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lyrrael's review against another edition
3.0
What happens when telepathic aliens invade the Earth and can predict your every move before you make it? You genetically engineer super soldiers resistant to telepathy to fight them. What happens when the war is over? Do you give vocational training to your super soldiers who literally know nothing but war? Neat thought experiment about the levels to which you may not want to go to win.
sirlancelot2021's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
kytimeforbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Closer to 3.5. I really like Will McIntosh's stories and characters, but this was a lot more action-based than I prefer and I ended up skimming most of the battle scenes (of which there were quite a few). Also super gory. If you're into that kind of thing, this is definitely for you.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Wow that was dark. And relentless. And as I expected from [a:Will McIntosh|2938554|Will McIntosh|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1363376502p2/2938554.jpg], worth reading. This is the fourth good book in a row - though the first one I didn't five star. And I guess that's because it made [b:Soft Apocalypse|10075553|Soft Apocalypse|Will McIntosh|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327942697s/10075553.jpg|14972161] look uplifting. The aliens were creepifying, the created soldiers were were. The people who were our pov were pretty much broken, though to be fair everyone was pretty much broken. By the end of the book all you had were bad guys, less bad guys and perhaps slightly less bad guys. So what would you do to survive? What would anyone do? Certainly a question worth asking, and this book takes one try at trying to answer it.
athnyx230's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Xenophobia
patremagne's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. That was a powerful novel.
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http://abitterdraft.com/2014/04/defenders-by-will-mcintosh.html
Last year, Will McIntosh’s social science novel Love Minus Eighty took many genre readers by surprise in its exploration of human feelings. McIntosh changed things up this time around with Defenders, a novel about an alien invasion of Earth.
An alien race known as the Luyten have invaded Earth, wreaking havoc throughout the planet with their heat guns, melting people, cars, and buildings alike. The Luyten have a distinct and incredible advantage over humanity – they’re telepathic. They can read minds. How unfair is that? Turns out it’s extremely unfair, and humanity is on the brink of destruction; thousands are dying whenever a group of Luyten – often called “Starfish” by the protagonists – attack. Nothing Earth’s generals can come up with works because the Starfish know it’s coming. In a last-ditch effort, Earth’s most brilliant minds create the defenders – seventeen foot-tall beings who know nothing but war. They’re missing serotonin, the chemical in the brain that controls feelings, therefore the Luyten can’t use telepathy on them.
The blurb is fairly misleading in that upon reading it, you’d think that the war is over and the issue of what to do with the defenders is the main plot. Nearly half of the story is actually prior to the engineering of the defenders, while humanity is getting its ass kicked by the Luyten. We’re brought through the brutality of the war through the eyes of Lila, Oliver, and Kai, and no punches are held. McIntosh’s prose is elegant, but also simple – something I’d liken to Mark Lawrence. They both write beautifully, but succinctly – not flowery, overbearing, or “purple” as some call it. The structure of Defenders is strange in that, as mentioned before, the blurb doesn’t describe the novel’s full plot, and thus it’s difficult to talk about without spoiling.
Defenders is a deceptively deep novel. On the surface, it reads fast, but beneath it, McIntosh continues his exploration of human nature and what it is to be human. One scene in particular stood out:
"Humans made defenders with three legs, because you see us as valuable, but not as valuable as humans. Mammals have four legs, insects six, and Luyten either six or seven. So killing a Luyten means nothing, but you should only kill a dog if you intend to eat it. Do you think that makes sense?"
It’s very thought-provoking stuff. The interactions with the defenders are where it really stands out. Lacking serotonin and therefore emotion, they try to do things that they see humans do in their warlike manner, but the effect isn’t the same as it would be if a human did it. The inability of the defenders to properly interact with their creators leads them to distance defender society from that of the humans, and that’s when the conflict mentioned in the blurb begins.
Will McIntosh’s Defenders is definitely one of the best science fiction novels I’ve read in recent time. The characters are deep enough that you’ll feel various things for them, ranging from annoyance, to hatred, to love, and that’s where McIntosh thrives – in his characters. Orbit continues to earn its reputation as one of the top publishers in the business.
-------
http://abitterdraft.com/2014/04/defenders-by-will-mcintosh.html
Last year, Will McIntosh’s social science novel Love Minus Eighty took many genre readers by surprise in its exploration of human feelings. McIntosh changed things up this time around with Defenders, a novel about an alien invasion of Earth.
An alien race known as the Luyten have invaded Earth, wreaking havoc throughout the planet with their heat guns, melting people, cars, and buildings alike. The Luyten have a distinct and incredible advantage over humanity – they’re telepathic. They can read minds. How unfair is that? Turns out it’s extremely unfair, and humanity is on the brink of destruction; thousands are dying whenever a group of Luyten – often called “Starfish” by the protagonists – attack. Nothing Earth’s generals can come up with works because the Starfish know it’s coming. In a last-ditch effort, Earth’s most brilliant minds create the defenders – seventeen foot-tall beings who know nothing but war. They’re missing serotonin, the chemical in the brain that controls feelings, therefore the Luyten can’t use telepathy on them.
The blurb is fairly misleading in that upon reading it, you’d think that the war is over and the issue of what to do with the defenders is the main plot. Nearly half of the story is actually prior to the engineering of the defenders, while humanity is getting its ass kicked by the Luyten. We’re brought through the brutality of the war through the eyes of Lila, Oliver, and Kai, and no punches are held. McIntosh’s prose is elegant, but also simple – something I’d liken to Mark Lawrence. They both write beautifully, but succinctly – not flowery, overbearing, or “purple” as some call it. The structure of Defenders is strange in that, as mentioned before, the blurb doesn’t describe the novel’s full plot, and thus it’s difficult to talk about without spoiling.
Defenders is a deceptively deep novel. On the surface, it reads fast, but beneath it, McIntosh continues his exploration of human nature and what it is to be human. One scene in particular stood out:
"Humans made defenders with three legs, because you see us as valuable, but not as valuable as humans. Mammals have four legs, insects six, and Luyten either six or seven. So killing a Luyten means nothing, but you should only kill a dog if you intend to eat it. Do you think that makes sense?"
It’s very thought-provoking stuff. The interactions with the defenders are where it really stands out. Lacking serotonin and therefore emotion, they try to do things that they see humans do in their warlike manner, but the effect isn’t the same as it would be if a human did it. The inability of the defenders to properly interact with their creators leads them to distance defender society from that of the humans, and that’s when the conflict mentioned in the blurb begins.
Will McIntosh’s Defenders is definitely one of the best science fiction novels I’ve read in recent time. The characters are deep enough that you’ll feel various things for them, ranging from annoyance, to hatred, to love, and that’s where McIntosh thrives – in his characters. Orbit continues to earn its reputation as one of the top publishers in the business.
leelah's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
When you think about alien invasion plot, you don't really expect to open a book and be thrown right into action so far progressed. Usually we read how aliens came and first contact. Well, McIntosh doesn't do that with Defenders. Opening scene shows us Earth well under Lythen siege and humans losing the war against them with great casualties. Borders are forgotten as countries are joining forces and resources and when we open the book, they are already in desperate stage. Another thing that we are used to read in books with similar theme are aliens with far superior technology. Well, Lythen don't have technological advantage- they have telepathic abilities and it's basically impossible to plan attack against them since they will know it's coming. So, humans had to come up with something else and this is how project Defenders was born.
Defenders are bio-engineered warriors who fought Lythen off and imprisoned them. They are heroes. Entire world is grateful to them.
But, let's face it, 17ft tall humanoids build for war with autonomy running loose? It's a ticking bomb; disaster waiting to happen.
And of course, it did.
I kept thinking that Defenders was all about Quick Fix and consequences of. They were rather ad hoc solution, created for one purpose in mind. Hell, they are named Defenders- so what to do with them when they have nothing to defend? When you take their purpose out of equation? And this is the twist of this story- their transition from human salvation to enemies.
For me the most striking thing about this novel is the fact that Defenders can't be considered really evil. Humans created them not to feel, so their minds would be closed to Lythen
Spoiler
I had some troubles with science behind this. Bare basics: they designed them without serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter (it's like "chemical messenger", they transmit signals from one neuron to other). Serotonin is commonly associated with feelings of happiness and it's believed that lack of it may lead to depression and I guess this was author was going for. Serotonin has a role as receptor for aggression, pain relief, anxiety, but it also regulate appetite, aging, memory, learning, reproduction, etc. I just can't wrap my head around a working organism without serotonin. I know, this is fiction, but I would buy it if they didn't made them extremely fast learners and brilliant.Defenders reads like blockbuster movie. Every chapter is something happening, there are large action scenes and everything is straightforward. As much as this style adds to pace- you are gobbling pages- it also left me hanging for few reactive scenes I was expecting to read- like, one event left severe consequences, but author never visits them just skips right ahead to action. That resulted in some time gaps and narrators behaved in a way you couldn't really understand- you just have to accept them as such.
Story is told from several pov's. I would say 3, because fourth joins in last third of the book and imo, it didn't give that important insight into whole situation. I guess for majority of readers Oliver's or Lila's pov stuck- they are written to be important players, both brilliant scientists, quirky and in the center of the plot. But I personally liked Kai the most. He doesn't have that much page time, but every scene with him is somehow pivotal, and frankly, he can summarize everything far better and more accurate. He is such a normal guy and I think he balanced great with others.
You can see I didn't mention Lythen after their initial attack. Oh, they are here for entirety of novel and they play a big role at the end. They are really interesting because of their telepathy, since they know everything about humans before they even open their mouth. They are also manipulative, patient and intelligent. In a way, they remained a mystery to me. Oh, I know the ending, I understand- it was written to be a happy one. But, if Defenders learned me anything is the fact that status quo can't stand for long...and Lythen lie. I am still not sure if it was joined effort or if they used each other. And humans made so many mistakes. Through aliens and humanoids author told so much about human nature.
This is a great work, begging to be transferred to big screen, but my rating was greatly affected by the fact this is not my first McIntosh read. I missed emotional connection he delivered in [b:Love Minus Eighty|16100436|Love Minus Eighty|Will McIntosh|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1369083657s/16100436.jpg|21910524]. Still, highly recommended.
joaoeira's review against another edition
4.0
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT FANTASY LITERATURE
How do you fight an enemy that can read your every thought, and another that has been designed and bred for war? In 2029, according to Will McIntosh’s novel Defenders, that’s the most impending question humanity needs to answer if it wants to survive.
Having achieved critical acclaim in 2013 with Love Minus Eighty, McIntosh’s newest novel is a fast-paced and visceral exploration of morality and war. Earth has been invaded by the Luyten, a race of enormous starfish-like aliens that can read your mind. They can know what you are going to do before you do it, and know where you are, despite your best efforts to hide yourself. It doesn’t come as a surprise then that humanity’s war efforts against the invasion have been nullified and three billion people have perished from the war. Even when hope has been all but lost, a daring military project stationed at Easter Island creates humanity’s last attempt at survival: The Defenders. These genetically-engineered beings with heads shaped as the famous Easter Island ones have created and bred with a single purpose in mind: purging the Luyten menace. Their success might come at higher cost than anticipated however.
It’s important that you don’t take the worldbuilding elements at face value. It takes a certain amount of suspension of disbelief to believe that after losing three billion people to an alien race incredibly well-suited for war, humanity is still able to embark on a technological project of such a big scale. I argue though that in this particular novel, it doesn’t matter. Defenders isn’t a science fictional novel trying to extrapolate what’s next for humanity technologically, or how future technology might impact us as human beings. It instead intends to explore more personal themes, such as whether intent has any bearing in making morality judgments, and it uses a science fictional world that lets such exploration blossom for that purpose, regardless of whether such a world is remotely possible.
It is interesting to note, as an aside, that McIntosh’s thesis here is diametrically opposed to that of another author I’m currently reading: K.J. Parker. Where McIntosh would hint that Frankenstein isn’t wholly evil because he never intended for his monster to become, well, a monster, Parker would argue that intent is irrelevant and that outcome is what’s important in determining whether something is evil or not. I feel that these intriguing explorations of morality have lately been a major thematic building block in our genre as of late, though why that is so is a question I leave for another person to answer. Defenders is a worthwhile entry in that long conversation between fictional works.
Will McIntosh writes in a functional and clear prose that lends itself well to a fast-paced read. Other reviewers have compared it to Brandon Sanderson’s style, and I think the comparison is apt. The theme and the characters’ struggles are stated in the simplest of ways, and you never feel as if you have to reread a certain sentence to parse the meaning of it. It also doesn’t let you escape from experiencing the visceral nature of war and its aftermath, something that is made abundantly clear throughout the novel.
Defenders has a certain onion-like quality to it. At its surface you can read it as a run-of-the-mill military scifi book with alien races fighting it out in violent battles to the death, but as you peel apart layer after layer, you discover new nuances on themes that you thought you had known everything about. It has been a while now since I read McIntosh’s novel, and even now as I sit here writing this review, new intriguing thoughts come unbidden that I feel are worth exploring. Who cares if you have to suspend disbelief to enjoy it, or if some character interactions are unsatisfyingly shoehorned in when they could have been left out entirely? A novel that keeps you thinking about it long after you’ve read it is a good novel by my book. Wholly recommended.
The novel Defenders was based on Will McIntosh’s short story of the same name which was published in Lightspeed Magazine. You can read it here.
How do you fight an enemy that can read your every thought, and another that has been designed and bred for war? In 2029, according to Will McIntosh’s novel Defenders, that’s the most impending question humanity needs to answer if it wants to survive.
Having achieved critical acclaim in 2013 with Love Minus Eighty, McIntosh’s newest novel is a fast-paced and visceral exploration of morality and war. Earth has been invaded by the Luyten, a race of enormous starfish-like aliens that can read your mind. They can know what you are going to do before you do it, and know where you are, despite your best efforts to hide yourself. It doesn’t come as a surprise then that humanity’s war efforts against the invasion have been nullified and three billion people have perished from the war. Even when hope has been all but lost, a daring military project stationed at Easter Island creates humanity’s last attempt at survival: The Defenders. These genetically-engineered beings with heads shaped as the famous Easter Island ones have created and bred with a single purpose in mind: purging the Luyten menace. Their success might come at higher cost than anticipated however.
It’s important that you don’t take the worldbuilding elements at face value. It takes a certain amount of suspension of disbelief to believe that after losing three billion people to an alien race incredibly well-suited for war, humanity is still able to embark on a technological project of such a big scale. I argue though that in this particular novel, it doesn’t matter. Defenders isn’t a science fictional novel trying to extrapolate what’s next for humanity technologically, or how future technology might impact us as human beings. It instead intends to explore more personal themes, such as whether intent has any bearing in making morality judgments, and it uses a science fictional world that lets such exploration blossom for that purpose, regardless of whether such a world is remotely possible.
It is interesting to note, as an aside, that McIntosh’s thesis here is diametrically opposed to that of another author I’m currently reading: K.J. Parker. Where McIntosh would hint that Frankenstein isn’t wholly evil because he never intended for his monster to become, well, a monster, Parker would argue that intent is irrelevant and that outcome is what’s important in determining whether something is evil or not. I feel that these intriguing explorations of morality have lately been a major thematic building block in our genre as of late, though why that is so is a question I leave for another person to answer. Defenders is a worthwhile entry in that long conversation between fictional works.
Will McIntosh writes in a functional and clear prose that lends itself well to a fast-paced read. Other reviewers have compared it to Brandon Sanderson’s style, and I think the comparison is apt. The theme and the characters’ struggles are stated in the simplest of ways, and you never feel as if you have to reread a certain sentence to parse the meaning of it. It also doesn’t let you escape from experiencing the visceral nature of war and its aftermath, something that is made abundantly clear throughout the novel.
Defenders has a certain onion-like quality to it. At its surface you can read it as a run-of-the-mill military scifi book with alien races fighting it out in violent battles to the death, but as you peel apart layer after layer, you discover new nuances on themes that you thought you had known everything about. It has been a while now since I read McIntosh’s novel, and even now as I sit here writing this review, new intriguing thoughts come unbidden that I feel are worth exploring. Who cares if you have to suspend disbelief to enjoy it, or if some character interactions are unsatisfyingly shoehorned in when they could have been left out entirely? A novel that keeps you thinking about it long after you’ve read it is a good novel by my book. Wholly recommended.
The novel Defenders was based on Will McIntosh’s short story of the same name which was published in Lightspeed Magazine. You can read it here.
agentoforange's review against another edition
2.0
Between this book and Soft Apocalypse, I really really find it hard to like, sympathize or feel anything for any of McIntosh's primary characters.Plus the jumps in timeline were heavily jarring.
skundrik87's review against another edition
4.0
Humanity caught between 2 conflicting, non-human races. One species is shaped like starfish.