I loved each and every one of the characters: the kids – Iolana and her brother Keoni –, the unwilling Legion soldier Aja, the android Una and her alter-ego Eve, the elite UFW soldier Xavier, and a number of others. Each of them struck a chord because they were all realistic and believable with real motivations. This is one of the things where the author has really excelled at. His characters live and breathe with the narrative and they show off a slice of the world that he has created.

  Each character brings something different to the narrative and through them we really see the full scope of the war. Added to that are several philosophical, existential issues that are raised in the novel. One of these is: how different are androids from humans? For fans of Star Trek this will be quite familiar with all the personal conflicts that Data goes through in The Next Generation and in the movies. Selso Xisto does a great job of exploring this concept and this is also resolved in a really neat way at the end of the novel. Quite an emotional moment as well, just as much as the end of Star Trek: Resurrection.

  While some people may be put off by large cast of characters, this is something that I really do enjoy. Following a single character can be really tedious, unless it's written well. Going the opposite route makes the entire experience more wholesome, especially in SF/F settings. If nothing else, read Particle Horizon for the variety of its characters.

  Angelhaven, the place where the majority of the action in the novel takes place, is also a very unique and interesting location. If you take a look at that cover again, you see why. The colonists have installed special gravity tubes throughout the asteroid that serve to provide places where people can fly about thanks to a special jetpack harness. Now, how cool is that? Its like skateboarding of the future, except much more interesting and thrilling.

  The pacing of the novel is mostly on the money although it does drop off a few times. However the novel doesn’t slow down much. The author has a good, consistent balance between offering edge-of-the-seat action scenes and scenes where the action isn’t physical, but conversational. There is a strong undercurrent of tension throughout Particle Horizon. Each chapter ends on a great cliffhanger and you have to turn the pages to read what is going to happen next to the characters.

  Selso Xisto highlights the technological difference between the UFW and the Legion and there is lots of variety to these as well. Whether it is soldiers engaged in gunfights or hand-to-hand, or kids wearing jetpacks and carrying rifles, or androids duking it out with each other, the action in the novel has something for almost everybody.

  So overall, I have to say that I really liked Selso Xisto’s debut novel. It kept me entertained and interested throughout and there was never a dull moment. It is also a novel that goes beyond just being an SF novel. It raises philosophical and existential questions. Lots of food for thought.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  Reviewer Bio: Long-time science-fiction/fantasy geek, and lover of most things Star Wars and Warhammer, Abhinav Jain is currently working on several SFF fiction projects. At the moment, in addition to a 14-hr day job, He is also a senior reviewer for The Founding Fields book blog and a contributor to the Just Beyond Infinity mixed-content blog. You can follow him on twitter - @abhinavjain87. This review was originally published here.

  DIGITAL ART

  Artist: Matthew Attard

  View his artwork here:

  ISF: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

  I am a freelance artist specializing in digital art, depicting mostly fantasy and science fiction landscapes. My goal is creating "places I and others would like to see". I have created artworks for novel and CD covers, posters and online games, as well as various personal projects.

  ISF: How long have you been doing digital art and when did you start doing it professionally?

  My first ever attempts at digital art were as early as the year 2000 or 2001. But I didn't start taking it seriously until around 2006 when I saw that it had potential and was something a home-grown artist could perform, and not always necessarily the product of a major studio collaboration. That was motivation enough for me to abandon my traditional media and focus more seriously on my digital work.

  ISF: What tools do you use? How long does it take for you to create an artwork?

  Photoshop is my main software of choice. Vue is also another significant player in my artistic field, that makes it much more enjoyable to experiment with landscapes. It gives me a good render for my 3D models I use for other projects. These models are created in Cinema 4D and imported to Vue where they are textured and rendered.

  I often use Photoshop afterwards for enhancements. It's not unusual for 2 or more of these programs being used in my work. And it’s not unusual for me to spend over 10 hours fine-tuning all the details and possible colour and lighting variations.

  ISF: What inspires you? What challenges have you faced?

  My inspirations come from nature and astronomy mostly. That's why I often combine landscape work with space or science fiction elements. I also get some good imaginative material from videogames too, and not always ones of the fantasy or sci-fi genre. My challenges are mostly battles with a PC that refuses to co-operate. I wish I could say "as a digital artist, your possibilities are endless". Digital artists can be just as restricted as traditional ones, not by medium, but rather the power and handling capabilities of their computer and software. Big ideas can sometimes be too big for my computer to co-operate, so creatively substituting and sacrificing is a challenge in itself.

  ISF: What advice would you give to budding digital artists?

  Digital art is a very enjoyable medium to learn...once you get past of the confusion of the program's interface that is, but much of it is common sense. Tools like the brush or eraser pretty much speak for themselves. Experimenting shouldn't be considered a scary gamble like it is with traditional art, you can't "ruin" your work as long as that "undo" button is there. 3D art is more challenging and not as beginner-friendly as digital painting I must admit, but in this age of the internet - valuable tutorials for either are just a Google search away.

  Learning digital art is not just for the college student, but by all means, take every opportunity to learn that you can get to help accelerate the process.

  Megahorn Mesa

  (Artist's description - Massive, bulky alien trees are the first to catch the bright light of a new day under a blue sun while smaller, more Earth-sized desert trees seek refuge from the full extent of the day by growing mostly in sheltered parts of the canyon or in the shadows and beneath the Megahorn trees themselves. The "horns" all seem to point in the same direction, they could probably even be used as sundials.)

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