Review: Ghost Station - maybe....
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 14, 2013
The Wandering Engineer series has been fun so far and yes, I got my money's worth with Ghost Station and will be following the storyline further... for the moment.The "for the moment" comment however, should be a warning to any author from his readers. The universe of the Wandering Engineer is great, the tec is well thought out, the backstory interesting, and the principal characters - Irons, Sprite, Defender and Proteus are engaging, well drawn and interesting. You root for Irons to succeed and the story draws you in.That said however, in this book the author becomes his own worst enemy. Unlike previous books in the series, in Ghost Station there are endless references to modern, popular culture, TV programs and politics. They are meant to be tongue in cheek and witty, but they aren't.  One jibe yes. Two, hmmm. Three? Four? Five? Six.. Seven etc. The references intrude in to the story again and again, detracting from the storyline and ruining the suspension of disbelief.Ghost Station has an interesting tale to tell but it's all too frequently interrupted by farce, farce that doesn't suit the tone or the balance of the book. Good jokes, wrong book.Readers should be aware of two other faults with Ghost Station, one simply bad, the other yet another' maybe' problem for the author.Number one: Tense. Poor editing from the midpoint of the book onwards means sentences "Bill likes salt so Bill asks  for salt and Sarah passes it." start to crop up. These editing misses aren't fatal, but leaving skeleton work like this in an otherwise well written story breaks pace and becomes steadily more annoying. This is an editing only issue however and one the author can easily fix in future works.Number two however is a potential story killer - and possibly a career killer for the author. The author presents an unrelentingly ill-informed view of both politics and politicians. Nothing as foolishly dirty as the politicians in this series can survive more than a book or two without turning readers off not just at the politicians, but at the shear implausibility of such repeatedly stupid behaviour... and not just by the politicians but by Irons, the central character.The series has used the same mechanism twice now to resolve its story line. The first time - Ok. Different, a bit of a stretch but it worked and presented a legitimate and well thought out end to the story. But twice? Any more such uses will destroy the credibility of what is a genuinely interesting and engaging series. Once was interesting, twice.. not so much. Three.. well it will be time to go read something else. People who actually work with politicians know that most genuinely try to do a good job and do try to look at the big picture. To encounter truly stupid and evil politicians as a group  once was Ok, But twice? And just how stupid does the author think the average citizen really is? In Ghost Station they seem almost completely clueless and fickle despite hat Irons has done for them. As I say, once was legitimate in the series, but twice? No. So Ghost Station overall? I'd give both Ghost Station and this series five stars for the main characters, storyline and universe; but in the end the errors above downgrade it to a three. The author needs to concentrate on his knitting more. He's got talent and a story to tell - more story and talent than most military SF writers out there at the moment - but a broader, less remorselessly cynical approach is needed to show he truly understands how the world and people work. So yes, I'd recommend this book to my friends, but the yes it also has its faults. But a very, cool universe and main character...