Leaping to the Stars
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
No longer able to return to his home on Earth, Charles Dingillian and his two brothers must choose a new planet to call home. But which one?
Charles has come into possession of a prototype HARLIE unit so revolutionary and state-of-the-art that corporations will stop at nothing—including murder—to control it. Earth is in a state of social and economic meltdown. The battle for domination between rival corporations has gone interplanetary.
Charles has been at war before: only, that was a personal civil war waged between him and his parents. In an effort to end the strife once and for all, thirteen-year-old Charles took the drastic step of "divorcing" his parents. He and his brothers are now free to do what they choose.
Freedom for Charles and his brothers means passage on a starship to a colony Outbeyond. There, they will use HARLIE to help build a better world. But freedom also means exile. From his home. From his friends. From everything he has ever known. And even his chance for a new life on a remote planet is put in jeopardy when a critical malfunction with the HARLIE unit seemingly threatens the integrity of the voyage. However, a faction of passengers on board the Brightliner Cascade may pose an even greater risk.
A risk not even an intelligence as powerful as a HARLIE unit can avert.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fans of Heinlein's trademark blend of space-bound high adventure and serious political philosophy will feel right at home in the third and final book of Gerrold's series (Jumping Off the Planet; Bouncing Off the Moon) detailing the adventures of 13-year-old Charles "Chigger" Dingillian and his family as they seek a place to call home. On the moon, Charles's HARLIE unit, an advanced artificial intelligence device packed into the body of a monkey, is coveted by Lunar Authority as well as by the revolutionaries who seek to overthrow it. The only option left for escaping these forces is to sign on as colonists bound for Outbeyond, Earth's most distant colony, where the only surety is a life of backbreaking labor but also the chance to finally be free. Once the colony ship Cascade has set off, however, nothing goes smoothly. The colonists, particularly Charles's divorced parents and two brothers, face pressure from Revelationists, a fundamentalist group traveling aboard the Cascadeto their own colony on the way to Outbeyond. The Revelationists believe HARLIE is evil and must be destroyed, along with those who possess it and the Dingillians are at the top of the list. If that isn't enough, Charles has his own growing uncertainty about HARLIE's motives. Those new to the series will find the opening tough to follow, but through his engaging adolescent narrator, Gerrold gradually provides enough backstory to clarify without slowing down the action. The appeal to YA readers is obvious, but plenty of adults are also sure to enjoy this thoughtful adventure. FYI:Gerrold is the author of the classicStar Trek teleplay "The Trouble with Tribbles."
