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Waves
Fraesch arrived on the planet Mulcahen to replace a missing scientist at Halcyon Station. That was the name of the very isolated and weirdly constructed laboratory of Speculations, Inc.
What was going on there was not clear but Fraesch suspected that it had to do with immortality drugs. So did the owners of the planet, a Russian Turkish combine, who were shadowing Fraesch from the moment of his arrival.
When Fraesch realized that his predecessor had vanished without trace and that he was surely going to be next, the situation began to assume its true ominous color. Long life or not, the next wave of the unknown was slated to wash him out—and the station as well....
What was going on there was not clear but Fraesch suspected that it had to do with immortality drugs. So did the owners of the planet, a Russian Turkish combine, who were shadowing Fraesch from the moment of his arrival.
When Fraesch realized that his predecessor had vanished without trace and that he was surely going to be next, the situation began to assume its true ominous color. Long life or not, the next wave of the unknown was slated to wash him out—and the station as well....
256 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1980
4 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
M.A. Foster
20 books28 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
US writer, former data-systems analyst and sequentially a Russian linguist and ICBM launch-crew commander to the US Air Force; he is also a semiprofessional photographer. After some poetry, released privately as Shards from Byzantium (coll 1969 chap) and The Vaseline Dreams of Hundifer Jones (coll 1970 chap), he began to publish sf with the ambitious Ler trilogy about a race of Supermen created by Genetic Engineering whose social structure is built around a form of line marriage here called a braid.
The Gameplayers of Zan (1977), a very long novel formally constructed on the model of an Elizabethan tragedy, describes a period of climactic tension between the ler and the rest of humanity, and is set on Earth. The Warriors of Dawn (1975), published first but set later, is a more conventional Space Opera in which a human male and a ler female are forced to team up to try to solve a complexly ramifying problem of interstellar piracy. The Day of the Klesh (1979) brings the ler and the eponymous race of humans together on a planet where they must solve their differences.
The Morphodite/Transformer sequence which followed comprises The Morphodite (1981), Transformer (1983) and Preserver (1985), all three assembled as The Transformer Trilogy (omni 2006), and similarly uses forms of meditative Shapeshifting to buttress complex plots, though in this case the alternately male or female, revolution-fomenting, protagonist dominates the tale as assassin, trickster and Superman.
Waves (1980) rather recalls Stanisław Lem's Solaris (1961) in a tale of political intrigue on a planet whose ocean is intelligent. The four novellas collected in Owl Time (coll 1985) are told in challengingly various modes, and derive strength from their mutual contrast.
More recently, the author has been involved with the writing of storylines for Acme comics http://www.acmecomics.com/node/69.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
US writer, former data-systems analyst and sequentially a Russian linguist and ICBM launch-crew commander to the US Air Force; he is also a semiprofessional photographer. After some poetry, released privately as Shards from Byzantium (coll 1969 chap) and The Vaseline Dreams of Hundifer Jones (coll 1970 chap), he began to publish sf with the ambitious Ler trilogy about a race of Supermen created by Genetic Engineering whose social structure is built around a form of line marriage here called a braid.
The Gameplayers of Zan (1977), a very long novel formally constructed on the model of an Elizabethan tragedy, describes a period of climactic tension between the ler and the rest of humanity, and is set on Earth. The Warriors of Dawn (1975), published first but set later, is a more conventional Space Opera in which a human male and a ler female are forced to team up to try to solve a complexly ramifying problem of interstellar piracy. The Day of the Klesh (1979) brings the ler and the eponymous race of humans together on a planet where they must solve their differences.
The Morphodite/Transformer sequence which followed comprises The Morphodite (1981), Transformer (1983) and Preserver (1985), all three assembled as The Transformer Trilogy (omni 2006), and similarly uses forms of meditative Shapeshifting to buttress complex plots, though in this case the alternately male or female, revolution-fomenting, protagonist dominates the tale as assassin, trickster and Superman.
Waves (1980) rather recalls Stanisław Lem's Solaris (1961) in a tale of political intrigue on a planet whose ocean is intelligent. The four novellas collected in Owl Time (coll 1985) are told in challengingly various modes, and derive strength from their mutual contrast.
More recently, the author has been involved with the writing of storylines for Acme comics http://www.acmecomics.com/node/69.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 19, 2024
Like much of M.A. Foster's other works that have been combined into trilogies such as The Book of the Ler and The Transformer Trilogy, this author creates science fiction combining fantasy, often set on alien worlds which have been settled by humans or humanoids from original old Earth. If you are looking for fast-moving, action, hero-as-main-character adventures, you'll likely be bored by any of this writer's work. Their writing is heavily psychological science fiction, and in some case, also explores sociological, gender, neuro-mental themes and realities. It can be very cerebral, but that's exactly what I deeply enjoy, and did even before I completed my BSc in psychology.
I love stories such as this where I can deeply immerse myself in another world, other realms, realities, etc, but in some ways, it is not so far from our present one, but radically different in a special way that can astound you. It can make you sit back, stop reading for a moment or several, and just contemplate such possibilties. In that, Foster's work is wonderous.
