Title Crystal Rain Series Xenowealth Author Tobias S. Buckell Cover Art Todd Lockwood Publisher Tor Books - 2006 First Printing Tor Books - 2006 Category Science Fiction Warnings None Main Characters John DeBrun, Pepper, Oaxyctl, Jerome, Dihana, Haidan Main Elements Spaceships Website tobiasbuckell.com

Long ago, so the stories say, the old-fathers came to Nanagada through a worm's hole in the sky. Looking for a new world to call their own, they brought with them a rich melange of cultures, religions, and dialects from a far-off planet called Earth. Mighty were the old-fathers, with the power to shape the world to their liking - but that was many generations ago, and what was once known has long been lost. Where people once looked up to see great silver cities in the sky, steamboats and gas-filled blimps now traverse the planet.

Like his world, John DeBrun has forgotten more than he remembers. Twenty-seven years ago, the washed up onto the shore of Nanagada with no memory of his past. Although he has made a new life for himself, his soul remains haunted by unanswered questions about his own identity.

These mysteries take on new urgency when the fearsome Azteca storm over the Wicked High Mountains in search of fresh blood and hearts to feed their cruel, inhuman gods. Nanagada's only hope lies in a mythical artifact, the Ma Wi Jung, said to be hidden somewhere in the frozen north. And only John DeBrun knows the device's secrets, even if he can't remember why or how!

Crystal Rain is the much-anticipated debut novel by one of science fiction's newest and most promising talent.

The book club where I buy some of my books sent me this one by mistake. I was a little disappointed since I really wanted the other one, but decided to read this one anyway. The cover didn't really impress me much, it kind of looked like an airborn pirate story, the main character even has a hook instead of a hand. I didn't care much for it at the beginning, the manner of speech of some of the characters made me want to throw a grammar book at them. But then John DeBrun appeared with his proper english and I began to get interested. He was the one with the hook, and he wasn't a pirate. And I've always found the Aztecs fascinating, so I was curious to see how things would turn out.

It turned out alright. I liked John, and even kind of liked Pepper. And the reason for the dialects were explained and I kind of got used to them over time. Know that this is not a book I would have ever bought on my own and the only reason I read it in the first place was because I had it and it wouldn't have been worth the cost to ship it back to the club. So far from becoming a favorite book of mine, it was an OK read.