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Asteroid Gambit
Star-crossed ex-lovers. A quirky AI. Martian rebels smuggling a rogue nuclear weapon from Ceres to the red planet. What could go wrong? Ellen wants to stop Martian rebels from getting the nuke. Jack agrees to steal the weapon in a daring raid, hoping to win Ellen back. Things don’t go exactly as planned. When the revolution begins, rebels want Ellen dead. Jack wants her alive. On Mars, one step ahead of rebel assassins, Jack is beginning to wonder whether he can survive to win Ellen back and prevent a Martian apocalypse.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 22, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 20, 2020
Asteroid Gambit is a new novel from science fiction writer Steven Fritz. It is the first in a series of stories set in the near future when humans expand throughout the solar system.
The story is founded on plausible science, but technology is just part of the landscape.
The opening can be represented by paraphrasing the movie Casablanca: “of all the gin joints in all the moons of all the planets in the Solar system, she walks into mine.” The protagonist, Jack Jackson, is an asteroid miner who retired to start a bar inside the dwarf planet Ceres and comes face-to-face with former mining partner – and former lover -- Ellen.
Asteroid mining consists of strapping a nuclear warhead on an asteroid for insertion into Earth orbit and subsequent exploitation. Since the government controls retired nukes, naturally one or two may go missing…
Most of the action takes place on Mars, whose native-born population is increasingly resisting Earth’s authority. Most of the story combines corrupt government/corporate interests, disaffected military, aggrieved independent farmers, and revolutionary leaders with, um, questionable agendas. Toss in a missing nuke or two – what could go wrong?
Steven develops his leading characters very well. Even the supporting cast members, including most of the bad guys, are drawn with a reasonable amount of shading. We meet a clever AI, and Ron Hubbard (er, Herbert) makes an appearance. There are a couple of neat plot developments and several nerve-wracking episodes, which are fun to read. The political and business situations are pretty good, except that the CEO-as-drug-dealer trope bugs me. But (spoiler alert) at least he dies a horrible death! The Martian colonists’ thirst for independence and their wish to be left alone *really* comes through nicely.
Asteroid Gambit is a great foundation for the Worlds of Sol series.
The story is founded on plausible science, but technology is just part of the landscape.
The opening can be represented by paraphrasing the movie Casablanca: “of all the gin joints in all the moons of all the planets in the Solar system, she walks into mine.” The protagonist, Jack Jackson, is an asteroid miner who retired to start a bar inside the dwarf planet Ceres and comes face-to-face with former mining partner – and former lover -- Ellen.
Asteroid mining consists of strapping a nuclear warhead on an asteroid for insertion into Earth orbit and subsequent exploitation. Since the government controls retired nukes, naturally one or two may go missing…
Most of the action takes place on Mars, whose native-born population is increasingly resisting Earth’s authority. Most of the story combines corrupt government/corporate interests, disaffected military, aggrieved independent farmers, and revolutionary leaders with, um, questionable agendas. Toss in a missing nuke or two – what could go wrong?
Steven develops his leading characters very well. Even the supporting cast members, including most of the bad guys, are drawn with a reasonable amount of shading. We meet a clever AI, and Ron Hubbard (er, Herbert) makes an appearance. There are a couple of neat plot developments and several nerve-wracking episodes, which are fun to read. The political and business situations are pretty good, except that the CEO-as-drug-dealer trope bugs me. But (spoiler alert) at least he dies a horrible death! The Martian colonists’ thirst for independence and their wish to be left alone *really* comes through nicely.
Asteroid Gambit is a great foundation for the Worlds of Sol series.
October 7, 2021
Ellen discovers that her mining partner, Harriet, has an illegal A-bomb stashed away. That can't be good, so she finds her ex-partner/lover and asks for help. Harriet wants to bury the bomb on an asteroid and ship it to Mars. Then she can use it as leverage during a rebellion.
Asteroid Gambit is well written and moves right along. Both the mining operations and the Mars settlements feel real. The characters are easy to get to know and to care about. However, there are a few places where this book isn't as believable as it could be.
The rebellion is all about improving the lives of the terraforming workers, who are abused by Earth's government. But they aren't the ones who rebel. It is also hard to see why limiting the food supply and threatening to nuke the Mars settlement would benefit the Martians. Why don't they threaten to nuke Earth?
I also found it hard to believe that small tactical nukes are an effective way to change the orbit of large asteroids. One massive burst of energy will definitely change the trajectory of an asteroid if it doesn't shatter it, but I doubt it can be controlled.
The running, hiding, avoiding capture, getting rescued, etc., are well-paced and fun to read.
I very much enjoyed Greta, the ship's IA.
The story holds together quite well and is rather enjoyable. If you overlook the above issues, this is a great book.
Reviewed by Romana Drew October 7, 2021.
Asteroid Gambit is well written and moves right along. Both the mining operations and the Mars settlements feel real. The characters are easy to get to know and to care about. However, there are a few places where this book isn't as believable as it could be.
The rebellion is all about improving the lives of the terraforming workers, who are abused by Earth's government. But they aren't the ones who rebel. It is also hard to see why limiting the food supply and threatening to nuke the Mars settlement would benefit the Martians. Why don't they threaten to nuke Earth?
I also found it hard to believe that small tactical nukes are an effective way to change the orbit of large asteroids. One massive burst of energy will definitely change the trajectory of an asteroid if it doesn't shatter it, but I doubt it can be controlled.
The running, hiding, avoiding capture, getting rescued, etc., are well-paced and fun to read.
I very much enjoyed Greta, the ship's IA.
The story holds together quite well and is rather enjoyable. If you overlook the above issues, this is a great book.
Reviewed by Romana Drew October 7, 2021.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews