Product Description

Owen Deathstalker, last of his line, is a quiet man, a historian, remote from the stench of corruption and intrigue surrounding the Iron Throne at the heat of the galaxy-spanning, tyrannical Empire. And then, inexplicably, Deathstalker is outlawed, forced to flee from one end of the Empire to the other. And as he does so, he discovers that resistance is growing, everywhere, to the Iron Bitch on the Iron Throne.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #262812 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

About the Author
Simon Green is the author of the bestselling Deathstalker cycle, the New York Times bestseller Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Blood and Honour, Down Among the Dead Men, Shadows Fall, Drinking Midnight Wine, Beyond the Blue Moon and Blue Moon Rising and the Hawk and Fisher books: Haven of Lost Souls and Fear and Loathing in Haven. Simon lives in Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire.

Customer Reviews

Great book - definately worth reading
All the usual Simon R Green trademarks are here - vivid, loveable characters, great descriptive passages, really unpleasant baddies and plenty of laughs.

The book focuses on Owen Deathstalker, an aristoctact inexpicably outlawed by the empire, who is forced to recognise the empire's inhumanity and cruelty and then vows to bring justice. As well as Owen and his closest allies - Hazel, Ruby and Jack, the book contains a veritable cast of thousands and lots of other stories are pursued. It's a mark of how well the characters are drawn by the author that it never becomes confusing.

Owen's a great hero, but a lot of the best characters play smaller roles, like Finlay Campbell - a man with two identities and Captain John Silence loyal officer of the empire.

The book contains some memorable passages: for example the Empresses' cybernectic maids/bodyguards and Wormboy Hell - are the stuff of nighmares that remain vivd after reading.

It's also interesting as you read on in the series to see the way that all the little characters and plotlines do get developed.

Something Special
Basically this book has everything. If you like Star Wars then you will love it. Multiple plotlines spanning several worlds give a rich and entertaining vision of the future. The downtrodden hero beset at every turn by people and things wanting to take his head off is not an original thought but Simon R. Green pulls it off with great skill. With a body count that will rise into the millions, when you read further into the series, you are never far from action and excitement. Also the dark destiny awaiting mankind gives you the idea that while vast, the human empire has too long stagnated in its grandeur. Who else can rouse it but Owen Deathstalker, quite possibly the best hero to be put into written word. I love this book and I'm sure all Sci-fi fans will. Plus it has an alien killing machine that would make even the mighty Ripley quake in her boots.

The thrilling beginning of a monumental space opera epic
If you like your science fiction short and sweet, Simon R. Green's Deathstalker series is not for you. This is space opera in the grand tradition, filled with sweeping turns and possibilities extending across an Empire of worlds and centuries, featuring a cast of human aristocrats, clones, espers (mutants with varying ESP capabilities), monstrous aliens, augmented men, genetically-enhanced creatures, legends and heroes from the past, and outlaws. The newest outlaw is none other than Owen Deathstalker, de facto leader of the Deathstalker clan ever since the imperial murder of his father. All Owen wanted was to be left alone to pursue his history studies, but destiny has a way of finding its chosen victims wherever they may be. Queen Lionstone XIV declares Owen an outlaw, and in an instant he is running for his life. Thus are sown the seeds of a rebellion that will change the Empire forever. Of course, that story only begins to be told in this first volume of the exploits of Owen Deathstalker.

Deathstalker first escapes - barely - to Mistworld, a cold stink-hole of a planet that serves as the one and only refuge of outlaws all across the Empire. In the company of fellow outlaw Hazel D'Ark, to whom he literally owes his life, Owen seeks out the Empire's most legendary rebel, Jack Random, to join his nascent little rebellion. Throw in a sassy female bounty hunter and one of the Hadenmen (augmented men who once sought to wipe out the inferior human race), and you've got quite an eclectic bunch of revolutionaries. Things only get weirder from here, as upcoming destinations for Owen include Shandrakor, the legendary planet where the founder of the Deathstalker clan reportedly lies in stasis, and - deep within the confines of the Dark Rim - the Wolfling World, home of the Tomb of the Hadenmen, the Madness Maze, and the Darkvoid Device, destroyer of worlds.

Strangely enough, however, especially given all of the action Owen Deathstalker and his allies see - and, brother, they see all kinds of fierce, bloody action - at least half of this novel takes place back on the home world of the Empire. Here we see just how big a mess the Empire is really in. Besides the Queen's constantly dastardly plans, we see an aristocracy run amuck with intrigues, secret deals, betrayals, murderous vendettas, and all kinds of juicy stuff that truly reeks of decadence. No one is really who they seem, especially the likes of Valentine Wolfe, the Empire's most famous drug addict, and Finlay Campbell, a comical little fop whose secret identity as the Empire's greatest fighter is unknown to everyone but the woman he loves, a woman who just so happens to be a clone - but that is only one of many other secrets that slowly reveal themselves as this epic novel proceeds. Several personal roads lead us deep into the underground, where a secret alliance of clones, espers, and humans plan their own revolution against the Iron Throne. I found this aspect of the novel even more fascinating than Owen Deathstalker's remarkable story, and the rebel assault on the esper prison known as Wormboy Hell proves even more exciting than the novel's closing engagement on the Wolfling World.

Brimming with intrigue, harboring a number of significant and genuinely shocking surprises along the way, and filled with fascinating characters of all sorts, Deathstalker is quite an exhilarating read. It's a rather long read, as well, and you should keep in mind that it is really just the beginning. This is a story that will play out over literally thousands of pages, and Deathstalker represents only an initial plunge into the vast ocean of Simon R. Green's creative genius. The book has a few shortcomings in terms of specific plot events, and it can be disconcerting to see how much of the novel does not involve the main character, but this is awe-inspiring science fiction played out on an epic scale. Only a select few writers can realistically give life to such a large and complex world, but Green proves himself to be a master juggler of words and ideas - best of all, he seems to have a full bag of startling surprises and plot twists at his disposal that promises to make the Deathstalker series something really special and vastly entertaining.