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Netherspace #3
Revelation
It’s half-way through the twenty-first century.
Contact with alien races was made forty years ago, but communication turns out to be impossible. We don’t share a way of thinking or common sensory inputs with the aliens, let alone a grammar. But there is trade, done on a basis of putting things on a table and taking them off again until agreement is reached. There is no obvious pattern to the trades. Alien anti-gravity technology was traded for a bicycle tyre. Human science has become fixated on understanding alien technology - with little success. We can learn what it does and how to operate it. We don’t know how it works - or how to fix it. The world may be a better place but it’s no longer our own. We may be colonizing the stars, but we’re dependant on inexplicable alien Faster-Than-Light technology. This is controlled by aliens we call the Gliese and is the only constant trade: FTL engines for human beings, any age or condition, as long as they’re alive. We don’t know what happens to them, but rumour says they are taken to a Nirvana where all illnesses will be healed. Their families are also very well compensated. Interstellar immigration and trade are central to the world’s economy. There is no shortage of volunteers.
Contact with alien races was made forty years ago, but communication turns out to be impossible. We don’t share a way of thinking or common sensory inputs with the aliens, let alone a grammar. But there is trade, done on a basis of putting things on a table and taking them off again until agreement is reached. There is no obvious pattern to the trades. Alien anti-gravity technology was traded for a bicycle tyre. Human science has become fixated on understanding alien technology - with little success. We can learn what it does and how to operate it. We don’t know how it works - or how to fix it. The world may be a better place but it’s no longer our own. We may be colonizing the stars, but we’re dependant on inexplicable alien Faster-Than-Light technology. This is controlled by aliens we call the Gliese and is the only constant trade: FTL engines for human beings, any age or condition, as long as they’re alive. We don’t know what happens to them, but rumour says they are taken to a Nirvana where all illnesses will be healed. Their families are also very well compensated. Interstellar immigration and trade are central to the world’s economy. There is no shortage of volunteers.
- GenresScience Fiction
400 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 2019
6 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Lane
50 books35 followersSee also work published as Andy Lane
During 2009, Macmillan Books announced that Lane would be writing a series of books focusing on the early life of Sherlock Holmes. The series was developed in conjunction with the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Lane had already shown an extensive knowledge of the Holmes character and continuity in his Virgin Books novel All-Consuming Fire in which he created The Library of St. John the Beheaded as a meeting place for the worlds of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who.
The first book in the 'Young Sherlock Holmes' series – Death Cloud – was published in the United Kingdom in June 2010 (February 2011 in the United States), with the second – Red Leech – published in the United Kingdom in November of that year (with a United States publication date under the title Rebel Fire of February 2012). The third book – Black Ice – was published in June 2011 in the UK while the fourth book – Fire Storm – was published originally in hardback in October 2011 with a paperback publication in March 2012. The fifth book, Snake Bite was published in hardback in October 2012 and the sixth book, Knife Edge was published in September 2013. Death Cloud was short-listed for both the 2010 North East Book Award. (coming second by three votes) and the 2011 Southampton's Favourite Book Award. Black Ice won the 2012 Centurion Book Award.
Early in 2012, Macmillan Children's Books announced that they would be publishing a new series by Lane, beginning in 2013. The Lost World books will follow disabled 15-year-old Calum Challenger, who is co-ordinating a search from his London bedroom to find creatures considered so rare that many do not believe they exist. Calum's intention is to use the creatures' DNA to help protect the species, but also to search for a cure for his own paralysis. His team comprises a computer hacker, a free runner, an ex-marine and a pathological liar.
During 2009, Macmillan Books announced that Lane would be writing a series of books focusing on the early life of Sherlock Holmes. The series was developed in conjunction with the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Lane had already shown an extensive knowledge of the Holmes character and continuity in his Virgin Books novel All-Consuming Fire in which he created The Library of St. John the Beheaded as a meeting place for the worlds of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who.
The first book in the 'Young Sherlock Holmes' series – Death Cloud – was published in the United Kingdom in June 2010 (February 2011 in the United States), with the second – Red Leech – published in the United Kingdom in November of that year (with a United States publication date under the title Rebel Fire of February 2012). The third book – Black Ice – was published in June 2011 in the UK while the fourth book – Fire Storm – was published originally in hardback in October 2011 with a paperback publication in March 2012. The fifth book, Snake Bite was published in hardback in October 2012 and the sixth book, Knife Edge was published in September 2013. Death Cloud was short-listed for both the 2010 North East Book Award. (coming second by three votes) and the 2011 Southampton's Favourite Book Award. Black Ice won the 2012 Centurion Book Award.
Early in 2012, Macmillan Children's Books announced that they would be publishing a new series by Lane, beginning in 2013. The Lost World books will follow disabled 15-year-old Calum Challenger, who is co-ordinating a search from his London bedroom to find creatures considered so rare that many do not believe they exist. Calum's intention is to use the creatures' DNA to help protect the species, but also to search for a cure for his own paralysis. His team comprises a computer hacker, a free runner, an ex-marine and a pathological liar.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 28, 2025
This entire series reminds me of one of those weird movies on the Syfy channel. Like it has a cool concept but you also don’t really know what’s going on most of the time. And the story’s not bad, but it’s also not good.
March 23, 2025
Not terrible but, I do agree with someone else’s review that it was like a Sy Fy channel movie. Good concept but not the best dialogue and execution. 2.5
December 26, 2025
3.85 - Picked up well to tie everything together. had a nice crescendo and did make you feel like you came to conclusions of the characters at similar instances. The ideas behind the final confrontation felt weak, but I believe that was due to the previous writing and limitations of the author trying to tie in some abstract concepts into a coherent climax. Arguably the strongest book in the series and brought nice closure.
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October 2, 2022First thing worth saying is that Andrew Lane DID NOT write this one and I feel like it shows. I'm half way through and there's something missing in the over emphasis on abstraction and a frankly uncomfortable tendency for the author to be preoccuppied by his heroine's sex life.
April 16, 2023
Outstanding novel of awkward first contact!
October 17, 2022
Outstanding space opera!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews