Furious Gulf

Furious Gulf by J.N. Chaney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the twelfth installment of J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert’s The Messenger science-fiction series continues to follow the conflict deep in the galaxy between Newton “Dash” Sawyer’s Cygnus Realm and their latest enemy, the Deepers, who fight with their latest combat technology, the lethal Battle Princes, with Dash himself seeking to unlock the true secrets of the Dark Metal. As in other entries of the literary pantheon, a dictionary of key terms native to the books precedes the main chapters, definitely helpful for times readers choose to break from them. When the primary events begin, Dash’s Archetype, the mech of the Messenger, continues to receive upgrades and battles Deeper vessels.

After the latest battle against the Deepers, Dash salvages whatever their adversaries’ vessels remain, among them being egglike spheres ultimately termed torps. Dash aims to bring the battle against the Deepers into their “backyard,” and for some time chases an antagonistic spy named Adan Kitzbuell, flying through the Harlequin system. The Rimworld League, allies to the Cygnus Realm, find themselves under attack, with Dash meeting a woman named Bettman and the bio-optical engineer Glis that agree to lend their assistance. Dash further suspects distrust within the ranks of the Cygnus Realm, with the Backwater Gate proving central to the strategy in the final main chapters.

On the whole, the tenth Messenger book is every bit as enjoyable as its predecessors, with plentiful well-described space battles, character development, and occasional new luminaries and alien races presented. Granted, it does sport some of the same issues that exist within its precursors, such as the mention of the speakers of some dialogues several sentences into their speeches, and the general concept of the series echoes a few videogame franchises and Japanimation series. Regardless, those who enjoyed previous entries of the series will definitely enjoy this one, although those new to the books will very much want to start from the beginning.

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