One of the highlights of World FantasyCon was the dealers’ room. where else do you get an opportunity to browse the catalogues of a dozen different small presses, buy books direct from the author, and generally see some of the underappreciated heroes of the publishing industry? One of the dealers there was Ian Whates, founder of NewCon Press, and author of the Dark Angels trilogy of space opera novels. this was the perfect opportunity for me to get my hands on the final part of that trilogy. In a fun twist, I’d bought the previous two books from Whates at a SciFi Weekender several years ago, so now have a perfectly matched set.

Dark Angels Rising picks up a decade after after The Ion Raider, and is largely concerned with getting the gang back together before going on one final job. Standard end of trilogy fare. And that’s in keeping with the trilogy as a whole. There’s nothing new or particularly inventive going on here. You’ve got a sentient spaceship, a ragtag crew of dubious morality, and a mysterious alien species that has disappeared, leaving behind strange relics as their only trace. Of course, it turns out that one of those aliens isn’t quite as disappeared as the others, and has now allied with a galactic criminal organisation and some military extremists.

What keeps Whates compelling is not the originality of his ideas, but the fun with which he presents them. If you like TV shows like Firefly, Killjoys, or Dark Matter, you’re going to find a whole lot to enjoy in the Dark Angels trilogy. It’s pulpy, joyous space opera done right. Characters you’ll enjoy spending time with, plenty of action, and a plot that never stops.

Being the last book in a series, and fairly light-hearted fare at that, it’s hard to talk about Dark Angels Rising without going into spoilers. Luckily, I also picked up Whates’ first collection of short stories, the Gift of Joy. It turns out that there’s a whole lot more to Whates than just space opera

The stories in The Gift of Joy roam across the various subgenres of science fiction, but this is still a very strong collection. the title story sees a shapeshifting assassin looking for a new career, and sets the dark yet charming tone for the book as a whole. ‘In Fear of Fog’ is an appropriately elusive story that takes a while to make sense of, but is creepy and spooky right from the off. ‘A Piratical Sabbatical’ is much more fun, and takes the form of one half a conversation, while ‘The Final Hour’ is a perfect execution of the short story format, and has the strongest ending in the collection.

Perhaps better known as a publisher than as an author, with these two books, Whates demonstrates the range of his talents. If you like space opera, grab the first Dark Angels novel, Pelquin’s Comet. If you want to sample some sorter wares, The Gift of Joy is a perfect starting point.

(for both books)