Threshold

Boundary #2

by Eric Flint, Ryk E. Spoor

When the strange fossil she'd discovered had ended up giving her a trip to Mars, Helen Sutter thought she'd gone about as far as any paleontologist would ever go in her lifetime. But when you've also married A.J. Baker, overconfident super- sensor expert for the only private agency in space—the Ares Corporation—and your best friend Madeline Fathom Buckley is a former secret agent who's just signed on as the chief of security for the newly created and already embattled Interplanetary Research Institute of the United Nations, there's always somewhere farther to go.

The newest discoveries will take her, A.J., and their friends Jackie, Joe, and Madeline to the mysterious asteroid Ceres—and beyond, in a desperate race to Jupiter's perilous miniature system of radiation- bombarded moons. The next gold rush is on—for alien technology, hidden in lost bases around the system. And there are people willing to do anything to get it—even plan the first interplanetary war, four hundred million miles from home!

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera, Space

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Eric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable visit to the near future.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book in the Boundary series, Threshold follows the continuing adventures of the Ares space exploration company in its attempt to find and document the secret ancient bases left over from a war among alien races in our solar system. This particular adventure focuses on the settlement of a new base on Ceres and some industrial espionage between the existing space explorers and a new ship launched by the European Union. Adventure ensues!

A few thoughts:

Threshold walks a fine line between space opera and hard science-fiction exploration story. It spends a lot of time thinking about how the settlement of the solar system might work, pondering the international politics of space exploration, considering how different countries might tangle with the problem in their own ways. But it also lets that stuff rest when a judicious use of internecine struggle or dramatic space adventures are needed.
After the first half, the book gets pretty engrossing, with the villains set up in such a way that we can easily despise them and will greedily read forward in anticipation of their downfall. It's not unlike a Dan Brown book in that way, though Brown is much better at crafting the perfect little chapter that drives you to read the next one.
At the same time, the characters are pretty hollow, without the individuation you might hope for from a stronger writer. Our heroes are all unbelievably smart and pretty lucky. Of course, such characters are very satisfying in a space opera; it would be a sad, dark story if Peter Watts had written it, for instance.
The outer space exploration Flint and Spoor bring to the story are great, particularly the different planetoids the heroes visit. The description of Jupiter's moon IO, for instance, is particularly harrowing.
I like the sprinkling of proposed technologies, particularly the notion that they're seeded by our interactions with alien technologies left over in old bases. The nanotech "Dust" is a bit extreme in its capabilities, but the rest of it works well.

A sunny bonus: it turns out the publisher of this book, Baen, has a free library of ebooks for the sampling, like a drug dealer. Seeing Baen's ebook publishing policy, I'm definitely inclined to give them more of my business. Enjoy them!

[Jeffrey Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, while well-written, seemed a bit forced and deviated from the first in tone and focus.
I very much enjoyed the predecessor, Boundary. In that one there was a widespread mystery (who/what/where were the aliens) and multiple significant technological challenges to overcome with "cascading" hurdles that showed up as time went on, dealt with by very developed characters who had meaningful interactions in the midst of all of them.
Unfortunately, where the previous book was a scientific thriller, this one is an action movie. The characters have become very one-dimensional and exist as their jobs, and very few character moments occur, the ones that do being very shallow and almost overstated. Poor Helen is dragged along for the ride for the most part and ends up filling the role of the funtionless damsel in distress of all things. Technological and technical issues that were one of the central focuses of the first book are, while well explained, regularly brushed off or solved seemingly instantly. A.J.'s "Fairy Dust" in particular comes very close to being a universal problem-solver, despite his assertion in the book that it isn't. By eliminating tehnological innovation, direct conflict with other groups becomes the central focus, and unfortunately that conflict is very cliched in both setup and execution.
Now, that's a lot of putdowns for a three star, but I don't mind reading "action movie" books now and then, and it wasn't a badly written example of that. I do think this book will be/was a disappointment for fans of the first one, because it's very different in tone. For a movie parallel, it's like the difference between Mission Impossible 1 and Mission Impossible 2; the first had a lot of twists, espionage, and betrayal in it, mixed in with some action. The second was just a straight up action flick, with cool gadgets but no elaborate scheming and almost no mystery about who is on what side, something that drove the first one. Not a bad film per se, but definitely not in the same vein as the first installment. The same is very much the case here.

[Castiron]

While I really enjoyed Boundary, I bounced off this one. There's more political wrangling and less xenoarchaeology (at least in the first several chapters), so it's not as much to my tastes, and I didn't get around to finishing it before it had to go back to the library.

I'll give it a try again at some point, as I'd still like to read Portal eventually and find out if some of my guesses on what happened with the Bemmies are correct.

[Daniel Bratell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stereotypes all the way down.

The EU and Ares are racing to explore the rest of the solar system, in a story that has as many plot holes as a sieve. Still, the action is there and the story moves ahead so it is not all bad.

And all the characters are still photo models of extreme intelligence and physical prowess.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are idiots everywhere!

Jackie Secord, AJ, Joe Buckley, Maddie Fathom and the others in Ares & IRI have been researching the amazing finds in the Bemmie base on Mars. What they don’t know is the green-eyed monster called jealousy is going to force changes in all of their lives when someone wants what they have worked extremely hard for. Even worse, they have no scruples on how they can take what they want without caring about whether anyone else is hurt in the process.
While still a big kid at heart, AJ has actually done some growing up in his ability to deal with others who he originally believed not worth his time or consideration. The story continues to hold the reader’s interest!

[Alison M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear; what a disappointment after Boundary, which rated 4 stars! This sequel is full of monotonous, gratuitous violence, technical wizardry that goes way beyond what might one day be feasible - and yet more soppy, improbable love affairs. The same motley crew make their way out to the gas giant moons, in the company of a much larger, better-equipped ship. There is (you guessed it) trouble and - no really - the little guys come out on top. The only positive thing I can find to say is that, in a wry twist, a team we normally think of as harmless, clean-living good guys turn out to be the villains.

[Thom Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space opera...skylarks of space remade

Not great as plotted, villain was plausible and was overcome with difficulty. Of course heros and heroines have at least another novel or two before ...

[Margaret E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a bit of time to build the story line. But still good continuity of characters from the first book in the series.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satisfying sequel to Boundary!

[Victor Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing Thriller

The careful weaving of truth, lies, and deceit set this book apart.

Sci/if readers of all ages will enjoy this ride.

The rating can only be 5 star.

[Ryan Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had a slower start up than the first book, which surprised me since I knew all the characters going into it. But it does pick up in the second half! All in all, a very fun scientific romp 😁

[Catching Shadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to Boundary finds the Ares crew getting ready to do a little more exploration, looking for new “Bemmie” bases in the solar system. This may be a somewhat difficult project, since the US is still fuming about the steps taken by Madeline Fathom to ensure that “fair play” would win the day. Funding has definitely become an issue, as well as logistics. Another matter of concern is elements within the European Union, who would like to have access to the next base found (and those same elements may be willing to engage in a little foul play in order to get that access.)

There new faces, one of whom is probably the first openly Tuckerized anime character. (The character is Hohenheim from Fullmetal Alchemist. In the book, he plays a German General and is quite bad ass. His general appearance and personality are very similar to the character, which made me giggle in a slightly inappropriate way during the more serious moments of the story. Mr. Spoor, I love your fan fic, please write more!) There is also a central romantic relationship, featuring Jackie this time around, and a crewmember from the EU ship Odin. The romance is complicated by some espionage committed and an attack on the station that nearly gets Joe Buckley killed, and causes a lot of damage. This results in a very literal space race as Team Ares chases after the Odin in a 65 million year old Bemmie space craft.

There are some great moments in the book; from a scene where A.J. Baker gets to be surprisingly bad ass while rescuing Helen (and while also being kind of dorky) from the bad guys, to where team Ares is deciding whether or not to go after the Odin. There’s a good use of tension and suspense, as well as some comedic moments that keep things from being too grim or serious. I also liked the romantic interactions between the established couples, the romantic yearnings of the not yet paired up, and the overall atmosphere Despite the book’s good points, my general feeling about this book is that it was too short. This book is a very fast “read,” but the story leads to what is essentially a tease-cliffhanger for the next book, which I found to be very frustrating. (Would it have been too hard to add about a couple hundred pages resolve a few things in a way that didn’t leave so many things (and characters) hanging?) That said, I did enjoy the book, and will definitely be getting the sequel. (Which will hopefully be a lot longer; size does matter where books are concerned!)

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our friends from Boundary are back in a pretty direct sequel to the first book. The race is on to find more Bemmie bases. The Ares Project, despite having managed to get a foothold on Mars, is strapped for cash and resources. With some clever maneuvering they manage to get both, and set off towards first Ceres, then Enceladus.

