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Bio Rescue #2
Afterburn
Assigned to protect the delegates of the Allied League of Worlds, Sub-Lieutenant Burn mu Znora and his Bio Rescue team are confronted by danger in the person of the daughter of one of the ambassadors, who is hiding a deadly secret.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2005
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173 people want to read
About the author
S.L. Viehl
31 books225 followersAlso see Lynn Viehl, Gena Hale, Jessica Hall and Rebecca Kelly.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 24, 2009
I won this from the author’s blog and since I haven’t read a good sci-fi story in a while (and had never read anything else by the author), I figured I’d give it a shot. Of course, only after I started reading it, did I realize it was book 2 in a series, but the author does a great job of setting up the world just enough to clue in new readers like me without going overboard for those who have been there before.
The one thing that struck me in reading this book was the sheer number of POV characters. I wouldn’t call them “main” characters but there were many subplots throughout the book and quite a few characters responsible for each. I personally wouldn’t be able to maintain that many characters in one book, and am very impressed by the author’s ability to do so.
I really liked this book. It’s well-written and engaging, and kept me turning pages, particularly at the end. I found it very hard to put down and loved the characters. Now I have to find the first Bio-Rescue book because I’m very interested in visiting this planet and its people again.
The one thing that struck me in reading this book was the sheer number of POV characters. I wouldn’t call them “main” characters but there were many subplots throughout the book and quite a few characters responsible for each. I personally wouldn’t be able to maintain that many characters in one book, and am very impressed by the author’s ability to do so.
I really liked this book. It’s well-written and engaging, and kept me turning pages, particularly at the end. I found it very hard to put down and loved the characters. Now I have to find the first Bio-Rescue book because I’m very interested in visiting this planet and its people again.
August 8, 2007
Part of a series, this novel is about the planet Kevarzangia Two, and its water-breathing inhabitants.
The Hsktskt slavers have been pushed out of the quadrant, so the four sentient races, who call themselves the Allied League of Worlds, meet on K-2 for a peace conference. The participants, two air-breathing races and two water-breathing races, don’t particularly like each other. When an ambassador’s shuttle is attacked prior to the conference, Sublieutenant Burn mu Znora stops the attack and rescues the ambassador’s daughter, Liana (some younger 'Zangians, like Burn, have been surgically altered to be able to survive in the air for hours at a time). Having drawn the pleasurable duty of guarding Liana during the conference, Burn realizes that she knows a lot more than she is letting on, and that someone wants this conference to fail.
Meantime, the 'Zangians have a natural enemy called a mogshrike. Think of a creature bigger than a great white shark, with a lot more teeth and a much more nasty disposition. The mogshrikes have been moving into warmer and shallower water, where the 'Zangians live. They are defenseless against the mogshrikes, so the radical idea is considered of catching one to study. Dair, an elderly 'Zangian, is totally against the idea, but Teresa, his Terran mate, agrees to participate. The battle of wills gets to the point where Dair tells Teresa that they are no longer mated. A baby mogshrike is captured, and it is discovered that they have been doing some pretty radical evolving.
This is a fine piece of writing. It’s got good world building, the characters are very well done, and it’s a first-rate story. As with any series, reading previous books will help, but this does a really good job of standing on its own.
The Hsktskt slavers have been pushed out of the quadrant, so the four sentient races, who call themselves the Allied League of Worlds, meet on K-2 for a peace conference. The participants, two air-breathing races and two water-breathing races, don’t particularly like each other. When an ambassador’s shuttle is attacked prior to the conference, Sublieutenant Burn mu Znora stops the attack and rescues the ambassador’s daughter, Liana (some younger 'Zangians, like Burn, have been surgically altered to be able to survive in the air for hours at a time). Having drawn the pleasurable duty of guarding Liana during the conference, Burn realizes that she knows a lot more than she is letting on, and that someone wants this conference to fail.
Meantime, the 'Zangians have a natural enemy called a mogshrike. Think of a creature bigger than a great white shark, with a lot more teeth and a much more nasty disposition. The mogshrikes have been moving into warmer and shallower water, where the 'Zangians live. They are defenseless against the mogshrikes, so the radical idea is considered of catching one to study. Dair, an elderly 'Zangian, is totally against the idea, but Teresa, his Terran mate, agrees to participate. The battle of wills gets to the point where Dair tells Teresa that they are no longer mated. A baby mogshrike is captured, and it is discovered that they have been doing some pretty radical evolving.
This is a fine piece of writing. It’s got good world building, the characters are very well done, and it’s a first-rate story. As with any series, reading previous books will help, but this does a really good job of standing on its own.
August 25, 2014
These covers always throw me off and make me think that I'll enjoy the book less than I actually end up liking it. Case in point, this book. I stayed up way too late finishing it. In the beginning of the book I thought I had figured out who were going to end up couples, I was only right once. I love the diversity of the aliens in her series. I'm planning on reading more of her books even under her other nom de plumes.
May 30, 2020
This was hard to get through, but I ended up enjoying it a fair amount. Picked up an uncorrected proof copy on a whim at a thrift shop, and was met with a dense wall of alien terminology and opaque military SF. We've got a whole lot of alien fish people, but also bug- and dog-people, different kinds of humans mixed in for flavour. There's a subplot that amounts to attempted genocide, there's an evil matriarch who tortures her daughter, there's fraught relationship drama, there a cartoonish French character, and there's a race of dark-skinned desert-dwellers who practice human sacrifice. It's difficult to imagine the kind of reader this is for, especially with the occasional goofy joke thrown in between scenes of bloodshed or high-stakes philosophising. The cast of characters feels enormous for a book of only 300 pages, and the separate groups of characters don't overlap very much, leading to quite a disjointed experience. For a novel about a peace summit there are more scenes set in cafeterias than in the halls of power. And yet somehow it holds together and wraps up neatly by the end?? Very strange. Plenty of flaws, but plenty I liked.
March 13, 2023
Love it.
S. L. Viehl will always be one of my favorite authors. I love everything she writes and wish she would write more.
S. L. Viehl will always be one of my favorite authors. I love everything she writes and wish she would write more.
September 9, 2008
This story continues the saga of the aquatic 'Zangians of the planet Kevarzangian II or K2. The main character is the cousin of the main character of Bio Rescue. Byorn, commonly called Burn is trying to become a space fighter pilot. He is already the best gunner in the pilot's pod, but he wants more. However, the Peace Summit about to begin might make being a pilot a bad thing to be. His cousin, Dair, who fears for him becoming a pilot, tries to keep him from it. However, he becomes embroiled in a rescue for the daughter of a visiting aquatic ambassador, and is later assigned to guard duty on the ambassador's ship
This is not more safe than flying.
I've read comments that people thing Afterburn is the best of the Bio Rescue series, but I disagree. There is just too much going on, and not enough time left to develop the characters or the plot properly. Then again, none of these books are high literature, but they are fun to read.
This is not more safe than flying.
I've read comments that people thing Afterburn is the best of the Bio Rescue series, but I disagree. There is just too much going on, and not enough time left to develop the characters or the plot properly. Then again, none of these books are high literature, but they are fun to read.
December 13, 2010
A little scattered with the multiple points of view and newly introduced characters. But overall good storytelling, interesting alien species conceptualization, and fun characters. The best part for Stardoc fans is the payoff in the relationship between some characters introduced in book 1 of that series. And in this book the obsessive, obnoxious pursuers were actually the bad guys and not the purported heroes, which official makes it my favorite of the books I've read by the author.
November 9, 2008
This sequel follows and fleshes out one of the other characters introduced in the original novel, BioRescue. Also digs deeper in the the political and sociological ramification of body modification. A worthy second installment--I sure hope there are more!
July 15, 2010
Heavily charactered (is that a phrase?) space opera set in the Star Doc universe (but not part of the series. Viehl has a way with introducing inter-species interpersonal relationships...and all the complexity that implies.
May 29, 2011
Great sequel to Viehl's Bio Rescue. I love this author. I enjoyed reading Burns story and wrapping up some of the events from the first book. Totally enjoyed it and looking forward to reading more by Viehl soon!
March 19, 2008
An interesting dive into the world of the 'Zangian mind. The story came to close a little more abruptly than I had expected but none the less it was a jolly old jaunt across space and time.
February 25, 2016
I liked this one better than Bio Rescue. It is fun, with lots of aliens. I like Liana as a main character but you're not sure what she will do. Good SF, adventure, romance.
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November 4, 2020decided not to read
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September 27, 20078.5 out of 10 fresh story idea; great characters
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August 16, 2008Afterburn: Bio Rescue #2 (Bio Rescue) by S.L. Viehl (2006)
June 14, 2009
Pretty good writer, interesting cultures, etc etc, but found I didn't care about the people.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews