Falling Stars (Hardcover)

In previous novels, Flynn has recorded the spread of industry into low Earth orbit (LEO) and beyond. Indeed, the LEO Consortium can't grow fast enough to meet the demand and some sharp operators find a way to cheat.

Meanwhile, a space probe observing an asteroid is destroyed and the data indicates that the destruction resulted from a rocket flare. And then telescopic observations find that the asteroid has changed orbit and is on course toward Earth.

Falling Stars begins with a market crash following exposure of the LEO fraud and announcement of the incoming asteroid. The president reacts to the downturn by raiding the federal budget to bailout social security and raises interest rates. Stocks of the LEO Consortium and other space industries are hurt the most in the downturn and lines of credit are drying up. Businesses are failing and jobs are becoming scarce.

With the business panic, nobody is really concerned about the asteroid, except Mariesa van Huyten. Realizing that the six years to impact is a very short lead, Mariesa uses her money and influence to start laying an infrastructure to defend against the asteroid.

This novel illustrates the weaknesses of both government and industry in sustaining the growth and viability of space development. As evidenced by the abrupt termination of the Apollo project, government funds are fickle and subject to the whims of the public and politicians. Private industry, on the other hand, is more likely to persevere in the pursuit of profit, but are subject to failures of confidence -- panics -- that dry up capital investment.

This novel is not only entertaining, but also thought provoking. While the plot may seem unlikely, so did the events that lead to World War I. How would our world react to an asteroid headed toward the Earth? At this time, we would have few options; mostly to dig in and wait it out. Could we mobilize the resources of the whole world to defend against the threat or would we go down fighting among ourselves?

This series is well worth reading. It is much like Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold the Moon", only better. I impatiently awaited each sequel as they came out and I regret its conclusion. Hopefully, Flynn will write further stories in this universe.

Falling Stars is the final book in his Stars Series which brings together a dream for the human race & its stepping out of the cradle with the hard realities & political necessities such dreams must really face. Anyone with children knows those first steps bring bloody noses & so it is brought to life in vivid color in Flynn's writings.

Great Space Opera!

Maybe if the third book in this series had not marked time so badly, Flynn wouldn't have had to cram as much material into the fourth. And maybe he wouldn't have had to leave so many major plot elements (Most notably: Who Threw the Rocks and Why?) dangling. Just from the viewpoint of plot mechanics, "Falling Stars" is unsatisfying -- and that makes the whole series frustrating.

From a viewpoint of characterization, all the major characters dig down to the clockwork in their souls -- and somehow it's just not very interesting. Possibly that's because it's the male characters getting in touch with their inmost selves in "Falling Stars," where the women went through this process in the earlier books. Flynn has written some of the most unpleasant, manipulative, driven female characters I've read in years -- but they're capable of better than their clockworks would indicate and they're always interesting. The males, on the other hand, don't seem to get beyond overripe adolescence.

I'm glad I read the "Stars" series -- Flynn is hugely inventive and his style is pleasant -- but I doubt I'll ever feel drawn to re-read it.