Spindrift

Coyote Universe #4

by Allen M. Steele

More than fifty years after a European starship goes missing while investigating an unidentified space object with possible alien origins, the expedition's three surviving members return to Earth without having aged and possessing claims about an extraterrestrial race. By the author of Coyote Frontier. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy, Aliens, Audiobook

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Before becoming a science fiction writer, Allen Steele was a journalist for newspapers and magazines in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Missouri, and his home state of Tennessee. But science fiction was his first love, so he eventually ditched journalism and began producing that which had made him decide to become a writer in the first place.

Since then, Steele has published eighteen novels and nearly one hundred short stories. His work has received numerous accolades, including three Hugo Awards, and has been translated worldwide, mainly into languages he can’t read. He serves on the board of advisors for the Space Frontier Foundation and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He also belongs to Sigma, a group of science fiction writers who frequently serve as unpaid consultants on matters regarding technology and security.

Allen Steele is a lifelong space buff, and this interest has not only influenced his writing, it has taken him to some interesting places. He has witnessed numerous space shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center and has flown NASA’s shuttle cockpit simulator at the Johnson Space Center. In 2001, he testified before the US House of Representatives in hearings regarding the future of space exploration. He would like very much to go into orbit, and hopes that one day he’ll be able to afford to do so.

Steele lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, Linda, and a continual procession of adopted dogs. He collects vintage science fiction books and magazines, spacecraft model kits, and dreams.

Reviews

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love novels dealing with big dumb objects (or those that are not-so-dumb) In fact, I love them so much I tend to give them a bit of a free pass when it comes to other potential shortcomings (you know, the lesser aspects like storytelling, plotting and characterization). Lame jokes aside, there is something about megastructures and artifacts that rings my bell. It still invokes that same sense of wonder and awe that accompanied my very first forays into Science Fiction as a youth, and this is not to be scoffed at since years and years of subsequent reading have dulled that edge somewhat. Sad as that may sound.

Spindrift (which, apart from being the title of the novel, is also the name of the item in question) is nothing as impressive as some of the colossuses dreamt up by other authors over the last century. One gets the idea the author is trying to keep things manageable. However, it is a fun little excursion, since Spindrift is still by no means inconsequential. The actual exploration takes up a comparatively small portion of the book, which makes sense plot-wise, and that leads me to the next aspect of this “review”, one which could potentially contain some minor spoilers (which I’ll attempt to keep to a minimum). You see, Spindrift isn’t predominantly a BDO novel, but it is a novel of first contact, and especially some of the “politics” that may surround such a scenario. As such, there is nothing here, from that particular point of view, that I haven’t read before. I should mention at this stage that a lot of this latter subject is dealt with in a rather off-hand fashion and without a lot of detail, which seemed like an odd approach, but one that worked fairly well in this novel, since the author really uses these events to set up the book’s “wind down”.

Concerning the Fermi Paradox: for purposes of this novel the author seems to be adhering to two standard hypothetical explanations, namely that civilizations may exist too far separated in space and time for their paths to actually intersect (so to speak) and that there is deliberate non-contact (the zoo hypotheses). This is actually the case in this novel, which is offered as an explanation as to why humans did not stumble across the “galactic club” earlier, and that it is only by the biggest of coincidental series’ of events that it actually comes to pass.

I enjoyed the book, but it is somewhat middle of the road in the sense that there are no real peaks in terms of excitement or emotion. Everything is administered in metered doses. It is the safe approach, but one that ultimately fails to launch the book into true sensawunda overload.

Highlights include some moments on Spindrift itself and a megastructure that is mentioned almost in passing toward the close of the book. I haven’t been following the Coyote series, of which this book forms a part, but it does feel a bit like a bridging story to (possibly) take the series from a Hard SF colonization sequence into something more intergalactic with some Space Opera elements. I am going to be seeking out some of the novels following this one, just to see where the bigger story goes from here.

So, pros: (1) it has a big dumb object and (2) it reads very fast.
And, cons: (1) it has potential which it (arguably) fails to reach, since the author’s focus is really on other aspects of the story and (2) feels like a set up novel for something bigger and greater.

I will err on the side of generosity and give it 3.5 stars.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is set in the author's "Coyote universe" but is not mainly about the colony world of Coyote. The story starts in 2288. when the starship GALILEO is launched to investigate a strange possibly alien object outside our solar system, an object code-named "Spindrift." Fifty-six years later, a shuttle from the GALILEO returns to Earth carrying the three surviving crew members. An enjoyable read, nothing too original here as a first-contact story, and could have been developed more. It's closer to a ***1/2 than simply a ***.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Spindrift is technically set in the Coyote universe, this could probably be read as a stand alone, but you would miss the broader backstory to the events. Coyote Frontier ended with the return via the stargate of the shuttle Maria Celeste of the long lost starship Galileo, which encountered an alien race and indeed, brought back an alien emissary. Spindrift tells the story of the Galileo, starting on Earth and ending with the reception on Coyote.

Unlike the previous Coyote novels, Steele gives Spindrift a linear storyline, and exploits yet another old scifi trope-- a BDO. Some clever SETI network on the Luna discovered a strange anomaly only a few light years from Earth and sends an exploratory mission out on the Galileo, the first European ship with an advanced drive that takes it nearly up to lightspeed. What they find is a large, apparently 'rouge' moon, which they name Spindrift, but also what looks like a Stargate orbiting around it...

For all of its hard science pretentions, Spindrift is really a character driven story, featuring Ted, the XO on the Galileo, Emily, a shuttle pilot on the same ship, and finally, Jared Ramirez, an astrobiologist, who is part of the science team there. Steele's easy going prose caries the story nicely, exploring the dynamics among the crew of the ship and the politics back on Earth, given that this is a joint mission between the Union (former USA, now socialist) and Europe. Both nations have a political 'minder' aboard the ship, but neither seems up to the task of making first contact.

While I suppose one could call this a trope fest, I read it more of a homage to the genre, especially given the list of references at the end of the novel. I liked it better than Rama, but this definitely draws upon that tale to some degree; that stated, I guess every BDO story shares certain features. We had some inklings of how this would turn out given the ending of Coyote Frontier, but Steele fills in the blanks nicely here. 3.5 BDOs rounding up!!

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is set in Steele's Coyote universe, but is not a part of the core trilogy. It runs paralell to it. (Some of the scenes where events or characters overlap are fun to spot.) It is written as a straight single narrative, not a series of structured episodes as are the other books. It's a rather traditional first-contact story, well flavored with Steele's overwhelming enthusiasm for science and space exploration.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was August's book group selection. About half the group thought it was a fun little space opera and the other half of thought, well, it had issues. I've read the Coyote series by Steele that was published in Azimov's and didn't care for it, and this just supported my opinions on the author's writing style.

Premise of the story is: a response is received back from a suddenly discovered "large object in space" by the SETI team and a mission is hastily put together and sent out to investigate the source. They find a large floating asteroid next to an alien stargate. A small exploratory team (the dissidents from the mission) are sent down to investigate the asteroid while the ship examines the stargate. The story from here follows the group on the asteroid as the captain of the ship succeeds in blowing the ship up. The small survey team is now stranded.

My issues with this story were many; the main characters, Ted and Emily were supposed be having a "quiet ship affair" but everyone knew about it. Can't be quiet if everyone knows people! Romance does not belong in SF. Jared was a convicted criminal who helped an alien race annihilate 1/3 of the earths population, but only served 10 years of a life sentence because they yanked him out of prison to go on this mission. The protagonists of the book find a “hidden” nuclear warhead on the ship and freak out. Where did it come from? Why is the captian keeping it quiet? HELLO! If I’m going to meet a potentially hostile (or peaceful, you don’t konw but want to be prepared) race I sure as heck want to have some firepower on hand. But the whole premise of keeping it secret was ludicrous and then hiding it in front of the shuttle docking area was absurd. And the "first contact" had me rolling my eyes in disbelief. So overall the plot had issues and was pretty standard - too standard for me.

I think this would be better as young adult fiction.

[Jeff Koeppen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth book I've read in Steele's Coyote universe, and the first one not actually set on Coyote, a habitable moon light years from earth settled by the human colonists just over two hundred years in the future. Spindrift is set in the same universe as the other Coyote novels and in the same time period, and even has some character overlap but this is a stand-alone first contact novel.

When an alien signal is received by a moon-based telescope the spaceship Galileo with nine specialists aboard is sent out to investigate. Upon arrival of the signal's location the team discovers a large hollowed out and engineered asteroid, dubbed "Spindrift" and exploration begins. The novel starts out with three of the nine arriving back on Earth aboard a one of the Galileo's shuttles so you know that something went horribly awry.

What I really like about Steele's science fiction is the believability of technology (only 200 years ahead of us - so not Star Trek-ish or magic-ish) and his portrayal of the grittiness of living and traveling in space. It's never glamorous. His world building is always solid and he writes really good protagonists and antagonists. In Spindrift, the Galileo doesn't even get to the alien object until halfway through the novel but I was still turning pages and fully engrossed in the plot.

