Slanted Jack

Slanted Jack (2008) is the second SF novel in the Jon & Lobo series, following One Jump Ahead. In the previous volume, Jon rescued an abducted girl and then found that he had overlooked something. Later he acquired title to Lobo and had its central weapons control complex replaced, despite several difficulties. In this novel, Jon Moore is a professional courier. He is a native of Pinkelponker, but got out before the other worlds learned of the nanotech disaster. He has a viable population of nanomachines within his body. Lobo is a Predator Class Assault Vehicle. He is also an armed and dangerous sentient entity. Lobo has an attitude problem and a belligerent nature, but what would you expect from a deadly weapon? Still, he -- Jon considers the PCAV a male -- follows orders when in operational mode. Slanted Jack is a con artist. His avocation is playing poker. He had partnered with Jon for several profitable years, but they had split up due to philosophical differences. Jack liked to swindle his friends and Jon didn't. Manu Chang seems about eleven years old. Jack claims that Manu has a Pinkelponker born grandmother, from whom he has inherited psychic powers. According to Jack, Manu can foresee the future. Siva Dougat is a fanatic about Pinkelponker and an extremely rich man. He has formed a group of fellow fanatics and set up the Pinkelponker Research Institutes. The institutes are housed in ziggurats set on landscaped lawns that remind Jon of Pinkelponker. Maggie Park is a security guard at the Pinkelponker Research Institute in Eddy. Jon meets her during a professional visit to the worship center. Bakun Chaplat is a major gang boss in Eddy on Mund. His minions abduct Jon so Chaplat can ask him about Jack. Jon figures that Jack borrowed a few bills from Chaplat's organization and then lost it playing poker. In this story, Jon is having a quiet and blissful luncheon in the Falls, a restaurant run by a gourmet chef. As he opens his eyes after absorbing the exquisite taste of a bite, Slanted Jack appears at the doorway into the dining room. After talking to a few people here and there, he finally arrives at Jon's table and seats himself. Lobo tells Jon that Jack is armed, which is mildly shocking. Jack knows his limitations and usually leaves violence to the professionals. After disarming Jack, Jon tries to continue his meal, but his appetite has disappeared. Jack has a long-winded explanation of his presence. It boils down to a need to obtain money for treatment of a condition that inflicts Manu. Since he is psychic, Manu is able to see the future at certain -- but not selective -- times. However, the visions cause intense pain and extreme discomfort, so he needs special treatments to alleviate the side effects of his powers. Jon is more worried about Jack's frequent mentions of Pinkelponker than the alleged condition. However, Manu convinces Jon that he needs assistance and Jon is soon pulled into Jack's sche

In a nice change from book series that require having read each book in the series prior to reading the most current, the Jon and Lobo series (if two books counts as a series) from van Name is a set of books that can be read independently of each other, and yet still not leave the reader confused. Jon is a nano-enhanced, century-old, soldier-of-fortune, Lobo is his sentient assault craft; together they end up with some of the worst jobs available since they are one of the best combat teams in the galaxy. Slanted Jack is an old friend of Jon's, a petty thief and con man. Jack needs Jon to help him protect a young, psychically gifted child, and against Lobo's advice, Jon takes what seems to be an easy job. Jack, of course, disappears with the child and some valuable religious relics from a rabidly fundamentalist (and arms dealer). Now Jack has to help rescue the child and the situation keeps getting worse. A very fun book, worth getting the earlier one as well if you haven't read it yet either.

Jon, a nanotech-enhanced ex-soldier, agrees to help a con man friend - and finds himself embroiled in the past as the simple deal turns into a complicated mess involving interstellar governments and a frontier world. Swift action and high drama make SLANTED JACK a winning science fiction thriller.

Old-fashionied Space Opera had no problem killing off a galaxy full of chlorine-breathing aliens. Not so Mr. Van Name's novels. His protagonist is a man haunted by a past that apparently has a very high body count, but he's very sensitive to avoid adding thereto. He's paired with Lobo, a killing machine whose first suggestion is always to shoot first. Similarly, his protagonist enjoys the company of an attractive female in each novel, but all bodices remain unripped. What remains is a fun story of a capable protagonist placed in an impossible situation who balances forces much greater than himself and makes things work out. Mr. Van Name's universe is well put together with plenty of competing human institutions. There are plenty of hints of unseen forces that I'm sure we'll learn more about in subsequent novels. Slanted Jack is a con man with whom the protagonist, John, has been associated in the past. Jack manages to entangle John and Lobo in his latest con. During the first act, they manage to pick up a beautiful girl who serves as John's foil during the rest of the novel. There are some troubling loose ends about this girl's motives which Mr. Van Name distracts the reader from and then satisfactorily resolves in the denouement. The denouement does tend to go on a bit longer than one might expect, but if you're enjoying the book this is a good thing because it lets you linger a bit longer with Mr. Van Name's characters. I hope Mr. Van Name writes a lot more John and Lobo novels and that he has a chance to disclose the details of the universe he's created and John's back-story.

I must admit some prejudice in that I thoroughly enjoyed the first Jon and Lobo book (One Jump Ahead), so I was expecting good things from the latest book. The team of Jon and Lobo are well matched in that Jon could give himself over to the sarcastic artificial intelligence of his ship, Lobo, but instead he allows his essential human self to guide them both, and usually into the heart of a storm. The book introduces the con man Slanted Jack, but also Maggie who joins the adventure with an eye to protect the young boy at the heart of concern. But she brings out an emotional side of Jon that satisfies and explains much of his interactions. I found the story fast paced with wonderful inventions and a great new sport that I want to see out on the market sometime soon. This new universe carries many of the quintessential human problems forward without making the future a dreary and sad place, allowing for beauty and excellence. I recommend it highly.