FEATURED AUTHOR - Willow Rose is a multi-million-copy bestselling author and an Amazon All-Star Author with a portfolio comprising more than 90 novels. Several of her works have ascended to the top 10 across all genres in the Amazon stores of the US, UK, and Canada. Her literary prowess extends globally, with over six million books sold and translations in numerous languages. Renowned for her knack for crafting fast-paced, nail-biting page-turners with unexpected twists, Willow Rose has earned the moniker "The…
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Recent comments: User reviews
I'm having a nervous breakdown, Drive me insane!"
..Led Zeppelin
Powerful ships with twins (they get along better?) have been dispatched to alien planets to make contact, but they are getting picked off one by one because of difficulty in communication which leads to the natives reacting with hostility.
Paul Jameison is depressed after losing his twin Johnny to a catlike race called the Varn and he's now trying to communicate with a new race called the Throon.
It's not going well, he's depressed because of the loss of his brother, and because the whole program is actually going in the crapper. Every contact with native species leads to misunderstanding and conflict. Reports from the program director are also depressing as more and more crews are losing their lives for the same reason.
He is working on the Throon when he gets the creepy feeling someone is watching him.....
Is it the ghost of his brother? Or something else? The feeling leads him to question his own sanity.
What/who he finds in the dark corners of his spaceship leads to a solution of a sorts to all kinds of communication problems.
Comment; this is a pretty interesting plot but the ending is seriously truncated. Worth a read, however.
I knew this sounded familiar. It is the basis for the movie "The Absent Minded Professor" with Fred McMurray. Out in 1961.
The professor invented "flubber" a rubber that had it's own energy and bounced without force. Used it to fly around, and put it in his in his Ford get it airborne. The story itself is still pretty lame though.
All comes together in pulp fashion and the good guy gets the girl too.
Overriding the capitalism and trade issues is the almost mystic belief that the Terran Federation has created an omniscient computer named the Merlin Project to help with the war, which if found, could resolve and help with all the local problems-even run the government and define religion in the view of some fringe groups. There is a suspicion it is on or near Poictesme. Does it exist, or is it just a myth? Will they find it? What will they ask it if they do? What might it do or say? Conn has some info about the project (or lack of a project) that he learned on Terra that he is keeping close to the vest.....
Comment: This is an interesting story but it is divided between the computer quest and the somewhat bogged down space business affairs. Fans of galactic empire building computer games may like it, But in my view, there is much too much "who did what" to get money or manage assets in the stock market to allow the purchase or outfitting of yet another ship. Almost gets like a Tolstoy novel trying to keep the characters straight. Otherwise worth a read.
Bart Steele a 17 year old novice astrogator is in a Lhari spaceport to meet his father, but quickly becomes embroiled in a plot to wrest the secret of the drive from the Lhari. At first he shares the human prejudice against the Lhari, but contact with them in an intimate way (which I won't give away) allows him to get to know them and see both sides of the issue. This then puts his humanity and courage to the extreme test.
Comment; This is a great story with a satisfying and positive ending. The protagonist embarks on a "mini quest" which not only changes and matures him, but in doing so, enriches the relationship between both the Lhari and human races as well.
The freeways are a mile wide with lanes crossing over from 100mph to 400mph. The cruiser patrols the middle lane and in addition to being jet powered, had a an emergency surgery, food and sleeping quarters for the crew, a crane, and much more stuff including monitoring gear and a pair of .25 cal machine guns mounted up front. Hand out citations, clear wrecks, rescue people, fight the bad guys deliver a baby and chuckle at the repressed sexual tension between the crewmembers.
Have fun!
A good read.
The burn has taken them to 1/2 C and they are many decades out and coasting They are about at the midpoint of their journey and losing contact with earth. Most are in life suspension.
Unexpectedly, a message is received from Earth which details a change in the political situation ending a key discriminatory issue. They should be welcome again.
Do they continue to the unsettled planet and suffer the deprivation and dangers of a new environs? Or to turn back, knowing Earth is decades away and each day they delay a decision puts them many hundreds of thousands of miles distant from it. Will the change be there when they return? Which is the wiser decision?
The captain, crew and colonists must decide, but all have their fears and prejudices which guide their actions in a typically human way. Their flaws and dysfunctions are detailed well. All the while they are getting further and further from Earth, hoping for a confirmatory transmission.
The Captain bears ultimate responsibility, and must be decisive. He looks for guidance in an unlikely place and acts......
Comment;
The story is kind of a downer. The characters aren't really happy with anything much. There is a great deal of detail given to the mechanics of their travel. This underpins and builds the literary base for the tense environment of the human interest element which involves the need to make a difficult life decision.
On shore leave, something very bad happens to the Guesser, which I won't give away, and he must try to set it right one way or another.
The plot rolls right along till the somewhat disappointing ending. It is fun getting to understand the protagonist's class rank in the society and how it determines his actions, and this could be the first chapter of a really fun novel. Maybe it is, and I don't know about it. I think it's a disappointment that Mr. Garrett has created such an interesting and detailed universe but doesn't follow up. Read it anyway.