Frontier

by Patrick Chiles, Paul Heitsch (Narrator)

Marshall Hunter only wanted to the faster, the higher, the better. But a life of rescuing wayward spacefarers and derelict satellites in the cislunar cruiser U.S.S. Borman is far from the adventure he'd imagined. But his fortunes change when a billionaire couple goes missing on their way to a near-Earth asteroid. Out of contact and on a course that will eventually send them crashing into Mars, the nuclear-powered Borman is dispatched on an audacious, high-speed interplanetary run to bring the couple home. As they approach the asteroid, however, the Borman itself becomes hopelessly disabled.

With the Borman suddenly out of commission and far beyond reach, cislunar space begins falling into chaos as critical satellites fail and valuable lunar mineral shipments begin disappearing in transit. Nothing is as it seems, and Marshall Hunter and the rest of the crew suspect none of it is by coincidence.

Genres: Science Fiction

14 pages, Audible Audio

Published April 9, 2024

About the author

Patrick Chiles began his writing career with the self-published novels PERIGEE and FARSIDE. His subsequent novels with Baen Books, FROZEN ORBIT, ESCAPE ORBIT, FRONTIER, and INTERSTELLAR MEDIC: THE LONG RUN have established him as a rising talent in adventurous, near-future science fiction. Born from the author’s fascination with practical space travel and love for Cold War technothrillers, his novels feature plausible technology that leverage his military and aviation experience to create stories with engaging, relatable characters on astonishing adventures: “ordinary people, doing extraordinary things.”
He also contributed to the 2021 anthology, WORLD BREAKERS, with Larry Correia and David Weber, the 2022 anthology, WORLDS LONG LOST, with Orson Scott Card and Christopher Ruocchio, and was the headline author of 2023’s THE ROSS 248 PROJECT.
Patrick graduated from The Citadel in 1986 and served in the Marine Corps until 1993. After a career in managing airline and business flight operations, he now works for an aviation safety consulting firm when he is not writing. He currently resides in central Ohio with his wife and a lethargic dachshund.

Reviews

[Mitchell Land · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read some hard sci-fi about a US Space Force might actually operate in the future, then this book is for you. The picture of the PRC it paints is a little flat, but, all the same, every good sci-fi hero needs an enemy. Some of the character's actions on the ground are a little far-fetched, I think, but at least they move the story along.

[Henry Lazarus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patrick Chiles is an expert in the complication of living in space. Spae force patrols the near Earth Frontier (paper from Baen) with the U.S.S. Borman mainly for the rare rescue needed for the growing industrialization. Then the Jaing’s, a millionaire couple on a private expedition, suffer disaster and the Borman is sent to hopefully rescue the couple out of contact. Marshal Hunter, a new ensign on the ship has to rise to meet the worst when it proves the Jaings had met with foul play from predictable enemies. The space war is well defined. Fun.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read _Frozen Orbit_ previously and found it a compelling hard sci-fi story. The publisher let me know the author had a new book with a similar theme of how a ship could operate beyond Luna. I found the design of the USS Borman believable with a bit of technological extrapolation. It was when the author takes us outside of the USS Borman’s crew does the plot & characters not work well.

Our main character is the son of a famous astronaut, so we have that weight around his neck. He joins the space force as that seemed more exciting than the other military branches. US Space Force here is like the US Coast Guard wet service. What he finds is that while there is a shine to being on a working ship in orbit, it wears off really quick. Working in suits in vacuum isn’t like the movies and the main character learns quickly that it is exhausting.

The characters generally get that space wants to kill you at every opportunity. I like the points about how to rescue and recovery in space, including a set of rescue specialists, similar to Coast Guard rescue divers or Air Force PJ’s. People you want to dive into a hairy situation to pull your butt out of the fire. Having two women be the current rescue specialists is a good step forward, but the author tends to describe women with a male gaze, which gets irritating.

The whole mystery part stays that way for awhile, though once a hint is made, it becomes obvious what is really happening. The author foreshadows
everything, so that a comment made by a crew member means that something in a locker will be pivotable in a later scene. The reveal isn’t very shocking. It is how the characters of “surprising source” rescue ship are painted. Monotone robots would have more emotion. Is that how everyone in that country acts or is it just a convenient way to portray a bully?

While the ship itself is well thought out, there are points where the technological explanations of computers is dumbed down. No ship, a few decades hence, would have hard drives on board (Flash chips on a PC board). Nor would they be as easily accessible as a character makes it out to be. While there is ongoing experiments with quantum encryption would make it impossible to tap into a data stream, it wouldn’t change an antenna design. Also, key loggers are not on wi-fi hotspots.

In the end, I like the ship and crew overall. A series on their exploits in orbit would be a lot of fun. Just leave the geopolitics in the background.

[Dave Carrig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow oh wow! What an incredible story. This was my favorite fictional read of the year - and to think - I almost didn’t pick it up! I just noticed it on the shelf at the library and after recently retiring from 30 years with the Coast Guard reading the term: “interplanetary search and rescue” on the back cover piqued my interest. I don’t know how familiar the author is with the Coast Guard but as someone who has spent a lot of time on Patrol Boats (and having skippered one) - I must say he captured the spirit of a small CG crew quite well. I know its a hard sci-fi space story - but it brought some fond memories! I can’t say one bad thing about this book. It has great character development and an incredible plot. The last two hundred pages of the book were so entertaining that it took me about 90 minutes to get through them - I couldn’t put it down. So glad I picked this up - I’ll be investing my money and time into Mr. Chiles works in the future. Hope he comes back to these characters at some point as well…. Bravo Zulu Sir - Semper Paratus and Altus Tendo!

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humanity’s presence in space is expanding, and with it come geopolitical interests. The United States spaceship Borman is dispatched to assist two billionaire explorers with whom contact has been lost. Meanwhile, a vast conspiracy to disable space assets is unfolding. As the Borman herself runs into trouble, the People’s Republic of China enters the fray.

As in the earlier Farside set in the same universe, Mr. Chiles expands the scope of the story beyond a mere rescue mission into a technothriller set in space. The protagonists are easy to root for, though they fall into stereotypes rather too readily. The Chinese crew members are almost laughable cardboard cutouts. The story is well crafted, with a good pace apart from an excess of expository dialogue in the first half, and the political tensions eminently plausible.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/2021/08/...

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Space adventure leaning toward the Hard SF end of the genre. It’s halfway between a Tom Clancy technothriller and more blue sky sci-fi, which is a less-explored part of the genre. So it’s got that going for it. Overall I liked it. Chiles adds little touches like casually slipping in a reference to “like a leaf on the wind.” IYKYK. I also enjoyed when the Chinese ship blew up the sports car Elon Musk put in outer space.

I read Frozen Orbit earlier, not realizing it’s a sequel to this book. These really aren’t clearly numbered or anything and they look like standalones, making it easy to read them out of order. But this is turning into an interesting future history.

[Stanley Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book. It was better than I expected. The author had me guessing about at least one thing. Some of the science (which doesn't seem too hardcore) went over my head and endangered my interest, but I persevered and came through enjoying the book. The action is usually easy to follow, but I would've appreciated more details/clarity in the final battle(s). The main characters had their interesting points and were easy to root for. I never generated much interest in any of the side characters, but the story did hold my interest. I recommend the book.

[Marc Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a slow start as all of the characters are introduced, but the book picks up speed in the second half. It really takes off in the final third and is an exciting page turner. The reason for the 4 star review from me is that the ending, while mostly satisfying does not quite wrap all of the threads of the story. I like an ending that completes the entire story. Possibly there will be a sequel, but it doesn't seem the book is set up for that. Anyways, like I said an enjoyable read (just not the one I was expecting).

[Morris D · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are hard sci-fi novels, then there is this…immensely satisfying read.

This book is true hard science fiction. The fiction is clever and enjoyable. The science is real and without the equations of my youth. The result?

An immensely satisfying read that scratches many itches I had forgotten about, but enjoyed re-experiencing just for the satisfaction of the “Aaaaaahhhh!” in the scratch!

Read it. You will enjoy being entertained and educated by a great novel.

[Tamahome · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good near future Tom Clancy-like thriller with lots of orbital mechanics details. So it's in my wheelhouse. I felt shades of Hunt for Red October with some of the spaceship battles, especially near the end. I found out about it from Brian Lee Durfee's youtube review. I definitely rushed to finish. The kindle app says it's about a 9 hour read.

[Kevin Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting characters but a slower burn than I normally enjoy.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like his previous works, Chiles' Frontier is near-time, hard scifi that feels very real, in fact almost too real in the political sense.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book by Chiles that I've read and I will definitely read more. He spins an interesting, exciting, and believable near-term SF/thriller. I recommend it.

[Bill O'Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horatio Hornblower in space.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story in the space saga from Patrick Chiles! Likeable characters, tense situations, and an overall sense of adventure

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

fact based fiction is harder to find lately, but this is a good example with a bit of wishful plotting. Good start to what is, I hope, a series of stories.