Absorption - John Meaney

Title: Absorption (Ragnarok volume one)
Author: John Meaney
Publisher: Gollancz

If you like a bit of fantasy wrapped in some hard sci-fi then this is for you. What better than a bit of Norse mythology (Ragnarok), heroes seperated in time and space and some definate hard sci-fi concepts to get the story going.

This is the first part of the Ragnarok series and I got the bug. I'll be on the hunt for more as they come my way.

Several heroes are brought out in the book and their characters fleshed out individually, some more than others. They all see the 'black shadow clouds' around some people while no-one else can, and it becomes apparent as the book progresses that the heroes will at some stage be brought together to perform certain deeds. This never quite happens in the first installment, but the story is enough in itsself to introduce you to everyone and some depth and background the the intended universe that will stage the rest of this story.

There are some fairlt radical ideas, not new I hasten to add, but the way the author has drawn them here makes you sit up and take notice.

Like Arnie once said "I'll be back!"