The (so far) final entry of author Vaughn Heppner’s Lost
Starship series opens with a Swarm science fleet, two hundred and fourteen
light-years from Earth, entering a haunted star system in the Sagittarius
Spiral Arm. Meanwhile, in the Orion spiral arm of the Tau Ceti System,
Brigadier Mary O’Hara, Chief of Star Watch Intelligence, visits an abandoned
space station, wondering where Professor Ludendorff is, when she has an encounter
that puts her life at stake and has the potential to transform her into a mind
slave. Less than three months before, a hyper-spatial tube appeared a quarter
light-year away from the Hydras System.
Ludendorff warns that humanity can’t defeat the Swarm head-on, and fifteen days later, a hundred and three light-years away, Captain Maddox strolls the streets of Usan III, the only inhabitable planet of the Usan System, when someone attacks him. A casino-goer named Ajax Clanton confronts Maddox in the casino where he’s staying, with the Captain ultimately having to come up with a plan with his cohorts to escape the planet. A secret base controlled by the antagonistic Spacers exists in the Nerva Corporation Tower on the world, with Lieutenant Keith Maker tasked with rescuing Maddox and his allies.
In the Captain’s absence, Valerie Noonan runs the ancient alien Adok starship called the Victory, with Star Watch, in conjunction with Professor Ludendorff, plotting to break his fellow antediluvian Methuselah Man Strand out of his Throne World prison. Maddox suspects that the Brigadier is compromised, with the Professor wondering sporadically if his thoughts, particularly of his love, Dr. Dana Rich, are manufactured. The Captain soon finds himself fighting through the corridors of the spaceship Moltke, where a mutiny occurs.
Professor Ludendorff, in the meantime, finds himself by an ancient Builder object that plays a role in the eponymous nexuses allowing for quick conveyance across the universe. Other adversaries known as the Bosks come into play, especially towards the end of the novel, with a Spacer named Mako 21 finding himself drifting in a lifepod drifting in the Usan System, as well, and learns a lesson from an entity termed the Visionary. The protagonists in the book’s latter portion spend a hefty amount of time manipulating one fo the eponymous star gates, which they yearn to destroy.
The heroes ultimately battle the mysterious Nay-Yog-Yezleth, and the final chapters deal with Captain Maddox’ wish to capture Lord Drakos, and a final conflict against the Spacers. Overall, the ninth entry of Heppner’s series is definitely enjoyable like its predecessors, with plenty of action, although some details such as the enigmatic entities with hyphenated names are left in the air, the book still uses odd terminology such as “the New Men,” and the ending feels slightly anticlimactic. Those who haven’t read a book in the series would best start from the very beginning.
Ludendorff warns that humanity can’t defeat the Swarm head-on, and fifteen days later, a hundred and three light-years away, Captain Maddox strolls the streets of Usan III, the only inhabitable planet of the Usan System, when someone attacks him. A casino-goer named Ajax Clanton confronts Maddox in the casino where he’s staying, with the Captain ultimately having to come up with a plan with his cohorts to escape the planet. A secret base controlled by the antagonistic Spacers exists in the Nerva Corporation Tower on the world, with Lieutenant Keith Maker tasked with rescuing Maddox and his allies.
In the Captain’s absence, Valerie Noonan runs the ancient alien Adok starship called the Victory, with Star Watch, in conjunction with Professor Ludendorff, plotting to break his fellow antediluvian Methuselah Man Strand out of his Throne World prison. Maddox suspects that the Brigadier is compromised, with the Professor wondering sporadically if his thoughts, particularly of his love, Dr. Dana Rich, are manufactured. The Captain soon finds himself fighting through the corridors of the spaceship Moltke, where a mutiny occurs.
Professor Ludendorff, in the meantime, finds himself by an ancient Builder object that plays a role in the eponymous nexuses allowing for quick conveyance across the universe. Other adversaries known as the Bosks come into play, especially towards the end of the novel, with a Spacer named Mako 21 finding himself drifting in a lifepod drifting in the Usan System, as well, and learns a lesson from an entity termed the Visionary. The protagonists in the book’s latter portion spend a hefty amount of time manipulating one fo the eponymous star gates, which they yearn to destroy.
The heroes ultimately battle the mysterious Nay-Yog-Yezleth, and the final chapters deal with Captain Maddox’ wish to capture Lord Drakos, and a final conflict against the Spacers. Overall, the ninth entry of Heppner’s series is definitely enjoyable like its predecessors, with plenty of action, although some details such as the enigmatic entities with hyphenated names are left in the air, the book still uses odd terminology such as “the New Men,” and the ending feels slightly anticlimactic. Those who haven’t read a book in the series would best start from the very beginning.
No comments:
Post a Comment