Hope's War

Still a teenager, Vel hesitantly accepts the crown that makes him king of Hope. Unused to this role in any sense though being a former con man helps, Vel turns to the Lord of the Church Denon for advice. However, the monarchy leads Vel to new problems as a rebellion is multiplied by a nasty winter depleting food supplies.Vel journeys to the Frill, alien enemies with an alleged food supply, to make peace and trade. Instead, Vel meets Blakes, a clone of the English poet William Blake living inside a computer. Blakes once used Hitler methods to try to conquer Earth and subsequently was exiled to this planet. Still, he is Vel's only hope to provide sound advice without his unseemly ambition strong enough to take the throne away from the lad.Though clearly a middle book plot (nothing of significance is resolved), HOPE'S WAR is an entertaining speculative fiction tale that examines the relativity of good and evil. The key characters (Vel, Blakes, and Denon) are multidimensional and the latter two retain qualities from the first novel (see HOPE'S END). Though the support cast contains no meaningful depth, fans will delight in Stephen Chamber's latest novel and hope the next book comes out rather soon.Harriet Klausner