By James Lovegrove, Solaris, $7.99, 585 pages
Military-oriented science fiction looks to be a sub genre that has legs. Lots of action, fighting, and heroes doing the right thing. At times, overall theme and the plot get sacrificed for action and fighting. In this story, Gid Coxall, an ex-British military officer, lives on a half-pension, working at a job he hates, and divorced from his wife; takes up an offer called the Valhalla project. Along with his army buddy they head towards the Valhalla project, which offers a big payday, but also action. Gid makes it to Asgard, meets Odin and the other characters that inhabit the Norse pantheon. At first, Gid does not believe, but comes to believe this is all real when he runs into frost giants. He agrees to fight with Odin against Loki to stop Ragnarok. Like most stories in this sub genre they are hit and miss. Gid seems to heal from severe injuries quite quickly. Most of the characters are never really explored in depth, and are caricatures. The book also takes a long time to finally get to the point, and then rushes towards the end. The ending is a bit disappointing.
Reviewed by Kevin Winter