Ten Thousand Miles Up

by Rick Griffin

In the deep reaches of space, the starship White Flower II arrives at the dead planet C18-3 in hopes of finding it fit for terraforming. Events turn quickly when Captain Ateri learns pirates had been trailing him for years, but they need him to pull off the greatest heist of all stealing a terraformer right out from under the noses of its sole possessors and Ateri's masters, the krakun. However, the company has replaced Ateri's old commissioner with a new one that same day, along with orders that their classified technology is to be scuttled at the first threat of theft. Can Ateri attain what he most desires when his life and the safety of his crew are on the line?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Zach Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Ten Thousand Miles Up”, a book written by Rick Griffin, was a very interesting book to read. It describes vividly and has a lot to do with futuristic science fiction technology. The story takes place in outer space following along the feats and ordeals of Captain Ateri as he tries to consult affairs with a pirate leader named, Sinon. Ateri and his wife, Jakari, are part of a huge organization run by dragons of a distant planet. The dragons take dead planets and use a machine called a terraformer to change the landscape and make the planet inhabitable so they can strip it of all its resources to make a huge profit from it. The pirates want the terraformer in order to create their own special home, but Jakari has other plans for the terraformer.

Ateri is a space captain and has been awarded numerous times for his great feats and has also suffered severe punishment for minimal matters of which the dragons disliked. One such severity being the loss of his eye. His wife, Jakari, was the daughter of the previous captain and is the head of communications onboard the vessel. Sinon, the leader of the pirates, wishes to get his paws on the terraformer and create a safe haven for all pirates and to tear down the dragon reign over his planet. He will do anything it takes to get it, even if it means sacrificing his own crew.

The story takes place many centuries in the future in outer space along the orbit of a dormant possible planet Ateri calls “C18-3”. It’s a very small story and a majority of the book is taking place within the confines of the ship Ateri is in control of. One of the dragons boards the ship to watch as the terraformer changes the planet into something much more beautiful.

I believe the theme in this novel is that Rick wanted readers to believe that every strategy must be planned out to have no flaws. Ateri’s plan with the terraformer was planned out for years and he had waited for the pirates to make their move only to use them as a decoy to lure a dragon out of the organization to successfully gather the info for the terraformer codes. He has planned through it very thoroughly and executed it with much precision.

This was yet another great novel written by Rick Griffin. He’s quite an acclaimed artist and writer and has been at this for years now. I recommend this book to anyone age thirteen or older seeing as how it has some explicit references in the introduction. I rate it at a five out of five stars and I have already recommended it to some of my friends and I truly hope they enjoy it as much as I.

[Christopher Ruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good scifi is hard to find these days, and good anthro science-fiction is even rarer, which is why I was so glad to discover Ten Thousand Miles Up. 10k Miles is hard to classify - it's set in a space-opera universe, where massive terraforming constructs are jumped through space under the watch of an all-conquering reptilian master race. But the core story also has elements of a heist caper, where bluffs and double bluffs all come together to form a secret plan that just might allow an enslaved species a chance at freedom. Ateri and Jakari, the main characters, might be fuzzy on the outside but are also very human - there is, in fact, a lot to love about all the characters here, whether they be quirky or villainous.

The opening chapter is a bit crowded, as the author has to drop a lot of info to catch the reader up with his complex and fascinating universe. After that, Ten Thousand Miles Up is breakneck fun all the way to the finish line. If you love science fiction and you have a soft spot for anthro characters ala the Chanur saga, you'll have a lot of fun here.

[Dione Basseri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of sci-fi trickery suitable for any SF magazine! Captain Ateri is a geroo with a history of disobedience to his masters, in pursuit of a new home planet for his people. When approached by ringel pirates suggesting an alliance for mutual profit, he sees a chance to get ahead of his slave masters. But another mistake will cost him not just his life, but likely the lives of his entire species.

The final twists were excellently foreshadowed, making it all seem plausible, rather than sci-fi witchery. The universe Griffin created is self-contained and logical. And, of course, enjoyable!

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some interesting ideas in here that just didn't get enough time to develop. I felt that both too much and not enough happened in this short book; that it deserved to be either expanded into a full novel, or cut down so the characters and plot could be more fully explored. So this one didn't quite hit the mark for me, but I would definitely read more of Mr Griffin's works.