The first book was nicely crafted, with excellent character development. This second one feels much more forced, especially the first half. I really enjoyed going back and seeing what the gang was doing after the previous story ended, but was a bit disappointed at the lack of a strong story. This series will never be “heavy” but it needed a bit more than this effort. That being said, it harkens back to adventure science fiction from an earlier time, before all the dark and broody bits that are so in vogue nowadays. And so I still liked this book more than it perhaps deserves. The ending wasn’t quite a cliffhanger but certainly lacked resolution, leaving the door wide open for a sequel. Yes please.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=68

[Noel Roach · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first quarter or third of the book did not feel as strong as "Boundary" or "Castaway Planet" mainly because it makes several jumps forward in time giving us vignettes of how the situation is evolving. This part of the book starts from shortly after the end of "Boundary" through several years until the events that are covered in last two-thirds of the book. This extended introduction sets the context for the dramatic events that follow. In the dedication, the authors caution that "liberties are often taken with physics to permit the story to move forward" but thankfully the only "liberty" I noticed was time compression. (I hate sci-fi that has real world physics that is supposed to be real world physics but that a fifth grader could tell it was gobbledy goop) This makes the main story a fast-paced action packed romp culminating with dramatic sabotage, spaceship explosions and crashes across the Jupiter system.

Excitedly waiting for "Portal" (book 3) to arrive at the public library branch nearest my home.

[Allen McDonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent start to a six book collection

On rare occasions I have read stories with the premise that someone or something with intelligence was on Earth in the Age of Dinosaurs. Boundary takes this to the Nth degree when a palaeontologist excavates a skeleton like none other ever found on earth, surrounded by a pack of dead predatory raptors like you may have seen in the movie Jurassic Park. The dinosaurs all exhibit strange bone damage of uncertain provenance. This starts the greatest adventure in human history in motion, from 65 million year old remains to other evidence of ancient aliens.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realy loved BOUNDARY, the book to which this is a sequel, but was a bit let down here. The first book centered on scientists doing science in a convincing mannner, but this was more of a politics and spies-in-space story without much of a conclusion. It seemed much more rushwed than the first volume, and really needed some kind of a synopsis of events, because it wasn't possible to pick up all of the threads again through context. It was still a nice enough narrative, but just not as good as the previous novel.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you do when you find what looks like an alien fossil on the K-T Boundary? That was the problem that confronted Helen Sutter on a dig that also had the strange fossil surrounded by several dinosaur fossils. As the story unfolds that fossil leads to even stranger events and Helen winds up on Mars!!!

A lot happens between these two events. Boundary has science, action, adventure, great characters and relationships all in an exciting format.

[Michael Hirsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this higher, but too much of the book, about the first half, was spent giving an outline of how the p litics and economy of the solar system evolved after the previous book ended. Then, just as I was about to give up a plot appeared--and a pretty good one. Lots of science and difficulties to overcome. The characterizations are pretty basic and formulaic, but it is space opera after all.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second book in a series. Stood mostly on it's own but there were occasions when it seemed liked one needed to read the first book. Good action--alien artifacts and pure old fashioned human greed in a space race.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

review could be a copy of the one for boundry. Great book for vacation, easy reading interesting sci fi, good guys win, again although a sequal could be a stand alone read, and leaves it off for a nother sequel

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exploration and Espionage

There are more discoveries and excitement in this second book of the series. The book is full of likeable characters (and a couple who you have to hate) and plenty of tension as the story progresses. The ending leaves me eager to start the next book.

[Robert D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second in the series. The exploration of Phobos and Mars continues, but there is indication that something may be on Ceres as well. The crew ventures forth in the continuing quest to see what is out there.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very little xeno-paleontology/archeology (like Boundary); space race to the outer planets with bad guys aboard. Slow start but nice finish.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit rushed in spots and literally leaves heroes trapped in space, but fitting sequel to Boundaries.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for more "exploring alien ruins," like its predecessor, and got more "politics in space" than I wanted. I hope the next book goes back to form.

[Kenneth Flusche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I was going to give it a 2 untill I hit the climax and final 50 pages which were terrific. The plot was good, the science belivable but the writing is dry, Ryk E. Spoor you need more practice.

[Paul Grosse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much liked this book lots of good hard science some of it a little implausible, but since it helped story I'm okay with it.

[Peter Fiske · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rip-roaring space opera. Worth reading, but be sure to read Boundary first.

[Gregory Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid series