The Northern Star: The End by Mike Gullickson

Reviewed by Erin Eymard.

The final novel wraps up the journey of John Raimey, who, thirty-five years before, became the first bionic soldier ever deployed in the field. He is a giant, a Tank Major, fourteen feet tall and with enough power in his fists to level buildings. He is a legend of war, cursed with a fate where everyone he touches - even in love - dies.

Evan Lindo, the father of bionics, now rules the world through his most ingenious creation, The Northern Star. But a war in the Middle East has triggered events that lead to Raimey. And a secret has been unveiled that sets Raimey on one last mission before he finds his place in Hell.

Mike Gullickson's The Northern Star: The End is the perfect ending to his The Northern Star trilogy. It brings the series and your favorite characters to satisfying conclusions. I read the book in three days but kept putting writing a review aside because nothing I wrote seemed to do justice to Gullickson's story.

One of the things that I always loved about Gullickson's writing is that he makes you care about his characters. You become invested in them and find yourself rooting for them (even the ones on the 'wrong' side). His storytelling is witty, real, and heart wrenching at the same time. You truly come to care about characters in this series, whether they are with you from page one of The Beginning or if you just met them in this book. Their journeys engage you. Their triumphs excite you. Their failures move you.

The characters in this trilogy are, with three exceptions, various shades of gray when it comes to morality. And while the majority of this book follows John Raimey and Mike Glass, both men who have done bad things by following orders but are nonetheless sympathetic characters. They are just vehicles bringing the reader to the true heart of the struggle between the characters of Vanessa, Evan, and Justin.

Vanessa represents the maiden, mother, and crone character. We first see her as a child losing her parents; then we see her as a mother, of sorts, to the world; and finally we see her as the aged goddess who wishes to save the world. Evan's evolution takes him from brilliant scientist to power hungry genius and then monster. His story is one of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. And finally there is Justin, the Sleeper King, whose story proves that sometimes you just can't escape your destiny.

The whole series is a science fiction masterpiece that will make the reader evaluate our current paths in regards to technology and the internet. Great read! Will read again!

For more information on The Northern Star series, please visit the author's website.

The Northern Star: Civil War by Mike Gullickson

Reviewed by The Bookworm's Fancy.

Mike Gullickson’s The Northern Star: Civil War picks up with a bang eleven years after the events of The Northern Star: The Beginning. The tentative cooperation between the world government and MindCorp (the company that owns the technology that makes civilization possible in a world drained of oil) has slowly begun to fray. Like its predecessor, Civil War is full of complex characters with interconnecting motives. It is very hard to separate the bulk of the characters into good/bad or black/white. Instead they all (except for Evan Lindo) exist in a state of varying shades of gray. This, in of itself, makes for a compelling read. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Let me start with the easy stuff. All too often, we hear horror stories of indie books with bad editing and horrible covers. Not only are Gullickson’s covers amazing, but the editing is spot on. No odd formatting or glaring grammatical errors to break the reader’s immersion in the story.

I referred to Gullickson’s The Northern Star: The Beginning as an “old school, science-fiction romp”. The Northern Star: Civil War is this and so much more. It is more than just men in mechs destroying each other. It is more than amazing technological advances. Gullickson manages to make it all accessible to the average reader without overloading the senses. The technology is intricate and complicated but explained to the reader with a simple ease that just flows.

All the characters that survived through the first book are back to continue their journey in this book. Most interesting, though, is the inclusion of John Raimey’s now twenty-year-old daughter, Vanessa. Just a child in the first book, she has blossomed into a confident, intelligent young woman working with the bionics. While Gullickson’s story sets her up as the lynchpin to the ultimate evil scheme, the character of Vanessa becomes the emotional center of the story. Her relationships with Evan Lindo, Mike Glass, and John Raimey drive the story just as much as the constant struggle for power between MindCorp and the government.

Following the trend of the second installment in a trilogy being darker, Civil War is to The Beginning as the Empire Strikes Back is to A New Hope. It is decidedly darker, dirtier, and grittier. You find yourself rooting for the heroes and rallying with them only to have the rug pulled out from beneath you when they fail. The final scenes evoked the same emotional distress and despair as when Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite. The ending compels you to read the last book in the series because it just can’t end like this. The good guys have to win. Or do they?

The Bookworm gives The Northern Star: Civil War 4.5 stars for delicious darkness. For more information, please visit the author's website.

Author Interview with Mike Gullickson

Greetings, fellow bibliophiles! Today I have the pleasure of introducing you all to Mike Gullickson, author of The Northern Star:  The Beginning.

Erin aka The Bookworm: "Thank you for agreeing to do this interview! First, Tell us about what inspired the story?"

Mike Gullickson: “A lot of my novels start with images that pop in my head. I wish I could draw. My mom insists I can, but she’s referencing dinosaurs from 4th grade and that’s when I peaked.

For The Northern Star, I distinctly remember when it came into existence. It occurred about ten years ago while I was listening to Radiohead’s “I Might Be Wrong.” There’s a line in the song:

There is no future left at all/That I know

(I checked. It’s actually “There is no future left at all/That I think,” but it’s too late to go back, I heard “that I know” for the last decade.)

And that line haunted me with imagery that became The Northern Star. The story changed significantly since those first images, but that’s how it began. An inconsequential fact: I first wrote The Northern Star as a screenplay. It was horrible.

Other external inspirations that shaped me are Stephen King (like many authors, On Writing is my bible), Guillermo Del Toro, and Terminator 2, because as a kid, I wanted to be one.

Erin:  ”So you are a RadioHead fan? What are some of your favorite songs? Any other music inspire your writing?“

Mike: “It’s funny. Just by volume of listening, I’d be considered a huge radio fan (I’m 100% certain I’ve listened to “I Might Be Wrong,” more than anyone else in the world. I wrote the first two novels of The Northern Star with it looped), but it’s become almost a workman-like relationship. For whatever reason, Amnesiac and Kid A (two Radiohead albums) transport me to the place I need to go in order to write this stuff. It’s almost Pavlovian.

If you want to know what songs are The Northern Star, they are:

"You and Whose Army?" (Radiohead, Amnesiac)

The entire song reminds me of the latter half of the series when most of the characters, especially the bionics, are nearly unrecognizable from where they came. You forget so easy, is a line in it that still gives me chills.

"I Might Be Wrong" (Radiohead, Amnesiac)

Previously discussed. The catalyst that started the whole series. I don’t think the novels would exist without this song, which is kind of weird.

"The National Anthem" (Radiohead, Kid A)

This is the song I play before I start writing anything to do with the series. Jeez, I’m starting to sound weird, but if you meet me, I’m super normal. No matter what city I’m in, people always ask me for directions. That’s how normal I am.

"How to Disappear Completely" (Radiohead, Kid A)

A song of intense loss and tragedy, which this series has in spades (Lyric: In a little while . . . I’ll be gone). So many of the characters lose themselves in this story, and some of them know that to make right, their sacrifice will be even greater. One of the characters is a sociopath, and I think, as the story progresses, he may be the most tragic of them all. I’m listening to it right now, and I can feel a swell of emotion for them.

I can’t think of any other music that’s inspired my writing, but I do listen to AC/DC a ton.“

Erin:  ”Who was your favorite character you’ve ever written? Why?“

Mike:  "This is a great question because my gut reaction surprised me. Intellectually, it would be John Raimey (the character that ties the entire series together), but emotionally it’s Jeremiah Sabot, Cynthia Revo’s bodyguard/lover.

He’s loyal to Cynthia without being weak. And while most people in that situation (she’s the smartest, wealthiest, and most powerful person in the world) would wilt and lose their identity, he’s etched out clear boundaries. In her expertise, she’s the boss. But in his (war) he gives her no quarter. In one situation, he doesn’t even let her speak. Of all the characters, he knows exactly who he is and what he must do, and there’s something admirable about that. And his love for Cynthia is absolute.

Incidentally, Sabot is my wife’s favorite character, too.“

Erin:  ”I love how the characters of Evan and Xan play off each other even though they never meet. I’m sure most readers would characterize Evan as a “villain” character but would be a little troubled by where to place Xan. We certainly can’t characterize him as a hero. Would you characterize him as an anti-hero?“

Mike: “One of the editors, Justin, asked the same thing, “ugh, is Xan bad?” No. He isn’t. He’s looking out for his country, and their interests aren’t our own. I don’t like ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ I think it’s boring and simplistic and not true to life. I’m not the first to say it, but bad people don’t think they’re bad. It doesn’t mean their not, just that there’s an impetus for their actions.

I have a soft spot for Xan. Subterfuge takes on a whole new meaning when powerful Sleepers (cyberspace hackers) can read a person’s mind and even sway their predilections. It makes spying look like patty cake, and he is aware that his kind (in the book, I call them ‘shadow men’) are a detriment. He surprised me a bit.

The difference between Xan and Dr. Lindo rests in their motives. Dr. Lindo wants power. His end game is for him alone. Xan desires a sane world. It’s like divergent evolution. Their end goals are similar, but their reason for getting there is completely different.

Aside from Sabot, I think most of the characters are anti-heroes. You can’t help but be flawed in their circumstances.“

Erin:  ”Tell us about your upcoming book.“

Mike:  "The Northern Star: Civil War takes place ten years after The Beginning. While the world governments have calmed, they are increasingly wary of MindCorp’s jurisdiction over them, as their citizens reside almost completely on-line, turning national borders into lines on a map.

Raimey is sent to the Congo to confront a warlord who is raiding valuable mineral mines that MindCorp needs to maintain and grow the network. Tank Minors (infantry-based bionics) have been in service for three years. Mike Glass is the first of that kind, and by the Civil War he is the most advanced. Always cold, he has found someone that he connects to, and even for him, loves.

Dr. Lindo, now the Secretary of Defense, manipulates the world’s leaders for his final plan. The corrupt he blackmails, the righteous he threatens what they hold dear. MIME CPU’s whisper his will in cyberspace. “The Twins” – two advanced Tank Majors – enact his will on Earth. And only Cynthia Revo stands in his way.

I thought it’d be an easier re-write than The Beginning. I was wrong. But if I can pull it off, I think this will be an excellent addition to The Northern Star series. The last book, The End, is gonzo.“

To read more of the interview visit the Bookworm's Fancy. Click here to read the New Podler Book Review post on The Northern Star: The Beginning. To visit Mike Gullickson's page please click here.

The Northern Star: The Beginning by Mike Gullickson

Reviewed by Erin

The year is 2058. The great oil shortage that we have been warned about since the 1970s has finally come to pass, causing the Great Migration, where people began moving from the suburbs and back into the cities. Enter Cynthia Revo who successfully frees the mind from its physical prison. People now live more in cyberspace than in reality. But it is much more than that. Cyberspace is now the new reality. It has become necessary for almost every aspect of society. The economies of countries depend on it. But no one suspects the evil that lurks around the next cyber corner.

At first glance, I was prepared to dislike this book. I feared it was going to be a preachy environmental tale hidden behind a story that was part pre-Matrix, part Mechwarrior, and part Ender’s Game. I was delightfully surprised. I was treated to an old school science-fiction romp.

The characters are complex creations that grow and evolve throughout the story which, at its core, is a morality tale. Would you do bad things for the right reasons? When does the greater good trump personal freedom? Not even the villain is truly beyond redemption, though such redemption does not come in this book.

My one complaint is the addition of what, in my opinion, is an unnecessary section at the beginning of the book. It expounds on the background of a character that isn't a factor in the rest of the story. What we learn about him has already been covered by other characters in the story. In fact, he's probably the one non-complex character in the whole story. Oddly enough, the narrator for this part dies at the end of the chapter so even he doesn't have any value. Nor is the setting for this chapter important. It takes place in the jungles of Venezuela, but Venezuela is never mentioned anywhere else in the book. And the placement, early in the book, is all wrong and disrupts the flow. It breaks with how the rest of the book is laid out.

The book wraps up nicely with lots of action and suspense, setting up for the sequel brilliantly. I am looking forward to the next book which I’m sure will explore the question of at what point do we stop being human. At least, I hope it does. I give this book four out of five stars.

The Northern Star: The Beginning is available in a variety of formats. The links for which can be found on the author's website.