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Tales of the Terran Republic
Lost Signals: A Terran Republic Anthology
Welcome to the 22nd century!
Ever-turbulent humanity has reached out to the stars and found itself challenged by several "exosapient" species whose motivation are as unusual as their physical forms. Troubleshooters like Caine Riordan must contend with both humans and aliens during this epic plunge into the high-stakes exploration, statecraft, and warfare that churn and change our post-contact world.
But now world is defined just by the characters who occupy center state. 'LOST SIGNALS' digs deep into the lives - and struggles - of those beyond the spotlight by bringing together 20 new voices and stories in a format that blurs the line between fact and fiction in the Consolidated Terran Republic.
With stories by:
Charles E. Gannon
Gray Rinehart
Barbara Krasnoff
Kacey Ezell
Mike Massa
Robert E. Waters
Robert R. Chase
Joelle Presby
Alex Shvartsman
Doug Dandridge
Walter H. Hunt
Vonnie Winslow Crist
Alan Brown
Lawrence M. Schoen
Alistair Kimble
Griffin Barber
Robert E. Hampson
Tom Doyle
Rick Boatright
Marc Miller
Jean Marie Ward
Ever-turbulent humanity has reached out to the stars and found itself challenged by several "exosapient" species whose motivation are as unusual as their physical forms. Troubleshooters like Caine Riordan must contend with both humans and aliens during this epic plunge into the high-stakes exploration, statecraft, and warfare that churn and change our post-contact world.
But now world is defined just by the characters who occupy center state. 'LOST SIGNALS' digs deep into the lives - and struggles - of those beyond the spotlight by bringing together 20 new voices and stories in a format that blurs the line between fact and fiction in the Consolidated Terran Republic.
With stories by:
Charles E. Gannon
Gray Rinehart
Barbara Krasnoff
Kacey Ezell
Mike Massa
Robert E. Waters
Robert R. Chase
Joelle Presby
Alex Shvartsman
Doug Dandridge
Walter H. Hunt
Vonnie Winslow Crist
Alan Brown
Lawrence M. Schoen
Alistair Kimble
Griffin Barber
Robert E. Hampson
Tom Doyle
Rick Boatright
Marc Miller
Jean Marie Ward
- GenresScience Fiction
Audio CD
First published April 1, 2019
31 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Charles E. Gannon
78 books207 followersDr. Charles E. Gannon is a Distinguished Professor of English (St. Bonaventure U.) & Fulbright Senior Specialist (American Lit & Culture). He has had novellas in Analog and the War World series. His nonfiction book "Rumors of War and Infernal Machines" won the 2006 ALA Outstanding Text Award. He also worked as author and editor for GDW, and was a routine contributor to both the scientific/technical content and story-line in the award-winning games "Traveller," and "2300 AD." He has been awarded Fulbrights to England, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Netherlands, and worked 8 years as scriptwriter/producer in NYC.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 4, 2019
I’m a big fan of Charles E. Gannon’s “Terran Republic” novels featuring Caine Riordan. I was intrigued to see what other writers would do in this universe. I was not disappointed. All of the stories are well-written and engaging, and they all follow Gannon’s tradition of writing “hard” science fiction with a human heart. Caine Riordan is in the background here, with an emphasis on other characters and other tales in the universe Gannon has created. Some of the stories are profoundly thought-provoking as well as exciting (“The Persistence of Visions” by Gannon himself, and “Among the Blind” by Alex Schvartsman, written from the POV of a clone in an internment camp). “Botwright” by Gray Rinehart is a fascinating character study with a touch of the whimsical. “The Ellsberg Variations” by Jean Marie Ward is a page-turner mystery/suspense story set against the backdrop of a future military bureaucracy (it also features a “hulking” bearded character named Darrell Grizzle). Some of the stories are creative in the very way they are written: “Deep Cold” by Robert E. Hampson shows us how a time-honored literary form, the epistolary story, can work well in a far-future setting.
A standout story to me is “Only Human” by Kacey Ezell, which combines military sci-fi action with a deeply moving storyline about love and self-sacrifice. I was not familiar with Kacey Ezell before, but one of the joys of a great anthology is discovering new (or “new to me”) authors. I’ll definitely be checking out more works by Ezell as well as several other authors in Lost Signals of the Terran Republic.
A standout story to me is “Only Human” by Kacey Ezell, which combines military sci-fi action with a deeply moving storyline about love and self-sacrifice. I was not familiar with Kacey Ezell before, but one of the joys of a great anthology is discovering new (or “new to me”) authors. I’ll definitely be checking out more works by Ezell as well as several other authors in Lost Signals of the Terran Republic.
May 8, 2019
One word first: the book is enjoyable at its best if you are already familiar with Caine Riordan and his universe, the CTR (Consolidated Terran Republic).
The book has an interesting structure. In the first part, the shortest, you get a series of news from the Independant Interstellar News Channel, spanning over 10 years, the formative years of the CTR. Then, in the second part, we get twenty different short stories related to the news of the first part but actually telling the truth behind the news.
As usual for anthologies, you won't like everything but frankly, there was not ONE story I disliked and most of them I found great. They are ALL (ok, with one exception but it was for a good cause, Mark Miller, if you read this, you know why I write that. I liked the story but, oh well, dear review readers, read the anthology to catch up on my misgivings) valuable additions to the Caine Riordan universe.
The short stories cover the first 4 novels of Caine Riordan (well, ok, in some aspects, also the 5th, but it is a bit more convoluted to claim, as the 5th book only comes out this July).
I am a bit embarrassed right now, because I should claim a favorite and I don't want to. I shall just say this: the 2 parallel stories of Mike Massa and K.C. Ezell are totally enjoyable, albeit they tell the same story, only from each side of the story.
I didn't buy the E-Book on amazon, I backed the project on Kickstarter and got the e-book that way a bit early. I don't regret the extra costs, as the KS being financed made those tales come to life!
The book has an interesting structure. In the first part, the shortest, you get a series of news from the Independant Interstellar News Channel, spanning over 10 years, the formative years of the CTR. Then, in the second part, we get twenty different short stories related to the news of the first part but actually telling the truth behind the news.
As usual for anthologies, you won't like everything but frankly, there was not ONE story I disliked and most of them I found great. They are ALL (ok, with one exception but it was for a good cause, Mark Miller, if you read this, you know why I write that. I liked the story but, oh well, dear review readers, read the anthology to catch up on my misgivings) valuable additions to the Caine Riordan universe.
The short stories cover the first 4 novels of Caine Riordan (well, ok, in some aspects, also the 5th, but it is a bit more convoluted to claim, as the 5th book only comes out this July).
I am a bit embarrassed right now, because I should claim a favorite and I don't want to. I shall just say this: the 2 parallel stories of Mike Massa and K.C. Ezell are totally enjoyable, albeit they tell the same story, only from each side of the story.
I didn't buy the E-Book on amazon, I backed the project on Kickstarter and got the e-book that way a bit early. I don't regret the extra costs, as the KS being financed made those tales come to life!
August 20, 2019
A collection of short stories that surpasses the source material that inspired them.
I was not a huge fan of Fire with Fire (you can see my review here), but I found the stories in this collection to be more enjoyable. With a few exceptions. I won't go over every story in the collection, but I do want to discuss a few high and low points.
I was worried at first because the second story in the collection starts off by killing the only female character in the story in order to motivate the protagonist to action. It's 2019 people, don't 'fridge' women to motivate your protagonist. It's both sexist and hackneyed.
Fortunately, things get better from there. Some interesting looks at human and alien contact situations. Some interesting looks at side stories to the main plot of the series. Even some interesting critiques of some of the assumptions underlying that main plot line, in the form of analysis by characters within stories. In particular, the authors (or at least the protagonists) of The Information Assayer and The Ellsberg Variations both seem to have some of the same problems with Fire with Fire that I had: namely those with the secrecy the book assumes is necessary to 'preserve humanity.' Both stories have characters that call bullshit on that need for secrecy. The second story goes so far as to describe some actions taken by IRIS as 'amateurish.'
There are a couple interesting pairings of stories. Only Human and Only Animals tell parts of the same story from different viewpoints. One from a human perspective and the other from an alien one. Sub Rosa and Crate 88 are back to back stories about criminal investigations. Both are written by law enforcement professionals, yet they each have a very different feel. They're both good, but Crate 88 was possibly my favorite story in the collection. I won't say for sure that it's my favorite because of one other story in the collection, and the fact that I have some personal bias that might be influencing my opinion of the story (I consider the author to be a friend).
That other story that competes with Crate 88 is A Fragment of Empire, a story which really shouldn't even be in the book. It's a story set in the Traveller RPG universe and reveals the answer to a question about the lore of that setting that has remained secret for decades. Its inclusion in this collection is explained with some paper thin rationales about the place Traveller holds in the universe of the series, but is likely really here because Charles Gannon got his start writing for Traveller. In any case, I enjoyed the story because I like the Traveller game and setting, and have used the protagonist of this particular story as an NPC in some of my games.
The only other low point was a minor one. In a story outlining the science behind FTL travel in the setting, the author goes off on a short tangent in what appears to be an attempt to take a poke at 'Green' parties in the real world by constructing a straw man in the fictional world.
Overall a great collection with far more hits than misses, which was a pleasant surprise after my disappointment with the first novel in the series.
I was not a huge fan of Fire with Fire (you can see my review here), but I found the stories in this collection to be more enjoyable. With a few exceptions. I won't go over every story in the collection, but I do want to discuss a few high and low points.
I was worried at first because the second story in the collection starts off by killing the only female character in the story in order to motivate the protagonist to action. It's 2019 people, don't 'fridge' women to motivate your protagonist. It's both sexist and hackneyed.
Fortunately, things get better from there. Some interesting looks at human and alien contact situations. Some interesting looks at side stories to the main plot of the series. Even some interesting critiques of some of the assumptions underlying that main plot line, in the form of analysis by characters within stories. In particular, the authors (or at least the protagonists) of The Information Assayer and The Ellsberg Variations both seem to have some of the same problems with Fire with Fire that I had: namely those with the secrecy the book assumes is necessary to 'preserve humanity.' Both stories have characters that call bullshit on that need for secrecy. The second story goes so far as to describe some actions taken by IRIS as 'amateurish.'
There are a couple interesting pairings of stories. Only Human and Only Animals tell parts of the same story from different viewpoints. One from a human perspective and the other from an alien one. Sub Rosa and Crate 88 are back to back stories about criminal investigations. Both are written by law enforcement professionals, yet they each have a very different feel. They're both good, but Crate 88 was possibly my favorite story in the collection. I won't say for sure that it's my favorite because of one other story in the collection, and the fact that I have some personal bias that might be influencing my opinion of the story (I consider the author to be a friend).
That other story that competes with Crate 88 is A Fragment of Empire, a story which really shouldn't even be in the book. It's a story set in the Traveller RPG universe and reveals the answer to a question about the lore of that setting that has remained secret for decades. Its inclusion in this collection is explained with some paper thin rationales about the place Traveller holds in the universe of the series, but is likely really here because Charles Gannon got his start writing for Traveller. In any case, I enjoyed the story because I like the Traveller game and setting, and have used the protagonist of this particular story as an NPC in some of my games.
The only other low point was a minor one. In a story outlining the science behind FTL travel in the setting, the author goes off on a short tangent in what appears to be an attempt to take a poke at 'Green' parties in the real world by constructing a straw man in the fictional world.
Overall a great collection with far more hits than misses, which was a pleasant surprise after my disappointment with the first novel in the series.
August 5, 2019
Loved it. I'm not much good at reviews, but I did enjoy this book a lot. I liked the way that each short story appeared to be an expansion of some sort of in-universe news headline. Well worth reading people.
June 2, 2019
Fun, easy, entertaining read that expand minor characters and events from the Cain Riordan universe.
September 5, 2019
A nice set of stories in the Terran Republic universe.
September 3, 2020
A pretty fun series of short stories set in the Universe of the Caine Riordan series, Lost Tales works particularly well if you have read the other books in the series, as it fills gaps and gives us different perspectives on events that happened in those books.
Organized in a broadly in-series chronological order, with a small paragraph before each story locating us spatially and temporally in the events, it really helps flesh out the universe by moving the focus away from Caine Riordan who is rarely mentioned throughout. It also moves away from the very military centred genre of the main books.
Some of the more interesting stories focus on things seen by alien perspectives or the perspectives of just common people or side-characters. A good couple of stories "Only Humans" and "Only Animals" by Kacey Ezell and Mike Massa respectively, gives us different perspectives on the same event, for example, through the eyes of an Indonesian villager fighting the Alien occupation and through the eyes of the Aliens occupying. Definitely recommended if you are a fan of the series but would like to see different facets of the universe.
Organized in a broadly in-series chronological order, with a small paragraph before each story locating us spatially and temporally in the events, it really helps flesh out the universe by moving the focus away from Caine Riordan who is rarely mentioned throughout. It also moves away from the very military centred genre of the main books.
Some of the more interesting stories focus on things seen by alien perspectives or the perspectives of just common people or side-characters. A good couple of stories "Only Humans" and "Only Animals" by Kacey Ezell and Mike Massa respectively, gives us different perspectives on the same event, for example, through the eyes of an Indonesian villager fighting the Alien occupation and through the eyes of the Aliens occupying. Definitely recommended if you are a fan of the series but would like to see different facets of the universe.
June 20, 2019
Aliens, journalists, terrorists and megacorps oh my!
The story with Lintang hit me hard and was particularly strong with character building and nice little touches which are sometimes missed in short stories.
Many other great stories of all sorts of styles telling of corporate and government malfeasance and the sometimes unsung heroes who fight back from junior reporters to senior counter terrorists. You have alien invasions and you have Traveller! I learned hexadecimal because of the old Traveller rpg.
The design of the anthology isn't to my liking. It starts off with a lot of "news" clips explaining the world and the stories later on in the book but it was a little too much for me. I would have had about a third of that data at the beginning to give some brush strokes and then had another third split up as intros to each chapter and a third at the end of the book. I think the hinting at the beginning would have helped build your mind's eye image of the setting without being too much.
Not to seem like I am being mean or overly critical. I very much enjoyed this book.
The story with Lintang hit me hard and was particularly strong with character building and nice little touches which are sometimes missed in short stories.
Many other great stories of all sorts of styles telling of corporate and government malfeasance and the sometimes unsung heroes who fight back from junior reporters to senior counter terrorists. You have alien invasions and you have Traveller! I learned hexadecimal because of the old Traveller rpg.
The design of the anthology isn't to my liking. It starts off with a lot of "news" clips explaining the world and the stories later on in the book but it was a little too much for me. I would have had about a third of that data at the beginning to give some brush strokes and then had another third split up as intros to each chapter and a third at the end of the book. I think the hinting at the beginning would have helped build your mind's eye image of the setting without being too much.
Not to seem like I am being mean or overly critical. I very much enjoyed this book.
December 19, 2021
A Rollicking Good Read
This collection of short stories set in Charles Gannon's Terran Republic is an excellent companion to the larger series. The stories are diverse, but the unifying theme is humanity's dogged refusal to give up in the face of oppression, injustice, and worse, no matter the odds against us. If you like the series, you'll love this anthology.
This collection of short stories set in Charles Gannon's Terran Republic is an excellent companion to the larger series. The stories are diverse, but the unifying theme is humanity's dogged refusal to give up in the face of oppression, injustice, and worse, no matter the odds against us. If you like the series, you'll love this anthology.
June 5, 2019
Some good stories, some just ok.
February 8, 2023
KSKS
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2021
If you like Charles Gannon's Terran Republic books, you'll enjoy this new addition to his universe.
February 5, 2021
Good Anthology
Wide range of stories that flesh out a lot of back story of the Terran Republic. Very detailed and a fun read.
Wide range of stories that flesh out a lot of back story of the Terran Republic. Very detailed and a fun read.
February 7, 2021
Actually pretty good
For me there were three outstanding stories, a couple of duds, and the rest I found reasonably readable. Will be looking for more stories in this universe.
For me there were three outstanding stories, a couple of duds, and the rest I found reasonably readable. Will be looking for more stories in this universe.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews