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rlaferney's review against another edition
4.0
If you crave sci-fi and fantasy, look no further than Tor.com’s line of novellas. The Warrior Within (the debut novella by Angus Mcintyre) is one of the new titles from Tor to be published this year. Set in a futuristic desert like world scattered with remnants of past civilizations (which the population survives off of), The Warrior Within is a mind-bending science fiction adventure about a man named Karsman with many people living within his head. Karsman had basic modification surgery when he left home to cope with the conditions of the other world, except what the surgeons did was far more invasive than simple modifications. They managed to graft single skill artificial intelligences (such as Warrior, Dipolmat, etc) in Karsman’s mind.
The plot of this novella is pretty intriguing. Karsman presides over his current town as the "Mayor". It’s overseen by the Muljaddy (dominant alien beings) who run an ambivalent religious autocracy. Life is sustained through prayer and worship. Yet, this all changes when a group of commandos arrive, claiming to be in search of a woman they must assassinate (or so they say). When their searches prove fruitless, they begin to take more extreme measures, forcing Karsman to enlist the help of his intelligences….Karsman is forced with then protecting his town and a woman he might love from the commandos all while maintaining his personality and intelligences. Can he keep the Warrior under lock and key?
I was pleasantly surprised by this novella and its ending. If you loved The Gunslinger, Dune, or Ancillary Justice, you’ll probably dig this novella. The Warrior Within combines many Western and SF tropes into something wholly new that looks at what a post-human society might look like. I liked that the story wasn’t bogged down by exposition but rather Mcintyre gives us just enough information. An excellent debut.
Looking forward to seeing what Mcintyre might write next.
The plot of this novella is pretty intriguing. Karsman presides over his current town as the "Mayor". It’s overseen by the Muljaddy (dominant alien beings) who run an ambivalent religious autocracy. Life is sustained through prayer and worship. Yet, this all changes when a group of commandos arrive, claiming to be in search of a woman they must assassinate (or so they say). When their searches prove fruitless, they begin to take more extreme measures, forcing Karsman to enlist the help of his intelligences….Karsman is forced with then protecting his town and a woman he might love from the commandos all while maintaining his personality and intelligences. Can he keep the Warrior under lock and key?
I was pleasantly surprised by this novella and its ending. If you loved The Gunslinger, Dune, or Ancillary Justice, you’ll probably dig this novella. The Warrior Within combines many Western and SF tropes into something wholly new that looks at what a post-human society might look like. I liked that the story wasn’t bogged down by exposition but rather Mcintyre gives us just enough information. An excellent debut.
Looking forward to seeing what Mcintyre might write next.
curlybooks's review against another edition
2.0
This was just ok, which is so disappointing given how cool the concept and set-up were. The main character was interesting to begin with, but then even he became dull and somewhat boring. The twist at the end, came out of nowhere and not in a good way, more in a this barely makes sense and has zero impact on me kinda way. I think this is a case of too many ideas and not enough space to properly execute. I don't think when I look back at this at the end of this year, that I'll be able to remember much of it.
pa11av's review
5.0
A short and immensely entertaining read. It seems that this book was not written with pen on paper, but with a scalpel, mercilessly cutting away all the unnecessary things in a story, leaving pure movement of narrative, intrigue, and action. All the while giving the reader a glimpse into a world that is as alien and mystical as the characters in the book.
There is no hand-holding in the book. You are put into a world that is seen through the lead character Karsman's eyes. There were several points in the book that were written to create a sense of awe and of touching something incomprehensible and the book gives off a lovecraftian vibe of exploring hidden tunnels and getting trapped in secret passageways.
Things I wish the book had:
More detailed fight scenes. One fight scene was a sheer cop-out and I plan to write about that to Mr. McIntyre, but other than that, the entertainment value for the length of the book is amazing.
There is no hand-holding in the book. You are put into a world that is seen through the lead character Karsman's eyes. There were several points in the book that were written to create a sense of awe and of touching something incomprehensible and the book gives off a lovecraftian vibe of exploring hidden tunnels and getting trapped in secret passageways.
Things I wish the book had:
More detailed fight scenes. One fight scene was a sheer cop-out and I plan to write about that to Mr. McIntyre, but other than that, the entertainment value for the length of the book is amazing.
intotheheartwyld's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was an interesting and captivating short tale. We follow Karsman, and man who lives with 5 other personas in his head. I actually wished we got to see more of his personas but it really only focuses on two of them, which is fine but the exploration into the others could have been fun.
His lives in this post apocalyptic desert world, were he and everyone else works day and in and day out scavenging for metal and other such trinkets to turn into the Temple for food and water. We get a good explanation about what the temple is and who the “people” are that run it. It’s a fascinating little world.
Everything takes a turn though when 3 outsiders come marching in with a task of killing one woman. Slowly things start to change around the town and Karsman starts having issues remembering what he was doing or how he got somewhere.
There is just enough momentum going that it keeps you wanting to know what will happen next. Which of Karsman’s personas will take over, Will there be a fight, is someone going to die, what hidden technology is there. The world was simple but so interesting, I’m not sure if they lived on an earth like planet that was dried up, or if it was some other planet, but space was involved!
Karsman was such a like-able character, the cast was small but the others weren’t so much the focus, so I never really cared to much for them. But Karsman I was invested in, like I said I really wish we could have seen more of the personas.
I felt like all my questions where answered and I’m not left with any feelings of emptiness, the story started out strong and continued pulling me in, and then it had a solid end with answers to all my questions. A fun, interesting tale.
uwuuhu's review
3.0
Very fun little book that follows a main character with an interesting past that gets unveiled along the way, and a mind filled with multiple specialized personalities. The world that we get to know more about as the story unfolds (with a nice twist or two towards the end), is full of mystery and deserves to be filled with more stories.
jameseckman's review
3.0
What is Karsman? A strangely simple story about a future filled with large, vast and powerful intellects.
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