Lodestar

Firestar #3

by Michael Flynn

In the early years of the twenty-first century, humanity has progressed into space, having established a permanent presence with LEO (Low Earth Orbit) Station. Science and commerce in space are booming and humanity's future looks bright. But one man's desire for vindication and revenge could end it all.

Lodestar chronicles the complex conflicts-political, personal, and scientific-on Earth and in orbit, that must be resolved if humanity is to claim its destiny among the stars.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Near Future, Hard Science Fiction

365 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. Please see this page for the list of authors.

Michael Francis Flynn (born 1947) is an American statistician and science fiction author. Nearly all of Flynn's work falls under the category of hard science fiction, although his treatment of it can be unusual since he has applied the rigor of hard science fiction to "softer" sciences such as sociology in works such as In the Country of the Blind. Much of his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

Flynn was born in Easton, Pennsylvania. He earned a B.A. in Mathematics from LaSalle University and an M.S. in topology from Marquette University. He has been employed as an industrial quality engineer and statistician.

Library of Congress authorities: Flynn, Michael (Michael F.)

Reviews

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in Flynn's near-future (and consequently dated, now) science fiction series about the development of private space exploration initiatives. This entry takes us through the years 2015-2017, when travel to and from low Earth orbit is commonplace and there are multiple space stations in orbit as well as facilities on the moon.

Mariesa Van Huyten's obsession over the possibility of a civilization-destroying meteor impact seems to be justified by the discovery of several near-Earth-orbit asteroids which have experienced artificial course changes - is someone or something aiming them at us?

We see the early development of the solar "sail" which is depicted as obsolete technology in Flynn's novel The Wreck of the River of Stars, set a century later in this same universe.

Flynn is an excellent writer and I like this series very much, although this particular book is fairly weak. I was bored to tears by Jimmy Poole's cyberspace maneuvers, but then I'm not a fan of the cyberpunk genre. The rest of the book seemed to be merely an echo of the earlier stories, without much new substance. Still, I will continue on to the next and last book.

[Anatoly · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 stats for majority of it, 4 for the last few chapters. Most of the book felt like a diversion from the main story of the previous books, full of made up jargon that supposedly would be in use in an alternate history. That portion of the book could be easily discarded without any negative effect on the story or characters.

[Jon]

Well, it's a little difficult to drop in right in the middle of a series and review that book, without saying a bit about the earlier books. Lodestar is the third in a series of four books by Flynn, beginning with Firestar, continued in Rogue Star, and ending in Falling Stars. The central figure in all of the books is Mariesa Van Huyten, the heiress to a large fortune and CEO of a rather large industrial conglomerate. When Mariesa was young, she saw a falling star streaking through the sky, and had an epiphany which terrified her. What if an asteroid of considerable size were to strike the Earth. The disaster which would unfold must somehow be prevented. When she comes of age, she determines to bend all of the efforts of her family's companies to getting the world back into space on a sustained basis, and establishing an asteroid shield of some sort.


With that goal in mind, we have a lovely time through the first two books watching as Mariesa and the people who work for and with her fight the good fight against bureaucracy, apathy and ignorance to get SSTOs running, space stations built, and make the whole thing commercially self-supporting. Anyone who's read much SF has seen the scenario a million times, but Flynn tells an engrossing tale - kinda like Tom Clancy without guns - very detail oriented.

So, by the time we get to LodeStar, there are shuttles going back and forth to a commercial space station in Low Earth Orbit. Mariesa has lost control of her company, but still weilds some power behind the scenes. Her cousin Chris is now CEO, and his son, Adam, has apparently betrayed or sabotaged their long term plans by selling his shares of company stock to a competitor, who now controls the space station.

In this book, the major action takes place in cyberspace, rather than outer space. Adam, it turns out, didn't knowlingly or willingly sell out the company, and the trail to find the real bad guys leads through virtual reality. So, a character who played a bit part in the earlier novels, Jimmy Poole, of Poole ESecurity, really gets developed and struts his stuff. Revenge of the Geeks, eh?

