In the early years of the 21st century humanity has advanced step by slow step into space, but has discovered through constant monitoring of the heavens that certain asteroids have changed their orbits and are headed for horrifying impact with Earth. Urgent action is required, but politics and a worldwide financial crash get in the way. The members of the van Huyten family, led by matriarch Mariesa who heads the vast space industry complex she has spent her life developing, the Pooles with their computer and security expertise, many political movers and shakers and dedicated pilots and space travelers of all stripes must pull together to save humanity from disaster. From the government offices and factories of Earth, to the Low Earth Orbit station, to manufacturing facilities on the moon, all of space-going humanity is united in an epic effort to save the planet from certain destruction and a new Dark Age, or perhaps even the extinction of all life on Earth.
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
From Publishers Weekly
The world is menaced in true cataclysmic fashion in this epic of the near future, the conclusion to Flynn's previous books, Firestar, Rogue Star and Lodestar. The premise of the novel is exciting enough, and Flynn handles a vast number of characters reasonably well (there's a four-page list of names at the beginning), but the overall effect is exhausting. In the year 2017 certain asteroids have changed their orbit and are on a collision course with Earth. There's a global financial crash, and politics--including the quasi-fascistic machinations of a Huey Long-like politico--force the principals from Flynn's other novels to band together and voyage to an asteroid in a desperate, if not suicidal, attempt to save the world. Some of the characters are jaw-droppingly yclept (Chase Coughlin, Choo-choo Honnycott, Alexandra Feathershaft, Meat Tucker), and some of the techno-babble is irritatingly obtuse. And if Bill Pronzini ever does an SF version of Gun in Cheek, he need look no further for absurd, "alternative" dialogue. (A sample: "No, carry on, Rosario. I just realized. Some herbie dust bunny with his thumb up his toot stepped up on that flange and crunched the fibrops against the edge with his goddam boot!") Still, for readers hungry for a politically astute, crisis-laden SF novel in a well-imagined future, this is adequate fare.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The discovery of a group of asteroids headed toward Earth sparks a flurry of political and scientific maneuvering to prevent a disastrous collision. When some of the asteroids change their course, as if directed by some alien intelligence, a fleet of ships travels to the nearest asteroid in a desperate attempt to deflect it, destroy it, or, perhaps, capture it for future study. The conclusion of Flynn's grand-scale near-future epic combines the rapid pacing of sf action adventure with the subtle maneuverings of political intrigue in a panoramic drama of human courage and sacrifice. A good choice, along with other series titles (Lodestar, Rogue Star, Firestar), for most sf collections. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
In the early years of the 21st century humanity has advanced step by slow step into space, but has discovered through constant monitoring of the heavens that certain asteroids have changed their orbits and are headed for horrifying impact with Earth. Urgent action is required, but politics and a worldwide financial crash get in the way. The members of the van Huyten family, led by matriarch Mariesa who heads the vast space industry complex she has spent her life developing, the Pooles with their computer and security expertise, many political movers and shakers and dedicated pilots and space travelers of all stripes must pull together to save humanity from disaster. From the government offices and factories of Earth, to the Low Earth Orbit station, to manufacturing facilities on the moon, all of space-going humanity is united in an epic effort to save the planet from certain destruction and a new Dark Age, or perhaps even the extinction of all life on Earth.
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
From Publishers Weekly
The world is menaced in true cataclysmic fashion in this epic of the near future, the conclusion to Flynn's previous books, Firestar, Rogue Star and Lodestar. The premise of the novel is exciting enough, and Flynn handles a vast number of characters reasonably well (there's a four-page list of names at the beginning), but the overall effect is exhausting. In the year 2017 certain asteroids have changed their orbit and are on a collision course with Earth. There's a global financial crash, and politics--including the quasi-fascistic machinations of a Huey Long-like politico--force the principals from Flynn's other novels to band together and voyage to an asteroid in a desperate, if not suicidal, attempt to save the world. Some of the characters are jaw-droppingly yclept (Chase Coughlin, Choo-choo Honnycott, Alexandra Feathershaft, Meat Tucker), and some of the techno-babble is irritatingly obtuse. And if Bill Pronzini ever does an SF version of Gun in Cheek, he need look no further for absurd, "alternative" dialogue. (A sample: "No, carry on, Rosario. I just realized. Some herbie dust bunny with his thumb up his toot stepped up on that flange and crunched the fibrops against the edge with his goddam boot!") Still, for readers hungry for a politically astute, crisis-laden SF novel in a well-imagined future, this is adequate fare.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The discovery of a group of asteroids headed toward Earth sparks a flurry of political and scientific maneuvering to prevent a disastrous collision. When some of the asteroids change their course, as if directed by some alien intelligence, a fleet of ships travels to the nearest asteroid in a desperate attempt to deflect it, destroy it, or, perhaps, capture it for future study. The conclusion of Flynn's grand-scale near-future epic combines the rapid pacing of sf action adventure with the subtle maneuverings of political intrigue in a panoramic drama of human courage and sacrifice. A good choice, along with other series titles (Lodestar, Rogue Star, Firestar), for most sf collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.