Welcome to the shiny new world of ibooks.  Even if reading e-books off computer screens gives you a headache (as it does this reviewer) any fans of a good novel can participate electronically with this latest publishing concept provided they have access to the Internet.  Read the books and then log on to the virtual readers’ group at www.ibooksinc.com to discuss them with other enthusiasts, leave messages or download chapters from forthcoming attractions, order books at discounted prices and more.  Ibooks is also the first new publishing imprint of the 21st century, taking the printed word a step further into the future. 

The best names of SF and detective fiction (predominantly) such as Arthur C Clarke, Ben Bova, Conan Doyle, Isaac Asimov and Raymond Chandler ring down the ages as being literary innovators.  Fresh new talent has taken some of their concepts, worlds, characters etc and penned new books with it to enchant a new generation of readers.  There is nothing new about this idea you might think and I confess to being sceptical.  I’ve read quite a few sequels and prequels to other novels and endless Sherlockiana and am seldom moved to rave or even mildly applaud – Stephen Baxter’s The Time Ships and Mark Frost’s List of Seven/Six Messiahs being rare exceptions to this rule.  This first ibook from January boasts a foreword by Arthur C Clarke who sounds a bit sceptical too,  blueprints of various robots and spacecraft featured in the tale and... 

…A rather fine story.  A mysterious young woman locked away in a sanatorium and suffering from amnesia suddenly remembers enough to make her wish to escape with all speed.  This first product of advanced biotech engineering; codename Sparta transforms herself into Inspector Ellen Troy of the Space Board and has to solve a crime.  Two people want to get their hands on a copy of T E Lawrence’s The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a rarity from the days of real printed books and about two hundred years old at the time of this story.  One is Sondra Sylvester, chief executive of the Ishtar Mining Corporation and the other is Vincent Darlington, director of the Hesperian Museum on Venus. For Venus in this book is the Venus of our dreams, a place where humans can live (albeit not out in the open) and archaeologists can unearth the remains of bizarre prehistoric creatures.  The book has to get from Earth to Venus but en route an asteroid hits the Star Queen and the hapless two men aboard have to settle amongst themselves who will make it to the planet with the precious cargo with only enough oxygen for one.  Murder, double-dealing, mysterious organisations, secrets...its all in here in the form of a most teasing plot. 

At first I found that the story about Sparta, the auction for the book and the scenes with the two crewmen in the doomed Star Queen didn’t seem to have a lot to do with each other.  They seemed akin to parallel line which weren’t on track to converge but as the story went on the three plot strands got closer and closer and then I could see how they intertwined in the most satisfying way.  If you like SF the classic way you will enjoy this one and it has a sequel too which will shortly appear on this site. 

Now I’m off to pay another visit to the ibooks’ website…