Warp Angel

by Stuart Hopen

Overview

Newly revised and expanded edition. Interstellar flight has been outlawed -- the great warpships that traveled between systems were found to be damaging the very fabric of the universe. Isolated by the ban, the Draconian system has become decadent, strange -- and foul. Dominated by corporate guilds called "bods," Draconian society has built its economy on slavery and assassination. Magen, a former assassin, rebels when her husband is taken by slavers, and sets out to do whatever it takes to get him back -- even if it means destroying the entire Draconian civilization!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619910232
Publisher:	Misenchanted Press
Publication date:	07/01/2016
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.61(d)

About the Author

To escape the boredom and harassment of 4th grade, Stuart Hopen wrote and illustrated a science fiction and fantasy short story collection that began with a work titled "Me, Temporary Teenager." He's been escaping into his writing and art ever since. A graduate of Princeton University, he has written comic books published by D.C. Comics, Marvel, Fantagraphics, Eclipse, and Amazing Comics. His critical writing has been published by Rain Taxi Review of Books and the Comics Journal. He married a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to the cover painting on the first edition of his novel, Warp Angel, and they have three children. Though he has traveled extensively across galaxies and dimensions, he has spent most of his life in a small town mantled with its unfulfilled dreams of becoming the east coast motion picture capital of America-- Hollywood, Florida.

Editorial Reviews

Hopen's occasionally ambitious debut is a space opera whose arias deal as often with theology as with derring-do. The story line follows the adventures of Magen, who has rediscovered her Jewish roots (though she declares her faith more often than she practices it), as she causes havoc, frees biologically created slaves and searches for her husband, Adam, taken prisoner by slavers. Adam looms over the book more than he appears in it, while the fascinating Amelia-the former warp-speed pilot who initially helps Magen on a bet-proves nearly as interesting as Magen. When ``intense consensual sex and a rapidly approaching shared orgasm'' leave Amelia ``a helpless blob of pleasure,'' the reader knows what type of adventure novel this is, which may explain why most of the scenes written from a woman's point of view are awkward, to say the least. There are fascinating elements throughout this rambunctious first novel, including its premise that travel at ``warp drive'' can unravel the fabric of the universe, but the separate parts never gel into a fully engaging whole, and the resolution is ultimately due more to a deus ex machina than to natural forces. A sequel seems likely; perhaps Hopen's talent will be more effectively focused there. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

When her husband, the charismatic leader of an intergalactic religious movement, falls prey to a powerful alliance of slavers, ex-assassin Magen Hirsch takes up her old profession to rescue him and break the might of the Slavers Guild. Hopen's first novel features a strong, dedicated female protagonist and a well-imagined, dystopic far-future setting. Combining elements of space opera, action-adventure, and hard sf, this tightly crafted story of revenge and redemption is a good choice for large libraries.

Library Journal