Scan barcode
crimsoncor's review against another edition
4.0
Liked this. Think [a:Janet Evanovich|2384|Janet Evanovich|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1385051483p2/2384.jpg] crossed with some [a:Tony Hillerman|26917|Tony Hillerman|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1281729229p2/26917.jpg], with the Wainscoting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wainscot_%28fiction%29) of [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg]'s Neverwhere thrown in. Well put together. Suffers a little on the dismount, but pulls it off decently. Would recommend.
rollforlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic mix of genres, I am looking forward to seeing where this goes.
I especially appreciated the nods to some of today's events and politics.
More review when my internet connection is working properly again >.>;
I especially appreciated the nods to some of today's events and politics.
More review when my internet connection is working properly again >.>;
dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
When park ranger Virgin Jackson witnesses a murder in Birrimun Park, the last natural landscape on earth, things quickly spiral out of control. With an unwanted partner by her side in the form of US Marshall Nate Sixkiller, can she get to the bottom of things? But what do the strange occurences have to do with Aquila, the mysterious eagle that has been appearing to her since she was a child?
I got this from Angry Robot via Netgalley.
Peacemaker is a sf mystery set in the future. Virgin Jackson, stubborn and bull-headed as she is, drags the reader from one catastrophe to another, and takes quite a beating in the process. Her partner on the case, Nate Sixkiller, is a very capable US Marshall who works with the Spiritual Service, monitoring events of a mystic nature.
It's really to pull off a story that uses mysticism in a technologically advanced time period but it works very well in Peacemaker. It brought back memories of how William Gibson was able to pull off a similar feat in Count Zero with the voodoo loas.
The fully urbanized future depicted in Peacemaker is a fairly bleak one. Imagine a world were the only natural landscape left is a park where tourists visit. The combination of Australian and Western culture present around the park makes for an interesting setting indeed, as do the various factions Virgin has to go to for help.
As you can tell, I liked a lot about this book. There were plenty of twists, turns, and double crosses. I loved that Virgin and Nate didn't get their genitals entangled at any point, which is a refreshing change of pace.
However, I did have a few minor gripes. I thought the plot with the Mythos could have been explained better and elaborated upon but I have a feeling that will be explored in the sequels. I also found Virgin's lack of trust and stubbornness to be infuriating at times but that helped drive the plot.
Peacemaker is a good sf mystery for people looking for something a little different. Four stars.
I got this from Angry Robot via Netgalley.
Peacemaker is a sf mystery set in the future. Virgin Jackson, stubborn and bull-headed as she is, drags the reader from one catastrophe to another, and takes quite a beating in the process. Her partner on the case, Nate Sixkiller, is a very capable US Marshall who works with the Spiritual Service, monitoring events of a mystic nature.
It's really to pull off a story that uses mysticism in a technologically advanced time period but it works very well in Peacemaker. It brought back memories of how William Gibson was able to pull off a similar feat in Count Zero with the voodoo loas.
The fully urbanized future depicted in Peacemaker is a fairly bleak one. Imagine a world were the only natural landscape left is a park where tourists visit. The combination of Australian and Western culture present around the park makes for an interesting setting indeed, as do the various factions Virgin has to go to for help.
As you can tell, I liked a lot about this book. There were plenty of twists, turns, and double crosses. I loved that Virgin and Nate didn't get their genitals entangled at any point, which is a refreshing change of pace.
However, I did have a few minor gripes. I thought the plot with the Mythos could have been explained better and elaborated upon but I have a feeling that will be explored in the sequels. I also found Virgin's lack of trust and stubbornness to be infuriating at times but that helped drive the plot.
Peacemaker is a good sf mystery for people looking for something a little different. Four stars.
sunscour's review against another edition
5.0
Well that was Awesome!!! Wild West meets Murder Mystery meets Religious Mystics meets really great dialogue, with a huge slice of fantastic world building.
This book also included a sprinkle of the Apocalypse and Romance.
Well worth the price of admission!!
This book also included a sprinkle of the Apocalypse and Romance.
Well worth the price of admission!!
raven_morgan's review against another edition
5.0
eARC provided by Netgalley.
In the future, Earth's wildernesses have been decimated, the landscape dominated by megacities. Only one natural place remains - Birrimun Park. Its senior ranger is Virgin Jackson, a tough-talking, stubborn woman who loves the park, though she is not overly fond of the American West themes inflicted on the Australian park in order to feed the tourist trade.
