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Interim: **** the Galactic Police!
WINNER, Cinescape Genre Literary Competition
The Interim, enforcing a monopoly on faster-than-light travel, stands between the human race and extinction, or so its Founders claim. The crew of the sub-light freighter Lady of Chaos wants nothing to do with it. But when two fugitives, one a scientist, the other a rogue agent of the Social Engineering Service, the Interim's death squad, come aboard, Lady becomes the most wanted ship in the galaxy. And that's even before the Interim learns the true identity of her captain. The hunt is on, and its outcome will leave the universe forever changed.
Interim is non-wartime, character driven space opera with plenty of action in the vein of Peter F. Hamilton, Charles Sheffield, Frederick Pohl, David Brin, and others.
The Interim, enforcing a monopoly on faster-than-light travel, stands between the human race and extinction, or so its Founders claim. The crew of the sub-light freighter Lady of Chaos wants nothing to do with it. But when two fugitives, one a scientist, the other a rogue agent of the Social Engineering Service, the Interim's death squad, come aboard, Lady becomes the most wanted ship in the galaxy. And that's even before the Interim learns the true identity of her captain. The hunt is on, and its outcome will leave the universe forever changed.
Interim is non-wartime, character driven space opera with plenty of action in the vein of Peter F. Hamilton, Charles Sheffield, Frederick Pohl, David Brin, and others.
369 pages, ebook
Published November 22, 2015
300 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
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P.K. Lentz
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
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October 26, 2020Entertaining, a little unfulfilled
Interesting societal setup, some good characterisation, but it often felt episodic, some sections covering big big events very quickly, other sections going in for long introspection.
Felt there were many undeveloped ideas and characters, some barely entering before they disappear. So, three stars only, although I did enjoy reading it.
Interesting societal setup, some good characterisation, but it often felt episodic, some sections covering big big events very quickly, other sections going in for long introspection.
Felt there were many undeveloped ideas and characters, some barely entering before they disappear. So, three stars only, although I did enjoy reading it.
October 5, 2016
Just the way a book should be.
You pick it up and it's hard to put down. Got my first kindle last Xmas and since then have read over a hundred sci-fi books. This one ranks right up top for space opera. Will take a look at your others and thank you!
You pick it up and it's hard to put down. Got my first kindle last Xmas and since then have read over a hundred sci-fi books. This one ranks right up top for space opera. Will take a look at your others and thank you!
April 18, 2016
A good novel
Although it has some editing mistakes, they do not take away from a good story. The author indicates this to be the first"real novel" so no doubt the next batch will be much better. Not a bad book to pass the time. Worth a try.
Although it has some editing mistakes, they do not take away from a good story. The author indicates this to be the first"real novel" so no doubt the next batch will be much better. Not a bad book to pass the time. Worth a try.
November 11, 2016
A very good novel
Like most good science fiction, I have more questions now than when I started the book. Thanks for continuing to write. I look forward to more of your work.
Like most good science fiction, I have more questions now than when I started the book. Thanks for continuing to write. I look forward to more of your work.
January 14, 2020
Creative Space Mystery, until 2nd half cliches
After an A+ imaginative 1st part, the novel loses direction, never solves the mysteries, and ends in simplistic and gross letdowns.
After an A+ imaginative 1st part, the novel loses direction, never solves the mysteries, and ends in simplistic and gross letdowns.
January 9, 2023
The plot is serviceable enough: a collection of protagonists wind up on the wrong side of the deceitful, ruthless interstellar government called “The Interim.” Secrets are revealed. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Hijinks ensue.
There are flashes here. A lot of the action is quite well-scripted. There are pieces of description that are great, like when one of the bad guys muses: "The damage to the Interim was irreversible now, but he might yet prevent the ruin of his own career." Did I used to work with that guy? Never mind. At any rate, you have to respect someone who can stay focused in a crisis, right?
Lentz also handed out some great names: Lady of Chaos, Whisper of Death and Lucifer’s Halo are fantastic monikers for space ships--while calling the secret police the “Social Engineering Service” is original and menacing.
I liked most other aspects of this a lot less, unfortunately. The protagonists were annoying and shallow. The fluid writing about action and drama didn’t extent to describing people. At one point, Lentz shoves a character into cryo storage seemingly to avoid having to resolve some of excessive emotional tensions that are sloshing around, rather than (at least as far as I could tell) because there was any plot-related need.
This was...not great, but ok. Curiously, the author may agree: Lentz says in an end note that this was his first “real” novel, finished in 2003. He thinks he’s vastly improved as a writer since. It piqued my interest in Lentz as an author, and led buying/reading a couple more after this to see how it went. (The whole five-book post is here.)
