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The Viper of Portello
by James C. Glass
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In war the men who served under him called him Culebra, the Viper. Soldier, strategist and military assassin, Eduardo Cabral harbors two souls, one dark and deadly, the other loving and creative. After a war ending in betrayal by those in power on a colony world and a man he has spent a lifetime trying to please, Eduardo flees to a peaceful, artistic life on another planet. But the corrupt war and its aftermath will not go away. There is revolution on his home world, and Culebra must return to help save a people crushed by cruel tyrants and those responsible for the betrayal and slaughter of Eduardo’s command in the war.
It is Culebra who must decide between innocent and guilty, those who might live or die by his hand, while he searches for a love he has never had, and a world where Eduardo Cabral can peacefully pursue his art.
Glass (Shanji) provides only a tenuous science fiction background for this otherwise excellent novel of intergenerational and interplanetary conflict. Eduardo Cabral, the artistically talented son of Armando Cabral, Nova Brazilia oligarch, has forsaken his gifts in order to pursue the military career that he hopes will win him Armando's approval. He does not suspect that his supposed father despises him as a bastard and has betrayed him into an ambush that costs the lives of all but two members of his elite special operations team. Torn between avenging his companions through assassination and pursuing art on distant planets, reluctant to confront Armando but begged by a friend to help the disenfranchised poor of Nova Brazilia, Eduardo is a compelling protagonist whose conflicts and determined sense of honor will keep readers engaged in his story from start to finish.
Peace is what those involved in war so often seek. The Viper of Portello follows one Eduardo Cabral as he deals with the betrayal of the government he fought for. All he seeks to do is reunite with his art, but it seems the only way to do that is to go with the other thing he’s good at—warfare. A story of a conflicted man who must do what he hates, The Viper of Portello is an intriguing and entertaining science fiction political thriller.
There are a handful of writers who do outstanding military science fiction — David Drake, William Dietz, David Weber. To those add one more — James Glass. Glass’s artist/assassin, Eduardo Cabral, is a welcome addition to the genre. The Viper of Portello is fast-paced, with plenty of action, and political wheels within wheels. There are personal betrayals, old grudges, and nobody is quite what they seem at first glance. If you are a fan of tough guys, guns, or good cigars, you’re gonna like this one. Oh, and let’s not forget the perverse robot sex...
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Steve Perry, author of The Musashi Flex |
The Viper of Portello is a splendid novel: science fiction with a flavor of spy thriller and psychological thriller...James Glass writes well, thinks well, and demonstrates a strong and nuanced sense of humanity, human affairs, ethnicity, and ethics. He tells an excellent story and plots it deftly; his characters are compelling (most notably his chief villain), and he ties it up nicely
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John Dalmas, author of The Regiment Series |
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