Name: Ball, Brian Neville, Birthplace: Cheshire, England, UK, (19 June 1932)
Alternate Names: Brian Kinsey-Jones.
Al Buchanan is a man wrecked by depression. His command, the massive spaceship the Altair Star, was sucked into the the Jansky Singularity (which contains a black hole and a vast sargasso see of trapped spaceships). The robots who controlled most of the functions of the vessel ejected the control module saving Buchanan but condemning the rest to death — or rather, whatever state exists inside of the singularity.
Buchanan is judged innocent of losing his command due to the failure of the robots to relinquish their control of the vessel in the last moments. In this post-calamity state, he meets Liz Deffant, an intelligent and resourceful biologist, who becomes his fiancé. However, their relationship does not last due to his instability and she decides to head back to her home planet.
Sole survivor of shipwreck ventures into black hole after his lost command, despite his shaky nerves, while his girlfriend ends up taken hostage on a prison ship commandeered by mad neurosurgeon. Good times. Lots going on in this novel, complete with a mad scientist, robotic spaceship AIs, a captured (but not helpless) female protagonist, and the psychologically scarred male protagonist descending into a black hole after a Sargasso Sea of lost starships. An exhilarating forgotten gem of a novel. Recommended to anyone who loves a good SF adventure.
1st read for Sci-Fi September. Fun and interesting book dealing with survivor's guilt. Buchannan is our first character, the only person to successfully escape the singularity and is now put in charge to find out what happened to the rest of his crew 3 years ago. Liz is Buchannan's ex-fiancé hitching a ride on a prisoner transport, I'll give you 3 guesses what happens ... :p.
Should you find this one, i would suggest picking it up. Its a fun space romp
If one were to distill 70s space opera in a decanter filled with SF pulp the result would be Singularity Station (1973). Combined with the dynamic Chris Foss cover — I’ve never enjoyed his work but it does embody the vigor and explosiveness [..] Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
Fast paced 1973 sci-fi suspense novel/novella based on the new discoveries about black holes and pulsars. Scientifically well done for the era. From our old sci-fi paperback stash that we're beginning to read again.