The Roman Empire has survived in secret for hundreds of years. When Earth, led primarily by the United States (of course) colonizes the galaxy, the Roman Empire, decides to break off and form its own government on the world of Palatine. This causes a Galactic Civil War, dividing humanity on a larger scale than ever before. However, what unites once bitter rivals better than anything? That’s right, a common enemy, in this case, the Hive. As the name implies, the hive is all insect and tentacled.
The novel begins in the middle of the 25th Century when one of the Space Marines – Cowboy – is killed in battle. His lover Kerry Blue (one of the few women in the story) is distraught. When the U.S.S. Merrimack, captained John Farragut discovers The Myriad, an inhabited three planet cluster, a course of events unfolds that proves surprising. Because of the alliance between the Romans on Palatine and the United States, a Roman is assigned to the Merrimack in the form of the genetically enhanced Augustus. Data… rather Colonel Augusts is a patterner which amounts to a cyborg with very little emotion and quite a bit of computing. These are the primary characters aboard the Merrimack, and for me, they didn’t rise very much above the cardboard cutouts I’ve painted above. Then there’s the character of Kerry Blue who comes across as quite friendly (in a carnal sense) with men, which she even admits. This, coupled with the way mean speak about her in unflattering terms, gives the culture aboard Merrimack a sexist and misogynistic feel.
The political feel of the novel doesn’t feel as it if it’s 400+ years into the future. The attitudes and global situation feel very much like late 20th Century, American-centric. Earth’s nations, aside from the United States, form the League of Earth Nations. The gender attitudes seem lifted from the stereotypes of the early part of the 20th Century. Perhaps Meluch was attempting to capture a zeitgeist of daring space exploration with these elements, but for me, it felt a step back from where global and gender culture currently stand, or rather stood when The Myriad was published in 2004.
The people inhabiting the Myriad cluster are close enough to human that Kerry has no problem potentially sleeping with their leader. The Myriad proves to be a conundrum to the crew of the Merrimack for a few reasons. For starters, the Hive is unaware of the civilization. Furthermore, the Myriad does not have Faster than Light travel (FTL), yet they possess instant communication between the planets which comprise the cluster.
On a more positive note, the space battles came across quite well as did the depiction of the alien cultures both on a broad and distant level and on a more granular level. I found, despite their problems, the inhabitants of Myriad to be interesting, the Hive from a distance, to be a powerful enough enemy despite their limited appearance in the narrative and the Gorgons, machine eaters, to be original. I liked the conceit that through the use of Latin by doctors and lawyers and such, the Roman Empire survived in secret. The revelation of the true nature of the Myriad was quite interesting and one of the stronger elements of the novel was the conclusion, which was quite ingenious. While it can be seen as a slap in the face to the narrative which preceded it, I found it to be a bold storytelling move on Meluch’s part and could prove to make the subsequent installments of the series that much better.
However, those strengths aside, the uneven flow of the plot and barely more-than-clichéd characterization / characters leave me unenthused to continue with this series. In short, not much in this novel resonated with me. I realize the series has its fans, but unfortunately, I won’t be counted among them.
© 2013 Rob H. Bedford
Originally published in Hardcover, 2005
Review copy (Mass Market Paperback Omnibus which also included Wolf Star) courtesy publisher DAW
Mass Market 656 pages, 9780756409548
Tour of the Merrimack #1 http://www.rmmeluch.com/