October 2, 2019
I was quite torn how to position this. It was eminently readable, one of those where you are anxious to pick back up if you have to put it down. There was mostly good character development, and the plot was revealed nicely with views into two different times that seemed unconnected until later. But there was also a lot not very believable in there -- and not talking about the central plot focus either (which I will not describe as a spoiler), but just character actions. As an example, the very robotic Social Engineer Assassins' inconsistent behavior from wildly impulsive to coldly rational like a Niven PAK. Or the captain's reasonable depression from a friend's death (along with a planet's death) to minutes later seducing a stow-away. It made for interesting scenes and moved the plot in some cases, but it just didn't feel believable. The best books to me develop a personality, almost a program for each character, and then let the programs play out in interaction. Here the characters seemed to change to fit the plot aspect of the moment too much, leaving a "but why would he act that way" a common thought.
But... the overall concept -- which I think is not really a spoiler -- to explore the impact of discovered FTL technology on society, how it can be used or abused, how it co-exists with STL in widespread use, was quite well done. I mentioned Niven before, he did the same of sorts, but he gave it rather short attention with fairly obvious consequences. Lentz here picked up a very believable aspect and played it out over centuries in a very well done, and ultimately frighteningly believable way.
And then in the end it all got explained (except almost nothing got explained) and it ended. This felt far too much like a setup for a sequel -- like the author then decided not to, and made some quick changes to resolve enough not to have a sequel. Or leaving the door open to one but not really. Yes -- I realize you can also see it as a well crafted close leaving a lot to the user's imagination to fill in -- just for me maybe a bit too much.
Worth reading definitely, especially since at the time I got it the price was a real winner.
But... the overall concept -- which I think is not really a spoiler -- to explore the impact of discovered FTL technology on society, how it can be used or abused, how it co-exists with STL in widespread use, was quite well done. I mentioned Niven before, he did the same of sorts, but he gave it rather short attention with fairly obvious consequences. Lentz here picked up a very believable aspect and played it out over centuries in a very well done, and ultimately frighteningly believable way.
And then in the end it all got explained (except almost nothing got explained) and it ended. This felt far too much like a setup for a sequel -- like the author then decided not to, and made some quick changes to resolve enough not to have a sequel. Or leaving the door open to one but not really. Yes -- I realize you can also see it as a well crafted close leaving a lot to the user's imagination to fill in -- just for me maybe a bit too much.
Worth reading definitely, especially since at the time I got it the price was a real winner.
December 15, 2020
2020 grade B- I think.
This was actually a good book. All it really needs is a professional editor or two to clean up the problems. There was never any doubt I would finish it, I often did not want to stop reading, and I came back as soon as possible. I did speed read by skipping to the next paragraph a lot and even skipped identifiable sections like the "news" reports.
Modern SciFi tends to have dysfunctional and damaged characters in a dystopian universe. The characters often don't actually accomplish anything on their own by the end of the story despite masses of collateral damage, some of it rather graphic. This book fits in that genre.
I very much enjoyed reading a long, reasonably fast paced, true social hard science fiction story with complex situations and characters. I kept thinking, it feels so good to read real SciFi again. Despite that, I can't really recommend it.
It is (or was) free on Amazon Kindle, so give it a try if you want. You might like it. For an author's first novel, it was impressive.
This was actually a good book. All it really needs is a professional editor or two to clean up the problems. There was never any doubt I would finish it, I often did not want to stop reading, and I came back as soon as possible. I did speed read by skipping to the next paragraph a lot and even skipped identifiable sections like the "news" reports.
Modern SciFi tends to have dysfunctional and damaged characters in a dystopian universe. The characters often don't actually accomplish anything on their own by the end of the story despite masses of collateral damage, some of it rather graphic. This book fits in that genre.
I very much enjoyed reading a long, reasonably fast paced, true social hard science fiction story with complex situations and characters. I kept thinking, it feels so good to read real SciFi again. Despite that, I can't really recommend it.
It is (or was) free on Amazon Kindle, so give it a try if you want. You might like it. For an author's first novel, it was impressive.
September 12, 2019
I was a little unsure at first but the further I got into the book, the more I liked it. There was a good story, a decent set of characters (and diverse), interesting situations and a grand world.
I liked the notion that people lived for centuries but mainly due to hibernation on long space voyages. I did wonder at times what that meant for planet side people, families, etc as it wasn’t broached in the book but maybe that’s ok.
In reaching the end, the story was complete but not fully closed leaving the possibility of more without the cliffhanger of many books. I would be willing to jump back into the storyline and follow the characters again. The biggest disappointment? There are no more stories...
I liked the notion that people lived for centuries but mainly due to hibernation on long space voyages. I did wonder at times what that meant for planet side people, families, etc as it wasn’t broached in the book but maybe that’s ok.
In reaching the end, the story was complete but not fully closed leaving the possibility of more without the cliffhanger of many books. I would be willing to jump back into the storyline and follow the characters again. The biggest disappointment? There are no more stories...
July 4, 2021
Mayweather Kearn, Serenity Martijin, Julian Zerouali
Kearn is the captain of the ship Lucifer's Halo (later known as Lady) which discovers the derilect colony ship Star of Beshsaan, dead in space. One passenger is discovered in status and is recovered in her hibernation pod. Unexpectedly their ship has engine problems and ends up having to launch and dump their fuel. They end up in an unfortunate trajectory aimed for an apparently uninhabited system.
Charectorization and plotting are excellent.
Kearn is the captain of the ship Lucifer's Halo (later known as Lady) which discovers the derilect colony ship Star of Beshsaan, dead in space. One passenger is discovered in status and is recovered in her hibernation pod. Unexpectedly their ship has engine problems and ends up having to launch and dump their fuel. They end up in an unfortunate trajectory aimed for an apparently uninhabited system.
Charectorization and plotting are excellent.
May 21, 2018
About to depart the planet Merada, the crew of the Lady of Chaos find themselves with two fugitives aboard, both of whom are about to bring down a heap of trouble on their heads. And for the ship's captain, an old spacer veteran long believed dead and living under an assumed name, ghosts from his past come back to haunt him.
A quick and entertaining enough read, but I just didn't care about the characters enough for the book to keep my attention all the way through.
A quick and entertaining enough read, but I just didn't care about the characters enough for the book to keep my attention all the way through.
July 27, 2020
The first third and last tenth are very good. The stuff in the middle was a bit slow. Some of the characters which were introduced in the beginning took a backseat and seemed almost like afterthoughts in the last third of the book. It's a pity, because so much was invested in their development but they were then treated like game pieces. Maybe their characters will be further explored in other works?
November 12, 2020
Unusual and very good
A very good hard sci-fi story that I only picked up because it was free. It would be worth a reasonable price to read as well. Plenty of unusual tech, background politics and good characters drive this along at a good pace with some nice twists and turns along the way. The only negative is that the ultimate secret of this book is only partially resolved which, for me, was a bit of a let down.
A very good hard sci-fi story that I only picked up because it was free. It would be worth a reasonable price to read as well. Plenty of unusual tech, background politics and good characters drive this along at a good pace with some nice twists and turns along the way. The only negative is that the ultimate secret of this book is only partially resolved which, for me, was a bit of a let down.
May 15, 2021
Alot of action
Really good read. Admittedly the beginning was very confusing for me as it was laying the foundation for the story. It quickly sorted out. There are alot of situations which made the reading very interesting. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I did, it's nice when that happens. It is not a cliffhanger or my rating would've been 1 star. I look forward to reading about more adventures with Captain Kearn and his crew.
Really good read. Admittedly the beginning was very confusing for me as it was laying the foundation for the story. It quickly sorted out. There are alot of situations which made the reading very interesting. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I did, it's nice when that happens. It is not a cliffhanger or my rating would've been 1 star. I look forward to reading about more adventures with Captain Kearn and his crew.
August 13, 2020
Great story!
I liked the characterizations - author gave real depth and life to all the characters, even Lisette. I like longer stories, like Interim, as it gives the reader so much room for more details about the plot and characters so the story can feel real and become important to the reader. I developed a new appreciation for life in space due to this novel.
I liked the characterizations - author gave real depth and life to all the characters, even Lisette. I like longer stories, like Interim, as it gives the reader so much room for more details about the plot and characters so the story can feel real and become important to the reader. I developed a new appreciation for life in space due to this novel.
October 26, 2020
Sci-fi at its highest! Reminiscent of Heinlin
A troubled space captain is backed into the situation where his only course of action is to oppose the monolithic empire that rules most of space, due to their ownership of almost instant travel across interstellar distances. Growth and action happen.
A troubled space captain is backed into the situation where his only course of action is to oppose the monolithic empire that rules most of space, due to their ownership of almost instant travel across interstellar distances. Growth and action happen.
January 27, 2021
Futuristic reading 📚
A will written romantic space Sci-Fi thriller adventure novel with interesting characters. The story line is intense fast moving as the characters travel across the galaxy over hundreds of light years before reaching the conclusion. I would recommend this novel to any Sci-Fi reader. Enjoy reading 🔰2021😴
A will written romantic space Sci-Fi thriller adventure novel with interesting characters. The story line is intense fast moving as the characters travel across the galaxy over hundreds of light years before reaching the conclusion. I would recommend this novel to any Sci-Fi reader. Enjoy reading 🔰2021😴
September 13, 2021
Intelligent, thoughtful SciFi
Loved the characters, good world building, quick pace, excellent job of combining disparate threads of the story. It effectively lays the foundation for a multi a volume space opera, but sadly is a stand alone volume. I look forward to reading his other works.
