If you have read and enjoyed the first volume of the six-book Venus Prime series you will welcome Volume II.  Like its predecessor this is an ibook – the latest publishing concept combining traditional printed books with the Internet.  After reading this book visit the virtual readers’ group at www.ibooksinc.com and have your say about it, then read what other people have written.  You can download chapters of other ibooks, leave messages to other readers and order books.  As outlined in my review of Venus Prime Volume I (previously posted on this site) new writers have taken some of the work of classic authors and written new books using their worlds and characters along with some of their own.  Surprisingly unlike so many sequels and prequels of famous classics it seems to work extraordinarily well. 

Sparta, the superhuman woman whose past is all a blur is now calling herself Ellen Troy and working as an inspector for the Space Board.  Her first mission in this story is to rescue scientists who have run into difficulties while working on Venus, and who have discovered the unthinkable; proof that an advanced life form existed on the planet thousands of years ago.  Simultaneously, her friend and fellow victim of the SPARTA project Blake Redfield is looking into a sinister organisation with its headquarters in Paris, the Athanasians.  This appears to have something to do with the SPARTA project itself so he is eager to investigate and goes underground as a homeless wanderer with an interest in Ancient Egypt where he is soon recruited.  Meanwhile there is something strange happening on Venus as well – sabotage or accident?  And what does it all have to do with those ancient Venusian artefacts? 

As with the first volume this is a tale of many strands, some of which don’t appear to have much to do with each other until they all converge and things are made clear.  Preuss provides a teasing plot-within-a-plot as not only are there events peculiar to this book to solve but also the long-term investigation into the SPARTA project and what it was all about.  If you like science fiction with plenty of science as well as the fiction (this is a lot more hard-core SF than the usual space opera) then this is for you.  I’ll be looking out for the third volume… 

…and while I am waiting I can go visit the website!