In the Shade of the Ishtar Trees: A Tale of the First Venus War

by J.P. Medved

Venus in 1887 is no paradise. Hardy colonists eke out a meager living cultivating blue Kosh root to ship back to Earth via aether transit, and traders and explorers brave the deadly foliage and even deadlier fauna of the Aphrodite continent's inner forests in search of riches.

Lieutenant Albo Collins has just come to Venus straight from graduating West Point, and the young officer craves more to do than cleaning drunks off the streets of New Philadelphia. When the governor orders the First Venusian Colonial Infantry to the northern border of the colony Collins gets his wish, but as he marches into the unexplored wilderness hot on the trail of Federalist raiders, he has little idea what horrors await him, in the shade of the Ishtar trees.

In the Shade of the Ishtar Trees is a 10,000 word (40 pages) steampunk novella.

Genres: Science Fiction, Steampunk

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 26, 2013

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, well executed premise

It's 1887 and American troops armed with Sharps cavalry carbines, 45-70 caliber Springfield rifles, revolvers and swords are advancing into the wilderness. On Venus. They are about to meet an enemy far more dangerous than the Sioux and Crow warriors who overwhelmed Custer in our universe. The Little Big Horn meets Isandlwana on an alien world. A well written, interesting story which should be longer or have a sequel. Mr. Medved, please write more and faster.

[Clay Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good description of battle scenes. Not sure why there was fighting on Venus. Could use a better cover.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short tale of VSF derring-do, which is set in the rarely trodden jungles of Venus. It is a fast paced "column against the horde" scenario which reminded me of the Zulu war, but with a US Colonial slant to it. The "young officer loyally supported by the veteran NCO" formula works nicely in the short format where there isn't the room for very detailed character development. I quite liked the opening scenes as the column moves into a foreboding position and you don't know what's coming next, but guess it wont be good...

An action packed and fun tale filled with pluck, adventure and cold steel which I recommend to any VSF fan. I'm looking forward to reading more of J.P. Medved's work.

[James Hold · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. I'm not generally into steampunk but this was all right.

[Michael DiBaggio · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In the Shade of the Ishtar Trees" is the story of a young American lieutenant's baptism by fire (and claw) in the sweltering jungles of 19th century colonial Venus. This is well-scripted and imaginative science fantasy of the sort you'd in classic role playing games like Space: 1889. The setting is nicely evocative, sprinkled with references to creatures, settlements, and alternate historical events (like the Hamiltonian Federalist renegades that Lt. Collins is initially dispatched to root out) that suggest a fully fleshed out world story without descending into pages of plot-halting exposition. I look forward to reading the other entries in the author's "Clockwork Imperium" series.

[Scott Kinkade · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Shade of the Ishtar Trees harkens back to the days of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs, where we could have adventures on celestial bodies which we now know to be uninhabitable. It certainly succeeds in that regard. It has action and a compelling storyline. I think the plot could have benefited from more backstory, but that doesn't bring down the experience at all. This story is well worth a read.

[Andy Cleary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick-read, a novella combining sci-fi and steampunk, though the elements of the latter are fairly muted in this particular book. The creation of the steampunk Venus has a lot of promise to it and I look forward to reading future stories in the same setting.

This particular story is narrow and pointed in scope: a skirmish on Venus between troops (exactly what the "government" situation is in this setting is left pretty murky, but hopefully we'll discover more in later books... There is quite a lot of reference to some rebels called the "Federalists" that we get very little insight into, for example) and some alien horrors, and ultimately the story is about the rise of a meek lower officer to temporary hero/leader status. The prevailing theme is largely "such rises are more a matter of circumstance, luck, and serendipity than a true character trait", a theme that fits with my own existentialist views. In such a short work, it's hard to develop complex characters, but a couple of characters stand out, including the grizzled veteran that supports our rising officer, and a devil-be-damned Australian artillery expert. There is blood and gore on nearly every page, so this tale is not for the light of heart.

To my taste, the emotional transitions that the lead character goes through aren't quite motivated enough, as they seem to turn on a dime and feel like they are there more to carry the author's story forward than I would like to experieince, but I think that level of subtlety is difficult to achieve for even the most seasoned writers, and I have faith that new writer Medved will continue to hone his craft to bring us even further into his characters and this complex new setting he has created.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blast to read!

This is a fun short story full of action right out of The Warlord of Mars genre. Pure adventure and an enjoyable fantasy.