[John (JP) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is continuing saga of Mariesa van Huyten. The heiress and former CEO is haunted by the fear of the possibility of an Earth killing asteroid striking the planet, Flynn takes the reader through her complex plans involving all parts of the economy.The book is more about corporate intrigue and manipulation than activities in space. If you like that sort of story then this story has a lot to offer. If your interest is in the advances in technology and possible first contact situations then you will be disappointed. This book is more character driven than action oriented. Flynn shows his mastery of character development . He shows how the student of Van Huyten's first class of graduates from her private school mature and adapt to life in the adult world. He deftly intertwines these characters lives into the larger fabric of the novel.

Despite Lodestar's excellent character development and some riveting and somewhat sequences of cyber warfare, I wish this book had taken a different direction. The second book in this series Rogue Star ended on a cliffhanger . Lodrstar barely references that ending. I found parts of the story dull. The redeeming factor of this series is its overall premise that Earth will one day encounter a planet killer asteroid. The series asks the question of how will we respond.

[Brown Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first volume of this series I have read, so I do not know how well it fits in the series. This novel is complicated and conflicted, probably because Flynn is trying to do more than the story can handle. There's orbital drama, cyberpunk drama, and generational saga drama. Flynn obviously didn't mind the story becoming obsolete within days of publication, so if you undertake reading this series, be advised that most of the content, at least in this piece, is not pressing. The details are convincing, such as the internet coding sequences: they feel like authentic practice rather than the almost mystical cyberstuff of much cyberfiction. The corporate shenanigans seem plausible (as if I'd know). The family dynamics are suitably fraught. The novel is also noodly. Get to the point, please. Ultimately, not my cuppa, I guess, though it should have been; ordinarily I love this stuff.

[Darryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the author lost his focus on the overall plot, and decided to focus a large part of the story to the hacking activities of Jimmie Poole. This novel definitely felt like a middle novel to move the overall plot ahead, but chose to focus on secondary stories, with little tidbits on Marisa's story. I wanted to like this novel more, but the secondary characters' (Adam and Hobie in particular) plots meandered without a satisfying feeling.

Nevertheless, the story is now building towards the final book, which I'm eager to dive into.

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third installment of Flynn's near future series. Hacker extraordinare Jimmy Poole tries to discover who built the firewall for LEO station. Christaan Van Huyten is planning revenge to those who wronged him. One sees the next generation of space pilots in training. A threat from the skies finally manifests itself. Flynn does an excellent job of fleshing out this future. One is given believable characters who are in an intense situations. If only the real world would progress as fast in Space as they do in Flynn's.

[ND · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

I echo what other reviewers have said, this book is stretching for no good reason. A good editor would have pared down and combined the plotlines of books 2 and 3 into a single volume. Still, I was willing to eat my vegetables and get through this in the expectation that it would end roughly where it did, and I'm interested to see what emerges in the final book. A lot hangs on how the series wraps up.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The previous book shook things up by, well, shaking them up and leaving Mariesa's plans in pieces. This one carries through with that and is much more about adversarial relationships between characters rather than Mariesa moving pawns against space rocks. As with most things in the series, it works and it doesn't. There is a lot of cyberpunky stuff that comes across as very handwavy.

[Fixit Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long, involved, and at least 3 threads going on. Not your simple space novel. Characters were well developed, though confusing at times. Sometimes I wondered about the interactions: are these people really like that?
Reminded me somewhat of a Clarke collaboration for some reason. Possibly the bit about asteroids being flung at the Earth...

[Guido]

Why you might like it: Further development of the program. Rubric match: not yet scored. Uses your engineering/rigor/first-contact/world-building rubric. Tags: near-future, space-program

[Mark Baller · Rating 5 out of 5]

better than the other books getting good

[Joanne Pascoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continues the story started in Firestar and Rogue Star. Despite the cover art, this is more about the cyberworld than about space. It has jumped forward in time about 7-8 years, and brings in some new characters.