I'm looking forward to reading the last two novels in the Coyote universe, which are also stand-alone novels. Hopefully they will also be full of good, hard science fiction. 4.5 stars.

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spindrift (2006) 282 pages by Allen Steele.

Spindrift is set in the same universe as Steele's Coyote series. Earth has started exploring neighboring stars, and has sent ships to Coyote, and just discovered the star bridge. In this book, an object [which they name Spindrift] is discovered approximately 2 l.y. from Earth. A message is sent to the object and a reply is received, causing the ESA and UA to form a joint partnership to investigate the object.

A mission with nine crew and six scientists is sent to Spindrift. Of the six "scientists" one is a shill for the ESA and one for the UA, the captain is not really qualified except by nepotism. The protagonists are the first officer Ted Harker, shuttle pilot Emily Collins and scientist Ramirez. From the prologue we know that these are the three survivors, or at least the three that return to Earth.

When they get to spindrift they find that the object orbiting it is a star bridge. Eventually the mission is divided with some investigating the bridge and Ted, Emily, Cruz and Ramirez taking the shuttle and investigating spindrift.

Spoiler alert. The end of part four has our three heroes on Spindrift, in a shuttle with six days of supplies, two light years and receding from Earth. They've had no contact with Earth since leaving Earth's star bridge just outside the solar system. So they put themselves into the biostasis units on the shuttle. Part five has them being woken up from stasis, and the reaction I would have is "Thank you for reviving me, I thought I was a dead man. Would there be any way I could catch a ride back to Earth space? By the way you speak really good English" Instead it's "You left us in stasis for 53 years? What the heck were you doing all that time?" I think this is a reflection of our culture has come to expect a sense of entitlement.

Anyway the book was excellent, he's created a universe with a set of rules and he's sticking to them. The main characters are well thought out, and a few two-dimensional like the buffoon captain. Fun read, good flow. If you were to pick up one Steele novel, I'd recommend OceanSpace or ChronoSpace, but if you're interested in a series, the Coyote series/universe is a good choice.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice little science fiction novel about first contact with an alien species and exploration. This standalone novel does not require knowledge of the previous Coyote works of the author, which is all to the good

[Bookbrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable back story in the Coyote series. Engaging despite the outcome being foretold in the previous books. It was the journey not the ending.

[Jeffrey Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Spindrift to be a fascinating space opera thrill ride with good character development and an intriguing story line. It had decent prose and I could picture some of this playing out on a big movie screen.

I have been reading books and novellas by Allen M. Steele since the late 1980's. This one harkens back to his earlier style. Certainly, many of his earlier novels were "near future" and "near earth" books but this one is set a couple centuries from now in a universe far, far away. It includes alien contact, and while the alien they contact is intelligent, it is reluctant to share too much about its species and knowledge.

While this is listed as book 4 in the Coyote series, the world of Coyote is downplayed until the end. However, if you haven't read any of the Coyote books, there is a nice chronological history at the end of this one that puts that universe into perspective. In that sense, Spindrift can be read without having read the earlier books.

There is only one complaint I have and it is more of a pet peeve that I have with a lot of sci-fi and not Mr. Steele specifically. While this book is set in the 23rd century, there are constant references to society and culture from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. To me, that's like using the events of the 18th century to justify or inspire why our culture is the way it is today. For example, Steele mentions a WWII battle strategy and I can't help but to wonder whether WWII of the 1940's will even matter to the fine folks of the 23rd Century. There is also a reference to a late 20th century musician and I expect over the next 200 years, there will be many more influential musicians.

But I'm still going with five stars.

[Neil Carstairs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pedestrian SF First Contact novel that (as I found out after reading it) fits into an existing series of novels about Earth’s colonisation of an extra-solar habitable planet. It’s not that the story is badly written, more that pretty much everything that is going to happen is telegraphed by earlier plot points.

Characters are straight out of central casting, good guys are good and bad guys are bad (or maybe just stupid) and the aliens are, well, alien. I didn’t feel any tension, apart from wanting Jarred Ramirez to not be so right all the time. It’s one thing to speculate and guess but hitting the bullseye 100% of the time is annoying. Nobody is that good.

So where did it go wrong? Well this is the story of the loss of an exploration ship Galileo and the mysterious return of three of its surviving crew forty plus years after their disappearance. We know the Galileo vanishes, and Steele labours one particular plot point surrounding an addition to the cargo that tells us bluntly where the storyline will go. He throws in a Captain who is the cut-out bad guy from every novel written, vain, arrogant, stupid and scared. Guess what he does when he meets the aliens? Think ‘we come in peace, shoot to kill’ and you won’t be far wrong.

A book that's not really worth spending the time reading.

[Tomislav · Rating 2 out of 5]

First read – 1 September 2008 - **. This novel tells a story that takes place in parallel with the events of the Steele’s original Coyote trilogy, but unknown to the characters in those stories. There is a brief mention of the passage of an alien craft in Coyote, and the arrival of the EAS Maria Celeste near the end of Coyote Frontier. This novel then, is the explanation of events leading up to that arrival. It has subsequently been extended to a newer trilogy known as Coyote Universe.

It's a first contact story, and brings the previously unused concept of alien civilizations into the Coyote universe - which is becoming a kitchen sink hodgepodge of all the traditional sf concepts. On its own, this book doesn't have much to recommend it. The concepts relating to exploration of a dormant interstellar colony ship have been done before, and better. The pace of this book felt unnecessarily slow to me; I found myself skimming over pages and pages of spaceship banter among crewmates reporting status to each other, when I would have been satisfied with a simple description of the EASS Galileo's maneuvers.

My bottom line - this is a novella padded out to novel length, and is of interest only to those who are reading the entire Coyote series. But I think Allen Steele should have stuck with shorter-form science fiction, at which he is better.

[Peter Goodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Spindrift,” by Allen Steele (Ace, 2007). This is a carry-on of Steele’s “Coyote” trilogy, of which I have read only one. Not important. Plot: There are several world powers, and a human colony on the huge moon Coyote. Scientists discover what seems to be an artificial object about 2.5 light years away. They name it Spindrift. A starship, EASS Galileo, is built to see what it is. There is intrigue among the crew, which include Jared Ramirez, a loathed criminal who once attempted genocide among humans; pilot Emily Collins, who is carrying on a barely concealed affair with Ted Harker, ship’s first lieutenant, who is far more competent than Ian Lawrence, the captain who got his position through nepotism. So rivalry and mystery during the journey, at the end of which they discover----aliens! Who have been watching humans! But Lawrence, the idiot, attacks the alien vessel, which destroys Galileo and maroons Ramirez, Collins and Harker, who are rescued by the aliens, etc. Formulaic, not terribly interesting.

http://www.allensteele.com/

[Chris Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t really care for this at all.

HOWEVER...

This is the first Alan Steele book that I have ever read, and I got the feeling that I really shouldn’t have started with this one. So that may very well have a lot to do with the fact that I didn’t like this one.

But still, even discounting that, there was a lot that I didn’t like. The characters felt very flat. No emotional involvement at all. On top of that, Steele set some very interesting plot points up that really just sort of were abandoned.

Some spoilers.....





What was up with the Captain and the political officer? It sure seemed like there was a real conspiracy there. Was it really just that they armed the ship? And then that was it? They stick a nuke on the ship, meet some aliens, fire the nuke and get destroyed? That’s it? Pretty lame come-uppance. And then the aliens are seriously just “oh our bad”, and the humans are all “nah bro, our bad too”. And then let’s all go back and introduce humanity to alien civilization?

[Stuart Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of First Contact in the Coyote Universe. After all the ships had left for Coyote but before any of them reach there a signal is received from outer space. The ship Galileo is hurriedly sent to investigate. Not all the crew are the best qualified, and it includes a political officer and a convict. The Galileo reaches the source of the signal and things don't go well. Then it all wraps up rather quickly.

Steele uses his descriptive powers well here, as the bulk of the book only covers about three or four days real time. They go to space, find the thing, look at it, stuff happens. Somewhere in there the crew spends 18 months asleep. Most of the book is about interpersonal relations among the crew and some political tension as well. The alien stuff doesn't even show up until late, and even then it's still mostly about the people. But that's Steele's strong suit so it goes well. The ending is really rushed and seems to be a setup for more Coyote novels, but I'm OK with that.

[Peter Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid sf novel. Spindrift is a first contact novel with a lot thrown in to it. We don't JUST meet an alien race. There are lots of other pieces thrown in for good measure.

The science is plausible and the world building has depth. The characters are good but not great.

The main problem with the novel is that with so many pieces, it's hard to do justice to them all in 280 pages. The section in the alien megastructure alone could have taken that many pages. The wrap up in particular was much to fast to have the weight it needed.

I will look for the author again and hope that he develops his style and voice.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first dip in the Coyote Universe. It was a fun semi-hard sci-fi novel with some classic tropes executed perfectly. The characters had their single motivations and character quirks that were enough to skirt them along and there was plenty of in-depth discussions of shuttle craft docking bays and EVA suits so it scratched that particular itch. Didn't break any ground but fun airplane read!

[Aaron Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 4th book was pretty fun. I occasionally dislike how often this author likes to say how the story is going to end at the start, and then goes back and does the gritty details. It sure happens a lot.

Even still though, I did like this book a lot. Now book 5....

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's just personal preference, but I like a little more alien culture and a little less spaceship science. Not bad, though, and I did like the human interaction aboard the ship. A 2 may be a bit harsh.

[Robert Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Scifi!

[Dave Snowdon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A credible account of a first-contact situation between humanity and an alien species - in terms of how humans might react at least.

[Chaz Wyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

more, more more

[Kristin Otti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very subjective, but for me the character development was a little too simple. Plot was decent, but could do more and better with characters so in the end it felt incomplete.

[Reuben Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Passable alien fable. Insufficient intrigue.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Kara Babcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does every science-fiction writer have to write a Big Dumb Object novel? (TVTropes) Is it some kind of rite of passage? That’s basically what Spindrift is, or at least what it starts out as. Later it becomes a novel about first contact and an attempt to evoke that kind of humble, “we are not alone” sensation other such stories play with. Perhaps what sets it apart from similar novels is Steele’s smart decision to set it within the Coyote universe, which automatically lends the novel a rich backstory full of political and social issues.

The first part of Spindrift is fun but almost nauseatingly par-for-the-course with BDO/first-contact stories. A SETI telescope (this time on the moon) finds an object it concludes must be of extraterrestrial origin, and it sends back a response to our signal! Of course there is only one man (man, mind you) who can possibly make sense of this, and so what if he’s in prison? Rules are made to be broken in situations like these! Genocide? What genocide?

And then we fast-forward several chapters to actually get to the thing we’re investigating. We stomp around on it for a while until we attract the attention of an alien species, first contact goes horribly wrong, and it looks like everyone will die.

And then … it’s exposition time.

Seriously, Spindrift builds up to a dramatic point where you would expect some kind of turn. Stranded on this BDO, the survivors of the starship’s destruction have no choice but to forge valiantly on! Except, no, they wake up and get to listen to an alien give them some kind of orientation lecture.

For thirty pages.

It’s as if Steele was writing the first two thirds of this book while watching some of his favourite first-contact movies and mashing them up into a Coyote-fuelled version of the same. Then someone interrupted him (I’m looking at you, robocall!), and when he sat down again, he forgot what he was doing, shrugged, and started writing about how humanity meets the hjadd.

Trouble is, the hjadd are really nice people. Like, unfailingly polite. And so all the conflict gets sucked out of the story. The characters sit and listen to the first hjadd any human has ever met tell them all about the wonderful alien species in the galaxy and nasty black holes and how one day humanity too might travel the stars. It’s a great sales pitch. But there is no existential threat, either to humanity at large or just these three people. There are no consequences for anyone for the mistake of firing a nuclear warhead at an alien ship—the aliens are just all, “It’s cool, brah; sorry we blew up your ship in response. Buds?”

On one level, I applaud Steele for showing us an optimistic vision of first contact where the aliens are more advanced than us and treat us like the primitive species we are.

On another level, it’s just … well, boring.

Spindrift starts with a kind of borrowed promise—if you don’t expect it to feel original but instead treat it as another variation on the theme of first contact, then you’ll be happy for a while. Alas, it never seizes any opportunity to grow and become more than that. In fact, it actively seeks out such opportunities and throttles them off-stage before they become an issue.

I don’t know if it’s worth reading. It’s not bad, just more unoriginal shading into dull. A Coyote completist would, obviously, find it essential. And it fills in some of the gaps in that sense, as a kind of plot primer for the Coyote series. But as far as characters and story goes? Nah. This is not so much a novel as it is a half-baked concept wrapped up in a tortilla shell of tropes.

[Lis Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a couple of centuries of listening, Earth has finally detected an object that might be natural--just another rogue asteroid--but a signal that is clearly artificial. It's the Western Hemisphere Union that has detected the signal, but they're too bankrupt and exhausted to mount an expedition on their own. Reluctantly, they partner with the European Federation.

