Invaders from the Centre

Asgard #2

by Brian M. Stableford

Book 2 in The Asgard Trilogy

Stableford returns with Asgard's Conquerors, book two in his Asgard trilogy about a planet - and a man - like no other. After penetrating deep into the hollow planet of Asgard, Michael Rousseau wanted only to collect his payment for selling the location of the dropshaft and get as far away from the icy planet as possible. But instead he is captured by the Star Force, and is back under the command of Susarma Lear. Rousseau learns that Shychain city, the alien base established on Asgard's surface, has been invaded. As one of the few people with experience inside Asgard, Michael "volunteers" for a mission back into the heart of this new enemy to find a way to defeat them. But, when he's captured by the enemy, he is taken deeper into Asgard than any human has ever been. The question is whether he will survive to unlock even more of Asgard's secrets.

Brian Stableford lives in Reading, England, with his wife Jane, a holistic therapist.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Brian Michael Stableford was a British science fiction writer who published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford. He also used the pseudonym Brian Craig for a couple of very early works, and again for a few more recent works. The pseudonym derives from the first names of himself and of a school friend from the 1960s, Craig A. Mackintosh, with whom he jointly published some very early work.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well. This is a better book than the first in the trilogy. I suspect Brian Stableford is a rather underrated author. The first Asgard book was compared by some (rather unfavourably) with Larry Niven's Ringworld. There are points of similarity, both using as the central plot point an artificial world left by an unknown civilisation with immense technical capability.

Both have a cast of aliens and humans, and both are in the grand old tradition of "hard" science fiction. The devil is in the detail though. First, Stableford does not appear to be such a dreadful old reactionary as Niven. If he had bothered to put even one more female character in this book, it would have aced the Bechdel test; the women in his stories do not spend any time talking about, or mooning over, men. And Niven's Ringworld, although a spectacular location, lacks (literally) the depth of Asgard.

Asgard is constructed like an onion, with each level having the surface area of a small planet. Exploring it means finding the trapdoors and liftshafts that take you down to the next level. The Asgard stories are told from the point of view of the people who have colonized the surface layer to explore the layers beneath, and when overwhelmed by a huge army of invaders who erupt from deep below the two or three levels that have already been explored, the symbolism between ourselves and the hidden depths of our unconscious seems unavoidable.

Brian Stableford was an academic as well as an author, and his first discipline was biology. He clearly thinks about the ecology of his imagined worlds, and then delights in the speculation of his characters as they uncover fresh wonders. There is an intelligence to his books that lifts them above the cliches of traditional science fiction.

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first installment, maybe because there is less discovery and adventure. Not a bad read. it does leave it feeling somewhat unfinished, so I'm looking forward to the final installment.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worthy followup to Journey to the Center.