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Reviews for In the Courts of the Crimson Kings (Lords of Creation Series #2)

 In the Courts of the Crimson Kings magazine reviews

The average rating for In the Courts of the Crimson Kings (Lords of Creation Series #2) based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.has a rating of 3.5 stars

Review # 1 was written on 2012-11-19 00:00:00
2008was given a rating of 4 stars William Owens
Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths Reviews Even though I enjoyed The Sky People, the first novel in S.M. Stirling's duology, I was not really excited to read this book. I mean, it is a scifi novel about Mars, and my book list contains several of Edgar Rice Burroughs' books. Honestly, how can anyone top John Carter? But after finishing, I have to say that Stirling did a stupendous job of making this Mars a cool place with a haunting similarity to Barsoom, but a history and flavor all its own. The story itself is standard pulp scifi; a continuation of the story begun in The Sky People. By 2000, both the Soviets and Americans have established small enclaves on Mars, but whereas Venus was a pristine wilderness with savage natives, Martian civilzation is millenium older than Earth's own with a very rich history. Indeed, the remnants of the world spanning Tollamune Empire still exists and functions upon the red planet, safe and secure under the gargantuam mountain called Olympus Mons. There the current emperor resides; his lordship belonging to a ruling dynasty that once ruled the whole planet and spans back thousands of years into Earth's remote past. Indeed, even in its death throws, Martian science still surpasses Earth's in such areas as genetic engineering; a skill which seemingly pervades all areas of Martian life including their weapons and landships. Our tour guide through this ancient realm is archeologist Jeremy Wainman who has been rocketed to Mars by the U.S. Aero-Space Force; his mission to explore the lost city of Rema-Dza out in the "Great Beyond", i.e. the Martian desert. To aid Jeremy, his bosses in the USASF contracts with a female Martian mercenary, Teyud za-Zhalt, to lead the expedition and basically keep Jeremy from getting killed. Of course, while keeping Jeremy alive, our Martian mercenary falls in love with him. But the fun doesn't stop there, because you see there is more to Teyud than meets the eye. When the expedition discovers an ancient Martian artifact at the lost city, she stops being Jeremy's lover and protector and turns into the one needing protection. From there, the book only gets better and better as political intrigue, duels, and unknown alien forces erupt in our story. And all the while, the reader gets to learn more and more about this very cool Mars and its intriguing science and history. Even the ending, though completely expected, is entertaining. My only reget as I laid the book down was that I would not read any more stories of Stirling's Mars.
Review # 2 was written on 2008-04-20 00:00:00
2008was given a rating of 3 stars Beverly Dan
If you're a fan of ER Burroughs' Martian series (and I am in moderate doses), then you'll probably enjoy this latest homage to him. Jeremy Wainman is no John Carter (or Northwest Smith or Eric John Stark, for that matter) but he's likable enough. I prefer this Mars' "Dejah Thoris" - Teyud za-Zhalt - over the original, cringing, always-being-kidnapped princess but as usual with books of this genre it's not overly strong on character development. Stirling is much better than Burroughs at creating an alien Mars whose inhabitants are still human enough that you care for them (at least for as long as you're reading the novel).


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