Ragamuffin

Following the events in Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin has a separate story, but a continuation as well. In a universe where humans are treated as lowest of species, and some even as slaves, Nashara is a paid assassin trying to find her way home. Meanwhile, John deBrun and Pepper (from the previous novel) are trying to piece back order to the tattered culture on Nanagada. When a ship arrives, claiming to harbor Teotl refugees, the two men know not to trust the aliens. But John and Pepper need their help too. With a mutual enemy on the horizon, can the two races work together to save them all? In my eyes, Buckell's writing rose to a new level with this latest release. With a lot more action and suspense, and having that background already laid in the first novel, Ragamuffin impressed me from beginning to end. My favorite characters were back as well as the entirely unique Nashara, who fascinated me to no end. Instead of being stuck on one planet, we are treated to a space opera at its finest. Action, adventure, intrigue, and betrayal - science fiction fans will definitely enjoy this one.

Tobias Buckell has created a grand and fascinating universe within the pages of Ragamuffin. He clearly excels at universe-building and character creation; everything he details positively comes alive, whether it's a dying space habitat, a distant alien Satrap, or the sheer chaos of facing a copy of one's self and having a chat. Surprises and revelations flow naturally and aren't used to artificially ratchet up the tension or bolster the pace. This means that if you figure something out in advance, it doesn't cause an anticlimax or rob the story of its momentum. The story is fast-paced and intriguing, and I had difficulty putting it down once I started (in fact I first picked it up during a lull in something else, and ended up putting that first activity aside because the book was too engrossing). The characters are amazing and fascinating, every bit as much so as in Crystal Rain. In most authors' hands the League of Human Affairs would have been a one-dimensional organization, but in Buckell's hands even it comes alive with personality. We're reunited with John, Jerome, and yes, even Pepper, who are dealing with a whole new (and very different) invasion of Nanagada by the Teotl. Not only do we enjoy the presence of old friends, but we get to watch them grow and change in new and different ways as they face new difficulties. Crystal Rain was an absolutely stunning debut, and Ragamuffin is a wholly worthy successor. It's a touch slower in places due to the background provided on some of the aspects of the world, but not enough to detract from the novel in my opinion.

Raggamuffin is a rollicking big Space Opera. There is a great sky-hook scene early on in the book with the most haunting mental image of a sky-hook I ever come across. The sky-hook is throwaway as far as the plot goes. The character could have used aother way to get off the planet, but I think Buckell chose a sky-hook just for the pure coolness factor. The whole book is like that, with little bits and pieces of cool ideas crammed in all the nooks and crannies and a non-stop roller coaster plot. Things like wormholes, aliens, sky-hooks, and giant L5 habitats, exist in this universe and are no more exciting, or unusual, to the characters than cars, or condos, are to us. They are part of the landscape not important parts of he plot. This use of SF standbys without stopping to fill in nuts-and-bolt technobabble is part of what makes the book so fun. The other part is the cast of quirky multiethnic characters many of who, even the familiar characters from Crystal Rain, aren't what they seem at first glance. Ragamuffin is not so much a sequel to Crystal Rain as another story set in the same universe. Some characters from Crystal Rain do show up in the book, but the main action happens elsewhere, outside Nanagada. Another interesting thing in the book is humanity's place in this universe. Humans aren't the bright shining conquering heroes, nor are they feisty rebels fighting evil alien overlords, the standard default positions in most SF. In this book humans are marginal, most of what they do doesn't really matter, except to other humans, in the grand scheme of things. They are, for the most part, pawns, bottom feeders, or shady dealers, living on the fringes of civilization because they don't have the political, or technical, clout to take control. This isn't all that cheerful a situation, but it's not completely bleak either. By the end of the book there is some indication that the status quo in the universe is about to get shaken up, and that humans are going to play a part in that, even if they aren't leading the overthrow. The ending has enough loose ends and I'm interested to see how things work out and am looking eagerly forward to Buckell's next book.

Ragamuffin, the sequel to Crystal Rain, tells the story of Nashara, an enhanced human and living weapon who may hold the key to freeing humanity from the rule of the Satrapy. Ragamuffin takes the series in a new direction; Crystal Rain was largely a steampunk novel set on a world which had lost its technology. Ragamuffin shows us this universe from a different angle, from which we can see the technology that drives everything. Gone are the airships and trains of Crystal Rain; here we see space stations, orbiting habitats, and wormhole-jumping spacecraft. We see space battles, politics, and the shape of a galaxy in which humans are considered dangerous and are therefore enslaved or isolated. All of the characters are very human and believable (even those who aren't, technically, human). Regardless of where a character falls on the antagonist/protagonist scale, everyone we meet is somehow a sympathetic character. The antagonists, who sometimes do horrible things, never act for evil ends; nobody here is a bad guy in his own eyes. Pepper makes a reappearance, and we get to learn more about him and see him in action again; I'm hoping he appears in Sly Mongoose, the next book in this series. Ragamuffin deals with science in fun ways. Everything seems real, because the author never cheats with physics. Everything that's explained, is explained well, accurately, and -- importantly -- quickly (not in pages-long infodumps). Some things aren't explained, but because everything else makes so much sense, we take their workings for granted. The author has many moments of cleverness in the book. I don't want to throw out any spoilers, but here are some highlights to look for as you read: an extremely low-tech computer; a spectacular action setpiece based on kinetics; the scene which is duplicated in almost-exact detail on the cover; an escape into vacuum; and an army of invisible soldiers. Clever, fun, and an entertaining read.

I had no clue that Ragamuffin was a story written in the Benevolent Satrapy universe. Tobias Buckell wrote a book that was set in the same universe entitled Crystal Rain. At first, I was confused as to what was going on. Yet as I read on, Buckell did a wonderful job at bringing the reader into the story. Thus, Ragamuffin could be read as a stand alone book. Buckell does a wonderful job of meshing Carib folklore with science. Imagine a universe in which humanity is enslaved by an all powerful race called the Satraps. They rule the universe with an iron grip. Earth has been cut off from the rest of humanity by an enclosed wormhole. Each alien species under the Benevolent Satrapy is held in place by conditioned members of their own race. Yet there remain a group of ragtag smugglers called Ragamuffins who like their modern counterparts wear long locks and speak in patois. Long ago, humans on earth placed one hard bet and created ten identical women from the DNA of a legendary hero who hid secret weapons in their wombs. They were able to penetrate the Earth wormhole and infiltrate the rest of the universe. It was a long shot but it was the best chance of overthrowing the Benevolent Satrapy. Nashara, the protagonist and the only survivor of the original ten must convince the Ragamuffins and other humans to join forces to overthrow the aliens once and for all. As a sci fi head, I still find talk of wormholes to be way over my head. Buckell, however, explains the concepts of wormholes in layman's terms. The pacing of the book is slow which allows for character development. Ironically, Buckell keeps the Satrap a mystery as we learn that several humans do not realized that they are enslaved. This detail demonstrates Buckell's skill as a writer. Buckell is adept at describing hand to hand combat as well as space battles in an exciting and realistic way. The good guys suffer losses as they fight against their oppressors. The writing is excellent. Buckell has a flare for story telling and keeps the reader clued to the pages. His characters easily entrance the readers. The book is a wonderful demonstration of humanity's resilience to slavery. Again we find humanity enslaved due to it's own folly but again we see humanity's ability to overcome all odds to prevail. The climatic battle is worth the price of admission. This reader prays that this is not the last we hear from Nashara and the Ragamuffins.