The Asgard Run

by Steve Vance

"Roger Griffin's lifetime dream lay before him. He stood within an immense interstellar vessel that had lain beneath the Wyoming mountains for millennia. It had remained a virtually impenetrable fortress to the scientific teams that prowled its two-mile-long exterior-until they managed to pry open the door. Then the dream of scientific discovery became a horrific nightmare as an earthquake awakened the long dormant brain of the malfunctioning spacecraft-and rocked the door shut. Griffin and his fellow survivors frantically tried to escape, but the ship's computer took steps to rescue itself and exterminate the humans in board.

Suddenly, the newly awakened control room displayed a clock for its terrified inhabitants to see. Its lights blinked in and off, but the message was Six hours until lift-off. Six hours to live. Six hours to die."

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

316 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Credited as: Writer, Inker, Penciller mainly for DC Comics

list of work can be found here, in chronological order:
http://www.comicbookdb.com/creator.ph...

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

The copyright on my copy is 1990, but it reads like those old 70's movies; "The Posiden Adventure", "The Towering Inferno", & such. Lots of strangers thrown into a dangerous situation together & they have to make a dash to survive. The situation was a bit stranger - an alien spaceship - but the rest was quite prosaic.

I don't like a ton of characters without any hook to hang them on. I was confused as to who was who & didn't give a rat's butt about most of them. I took a long break in the middle & finally read the rest. The second half of the book was much better than the first.

Worse, I think I did read part of this before. My son said so, but I had only the vaguest of memories. I won't be re-reading it.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Asgard Run by Steve Vance is a first-contact novel of sorts. A long-buried alien spaceship is found but except for one large and empty room, no way can be found to enter the ship. An amusement park with the main attraction being the ship is eventually made from it. It attracts people from all over the world. One eventful day a mixed bag of people are trapped in the only open room when the ship is violently shaken by a massive earthquake. They soon discover that the inside doors now open and they must travel the length of the 12-mile-long ship in order to escape before the ship's automatic systems launch it into space for a many-year journey back to its home planet. Many other reviewers have compared this novel to The Posiden Adventure and I must say that agree with them.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my thing. It's about way too many different main characters. I can't empathize and identify with all of them and care whether they all live or die, so it didn't work for me. I also wasn't really buying into the whole idea that their alien technology was simple enough for humans to guess and figure out how to maneuver their way through it.

[Gary Langston · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible in my opinion. Little to no character development and the plot, to me, did not exist. A story about people trapped in a very large spacecraft making their way down endless plain halls trying to get out.

[♥ Rebecca ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up for like a quarter, at a thrift store. I wonder why it has such a low rating. It was very entertaining.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't help but notice the parallel to the Poseidon Adventure, but in a different venue. The writing was OK, but the characters were much too flat.

[Wesley Harney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Read it straight through without stopping and really had a great time. I disliked a few characters but that made it better.

[Scott Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced Poseidon Adventure set on a spaceship story. Great characters.

[Tori · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sci-fi falls into a few categories in my mind. There is suspenseful sci-fi, that is all about action and intensity. There is a discovery sort of sci-fi, all about exploring fantastic worlds and cultures and philosophies. And there is character driven sci-fi, where the futuristic setting serves as a marvelous backdrop for human stories.
This book is somehow none of those, and as such is a rather flat, unemotive, walk through a spaceship. Most of the action consists of running against a clock, not any perceived threat, and is not very engaging. While some in the group died, it was usually from just exhaustion or sustained wounds while traveling, not because aliens or action. The world building wasn't deep enough to let me get lost in a fantasy world. Long hallway. Weird elevator. Hallway. Engines. Hallway. Subway. Weird light show. (That is literally the entire sequence of travel) It was not otherworldly enough to make it interesting. Additionally, the book is set slightly into the future or an alternate reality or something, so I lost my grounding in what was supposed to be normal. Aliens made a half chapter appearance, where their sleeping bodies were seen but not interacted with.
All this serves as a backdrop for a LARGE cast of characters who's backstories are glanced at as needed (with absolutely no foreshadowing to ground them. Am I supposed to feel something when a character thinks of staying and dying because I am suddenly shown his family doesn't love him as he thinks they ought to? It just confuses me). I never got everyone straight, and certainly felt no attachment to any of them.
Things happened without good explanation. So the subway shoots ahead at a force that can kill you potentially? And a man imaging God in a place of creativity (can't think of a better way to describe that) causes an explosion because... reasons? And the ship is kinda being nice to them (Read: the ship isn't even an antagonist. What are we fighting against again?) but also isn't really awake (because it is sentient but never actually wakes up). There isn't a climax.
And all the lose ends! In top of the large cast there were characters who were introduced and then left to the side after you thought they might be important. And what happens to the group that got separated from them? And with all the damage done to the spaceship am I really expected to believe it lifted off without a hitch?
Anyway, it's been too long since I've been able to rant about a book, so there's that I guess?

[Jenelle Compton · Rating 3 out of 5]

What about the other 2 groups of people inside the ship!?!?!?

This was fast paced and interesting, although the cast of characters was a little overwhelming at times. But I feel like this should be a series. I wanna know what happens with those other groups. And Doyle. And the little girl's mother...did she make it? I didn't like how many loose ends were left unraveled, I guess.

[Earl Truss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm kind of in the middle between OK and Liked It. It was more of a thriller and chase to escape story than anything. It was a fast read and kept me interested to see what happened next.

[Andrew Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites; love the characters especially our hero.