[Tarawyn Baxter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Near-future writing is always a challenge. This book was written in 2000, continuing the world he created in 1996, set in 2016, which I am reading in 2024. We're likely still decades away from the kind of implant technology that exists in the story, which is the kind of thing most authors are too optimistic about. But what baffles me is that this entire series revolves around one of the main character's obsession with meteors and the danger they pose. In this book there is a conversation between the president, who has vetoed funding for more research, and scientists who want to persuade him to keep funding. In this conversation the president mentions that no one has ever been killed by a meteor and the idea that the dinosaurs were killed by meteors is a vague theory rejected by most paleontologists. And the scientists don't correct him, don't mention that the universal scientific consensus since 1990 has been that the Chicxulub crater is where the meteor that killed the dinosaurs hit. Of course the author had no way of knowing about the Chelyabinsk event which happened in 2013, but it's bizarre to read about a conversation set in 2016 where that wouldn't have been mentioned. But there was also no mention of Tunguska (1908). For this to be such a crucial storyline it is staggering that the author seems so oblivious to actual meteor activity.
As I was reading this it occurred to me what has annoyed me most about the series--the language! Flnn felt the need to invent his own slang and his own expressions and then needed to include his own lingo in practically every sentence in the book! And characters who were in their teens in book 1 are in their 30s in this book and still talking exactly the same. Most of the people who thought things were "groovy" in the 1960s or "radical" or "gnarly" in the 1980s are still alive today, but people grow up and want to be taken seriously in the adult world and start talking like adults. But not Flynn's characters. It's common in sci-fi to use words to describe things unique and easily identified in that world/universe like light sabers, transporters, sonic screwdrivers. But using his own made up words 30-50 times per page is just distracting and annoying!!!!!
And it is probably the most perposterously, ridiculously, unrealistic ended of any book ever written. The leader of an environmental group holds a press conference. A PRESS CONFERENCE!!!!!!! Presidents can hold press conferences, MAYBE governors or heads of agencies if there is a major crisis directly relevant. Heads of non profit groups do not and have never announce a press conference and then have dozens of reporters show up, and networks do NOT do last-minute rescheduling of their regular programming to air them live. But in Flynn's world they do. And practically every character who has ever been in any of the books, from students to hackers to scientists to machinists to business tycoons to senior white house staff all stop whatever they are doing to tune in LIVE and the book ends with all the different reactions of all the characters to what is being said. Out of the thousands of books I've read I can only think of 2 more awkward plot devices I've ever encountered.

[Andreas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Near future SciFi has seldom been done better. Flynn takes us on an epic journey only hinted at in the humble beginnings of the first book. A millionairess has a hidden fear, almost an obsession. She is afraid that an asteroid has the potential to wipe out humanity by striking the Earth. While her fear is no doubt well founded, it takes extreme expressions in her, and she uses her fortune to build up a huge aerospace industry. The series consists of:

* Firestar
* Rogue Star
* Lodestar
* Falling Stars

What really makes this series great is the variety and richness of the many characters (from the second book, a Dramatis Personae is thankfully provided). The antagonisms and alliances flow over decades as Flynn deftly describes human nature, and the many things which make up its facets. Many novels have (too) many characters, but in almost all cases the majority are not fully fleshed out and threedimensional. Flynn’s wonderful character are these things. They have a past, motivations, goals and aspirations.

It is also quite remarkable how Flynn manages to weave together the many strands of his story into one whole, making this more than just a massive work of Science Fiction. It is, in fact, a story about ordinary people who, each in his or her own way, faces extraordinary personal and professional challenges in a changing society.

My only, very small, gripe with the series is how it loses a bit of steam in the third book. However, seen as a whole, the entire story is outstanding.

And yes, the last two covers are horrible and have very little to do with the books. Pah!

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=175

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Lodestar" is book 3 of the Firestar series by Michael Flynn. It was OK. It did not continue the action scene from the ending of the second book but chose to continue with the general character development.

The Story: A manned probe is sent to a near-Earth asteroid. We also follow Jacinta Rosario, a new cadet hoping to fly in space. She is different though. She belongs to a group called the Silver Apples who have trained her in how to maintain her chastity. That training comes into play in several scenes.

Any problems? Well... as I recall there is some lesbian stuff... not too strong... just some kissing and some towel snapping in the showers. I can see how it fits into the story but I think it could have been avoided. Every person to his own tastes. I was not disturbed by it. I was disturbed by the lesbian stuff and the hetero sex in the followup book where the girl characters seem to act out of character... different from how they are here. Too bad. The author missed an opportunity to teach a lesson. I don't know what kind of lesson but he blew it in favor of a hot kiss.

I don't know how they decided on the cover art. The two women in the picture do not go to the asteroid.

Oh, well... like I said... it's not too bad but I wouldn't let my kids read it.

[Matt aka]

Lodestar is the third book in the SciFi Firestar series. The story continues to focus in strong character development and technical details. Jimmy Poole is one of the best characters in the book. He is one of the best computer users in the world and is in an interesting virtual battle online.

The number of characters and their depth is really impressive throughout the entire series. There is also a young woman in training to be a space pilot that feels she has something to prove. Early on she missed the flight to school which was very lucky as the plane crashed. Another woman always wanted to be a dancer but after a horrible accident ends up losing an arm and a leg and becomes a highly skilled computer user in the online world known as the "Virtch".

Everyone is gong about their lives but earth is in tremendous danger because and asteroid has been steered directly at it.

I really enjoy thus series and find the writing and characters to be very interesting. They evolve and grow but I still feel this book was paced a little slower than I like so I give it four out of five stars.

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was pretty disappointed with this book. It didn't really contribute to the overall story developed in the first two books. The author tried to imagine and create a different culture. He made up a lot of words and slang for this. Unfortunately rather then enrich the world it only succeeded in confusing me. "It's the genuine bean", "he's bone", "I'm not that herbie". It was hard to tell if these were good or bad. Or if it was relative to the speaker and subject.
Also, the author explores futuristic tech. But a lot is simply babel. More made up jargon. I concepts are vague and inplausible.
As mentioned, aside from having familiar characters, it didn't really fit with previous books. I've enjoyed the series so far. But if it weren't for paddive ease of audiobooks, I probably wouldn't have made it through this.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was happy to see Mr Flynn ease up on the Randian philosophy in this installment of the series. Yet, the story seemed unnecessarily drawn out - I kept hoping that he would 'get to the point'. Also he seems all too enthused with feeling clever for writing long winded, pedantic recitations of his version of computer hacking, filled with lots of his invented jargon. It reminded me a bit of O Henry's penchant for using big words to impress his readers, not realizing that he used them incorrectly. Also, while the "mega wealthy people manipulating and influencing people, governments and business to the 'greater good'" theme was not as 'in your face' as the previous books - the set up of the easily predicted asteroid collision danger surely seems to be furthering the straw man fallacy of that theme. Overall a decent read, but definitely not the best of the series.

[Brian Maicke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third of Flynn's near future space flight saga. This book was a slight departure from the space flight infrastructure building of the first two books, as Jimmy Poole featured prominently. The result is that a large portion of the book was an internet thriller type novel. Still a good read, but it did not resonate with me as the previous books have. Still, the ending was strong and I look forward to reading the conclusion of the series.

[Benjamin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The near-future (2030s) science was all right, but the book kept trying to be a harlequin romance novel, all "warm, yielding flesh" and "urgent thrusts". This, combined with the fact that there were so many characters that most of them were caricatures, made things more than a little comical at times.

[Peter Brander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Number 3 is a cheat. It is a completely different story, which involves some of the characters from the first two books. But between the story chapters, we get some central new facts, turnings and characters. Michael Flynn could just as well have put those pages into the beginning of book n. 4. But he didn't.

Oh, well...

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several new characters are introduced. Some of the Space Academy kids are intriguing, but many of the others seem like they should have been active participants or at least appeared in previous books if they existed.

[Mark Krueger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of this book is a bit different from the first two in the series. At first I wasn't enjoying it as much as the earlier books. By the middle I was thoroughly enjoying it -- and this continued through to the end. It's a great read; and I'm thoroughly impressed with Michael Flynn.

[Keith B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgot about all the great quotes and ideas I got from this series. Glad I dug back into it.

[Annabel Cervantes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think Flynn decided how he wanted this book 3 to end and just schlep everything else to fill the pages. Disappointing and a waste of time!

[Shaft · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent instalment in one of my favourite non tie in sci-fi series.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole book is buildup and closure to some of the may characters in the story.

[Kyra Dune · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not care for this book at all. It was much too heavy on the science for my taste.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Least favorite of the series.