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Leapfrog
When an advanced alien species offers the human race the secrets behind universal space travel, mankind jumps at the offer in this thrilling sci-fi tale of ambition gone awry. What had been humanity's hope for the most advanced starship ever created soon turns to disaster—military task forces, mutiny, and meteor showers all combine in forcing the ship, and the crew of 275 humans frozen in suspended animation, to return to Earth. But what awaits them back home—humans who have regressed to Neanderthal status that are now subservient to genetically enhanced crocodiles—is nothing like they ever imagined.
- GenresScience Fiction
330 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 24, 2009
Leapfrog by Steve Hendry is an excellent novel sure to please science-fiction fans for its compelling tale of mankind's epic struggle to avoid its final demise. What I truly enjoy about this novel is that it is a throwback to the golden days of science-fiction and reminds me of the type of literature that Lovecraft or Wells would have offered up to pulp readers. In fact, there's a persistent militaristic undertone that easily reminds one of Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers novel.
Quite effectively, Hendry uses his military background to add authenticity to the gruntish behavior of many of the military characters in his novel. I found that much of the dialogue in this book is true to the spirit of the men and women in uniform who often use sarcasm to help them cope with their life and death situations. The other non-military characters are also quite engaging and do their part to keep things grounded in a reality that can only be expressed when viewing things from different perspectives.
Unlike the heretofore mentioned golden age sci-fi epics which often tended to be more fantasy than science-fiction, Leapfrog strictly adheres to known rules of science in indulging the reader in the many complex challenges the human characters of Leapfrog must contend with.
Leapfrog tells the story of a crew of 275 people who are sent as ambassadors to a race of highly advanced extraterrestrials who offer humanity the capability to travel through space without space-time limitation. However, the mission is sabotaged by greedy politicians and military officers causing their ship "Leapfrog" to be caught in a disastrous meteor shower. This results in a severe delay in the cryogenically frozen crew's return to Earth by some 10,000 years.
When the derelict Leapfrog finally returns home to Earth, the recently revived crew discovers that civilization has been wiped out and that humanity has reverted to a primitive Neanderthal state. Worse, a highly-evolved creature is running rampant on Earth and has become the world's dominant life form.
The crew of Leapfrog is faced with the difficult of task of re-colonizing the earth in a very hostile environment. But to do so, they must first find out what caused the destruction of human civilization and how to cope with the man-eating giant creatures who have usurped control of the Earth. Problem is, the crew's extended stay in cryogenic sleep has greatly reduced their mental capacity. To top it all off, Leapfrog is falling apart at the seams and there isn't enough food or water to sustain them all for even a week. It will take everything the crew of Leapfrog has to survive the mounting threats to their life. Failure to do so will result in not only their deaths, but the extinction of the human race.
Leapfrog is an intelligently written novel with lots of action and interesting scenarios that constantly leaves you wondering how the heroes of the book will get through each challenge. My only complaint is that there is a little too much swearing in the book than what seems necessary. Of course, the strong language adds to the realism of the novel. But my belief is the use of expletives was slightly excessive and quite unnecessary especially considering how well the story is written.
I would recommend Leapfrog to anyone who loves a tense, fast-paced sci-fi novel with dangers galore and intriguing scientific solutions to deadly crises. In conclusion, Leapfrog is a terrific book, worthy of being read by sci-fans and non sci-fi fans alike. It will leave you holding your breath quite literally until the final page!
Quite effectively, Hendry uses his military background to add authenticity to the gruntish behavior of many of the military characters in his novel. I found that much of the dialogue in this book is true to the spirit of the men and women in uniform who often use sarcasm to help them cope with their life and death situations. The other non-military characters are also quite engaging and do their part to keep things grounded in a reality that can only be expressed when viewing things from different perspectives.
Unlike the heretofore mentioned golden age sci-fi epics which often tended to be more fantasy than science-fiction, Leapfrog strictly adheres to known rules of science in indulging the reader in the many complex challenges the human characters of Leapfrog must contend with.
Leapfrog tells the story of a crew of 275 people who are sent as ambassadors to a race of highly advanced extraterrestrials who offer humanity the capability to travel through space without space-time limitation. However, the mission is sabotaged by greedy politicians and military officers causing their ship "Leapfrog" to be caught in a disastrous meteor shower. This results in a severe delay in the cryogenically frozen crew's return to Earth by some 10,000 years.
When the derelict Leapfrog finally returns home to Earth, the recently revived crew discovers that civilization has been wiped out and that humanity has reverted to a primitive Neanderthal state. Worse, a highly-evolved creature is running rampant on Earth and has become the world's dominant life form.
The crew of Leapfrog is faced with the difficult of task of re-colonizing the earth in a very hostile environment. But to do so, they must first find out what caused the destruction of human civilization and how to cope with the man-eating giant creatures who have usurped control of the Earth. Problem is, the crew's extended stay in cryogenic sleep has greatly reduced their mental capacity. To top it all off, Leapfrog is falling apart at the seams and there isn't enough food or water to sustain them all for even a week. It will take everything the crew of Leapfrog has to survive the mounting threats to their life. Failure to do so will result in not only their deaths, but the extinction of the human race.
Leapfrog is an intelligently written novel with lots of action and interesting scenarios that constantly leaves you wondering how the heroes of the book will get through each challenge. My only complaint is that there is a little too much swearing in the book than what seems necessary. Of course, the strong language adds to the realism of the novel. But my belief is the use of expletives was slightly excessive and quite unnecessary especially considering how well the story is written.
I would recommend Leapfrog to anyone who loves a tense, fast-paced sci-fi novel with dangers galore and intriguing scientific solutions to deadly crises. In conclusion, Leapfrog is a terrific book, worthy of being read by sci-fans and non sci-fi fans alike. It will leave you holding your breath quite literally until the final page!
February 24, 2010
Another Yuck. not very engaging.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews