Concluding the Daimones trilogy about an alien
invasion
by Massimo Marino, set in Europe. A small number of
survivors are under the control of the invaders, who plan
to genetically manipulate them and have already enhanced
Dan Amenta's senses and meddled in his family life. Some
resisting people have fought back. THE RISE OF THE PHOENIX
takes up the story.
Ninety years have passed and Dan's settlement in Italy is
thriving, while his son Samuel has risen through the ranks
of the new space fleet. The alien Daimones call our planet
Eridu, and have established a watching station out past
Neptune in case other spaceships from unfriendly races
come
calling. The social consequences of some humans having
longer lives, while their family members do not, have been
saddening, and by now all children are of the adapted
race.
Dan is still healthy, though mentally older and sadder
than
most.
Deciding that the time is right to move, Dan and his
friend
Manfred organise a movement to round up and hold thousands
of Daimones walking around on Eridu. A long-held
suspicion
that the aliens beings are exploiting humans for their own
purposes is about to be tested. The next move is to try
taking over the space fleet... if the humans dare.
I was interested by the concept of filing a complaint with
alien races in a Confederation which has already killed
off
almost all human life on our planet. The scale of this
third instalment is much grander, with a wormhole allowing
traffic across the galaxy and into our system.
Battlecruisers, neurotransmitters and tractor beams are
among the familiar SF jargon, but bioscience is
represented
too as the humans conspire to spread a nasty disease among
their alien managers. As with many space war stories
almost
all characters are male, but I was pleased to meet a
competent Marine called Amy who provides a fine balance.
Horror fans will most readily enjoy THE RISE OF THE
PHOENIX
as some aspects are unpleasant, while the military action
and floating speaking globes tend to depersonalise
characters. Massimo Marino has given us a sliding-scale
trilogy reminiscent of Battlefield Earth while keeping his
main character Dan as someone for us to identify with and
cheer for throughout the hardships of his life.
In a dark future, a first contact and an alien colonization changes forever the destiny of the race of man. Aliens have regenerated a new, transgenic species of humans called the Selected. The first contact with the aliens led to the apocalypse-- Daimones Trilogy Vol.1--and then put the seeds for a galactic upheaval, space wars againts aliens, and galactic empires struggles. The last humans--the 'spared ones'--have all died but Hope, the second of Dan Amenta's human daughters, though she's living her last days, too. Dan has seen Earth become a different world as the new civilization rises. A new neurological drug, Fusion, is heavily produced on Eridu and has created the path for a rapid evolution of the new humans, richness and good fortune. The past events--Daimones Trilogy Vol.2--revealed the crucial role the humans have in the galaxy organization...and made them aware of their strength. Once Hope leaves this life, a moral obligation suddenly is no more. Things can change, and they must. A new order and a new course will put in place the events the Moîrai have sewn and destined to rip apart the foundations of the galaxy. "Even with the best of intentions, cruelty is just around the corner."
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