Mini-Review: Breach Zone by Myke Cole

Breach Zone by Myke Cole is the third and final book in the Shadow Ops Trilogy (though thankfully, not the final book set in that world) where magic invades the modern life and Cole explores the militarization, secrecy, and resulting political shitstorm of it all. Let me simply say it – I love this series and feel that it is a great addition to the fantasy world. These books are action-packed, fun reads that will please many. But they also feature deep thoughts and important ethical ramifications that echo much of what we see in the world today – the US battling terrorism, the militarization of more and more conflict, government secrecy, cover-up, and spying. And much more.

Breach Zone is the best yet in the series. It focuses on two characters who have been more tangential in the previous books – Harlequin and Scylla. Their history goes back far more than readily apparent in the first two books and a huge confrontation come about as Scylla invades New York City with an army of goblins and other magical creatures. Oscar Britton and Bookbinder both have their roles in the confrontation as well, less so for Britton than Bookbinder.

As I indicated above, I love the moral complexity of these books. Things are not sugarcoated or boiled down sound bites and unfortunate mission accomplished banners. Real people have real personal conflict. And the result makes Cole’s novels stand out way beyond most other military fantasy and science fiction stories. This trilogy is good, very good, and now all I can say is More Please!

Shadow Ops: Control Point (My Review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier (My Review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Shadow Ops: Breach Zone (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon)

Sort-of Review: Fortress Frontier by Myke Cole

After reading Myke Cole’s debut, Shadow Ops: Control Point (my review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon) in 2012, the sequel, Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon) immediately became a must-read for me. However I can’t help but notice that everyone else seems to think as highly of Cole as I do – a quick check of blogs that I follow will find that most have reviewed Fortress Frontier already. And generally, I agree with what they say – it’s a great book. It’s an improvement over Control Point, and the new protagonist is one I like a lot better. The world is bigger, the adventure more epic, and the depth of thought is still there. I called Shadow Ops this generation’s The Forever War, and with the sequel, these books really are a story for the current generation, one that struggles with the might of the government, the threat of terrorism, and the loss of freedom. These books make me think.

 

But, the review saturation had sapped my enthusiasm for writing a review. I couldn’t find anything new to add to the conversation. Yep, Cole is awesome, the book is awesome, go read it. Do I really need to say it too?

 

So, I’ve thought about things and then my contribution to the conversation finally clicked into place. I imagine I was somewhat inspired by this review over at Tor.com. There is a short discussion of criticism of the book, which stands out because of the relative lack of them in reviews for Fortress Frontier. The discussion mentions that Cole’s world is a man’s world with relatively few female characters (dare I use the word ‘token’?). Well, that’s not my focus here, but it’s certainly worth noting and discussing in its own right.

 

A common thread through all of those reviews I’ve mentioned above is that they like the protagonist (Colonel Bookbinder) that Cole focuses on in Fortress Frontier a lot better than the protagonist (Oscar) from Shadow Ops. I share this feeling – I enjoyed Bookbinder much more. If you go back and search out reviews of Shadow Ops, the biggest criticism that you’re going to come across is a dislike for Oscar. Take another look at all these reviews I’m mentioning – they are written by white people*. Take a look at Bookbinder (white) and Oscar (black). Now, there are lots of reasons why I think Bookbinder is a character that more can relate to. There are lots of examples of Cole simply improving as a writer. But I’m not going to talk about any of them. I’m simply going to point this out – the near-universal opinion that Bookbinder is a more enjoyable protagonist than Oscar is essentially has a direct correlation to race.

 

Tell me I imagining things. Tell me that it’s a coincidence and not real (after all, remember, I’m a white guy who likes Bookbinder a lot more as well). But, the more I think on it, the more troubled I am about it.

 

And do you know what? This is just one way that Myke Cole’s books have got me thinking. It may not be what he intended (or hell, maybe it is), but it’s there. And it’s yet another reason why people should read his books. In my review of Control Point I compared Cole with Haldeman. I’ll make another comparison now (and I try to never make comparisons in reviews, but I’ve got to mix things up too) – Myke Cole is the most exciting SFF author to come along since Joe Abercrombie. And considering all the great authors that have entered the scene over the past few years, that’s high praise.

 

*Admittedly, just how many SFF review bloggers out there aren’t white?

Review: Shadow Ops: Control Point by Myke Cole

An army officer leads his team into a fire fight. One of his men is down with severe burns from an explosion. An enemy advances on his position, armed, firing and carrying a bomb. Only the enemy is a 16 year old girl who was given no choice. What does the officer do?

Essentially, the above seen is how Shadow Ops: Control Point by Myke Cole (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) opens, only it’s a bit different. The scene is the roof top of a high school in Vermont and there are only 2 ‘enemies’ – both are teenagers who just discovered that they have magical powers, powers they didn’t ask for and can’t control. One is pyromancer who has basic control over fire elementals. The other is more dangerous – she can summon and control sentient elementals, a prohibited school of magic and an automatic death sentence.

Shortly after Army Lieutenant Oscar Britton leads his team into the above situation, the unthinkable happens – he manifests in a prohibited school of magic, portomancy. And then Oscar does what society says is the most selfish thing he can do in that situation – he runs. The rest of the book is all about Oscar’s flight, capture and then re-introduction into a shadow military where he’s a given a choice to serve his government without question or die. He’s conflicted about the horrible things he witnesses, his own power to help the Army do good, his own power to help the Army kill indiscriminately, and everything in between.  

Control Point is many things at once – a thoughtful exploration of the conscious of a military officer, the military bureaucracy it depends on, while being a wildly fun, exciting and creative military fantasy. It’s a reflection of the times we live in and the ever-present threat of terrorism and the military’s response to it. Control Point is a reaction from a veteran of the US’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan just like Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound, my review) is a reaction from a Vietnam veteran. It’s a nearly perfect book for a generation of gamers, yet it’s just as accessible to the non-gamers among us (like me). And it manages to do all of these things in thoughtful, balanced way that is an extreme adrenaline ride and one hell of a good read.

Control Point strikes an impressive balance between the tortured introspection of a very conflicted individual versus magical military fantasy in a wild setting with non-stop action. The reader is taken through a myriad of scenes from military raids, to fugitives on the run, hard-ass boot camp Sergeants beating the crap out of new recruits, thoughtful sacrifice and all-out battle chaos. It’s precisely this balance that allows for Control Point to have a little something for everyone – it’s both deep and action-packed, it’s both a conflicted military drama and a journey full of magical adventure, it’s a commentary on our own current government and an unhappy future, and it’s all about one soldier’s conflict with doing what he thinks is right.

The balance act continues as Cole shows a government that is both good and evil. He shows soldiers that do good and bad. There are no easy answers and Cole doesn’t try and provide any. Does Oscar ultimately make the right decision? I don’t know, but I am very much looking forward to reading more in the forethcoming sequel, Fortress Frontier, scheduled for early 2013.

No balancing act can go on forever, and none can be absolutely perfect, and neither is Control Point. After the strong opening of the book, I felt that the momentum slowed too much in the middle portions of the book. On the plot side of things, I would say that it’s rather predictable, in fact the book lacks that significant twist that so many found their conclusions on, though the story is told in such an engaging way that it hardly matters. But, after the slower middle, the end of Control Point picks up and ends with just the sort of high-level impact that it began with.

In summary, Shadow Ops: Control Point looks like an early favorite to be one of the most significant new SFF releases in 2012. It literally has something for everyone – magic, military, conflicted internal dialogue, a budding romance, magical creatures, guns, explosions and much, much more. It’s easily one of the most impressive debuts I’ve read in the last several years and I truly feel it could be this generation’s The Forever War. I highly recommend that you read this book right now.