In this particular work, arriving as a replacement in a business venue in a small colony on a planet not often frequented and which has had more than its share of visitors "going native", Fraetsch is experienced, knowledgable and able, though vaguely warned he may encounter situations ultimately beyond his capabilities. Caution is a suggestion. Yet when he arrives, although strange in a subtle way, caution isn't what he initially feels, yet soon its too late to judge. He is among those who he can scarcely find words to define, they or their actions, and he is challenged as to how he might possibly escape...and the planet itself just might be against him.
One of my favorite writers. One of my favorite stories all-time, as I particularly enjoy human in alien environment sci-fi. If you want light sci-fi reading, absolutely pass on this one. This is a writer who is more detailed, incorporating actual science details in their work, and has a writing style that is methodical though still dynamic, that can be appreciated by those not expecting a blockbuster film or mainstream "popular" label rapid fire book that reads more like a screenplay.
This is truly contemplative science fiction dealing with the variances of human emotional, psychological, physical and metaphysical needs that can be let loose in a society on an alien planet where they basically have no one to rein them in. What can it really mean to explore your deepest, wildest desires might be the 25 words or less for this stand-alone novel.
I love stories such as this where I can deeply immerse myself in another world, other realms, realities, etc, but in some ways, it is not so far from our present one, but radically different in a special way that can astound you. It can make you sit back, stop reading for a moment or several, and just contemplate such possibilties. In that, Foster's work is wonderous.
In this particular work, arriving as a replacement in a business venue in a small colony on a planet not often frequented and which has had more than its share of visitors "going native", Fraetsch is experienced, knowledgable and able, though vaguely warned he may encounter situations ultimately beyond his capabilities. Caution is a suggestion. Yet when he arrives, although strange in a subtle way, caution isn't what he initially feels, yet soon its too late to judge. He is among those who he can scarcely find words to define, they or their actions, and he is challenged as to how he might possibly escape...and the planet itself just might be against him.
One of my favorite writers. One of my favorite stories all-time, as I particularly enjoy human in alien environment sci-fi. If you want light sci-fi reading, absolutely pass on this one. This is a writer who is more detailed, incorporating actual science details in their work, and has a writing style that is methodical though still dynamic, that can be appreciated by those not expecting a blockbuster film or mainstream "popular" label rapid fire book that reads more like a screenplay.
This is truly contemplative science fiction dealing with the variances of human emotional, psychological, physical and metaphysical needs that can be let loose in a society on an alien planet where they basically have no one to rein them in. What can it really mean to explore your deepest, wildest desires might be the 25 words or less for this stand-alone novel.
January 19, 2013
Foster does alien better than anyone else, ever. The aliens in this one are so alien, they almost don't impinge on the planet they dominate or the story. They just make a few waves.
Susan Stepney has the final word on this book:
"I once summarised this to a friend as "nothing happens, but it's very exciting!""
When Foster stopped writing (he couldn't make a living doing it) the world was a poorer place.
Susan Stepney has the final word on this book:
"I once summarised this to a friend as "nothing happens, but it's very exciting!""
When Foster stopped writing (he couldn't make a living doing it) the world was a poorer place.
April 7, 2013
Foster's experience as a Russian translator / linguist really shows in this wonderful tone-poem of a novel, with additional emphasis on architecture-influenced social interaction. He invents a new form of transport, the strider, a multi-legged machine with 4-8 legs used in rough roadless terrain, sometimes armed. Here's a link to a just-completed diesel-powered hexapod much like a strider - http://www.gizmag.com/mantis-hexapod-...
April 27, 2015
A book about a strange society, I can still remember it as having on of the strangest atmosphere of any novel I read.
April 21, 2020
Waves is one of the less approachable books in Foster's pantheon but is still worth reading.
Written between the Ler series and the Transformer series, Waves is the only standalone novel produced by Foster. It details (sometimes ponderously so) the adventures of a consulting manager named Fraesch who has been assigned to a research station on a remote planet. The prior manager is believed to have died under mysterious circumstances, and Fraesch is tasked with finding out what happened.
The story struggles during the middle section of the text, bogging down in details that do not seem to move the plot forward. However, the ending is intriguing, as Foster reveals that the plot and action are psychological in nature, rather than physical. The unravelling of the mystery at the climax of the book was satisfying, and suitably evocative of works in this genre that explore difficult concepts about existence.
Written between the Ler series and the Transformer series, Waves is the only standalone novel produced by Foster. It details (sometimes ponderously so) the adventures of a consulting manager named Fraesch who has been assigned to a research station on a remote planet. The prior manager is believed to have died under mysterious circumstances, and Fraesch is tasked with finding out what happened.
The story struggles during the middle section of the text, bogging down in details that do not seem to move the plot forward. However, the ending is intriguing, as Foster reveals that the plot and action are psychological in nature, rather than physical. The unravelling of the mystery at the climax of the book was satisfying, and suitably evocative of works in this genre that explore difficult concepts about existence.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews