Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Spindrift

by Allen Steele


If you were worried, like this reviewer, that the wonderful Coyote series had come to an end with Coyote Frontier (also reviewed on this site) then worry no more. This is not another story about Coyote, although it does play a small part, but about the discovery that the human race is no longer alone. Yes, I know this is an old theme and has been done countless times. There is always room for somebody who can make it fresh and exciting, and that person is surely Allen Steele. Simply, the EASS Galileo is sent on a mission to investigate a strange object that has been dubbed Spindrift. On board is an incompetent scion of the English nobility as captain; a small crew and Jared Ramirez, the astrophysicist who collaborated with the Savants to destroy a third of the Earth’s population. Ramirez was serving a life sentence in a top security jail, but was sprung to serve on this epic mission. None of the crew are ready for what is about to befall them…

If you love the style of early SF that has become well-loved classics, here is another story in the same mold. The famous “sense of wonder” that early SF had in spades is here in abundance, but salted with political comment for the modern reader. It is not such a “big” story as that of Coyote, and I do hope at some point Mr Steele returns to regale us with what the colonists have been up to but it still has the power to grip and enthral. More importantly it has a great sense of hope and optimism, and the theme that if there is somebody out there maybe they might be better natured than the warlike humans. As with the earlier books there are clichés in here, but somehow it doesn’t seem to matter. I hope this series continues to grow and grow.

The Book

Orbit (Time Warner)
7 June 2006
Paperback
9781841496009
Science Fiction - 23rd Century
More at Amazon UK || US
Excerpt
NOTE:
US copy is different and hardcover

The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2007
NOTE:
© 2006 MyShelf.com