The park is supposed to be inviolate, a fact that Virgin believes until she witnesses a murder within its boundaries. At the time time, she begins to see Aquila, an "imaginary" eagle that she has seen since she was a child, and relegated to a product of her tempestuous teenage years.
Virgin becomes a target, though she has no idea who is targeting her, and is forced to delve into her own past as well as the mysteries of what happened in the park in order to guarantee her own safety.
Peacemaker sets a hectic pace, with Virgin and Nate stumbling from one dangerous situation to the next. de Pierres manages to balance this tumult of action with calmer scenes, all of which work to develop the world and Virgin herself.
Virgin Jackson is a heroine that science fiction needs to see more of. She is real - she hesitates sometimes, and other times she tumbles head over heels into situations that the reader will fairly be screaming at her to run away from. She gets beaten up a lot, and yet she always gets up again. She breaks gender roles in a multitude of ways, and yet de Pierres hasn't fallen back on any tropes in making her strong in this sense. She can stand with any of them men in this world, and yet she also possesses a softness and vulnerability that the reader is allowed glimpses of.
Readers will also find the romance in this refreshing - after the first few chapters, I had feared that things were being set up for a love triangle. Nothing of the sort ensues, though the romance is by no means easy or simple.
It is clear that de Pierres has developed a wonderful world here, and it feels very much like this book only skims the surface of it. There are many tantalising hints of depths, especially in terms of the spiritual side of the world, and of Nate Sixkiller.
I am very glad to see that at least one sequel to this book will be coming out, and I hope to see many more after it, de Pierres willing to write more. de Pierres is an extremely talented author who has produced an exceptional variety of works, and if you haven't read any of her work before, Peacemaker is a great place to start.
In the future, Earth's wildernesses have been decimated, the landscape dominated by megacities. Only one natural place remains - Birrimun Park. Its senior ranger is Virgin Jackson, a tough-talking, stubborn woman who loves the park, though she is not overly fond of the American West themes inflicted on the Australian park in order to feed the tourist trade.
The park is supposed to be inviolate, a fact that Virgin believes until she witnesses a murder within its boundaries. At the time time, she begins to see Aquila, an "imaginary" eagle that she has seen since she was a child, and relegated to a product of her tempestuous teenage years.
Virgin becomes a target, though she has no idea who is targeting her, and is forced to delve into her own past as well as the mysteries of what happened in the park in order to guarantee her own safety.
Peacemaker sets a hectic pace, with Virgin and Nate stumbling from one dangerous situation to the next. de Pierres manages to balance this tumult of action with calmer scenes, all of which work to develop the world and Virgin herself.
Virgin Jackson is a heroine that science fiction needs to see more of. She is real - she hesitates sometimes, and other times she tumbles head over heels into situations that the reader will fairly be screaming at her to run away from. She gets beaten up a lot, and yet she always gets up again. She breaks gender roles in a multitude of ways, and yet de Pierres hasn't fallen back on any tropes in making her strong in this sense. She can stand with any of them men in this world, and yet she also possesses a softness and vulnerability that the reader is allowed glimpses of.
Readers will also find the romance in this refreshing - after the first few chapters, I had feared that things were being set up for a love triangle. Nothing of the sort ensues, though the romance is by no means easy or simple.
It is clear that de Pierres has developed a wonderful world here, and it feels very much like this book only skims the surface of it. There are many tantalising hints of depths, especially in terms of the spiritual side of the world, and of Nate Sixkiller.
I am very glad to see that at least one sequel to this book will be coming out, and I hope to see many more after it, de Pierres willing to write more. de Pierres is an extremely talented author who has produced an exceptional variety of works, and if you haven't read any of her work before, Peacemaker is a great place to start.
diaryofthebookdragon's review against another edition
4.0
Peacemaker was more fun packed urban fantasy then science fiction. Some aspects of the story left me yearning for more and I am looking forward to the sequel to shed more light on the mystery.
atris_lauraborealis's review against another edition
2.0
Bummer of a story. Great concept, cool world-building ideas, but barely a skeleton of a story. Everything feels bullet-pointed and told instead of shown. Each scene feels like a requirement from a spreadsheet outline with as little description as possible. The story barely hangs together and has to be summed up by one of the characters every few chapters so you remember what all has been added to the plot between the mindless wanderings of the protagonist and her caricature sidekicks.
Big bummer considering so much of this book, including scene, characters and plot, had really golden potential behind it.
Big bummer considering so much of this book, including scene, characters and plot, had really golden potential behind it.
tehani's review
See my review at ASIF - http://aussiespecficinfocus.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/peacemaker-issue-1/
tehani's review against another edition
5.0
I first encountered Peacemaker protagonist Virgin Jackson in de Pierres' story "Gin Jackson: Neophyte Ranger" (first published in the Agog! Smashing Stories anthology in 2004, and reprinted in FableCroft's Australis Imaginarium in 2010). I was delighted to read Peacemaker in graphic version in 2011, and was a bit sad when that format was unable to continue, so it was with huge anticipation I started on the novel version! And I have not been disappointed.
Virgin Jackson is a senior ranger in a themed conservation park; odd things have started to happen to her, and not just finding herself saddled with a US Marshall who is himself just a little strange. When she first finds a dead body where it's almost impossible for anyone to be, she is essentially accused of the murder, and then is attacked in her home. Not one to stand idly by and let things happen, Virgin starts to investigate for herself, with the help of friends in useful places, and the odd Marshall Sixkiller. What she finds is not at all what she expects…
There are several changes that have occurred from the original short story to the novel-length edition. Focus is by necessity shifted for the longer form, and while the book is still (in my eyes) very Australian, I can also see where some elements have been altered to give the story a more international tone, and that both works very well on a plot level as well as being a sensible move in terms of audience.
In another incarnation, de Pierres writes crime fiction, and her experience in both a science fictional setting and a mystery one offer a deftness of touch here. Peacemaker rollicks along at a cracking pace, and I found myself holding my breath in anticipation at times, which is always a good sign! The character of Virgin is vivid and wonderfully acerbic, and I found both she and the supporting cast so well realised they really bounced off the page. With that combination, I got to the end of the book and flipped the last page in disappointment, because while the story ended well (albeit definitely set up for the next volume), I simply didn't want it to stop. Bring on the next instalment!
Virgin Jackson is a senior ranger in a themed conservation park; odd things have started to happen to her, and not just finding herself saddled with a US Marshall who is himself just a little strange. When she first finds a dead body where it's almost impossible for anyone to be, she is essentially accused of the murder, and then is attacked in her home. Not one to stand idly by and let things happen, Virgin starts to investigate for herself, with the help of friends in useful places, and the odd Marshall Sixkiller. What she finds is not at all what she expects…
There are several changes that have occurred from the original short story to the novel-length edition. Focus is by necessity shifted for the longer form, and while the book is still (in my eyes) very Australian, I can also see where some elements have been altered to give the story a more international tone, and that both works very well on a plot level as well as being a sensible move in terms of audience.
In another incarnation, de Pierres writes crime fiction, and her experience in both a science fictional setting and a mystery one offer a deftness of touch here. Peacemaker rollicks along at a cracking pace, and I found myself holding my breath in anticipation at times, which is always a good sign! The character of Virgin is vivid and wonderfully acerbic, and I found both she and the supporting cast so well realised they really bounced off the page. With that combination, I got to the end of the book and flipped the last page in disappointment, because while the story ended well (albeit definitely set up for the next volume), I simply didn't want it to stop. Bring on the next instalment!
theartolater's review against another edition
3.0
Probably closer to a 2.5.
I don't know if it's just that hybrid sci-fi seems to be the rage these days or if it's something else entirely. Peacemaker is less a science fiction tale and more an old school Western with sci-fi elements, but not in the Firefly way. There are good guys, bad guys, a mystery, and a twist, and it keeps itself pretty tidy as a result.
There's an audience that this might appeal to, but on a whole, it really didn't do much of anything for me. It may be in part because the source material it was aping hasn't traditionally grabbed me, it may be in part because I thought I was getting a different book and my expectations were not where I needed them to be. On a whole, it just missed the mark for me.
I don't know if it's just that hybrid sci-fi seems to be the rage these days or if it's something else entirely. Peacemaker is less a science fiction tale and more an old school Western with sci-fi elements, but not in the Firefly way. There are good guys, bad guys, a mystery, and a twist, and it keeps itself pretty tidy as a result.
There's an audience that this might appeal to, but on a whole, it really didn't do much of anything for me. It may be in part because the source material it was aping hasn't traditionally grabbed me, it may be in part because I thought I was getting a different book and my expectations were not where I needed them to be. On a whole, it just missed the mark for me.