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Lot Beta
The stellar system is run by the Corporation for mining purposes. It was taken over, some say stolen, from the Pioneers. Everyone's an employee and you're born into your pay grade. What happens when a young man is thrust into a position of power by an accident of birth? What secrets are hidden by the Corporation?
Can one boy create a new way to live?
Can one boy create a new way to live?
168 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 13, 2013
6 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Tom Merritt
34 books1,779 followersTom Merritt is a technology journalist and broadcaster. Tom has previously worked at TechTV, CNET and TWiT. He currently hosts the Sword and Laser book club podcast, Daily Tech News Show, Current Geek and Cordkillers among others.
photo by Andrew Mager
photo by Andrew Mager
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 1, 2016
A futuristic retelling of the Arthurian legend. It was neat trying to guess how the various aspects would be handled. The dialogue was a little clunky, and some of the corporate scheming was a little opaque toward the end. Disclosure: I consider Tom Merritt an Internet friend, or at least an acquaintance, and he's the Supreme Laser of the Sword & Laser book club I participate in.
October 4, 2021
Space mining novelette with a great tension. Respect for the world building Mr Merritt and the great tie in with the Gallium which I had read. Somewhat believable characters and fine analogies to the c-suite titles today- in a family business I guess because of the successions. Generation ships acknowledged as science fiction trope and generally accepted background. Wonderful space academy - Harry Potter Planet. Thoroughly enjoyed and sped through this story- to be continued in: this November’s NanoWriMo or a book I am not yet aware of?
October 16, 2013
I came across this book because Tom Merritt is one of the presenters of the Sword and Laser podcast to which I subscribe. More specifically I also follow the S&L group on Goodreads and it was there he posted a link to a book trailer video. I followed the link, was curious... and here we are.
The story of Lot Beta is a space opera set in a part of the universe controlled by a vast mining corporation. The hierarchy of the corporation is interesting in that it is, for the most part, hereditary, especially the senior positions. This is supposed to be because of the way the colonization process took place with people leaving behind their home planets on generation ships. I think there’s another reason as well but maybe I’ll come back to that.
Anyway a senior position opens up on “Sat A” by the death of the previous head of this unit*. Normally of course he would be succeeded by his child but this particular COO did not have one. Or did he?
And so begins a tale of a boy with a hidden past who is suddenly thrust into a position of power by a birth right he didn’t even know he had.
He says in the front matter that this was a NaNoWriMo book. I think that this shows, and not necessarily in a bad way. It’s short and has a big central idea but a lot of the avenues it could have taken aren’t expanded on, especially toward the end. Whether that was because the author was “pulling to the finish line” or simply he didn’t want to major on those parts of the book I’m not sure. What I do know is that a lot of the first half of the book is full of corporate politics and bureaucratic wrangling and power plays. Which may appeal to some but I found I was over it relatively quickly. It was well done I think just not really my thing. How our main character uses the vagaries of the supply trade agreements to assert himself over central control was cleverly worked out but for me, not as interesting as some of the later passages about space battles, mining settlement trouble-shooting and dealing with smuggling issues. In other words the action-heavy versus the talky-heavy sections of the plot were not evenly distributed.
At this point it’s probably appropriate to point out something important about the structure of the book. Which is that it’s based on a well-known myth but set in space. The author himself has mentioned this elsewhere on Goodreads but not in the book description so I feel I’d be spoiling to point out exactly which myth it is. I can see how this idea would be the sort of thing one might come up with for NaNoWriMo. It gives you a ready made plot outline to work to. It did make me think at times though, once I realised just how closely to the source he was sticking, whether he would have done certain things if he hadn’t been following this pattern. A couple of the analogues he found were quite clever but then there were sections I think don’t make sense at all unless you realise what it’s based on
It was fairly enjoyable overall. Short and readable.
The legend of ... in space!
Oh nearly forgot. The title alludes to something in the book which is a set up for a truly awful pun.
(*I was never 100% sure whether a “sat” was an artificial satellite like a space station or a natural one like an asteroid. Plus I think there were planets but whether they had a different designation and how they fit into the corporate structure was unclear, or I simply missed it.)
The story of Lot Beta is a space opera set in a part of the universe controlled by a vast mining corporation. The hierarchy of the corporation is interesting in that it is, for the most part, hereditary, especially the senior positions. This is supposed to be because of the way the colonization process took place with people leaving behind their home planets on generation ships. I think there’s another reason as well but maybe I’ll come back to that.
Anyway a senior position opens up on “Sat A” by the death of the previous head of this unit*. Normally of course he would be succeeded by his child but this particular COO did not have one. Or did he?
And so begins a tale of a boy with a hidden past who is suddenly thrust into a position of power by a birth right he didn’t even know he had.
He says in the front matter that this was a NaNoWriMo book. I think that this shows, and not necessarily in a bad way. It’s short and has a big central idea but a lot of the avenues it could have taken aren’t expanded on, especially toward the end. Whether that was because the author was “pulling to the finish line” or simply he didn’t want to major on those parts of the book I’m not sure. What I do know is that a lot of the first half of the book is full of corporate politics and bureaucratic wrangling and power plays. Which may appeal to some but I found I was over it relatively quickly. It was well done I think just not really my thing. How our main character uses the vagaries of the supply trade agreements to assert himself over central control was cleverly worked out but for me, not as interesting as some of the later passages about space battles, mining settlement trouble-shooting and dealing with smuggling issues. In other words the action-heavy versus the talky-heavy sections of the plot were not evenly distributed.
At this point it’s probably appropriate to point out something important about the structure of the book. Which is that it’s based on a well-known myth but set in space. The author himself has mentioned this elsewhere on Goodreads but not in the book description so I feel I’d be spoiling to point out exactly which myth it is. I can see how this idea would be the sort of thing one might come up with for NaNoWriMo. It gives you a ready made plot outline to work to. It did make me think at times though, once I realised just how closely to the source he was sticking, whether he would have done certain things if he hadn’t been following this pattern. A couple of the analogues he found were quite clever but then there were sections I think don’t make sense at all unless you realise what it’s based on
It was fairly enjoyable overall. Short and readable.
The legend of ... in space!
Oh nearly forgot. The title alludes to something in the book which is a set up for a truly awful pun.
(*I was never 100% sure whether a “sat” was an artificial satellite like a space station or a natural one like an asteroid. Plus I think there were planets but whether they had a different designation and how they fit into the corporate structure was unclear, or I simply missed it.)
October 22, 2013
Thoroughly enjoyable bureaucratic political intrigue... in space! Rich characterization and crafty salvos fired back and fourth weave a complicated scenario that pulls you in immediately and carries you all the way through. This feels like a tremendous evolution from previous books and the writing style is very well honed. My only gripe is that the ending is so abrupt, but it leaves the reader looking forward to more. I can't wait to read the next in what I hope becomes at the very least a trilogy. The setting is is ripe for even more than that, and I hope to explore more of this universe soon!
December 30, 2014
A space opera about corporations sounds boring, but an scifi adaptation of King Arthur where kingdoms are run as a corporation works surprisingly well. The detail involved in The Corporation and how each facet of the Arthurian legend is adapted to fit in this world is the strength of the book. Though the use of corporations and business terminology does make the story seem longer than it actually is. After the midpoint it becomes a sequence of events that rapidly rush towards the climactic conclusion to the story of King Arthur. As a far as being a King Arthur adaptation with a Scifi setting the books succeeds. As a standalone novel however it drags along a bit.
February 4, 2014
I've been a fan of Tom's from his various Podcasts and internet shows. I had been meaning to read his written work for a while and had a sense it would be good given his tastes and occasional predictions for the future. I've also read United Moon Colonies. I have to say I really enjoyed the political intrigue of Lot Beta and the strategy and maneuvering. Battles waged with words and procedure. Hope there's more of this world out there somewhere.
March 27, 2014
I've enjoyed this author's other books, and this one was pretty good as well, at least until it ran out of pages. It feels like I'm missing a chapter or something, because it just ended suddenly. Maybe it's meant to be book one of two or something. At least I hope so. Otherwise that ending was just strange.
July 20, 2014
This was a fun hard science fiction story.
I think that the pacing could have been tweaked a bit. The middle portion of the book is very well done but the ending just seemed to fly on by attempting to wrap up every thread and leave a nice tidy package.
I think that the pacing could have been tweaked a bit. The middle portion of the book is very well done but the ending just seemed to fly on by attempting to wrap up every thread and leave a nice tidy package.
November 12, 2013
Entertaining for the most part. Reads more like a sketchbook than a finished work.
November 27, 2013
Entertaining, corporate space opera.
The end seems unfinished.
The end seems unfinished.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews