Pelquin s Comet In an age of exploration and expansion the crew of the freetrader Pelquin s Comet a rag tag group of misfits ex soldiers and ex thieves set out to find a cache of alien technology intent on making
In an age of exploration and expansion, the crew of the freetrader Pelquin s Comet a rag tag group of misfits, ex soldiers and ex thieves set out to find a cache of alien technology, intent on making their fortunes but they are not the only interested party and find themselves in a deadly race against corporate agents and hunted by the authorities Forced to combat enIn an age of exploration and expansion, the crew of the freetrader Pelquin s Comet a rag tag group of misfits, ex soldiers and ex thieves set out to find a cache of alien technology, intent on making their fortunes but they are not the only interested party and find themselves in a deadly race against corporate agents and hunted by the authorities Forced to combat enemies without and within, they strive to overcome the odds under the watchful eye of an unwelcome guest Drake, agent of the bank funding their expedition, who is far than he seems and may represent the greatest threat of all Intrigue and action in this high octane collision between Firefly, the Bourne films and Indiana Jones A two fisted SF adventure, space opera as it should be written Gavin Smith, author of Veteran It is his characters who live through the story and make the reader need to know just how it s all going to pan out, human characters who may seem familiar but then there s that one thing, that shifted alteration that changes the world and changes the reader too Interzone
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Pelquin's Comet Ian Whates
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Ian Whates
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Title:
Pelquin's Comet Ian Whates
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Published :2019-03-16T10:49:44+00:00
Ian Whates lives in a comfortable home down a quiet cul de sac in an idyllic Cambridgeshire village, which he shares with his partner Helen and their pets Honey the golden cocker spaniel, Calvin the tailless black cat and Inky the goldfish sadly, Binky died a few years ago.Ian s earliest memories of science fiction are fragmented He remembers loving Dr Who from an early age and other TV shows such as Lost in Space and Star Trek, but a defining moment came when he heard a radio adaptation of John Wyndham s The Chrysalids From that moment on he was hooked and became a frequent haunter of the local library, voraciously devouring the contents of their SF section.This early love of science fiction manifested most tellingly during his school days, when he produced an SF murder mystery as homework after being set the essay title The Language of Shakespeare , much to the bemusement of his English teacher.Ian s first published stories appeared in the late 1980s in small press magazines such as Dream and New Moon Quarterly, after which he took a break from writing in order to research his chosen fields of science fiction and fantasy In other words, he read copious amounts of both Clearly the research was extensive, because he published nothing further for some seventeen years In the early 2000s he made the decision to pursue writing seriously, joining the Northampton SF Writers Group in 2004 after being introduced to its chairman, Ian Watson.In 2006 he started submitting stories again, and has subsequently been surprised at how many otherwise eminently sensible people have chosen to publish him A couple have even appeared in the science journal Nature, and one, The Gift of Joy , even found its way onto the five strong shortlist for best short story in the British Science Fiction Association Awards And it didn t come last Ironically, the award was actually won by Ken MacLeod s Lighting Out , a piece Ian had commissioned, edited and published in the NewCon Press anthology disLOCATIONS 2007.In 2006 Ian launched independent publisher NewCon Press, quite by accident buy him a pint sometime and he ll tell you about it Through NewCon he has been privileged to publish original stories from some of the biggest names in genre fiction, as well as provide debuts to some genuinely talented newcomers The books, their covers and contents have racked up an impressive array of credits four BSFA Awards, one BSF Award to date, inclusion in Year s Best anthologies and recommendations and honourable mentions from the likes of Gardner Dozios and Locus magazine.In addition to his publishing and writing, Ian is currently a director of both the Science Fiction Writers of America SFWA and the British Science Fiction Association BSFA , editing Matrix, the online news and media reviews magazine, for the latter.His first two completed novels are both due to appear in early 2010 City of Dreams and Nightmare via Harper Collins imprint Angry Robot, and The Noise Within from Rebellion imprint Solaris, with sequels to follow When not pinching himself to make sure this is all really happening, Ian is currently beavering away at the sequels honest
463 Replys to “Pelquin's Comet”
re-read may 2017 on publication of 2nd volume The Ion Raider actually started The Ion Raider first and then realized that while I remembered the striking ending and a few details, I had forgotten a lot of the Pelquin Comet, especially the part about Leesa with whom The Ion raider sort of starts (not directly but with an assassination attempt on Jen/Shadow, another former Dark Angel, and while she escapes that, she is almost killed on the run when Leesa/Hel N intervenes in the nick of time), so d [...]
5 Stars Pelquin's Comet by Ian Whates is a fabulous summer read. It is filled with action, adventure, mystery, and a whole lot of space romping fun. This is a book and series that will appeal to fans of Firefly or The Tales of the Ketty Jay. In fact, this book has a great deal of resemblance to Wooding's amazing series. What does this meanIt means that this is a fun space opera meant to take you on a wild ride. The real difference between Pelquin's Comet and the aforementioned is the writing of [...]
Really enjoyed Pelquin's Comet. It's kind of like Firefly with some more obvious magic/scifi/unusual elements. It reads really smoothly - someone who obviously knows his craft here. The characters reveal nicely and a couple are drawing me to reading the next book as I want to know how things pan out for them. Nice concise 'complete' story although it's obviously going to be a trilogy.
This full-length space opera is so close to a five-star read that it's not worth quibbling about fractions. The characters are well fleshed and the important ones have complete arcs. The book stands alone (no cliffhanger ending) although not all questions are answered (the start of a series). And you know how you can tell in the first few pages that you'll enjoy the book, that the author can be trusted to deliver a good story? Yeah, I got that feeling in the first paragraphs, although the early [...]
Ok, so I knew this was advertised as the first in a series, but I did not expect that even as I was reading I would be so aware of plot points which I knew were not going to be answered within the book. There is an awful lot of setting things up for later books which is something I dislike immensely and against which I react by refusing to buy anymore in the series. It was decently written, if not exactly groundbreaking.The universe created seemed somewhat strange - for instance, faster than lig [...]
Really entertaining space opera with well fleshed characters. I look forward to the new adventures of the Comet crew.It is remarkable that the author did not shy away from killing of one of the more important characters.
The cloaking device used by the titular spaceship to sneak into alien territory feels like a metaphor for the characters in Ian Whates’s bracing space opera. Most of these people have ulterior motives, with the motives of one so ulterior she doesn’t even know them herself. Such duality seems to be a survival mechanism in the world of the novel, because the single honest character dies horribly at the wraithy hands of… Well, read it and see.Even the cute, furry Mudball needs close watching [...]
I very rarely give five stars to any novel, but this one ticks all the boxes for me: A great cast of characters with enough intrigue left for sequels, yet fleshed out sufficiently to make them interesting from the start. A background/universe that is not too complex to memorize, beautifully described ("Vast bridges spanned the Kusbah’s expanse at irregular intervals – seeming from this vantage to be crude stitches across an open wound, holding the two halves of the city together." at ca. 25% [...]
This is the first book of what must be at least a trilogy. I have now read books 1&2 of The Dark Angels series--the second is The Ion Raider. I am reviewing them together. Nice action and character development. Ian Whates gets better with every book--not just in this series, I think. Classic space opera, leavened with humor. Both books can stand alone, but the character development works better if they are read together. My only quibble is that there is not yet any word on the third book.
I enjoyed this a lot. It's been a while since I actually read any science fiction, as during the nineties and noughties I completely went off reading SF due to the fact that it all seemed to be related to computers and near-future settings. That didn't interest me at all - it wasn't what I signed up for!But with this book I re-entered the genre. Sure, it has a character who has some kinky machine-based implants, but we don't really know what they are or what they can help her do, at least at the [...]
Entertaining story, interesting characters. I did really enjoy this book but was not satisfied with the ending. Like a delicious meal that leaves one hungry. The characters were set up with sometimes even too many flash backs, and still many secrets, and since the book was written as a first in a series I could live with it expecting it to be a set up for the next books to come. Except two years after this novel was published there is no follow up. Which makes me feel like I wasted my time lear [...]
Ian Whates: Pelquin's CometThe Dark Angels #1Space opera, adventure, treasure hunting, a motley crew, aliens and some corporate intrigue are the building blocks that form this science fiction tale from Ian Whates. Pelquin is a free trader/ The Comet, his ship, and motley crew, bear some resemblance to the Fireflyesque scenario (no bad thing in my book) in which a rag-tag bunch of adventurers skirt the barely legal side of free trade amongst a collection of worlds. Pelquin, the captain has a lead [...]
Pelquin's Comet ia an entertaining and enjoyable space opera.Pelquin and his crew set off to find a cache of alien artifacts, rumoured to be of very high value. Along the way they have to deal with aliens ("Xters"), a new crew member with a secret, and a bank representative along for the ride (with his alien genpet) to ensure his banks's money's protected.I think one of the best assets of the story are the characters - very well developed, and many of them have some sort of agenda going on to ma [...]
There is nothing wrong with recycling genre clichés; just ask Becky Chambers. One could even argue that the only thing separating James S.A. Corey and Iain Banks, for example, is how they deal with genre baggage Ian Whates’ response is to be as insipid and as bland as possible, to dish up a gruel-like version of the inimitable Firefly that leaves one hungering for The Real Thing (another cliché, alas). There is nothing original here; the characters are tired and undifferentiated; plus there [...]
A good old-fashioned space adventure, very Firefly-esque.Fans of Firefly will find themselves spotting the similarities: small spaceship, motley crew with back stories galore, operating on the fringe of criminality. Thankfully, the universe they inhabit is entirely different.Captain Pelquin and his crew head off in search of a huge fortune, in the shape of a cache of artifacts left behind by ancient aliens. Bad guys are after it too, and the tangled pasts of the crew lead to other complications. [...]
Summary: I enjoyed this book, however the plot wasn't well thought through, the universe didn't work for me, the characters weren't particularly real, but the writing was engaging and pace nice and fastPlotline: The plot should have been good but had some flaws that really needed a bit more work and tidying upPremise: The weakest part of this book, it just didn't workWriting: Engaging, a fast pace, but the characters were too artificial, needed more careEnding: A bit predictable, but good fun.Pa [...]
A thoroughly enjoyable read. This character-driven tale has enough back story to bring intriguing elements into the current story - as well as setting up a future sequel - while not overdoing it. The plot has a mystery running through it which isn't solved until the end and is difficult to guess. If you like your sci-fi daring, full of disguise and colourful characters, this is for you. Also likely to be enjoyable if sci-fi and space opera is not what you usually reach for in your bookshelf. I'l [...]
Wake characters.Ian Whates has a strong descriptive ability but that's the only positive thing I could say about this story. I just didn't care about the characters, towards the end I realized that I was forcing myself to finish. I don't like giving anything about the plot away, what I like to do is tell people that this story is entertaining and worth your time. Which it is not.
4.5 starsIt is a fast, easy and entertaining read.Pluses:+ a motley crew+ a treasure hunt, in space!+ mysterious aliens+ dastardly scoundrels+ characters have their own unique feelMinuses:- felt too short; the universe presented to us is huge, and maybe more words should have been dedicate to its presentation; I can't shake the feeling that the book I read is a stripped down version of the real one- a lot of unanswered questions (guess that's what sequels are for)
Because of work, I had not been reading as much as I normally do. PQ put me right back on track. I really enjoyed this book. It had a good plot and very interesting and well built characters. As a lover of Firefly, I appreciated little nods in that direction too. This is the first book in a trilogy, and I will be looking forward to read the next one, when it comes out.
I had high hopes for this book, as people with tastes similar to mine greatly enjoyed it, but unfortunately I didn't. The plotting was good and the viewpoint characters were well fleshed out - although I wouldn't have described them as likeable. Also, I found the characters of the crew besides Leesa, Pelquin and Drake, rather flat.
I thoroughly enjoyed Pelquin's Comet, an entertaining space opera, with memorable characters who each have murky pasts and uncertain futures. Ian Whates leaves the reader with enough curiosity about unfinished story lines to pick up the sequel, but the novel is also pleasing as a standalone read.
Nothing too expansive or deep, but just a fun story full of characters that engage you. The plot clunks into place at times and it has it's share of predictable elements but it's fun and leaves you wanting more. Someone tell me when the next instalment comes out.
bit/Pelquin
I my mind I've compared the last part of this book with Diamond Dogs by Alastair Reynolds and I've found Pelquin's Comet much weaker than Reynolds' novella.
This is copy 39 of 100 signed numbered copies printed in hardcover.