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5.0 out of 5 stars
Original, Fast-Paced Hard SF With a Hint of Nostalgia, Dec 9 2002
Elegant homage to vintage sci fi. Characters are real (though they move through far-fetched scenarios). We want the heros, Judy and Allen, to succeed, because they're 'good people.' The novel contains clear, highly crafted prose. The 'science-in-the-fiction' is thoroughly rendered, but technical moments do not distract from story. The book is an excellent juvenile read, too, because it's superbly written -- themes of disarmament and conspiracy are executed in a mature fashion yet accessible to everyone.It's a tale of adventurous scientific exploration more than laser cannon fire and adolescent angst. It has a fast-paced, movie-like plot which asks, "What if we have it all wrong -- what if space travel is truly SIMPLE and everyone could go to the stars from their backyards by simply re-building homespun shuttlecrafts?" (It'll make the home-project nuts -- the workshop tinkerers -- daydream about going to Alpha Centauri for under $200.) As 'TGS' gets going, we appreciate the overall effect of the book, used subtly by the author. It's a supremely relaxed, 'There's-good-everywhere-if-you-look-in-the-right-place' point of view, and I found it credible, refreshing. Characters, though present-day and scientifically trained, don't always have to be working; they enjoy sipping beer and kissing as much as exploring or hypothesizing about how best to avert galactic war. Mr. Oltion reinvigorates the idea of the 'Compassionate Narrator' -- a soulful way of telling a tale that's concomitant, I'll guess, with his own identity. (I was reminded of a non-religious C.S. Lewis, especially in the inspired sense of wonder; also in the benevolent way the author moves through the character's choices while keeping each genuine and humane.) The author is a bit hard on the French, but I found myself believing in them as 'bad,' at least for THIS book, and laughing about it all the while. (If anybody will get an ocean-going sub into orbit in three days, it's the French.) A definite winner in originality! K.M. McKay
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