After a couple of centuries of listening, Earth has finally detected an object that might be natural--just another rogue asteroid--but a signal that is clearly artificial. It's the Western Hemisphere Union that has detected the signal, but they're too bankrupt and exhausted to mount an expedition on their own. Reluctantly, they partner with the European Federation.The very recent invention of the stargate gives the expedition a boost on the way--the first stargate, in orbit around Earth, and the second, in the outer reaches of the solar system, were ready for their first serious test, and EASS Galileo is ready to go. Changes are made to put a science team aboard, and a politically connected captain now that it's likely to be a First Contact mission. There are some major personal and political conflicts built in because of joint nature of the mission, but they're all professionals and (mostly) serious about the mission.

Things get ramped up a bit more when a few, two of the crew and one of the scientists, not naturally inclined to trust each other, discover there's been a last-minute addition to the equipment that might make first contact even more dangerous.

When they reach their destination, and discover a colony sleeper ship with a starbridge in orbit around it, the mystery gets deeper and deeper. Why build a sleeper ship if you have starbridge technology?

Recommended.

I borrowed this book from a friend.

[Steve Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing turn out from Allen Steele. The writing was still good and resonated the Robert Heinlein feel he does so well, but the story and characters were sub par. The Coyote Universe is exciting, diverse, full of the unknown and unexplored. Things have happened on Coyote that obviously have a back story so I was excited to find he put out some books expanding the stories. Hex was an extremely good addition and explained so much more, and stood alone on it's own and reminded me somewhat of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama.

Anyway, this was a very shallow book. The characters are stereotypical. He has the token female along with the sexual tension; a captain that is an idiot, a scientific expert whose knowledge is so desirable that he has been removed from a maximum security prison to join this ride (everyone hates him for his crime), and so on. He spends enormous amounts of time depicting in detail craft launch sequences, docking and landing maneuvers, going into and out of biostatsis. These sequences would have been very exciting pre-2001 Space Odyssey, but extremely boring to the 21st century reader.

The plot was predictable with no real surprises. It does explain the back story of how these three astronauts ended up on Coyote, a little bit more about the Danui race (Arachnid similar to Heinlein's Starship Troopers or Card's Ender's Game)

I did enjoy the few chapters of the actual exploration of the Spindrift "object" which I won't spoil for you.

All of the material could have been delivered in a short story.

[MB (What she read) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a spinoff of the Coyote series dealing with a major plot point that is just mentioned in the Coyote books. I.e. how does humankind meet up with the Hjadd. After reading Coyote Horizon I wanted to go back and find out more about the Hjadd, so I grabbed this book. Most of the book is a set up for that meeting. The reader is just given a very 'taster size' bit of Hjaddery at the end. But it was an interesting ride and now I feel more knowledgeable in continuing on with the Coyote series.

* * * Snark Alert * * *

I do wish that the female main character would have been a bit less of a cipher. She seemed to be kind of plopped in there just to serve the plot and to 'service' one of the main male characters. She seemed kind of 'leashed' and 'under direction' most of the time. She didn't seem to show much individuality, confidence, or her own POV.

Also, why this weird taboo about having affairs with your co-workers?. Granted they're in a supervisor/employee position which would need to be acknowledged and dealt with. But with the time demands of star travel, and with both being single and unattached this plot point seemed kind of dated. I would hope that in the future humans would have worked out some type of protocol to deal with this situation and wouldn't have to sneak around afraid of getting caught and at risk of blackmail.

[Aedan Lake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad follow-up to the Coyote series, but whereas I would rate any of those books a four or five star this one lacks something. It's generally well-written and Jared Ramirez in particular is an intriguing protagonist, but some of the supporting cast (in particular, the Earthly antagonists) are a bit flat and the book as a whole fails to develop the Coyote universe - it doesn't expand much on the grander, space-operatic universe revealed at the end of "Coyote Frontier", but nor does it significantly flesh out the two worlds we are already familiar with.

What Steele does do well, and full credit to him, is create a believable "hard" SF first contact scenario where for much of the book the aliens are inscrutable, hard to reach and harder to understand. But knowing from the start how it turns out (thanks to the final chapters of "Coyote Frontier") rather kills some of the tension, and the most interesting "new" part of the book - Ramirez's collaboration with the Savants - never quite reaches the promised payoff.

A worthwhile read, but could benefit from a follow-up revealing more about how Earth and Coyote deal with entry into the interstellar community - the book to which this book feels like a prequel. A quick glance at the author's website tells me that several such books exist, so I remain loyal to the series & look forward to revisiting Coyote.