In the 25th century, only the Shoal possess the secret of faster-than-light travel (FTL), giving them absolute control over all trade and exploration throughout the galaxy. Mankind has operated within their influence for two centuries, establishing a dozen human colony worlds scattered along Shoal trade routes. Dakota Merrick, while serving as a military pilot, has witnessed atrocities for which this alien race is responsible. Now piloting a civilian cargo ship, she is currently ferrying an exploration team to a star system containing a derelict starship. From its wreckage, her passengers hope to salvage a functioning FTL drive of mysteriously non-Shoal origin. But the Shoal are not yet ready to relinquish their monopoly over a technology they acquired through ancient genocide.
Stealing Light
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"Packed with massive concepts and dark psychological twists . . . a seriously entertaining sci-fi pageturner." —SFX
"Ambitious, clever . . . impressive." —Starburst
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Gary Gibson, who has worked as a graphic designer and magazine editor in his home town of Glasgow, began writing at the age of fourteen. His first published novel was Angel Stations (2004), followed by Against Gravity (2005).
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Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars
13 reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
'Epic' SciFi page-turner
May 31 2008
By S. Carpenter
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Doesn't have quite the depth of Ian M Banks 'Culture' novels, but overall a very good story, well written, and fast paced. Interesting twist in that humans are not the dominant lifeform here, but actaully one of many client species.
Set in a fairly-distant future (not as far as "Culture" novels), Humans find (after inventing FTL communications, but not travel) that only one species in the galaxy has FTL capability, and they're not going to share.
Instead they provide all the long distance travel between stars as a contractual service. Limiting humans (and their other client races) to a defined area of the Milky Way, seperated from the other species.
The blurb is pretty short, but the story is about an insular group of humans who discover a very old ship with FTL drives in a system they were exploring prior to contracting a colony there. They plan to steal the ship for their own use, but need outside help to accomplish this task, (the main character of the story). I won't go beyond that, but needless to say, they can't just get on the derelict and go.
All in all, a very high-tech, hard science story with good characters and a plot that will keep you guessing a bit.
Set in a fairly-distant future (not as far as "Culture" novels), Humans find (after inventing FTL communications, but not travel) that only one species in the galaxy has FTL capability, and they're not going to share.
Instead they provide all the long distance travel between stars as a contractual service. Limiting humans (and their other client races) to a defined area of the Milky Way, seperated from the other species.
The blurb is pretty short, but the story is about an insular group of humans who discover a very old ship with FTL drives in a system they were exploring prior to contracting a colony there. They plan to steal the ship for their own use, but need outside help to accomplish this task, (the main character of the story). I won't go beyond that, but needless to say, they can't just get on the derelict and go.
All in all, a very high-tech, hard science story with good characters and a plot that will keep you guessing a bit.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Space opera the way it should be!
Aug 24 2008
By S. Dekker
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Stealing light is space opera in the tradition of Alastair Reynolds' revelation space novels. In fact it could have been part of the same universe: Eridana's Yellowstone (Redstone), conjoiners (machine heads), hidden cache artefacts... It's all there!
Dakota Merrick, a machine head, is trying to make a living with her semi intelligent space ship Piri Reis. Where she goes, trouble seems to follow. Flash back chapters make clear she was involved in a violent incident between a faction of Machine heads and Freeholders, due to corrupted Machine head's implants. As a result Machine heads were forced to abandon their implants. But what caused the corruption?
Dakota -like many other Machine heads- can't bear the loss of implants and finds a way to wear them illegally. She becomes the centre of a web of intrigues triggered by the Shoal, the only race with a working star drive. What follows is a tantalizing chain of events leading to a hidden artefact. But knowledge without wisdom may lead to destruction...
The only drawback I found was an overdose of violence with innocent victims. Yet this is great space opera! The open end makes me long for the sequel.
Dakota Merrick, a machine head, is trying to make a living with her semi intelligent space ship Piri Reis. Where she goes, trouble seems to follow. Flash back chapters make clear she was involved in a violent incident between a faction of Machine heads and Freeholders, due to corrupted Machine head's implants. As a result Machine heads were forced to abandon their implants. But what caused the corruption?
Dakota -like many other Machine heads- can't bear the loss of implants and finds a way to wear them illegally. She becomes the centre of a web of intrigues triggered by the Shoal, the only race with a working star drive. What follows is a tantalizing chain of events leading to a hidden artefact. But knowledge without wisdom may lead to destruction...
The only drawback I found was an overdose of violence with innocent victims. Yet this is great space opera! The open end makes me long for the sequel.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
fun, not new
Sep 14 2008
By Sean Riley
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
An entertaining read, though it felt as if the universe was slapped together from pieces of other novels from the same genre. Alastair Reynolds, Ken Macleod, and Ian Banks should be getting some royalties for this one.
Regardless, I actually liked it enough. As I started to write this review I actually confused this book with Saturn's Children by Charles Stross. Don't read these two books too close together! They appear to have the same lead character in them!!!111one
Regardless, I actually liked it enough. As I started to write this review I actually confused this book with Saturn's Children by Charles Stross. Don't read these two books too close together! They appear to have the same lead character in them!!!111one
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3.6 out of 5 stars
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