guardie

from: Sacred and Terrible Air (2013), novel by Robert Kurvitz type: International Collaboration Police agent, disappearance memorabilia collector, interior designer

Definitely a 1/10 as far as fun is concerned but I recommend giving the book a try anyway, it's mighty different from the usual. The one score point is for the hint of a dynamic between the three detectives.

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Carl Butler

(idk if this^ is actually him, but this is the book's cover and he's the protag, soooo...)

from: Planetside (2018), novel by Michael Mammay type: retired colonel

I felt a vague sense of mediocrity but I can't exactly pinpoint the flaw cause the book reads alright, the writing is solid. He's likable, 5/10.

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Dick Durkin & Harley Stone

from: Split Second (1992) type: cops

Amazing, brilliant, talented, incredible. Another easy 9/10. The duo meets London's typical sewage nightmare beyond comprehension and they are soooooo cool about it. Harley's apartment deserves a special mention - what the hell, dude.

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Wiktor Forst & Olga Szrebska

from: Exposure (2015), novel by Remigiusz Mróz type: a cop and a journalist

Get out of here. 0/10.

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Thanks for tuning in! We had no video games this time and the previous one was netflix-only, so I'll try to fix that in the next one

[tsunflowers]

book review corner double feature: generation ship edition. I read two generation ship novels and one was better than expected and the other was worse than expected

"medusa uploaded" by emily devenport was not as good as I hoped :( this is a novel about a woman from the community of worms (lower class citizens) onboard a generation ship who begins to systematically assassinate and manipulate the executives (upper class citizens) with the help of a sentient tentacled bodysuit named medusa. it sounds very good but unfortunately it lacked focus. there were a lot of plot elements and reveals that made the story feel meandering. I felt that the protagonist's dialogue and narration didn't always fit the mood and setting (she says things like "what the what?" and "I know, right?"). and maybe most importantly, there was no reason given for why some people are worms and some are executives. in a story like this the upper class needs to be feeding propaganda to the lower class so the protagonist can rise above it and maybe expose the truth in front of everyone. maybe I've just been spoiled by rivers solomon saying "it's chattel slavery" in "an unkindness of ghosts" but more than anything else the fact that some people have privilege over others just because and the book makes no attempt to explain or interrogate that made it fall flat for me

"generation ship" by michael mammay surprised me. I was ready to write it off based on the title being way too literal, and mr mammay is an army guy who mostly writes military sf. but I think that background of his gave the book the feel of a police procedural for me. we jump between five pov characters who each have their own interests and you just kinda watch the moving parts as you read. at the start of the book the ship is within a year of reaching the planet they've been traveling to and tensions are rising. the governor is trying to amass power and accidentally gains rivals in the form of a cop and an opposition group, and then the information they receive as they close in on the planet destabilizes the situation further. a lot of stuff happens at the end but I can't say it wasn't seeded throughout the book so I can't be mad. and I appreciated that the author knew people can be gay or nonbinary. he didn't really do anything interesting with that but it's a bar some people can't even clear. there was a nice plotline with a female scientist pov character whose husband is really excited that they've been cleared to have a baby but she doesn't really care and people keep trying to manipulate her with it like "well she's a woman so she'll be devastated if her chance to have a baby is taken away" but she's like "hm... well... not that big a deal for me." it was a fast-paced read with more nuance than I was expecting

[pipuisrpg]

Listen to Darkside by Michael Mammay on Audible. https://www.audible.com/pd/B0CR4N3KKD?source_code=ASSOR150021921000V

[whateveradjunct]

The Big Idea: Michael Mammay

People are people and they will do what people will do — but would a change in circumstance and environment change that, for better… or worse? This is the question Michael Mammay confronts in the Big Idea for his novel Generation Ship. MICHAEL MAMMAY: I’ve had the idea for Generation Ship since 2018 when I was at Launch Pad (sponsored by SFWA) studying space with some college professors. Most…

[profmorbius]

Posted a review of Planetside #3: Colonyside by Michael Mammay on my blog. Read it here.

tl;dr – Decent

[marshmyers]

"ONE OF THE BEST SCI-FI BOOKS I'VE READ, PERIOD." -Michael Mammay 

A dangerous cat-and-mouse quest for revenge. An empire that spans star systems, built on the bones of a genocide. A carefully hidden secret that could collapse worlds, hunted by three women with secrets of their own. All the while, someone hunts them in return. This is an explosive space opera debut from one of science fiction's most powerful new voices. 

On a dusty backwater planet, occasional thief Jun Ironway has gotten her hands on the score of a lifetime: a secret that could raze the Kindom, the ruling power of the galaxy. A star system away, preternaturally stoic Chono and brilliant hothead Esek-- the two most brutal clerics of the Kindom--are tasked with hunting Jun down. 

And tracking all three across the stars is a ghost from their shared past known only as Six. But what Six wants is anyone's guess. It's a game of manipulation and betrayal that could destroy them all. And they have no choice but to see it through.

PURCHASE

[adamantine]

Amal El-Mohtar is wonderfully generous to The Saint of Bright Doors in the NYT:

…the best book I’ve read all year. Protean, singular, original … I can’t remember the last time a book made me so excited about its existence, its casual challenge to what a fantasy novel could be.

[…]

As a critic I often attempt to turn myself into a book’s ideal reader in order to do it justice. It’s bewildering to encounter a book for which I am, in fact, already the ideal reader, a book that gives me everything I didn’t know I needed.

[spockvarietyhour]

Currently reading

[antonio-velardo]

Antonio Velardo shares: What’s Behind That Door? by Amal El-Mohtar

By Amal El-Mohtar New books by Vajra Chandrasekera, Avi Silver, Cadwell Turnbull, Michael Mammay and T. Kingfisher. Published: December 1, 2023 at 05:32AM from NYT Books https://ift.tt/FiDL60P via IFTTT

[wulfs-book-reviews]

Planetside by Michael Mammay My rating: 2 of 5 stars This is going to be yet another difficult review. There’s no doubt: “Planetside” is suspenseful and exciting military science fiction. There’s also no doubt there are plot holes, loose ends and an ending that’s extremely problematic. Let’s start at the beginning, though, at which Colonel Carl Butler, semi-retired of Space Command, is sent to the Cappa system by his superior and old acquaintance General Serata. This is where the trouble starts: Michael Mammay keeps hinting at the tour(s?) of duty, Butler completed in Cappa but we never learn what happened, why Butler drinks habitually, how he lost his daughter on planet Cappy and so much more. We get to know that Butler is supposed to find out about the fate of the son of some SPACECOM hotshot but that’s it. Early on in his investigation, Butler realises there's a lot of weird business going on both “planetside” on Cappa and on the Cappa Base in its orbit. Since Butler’s primary “tactic” is to metaphorically bash in some doors if he can’t think of any real plan (and he usually can’t), he upsets a lot of people from different commands like Medical Command (MEDCOM) and some military intelligence service. While his methods are questionable, it’s at least interesting to read. Sadly, General Serata’s “spy” is non-lethally taken out of the picture early on and, thus, never gets used. The station’s commander, Stirling, remains shady: He’s accused of knowing about the central issue - but Butler never follows up on that. Stirling’s second-in-command, Lex, suddenly knows a detail Butler never mentioned to her - and he remembers that dimly but also never acts upon that mystery. Mac, Butler’s personal security detail, is an experienced soldier “worth his salt” and, thus, graced with an actual name. Most of the other soldiers remain nameless or get reduced to “G One” and “G Two”… Several assassination attempts are made against Butler and never get resolved. Yes, the action on the planet is interesting but, honestly, content-wise highly unoriginal - we’ve seen it a billion times on TV, read it in a billion trashy sci-fi novels. I rolled my eyes quite a few times. Also, the yellow-skinned slit-eyed indigenous (!) population on planet Cappa is dumb, generally evil and anthropomorphic and, of course, subdued or pacified… The few “rebels” are supposed to be “dealt with”. After all, the silver that humanity wants to extract from the planet is much more important than indigenous life… None of that ever crosses Butler’s mind, though. He thinks of his daughter (never bothering the Cappans are most likely to have children, too), his wife whom he asks Serata to take care of should things go south for Butler (what about the Cappans’ wives?). No, Butler only worries about the exact range of his authority and why he was sent to Cappa. Even when Butler finally realises why exactly he was sent on his mission - namely because Butler has no scruples whatsoever and is willing to do “whatever it takes” (to secure the silver and protect the “secret” that both Butler and Serata realise will get out anyway) - he doesn’t shy away. On the contrary: Butler makes up his mind, doesn’t tell anyone what he’s up to and ruthlessly commits crimes much worse than anything anyone else did. His only worry is “containment” - knowing full well that this is impossible. And that’s exactly where the book ends. No aftermath, no remorse, not the slightest hint at what happens next - nothing. [su_spoiler open="no" title="Huge Spoiler inside!" style="default"] Butler orders a full evacuation of the planet by his own side and then proceeds to single-handedly wipe out the entire planet with its entire population. Butler willingly, knowingly commits genocide because he decides human lives are worth more than the indigenous life on Cappa. »That didn’t make it right for us to attack them. But there was more than one right, and I always picked the right that helped our side.« A planet whom he and his ilk came to exploit, declaring war on its population, trying to “demilitarise” and politically “cleanse” - does that ring a bell? I cannot forget the pictures from Bucha (and, unfortunately, I saw the worst of them and “uncensored”…). Now imagine that on a planetary scale and you pretty much get what Butler does. [/su_spoiler] »Find the truth. Stop a war« the cover ominously says. A version of the truth is found and the war is stopped, yes. I never expected it to end the way it did, though, and this ending deeply upsets and appals me. It also destroys any desire to read any books by an author who basically states “might makes right”. Yes, this is, fortunately, fiction but a kind of fiction that’s based upon and plays to the advantage of xenophobia, racism, genocide and the like. We’ve had enough of that in our non-fictional history. Three stars for the literary work as such. One star for its ethics. That leads me to a guilty-feeling two stars out of five. Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam View all my reviews

[nikihawkes]

Book Review: The Misfit Soldier by Michael Mammay

Book Review: The Misfit Soldier by Michael Mammay

Title: The Misfit Soldier Author: Michael Mammay Series: Misfit Soldier #1 Rating: 4.5/5 stars The Overview: Sergeant Gastovsky–Gas to everyone but his superior officers–never wanted to be a soldier. Far from it. But when a con goes wrong and he needs a place to lay low for a while, he finds himself wearing the power armor of the augmented infantry. After three years on a six-year contract,…

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Title: Spaceside | Author: Michael Mammay | Publisher: Planetside (2019)

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Michael Mammay - Planetside #2-3

Michael Mammay – Planetside #2-3

Links uz grāmatas Goodreads lapu Manas pārdomas Pēdējā militārā misija, maigi sakot, izbijušajam pulkvedim Carl Butler nebūt nenoslēdzās ar tām patīkamākajām atmiņām un pieredzi. Spiests pieņemt lēmumu, kas nāvei nolēma desmitiem tūkstošus planētas iedzimto Cappans rasi, viņu planētu un citus uz planētas esošos, attieksme pret Karlu ir visnotaļ dalīta. Daļai viedoklis par viņu ir nīstamāks par…