The Spacetime War
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
A BRILLIANT BLEND OF MILITARY SCIENCE FICTION AND ARTHUR C. CLARKE-LEVEL SPECULATIVE WONDER BY A WORKING SPACE SCIENTIST!
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
Humanity has finally made it to the stars. Colony worlds thrive and there is general peace among the settled systems. Until now. Matte black ships of an advanced design appear in colonial systems. Their drives and weapons are not extremely advanced beyond their Terran counterparts—just superior enough to be utterly devastating. Colonies and their populations are obliterated. Once settled worlds are rendered radioactive wastelands. Earth herself lies defenseless before the marauding enemy.
DEFEND THE SKIES OF EARTH
Standing against the invasion are two of humanity’s finest starship captains, Winslow Price of the British Space Navy and Anika Ahuja of the Indian Space Forces. Compatriots. Fierce competitors. Former lovers. Now they are on a quest that will plumb the scientific wells of existence itself, where the primordial knot of spacetime may be unraveling. Price and Ahuja are sworn to do whatever it takes to defend Earth and humanity from ultimate obliteration by an enemy that will not even speak its name. Even if it pushes each to the brink of life and death in battle. Even if it leads each beyond space and time—and to the edge of ultimate possibility!
TAKE THE BATTLE TO THE STARS
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
About Mission to Methone:
“The spirit of Arthur C. Clarke and his contemporaries is alive and well in Johnson’s old-fashioned first-contact novel, set in 2068. . . . includes plenty of realistic detail and puts fun new spins on familiar alien concepts. . . . There’s a great deal here for fans of early hard SF.”—Publishers Weekly
“With equal parts science fiction and international intrigue . . . an exciting, fast-paced read that you will not want to put down.”—Booklist
About Rescue Mode by Ben Bova and Les Johnson:
“. . . a suspenseful and compelling narrative of the first human spaceflight to Mars.”—Booklist
Les Johnson is a physicist and author. He is the author of Mission to Methone; Rescue Mode, coauthored with Ben Bova; Saving Proxima (forthcoming) coauthored with Travis S. Taylor; and coeditor of the science/science fiction anthologies Going Interstellar and Stellaris: People of the Stars. He was technical consultant for the movies Europa Report and Lost in Space and has appeared in numerous documentaries on the Discovery and Science channels. Les was also the featured “Interstellar Explorer” in National Geographic Magazine and interviewed for Science Friday. By day, he serves as Solar Sail Principal Investigator of NASA’s first interplanetary solar sail missions and leads research on various other advanced space propulsion technologies at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Johnson (Saving Proxima) delivers an ambitious but uneven military science fiction thriller set in the 22nd century, when humanity's defenders must uncover the secret of the alien attackers who are annihilating Earth's far-flung colonies. Capt. Winslow Price of the Commonwealth Space Navy's HMSS Indefatigable and Capt. Anika Ahuja of the Indian Space Navy's Mumbai put their romantic relationship on hold when duty and the mounting crisis pull them in different directions to defend Earth's remaining colonies against their impossibly humanlike extraterrestrial aggressors. When the Mumbai vanishes while traveling between worlds, it adds an even stranger wrinkle to the conflict, even as it offers up an unexpected solution. Johnson, a NASA physicist, brings verisimilitude and scientific accuracy to this adventure, and his passion for the details of space travel will undoubtedly please readers looking for old-school hard science fiction. His narrative enjoys a slow-building sense of development as he gradually unravels multiple mysteries, but it suffers from shallow characterization, an abrupt climax, and a denouement that occurs mostly off-page, with some of the premise's most important questions handwaved for potential sequels. It's a bumpy ride, but Johnson's fans will find plenty to enjoy.
Customer Reviews
Entertaining but Choppy storyline
Overall I have to say that I liked the book. It had an original storyline and brought some unique interpretations on science. However, the character developments were a little lacking and it was hard to truly immerse into the protagonists. Some greater detailing into the space battles would also have been nice as well. I would recommend the book and I think the author’s inexperience showed in writing but I feel that his storylines will improve over time with future books.