Loved the characters, good world building, quick pace, excellent job of combining disparate threads of the story. It effectively lays the foundation for a multi a volume space opera, but sadly is a stand alone volume. I look forward to reading his other works.
November 17, 2017
Great read!
A great one off space novel. I do wish there were a sequel, with more about Lissett. Or maybe a spin-off with her side of things! There were a couple of editing errors, but these were by far the exception.
A great one off space novel. I do wish there were a sequel, with more about Lissett. Or maybe a spin-off with her side of things! There were a couple of editing errors, but these were by far the exception.
June 12, 2019
Interim has signification merit
The novel is well and clearly written. This is a significant achievement given the complexity of the plot and the world it is set in. I look forward to other novels by the author!
The novel is well and clearly written. This is a significant achievement given the complexity of the plot and the world it is set in. I look forward to other novels by the author!
August 7, 2019
Really good writing
Quite a detailed plot that requires you to pay attention but it is worthwhile..Characters are likable even those not intended as good guys..enough futuristic detail to satisfy..Enjoyable read
Quite a detailed plot that requires you to pay attention but it is worthwhile..Characters are likable even those not intended as good guys..enough futuristic detail to satisfy..Enjoyable read
August 26, 2019
an interesting read. Cpt Kearn just wants to be left alone but fate has plans for him. During his travels he stumbles on an alien artitect which allows his to decover fast than light travel. His life will never be the same. Plenty of action and interstellar conflict and plenty of intrigue
March 2, 2020
Loved this book!
Loved this book. A bit of a twist on the sci fi stories you have read before. I have read many, but few earn a recommendation. Had a hard time putting this down. Going to look for more by PK Lentz!!
Loved this book. A bit of a twist on the sci fi stories you have read before. I have read many, but few earn a recommendation. Had a hard time putting this down. Going to look for more by PK Lentz!!
March 3, 2020
I don't usually write reviews though I read a lot of books and especially SF. But I really enjoyed this book. I won't give any spoiling details here, but the story is intriguing on many levels and unpredictable. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and can recommend it.
July 23, 2020
Great!.
Enjoyed the concept of alien technology beyond the ken of human knowledge. The mystery of Lisset created ample space for imagination to wander. Good, clean read. Thought-provoking.
Enjoyed the concept of alien technology beyond the ken of human knowledge. The mystery of Lisset created ample space for imagination to wander. Good, clean read. Thought-provoking.
November 20, 2020
Excellent
It took until nearly the end of the book before all the jumping around from character to character finally made sense to me. But I'm glad I hung in there. It turned out to be a really fun read.... So I bought the first of the sythian dawn series.
It took until nearly the end of the book before all the jumping around from character to character finally made sense to me. But I'm glad I hung in there. It turned out to be a really fun read.... So I bought the first of the sythian dawn series.
January 6, 2021
Intriguing story very imaginative!
I found this book to be refreshingly different and the plot fascinating convoluted! Great imagination but a little hard going as it took concentration to remember all the threads as they were pulling together!
I found this book to be refreshingly different and the plot fascinating convoluted! Great imagination but a little hard going as it took concentration to remember all the threads as they were pulling together!
January 20, 2021
The still quiet voice of God
What an excellent book! Character development with believable good guys and bad guys, carrying and uncaring heroes, true love and some not so true. Like life, it ends without all the answers but one whale of a tale along the way.
What an excellent book! Character development with believable good guys and bad guys, carrying and uncaring heroes, true love and some not so true. Like life, it ends without all the answers but one whale of a tale along the way.
May 7, 2021
Absolute power
Good story start that lays the total book foundation. Great mix of diverse characters that readers can relate. Whole book about types of internal and external power struggles and author keeps readers interest. Ending did not seem to fit with my expectations.
Good story start that lays the total book foundation. Great mix of diverse characters that readers can relate. Whole book about types of internal and external power struggles and author keeps readers interest. Ending did not seem to fit with my expectations.
May 10, 2021
First time reader of Lentz
Great story for a first book by Lentz back in 2003. I enjoyed the mystery and intrigue that weaved its way through and really like the fact that things were left unanswered. I look forward to jumping in to other stories by this author!
Great story for a first book by Lentz back in 2003. I enjoyed the mystery and intrigue that weaved its way through and really like the fact that things were left unanswered. I look forward to jumping in to other stories by this author!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews