What do you think?
Rate this book
Starstrike
Humanity's first contact with alien life is no less than a nightmare, as the Ahimsa take control of Earth and force humanity to do their bidding. Soon, Earth's most skilled strike force, composed of Russian, American, and Israeli experts in the art of war and espionage, find themselves aboard the Ahimsa vessel, training for an offensive attack against a distant space station.
And as they struggle to overcome their own prejudices while preparing to face an enemy of unknown capabilities, none of them realize that the greatest danger to humanity's future is right in their midst....
And as they struggle to overcome their own prejudices while preparing to face an enemy of unknown capabilities, none of them realize that the greatest danger to humanity's future is right in their midst....
542 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1990
12 people are currently reading
283 people want to read
About the author
W. Michael Gear
181 books729 followersW. Michael Gear was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on the twentieth of May, 1955. A fourth generation Colorado native, his family had been involved in hard-rock mining, cattle ranching, and journalism. After his father's death in 1959, Michael's mother received her Master's degree in journalism and began teaching. In 1962 she married Joseph J. Cook, who taught tool and die making, and the family lived in Lakewood, Colorado, until 1968. At that time they moved to Fort Collins so that Joe could pursue his Ph.D.. During those years the family lived in the foothills above Horsetooth Reservoir.
It was there that Mike developed a love of history, anthropology, and motorcycles. They would color his future and fill his imagination for the rest of his life. During summers he volunteered labor on local ranches or at the farm east of Greeley and landed his first real job: picking up trash at the lake and cleaning outhouses. It has been said that his exposure to trash led him into archaeology. We will not speculate about what cleaning the outhouses might have led him to. On his first dig as a professional archaeologist in 1976 he discovered that two thousand year old human trash isn't nearly as obnoxious as the new stuff.
Michael graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1972 and pursued both his Bachelor's (1976) and Master's (1979) degrees at Colorado State University. Upon completion of his Master's - his specialty was in physical anthropology - he went to work for Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs as a field archaeologist.
It was in the winter of 1978 that he wrote his first novel. Irritated by historical inaccuracies in Western fiction, he swore he could do better. He was "taking retirement in installments," archaeology being a seasonal career, in the cabin his great uncle Aubrey had built. One cold January night he read a Western novel about a trail drive in which steers (castrated males) had calves. The historical inaccuracies of the story bothered him all night. The next morning, still incensed, he chunked wood into the stove and hunkered over the typewriter. There, on the mining claim, at nine thousand feet outside of Empire, Colorado he hammered out his first five hundred and fifty page novel. Yes, that first manuscript still exists, but if there is justice in the universe, no one will ever see it. It reads wretchedly - but the historical facts are correct!
Beginning in 1981, Michael, along with two partners, put together his own archaeological consulting company. Pronghorn Anthropological Associates began doing cultural resource management studies in 1982, and, although Michael sold his interest in 1984, to this day the company remains in business in Casper, Wyoming. During the years, Michael has worked throughout the western United States doing archaeological surveys, testing, and mitigation for pipelines, oil wells, power lines, timber sales, and highway construction. He learned the value of strong black coffee, developed a palate for chocolate donuts, and ferreted out every quality Mexican restaurant in eight states. He spent nine months of the year traveling from project to project with his trowel and dig kit, a clapped-out '72 Wonder Blazer, and his boon companion, Tedi, a noble tri-color Sheltie.
That fateful day in November, 1981, was delightfully clear, cold, and still in Laramie, Wyoming. Archaeologists from all over the state had arrived at the University of Wyoming for the annual meetings of the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists. It was there, in the meeting room, way too early after a much too long night, that Mike first laid eyes on the most beautiful woman in the world: Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The BLM State Archaeologist, Ray Leicht, introduced him to the pretty anthropologist and historian, and best of all, Ray invited Mike to lunch with Kathleen. It was the perfect beginning for a long and wondrous relationship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/wmicha...
It was there that Mike developed a love of history, anthropology, and motorcycles. They would color his future and fill his imagination for the rest of his life. During summers he volunteered labor on local ranches or at the farm east of Greeley and landed his first real job: picking up trash at the lake and cleaning outhouses. It has been said that his exposure to trash led him into archaeology. We will not speculate about what cleaning the outhouses might have led him to. On his first dig as a professional archaeologist in 1976 he discovered that two thousand year old human trash isn't nearly as obnoxious as the new stuff.
Michael graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1972 and pursued both his Bachelor's (1976) and Master's (1979) degrees at Colorado State University. Upon completion of his Master's - his specialty was in physical anthropology - he went to work for Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs as a field archaeologist.
It was in the winter of 1978 that he wrote his first novel. Irritated by historical inaccuracies in Western fiction, he swore he could do better. He was "taking retirement in installments," archaeology being a seasonal career, in the cabin his great uncle Aubrey had built. One cold January night he read a Western novel about a trail drive in which steers (castrated males) had calves. The historical inaccuracies of the story bothered him all night. The next morning, still incensed, he chunked wood into the stove and hunkered over the typewriter. There, on the mining claim, at nine thousand feet outside of Empire, Colorado he hammered out his first five hundred and fifty page novel. Yes, that first manuscript still exists, but if there is justice in the universe, no one will ever see it. It reads wretchedly - but the historical facts are correct!
Beginning in 1981, Michael, along with two partners, put together his own archaeological consulting company. Pronghorn Anthropological Associates began doing cultural resource management studies in 1982, and, although Michael sold his interest in 1984, to this day the company remains in business in Casper, Wyoming. During the years, Michael has worked throughout the western United States doing archaeological surveys, testing, and mitigation for pipelines, oil wells, power lines, timber sales, and highway construction. He learned the value of strong black coffee, developed a palate for chocolate donuts, and ferreted out every quality Mexican restaurant in eight states. He spent nine months of the year traveling from project to project with his trowel and dig kit, a clapped-out '72 Wonder Blazer, and his boon companion, Tedi, a noble tri-color Sheltie.
That fateful day in November, 1981, was delightfully clear, cold, and still in Laramie, Wyoming. Archaeologists from all over the state had arrived at the University of Wyoming for the annual meetings of the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists. It was there, in the meeting room, way too early after a much too long night, that Mike first laid eyes on the most beautiful woman in the world: Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The BLM State Archaeologist, Ray Leicht, introduced him to the pretty anthropologist and historian, and best of all, Ray invited Mike to lunch with Kathleen. It was the perfect beginning for a long and wondrous relationship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/wmicha...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 24, 2018
Starstrike wants to be a simple book. Aliens show up on Earth, and because we're so much more experienced with war than anyone else, recruit a team of the best soldiers we have to offer to change the balance of power in the galaxy.
But this isn't pulp, and it isn't action movie fodder. Though it does try for technothriller in a few places.
Published in 1990, and set a few years after that, there's some interesting twists on where things have gone, though the Soviet Union is still there, if heavily eroded in this timeline. At any rate, there's actually a good amount of attention drawn to the reactions of the US and USSR to an alien showing he can shut down all nuclear forces and communications. Attention is paid to the logical consequences.
And... while logical, and actually needed for the novel, it does drag out a bit. Eventually the action gets pried off of Earth, and the main backbone of the novel is the flight out, training, really getting to know a few main characters, and the tension of figuring out how far anyone can trust this alien's motives, and what can be done about it. The 'action' is later, and in many ways not the focus (which is a benefit, just don't think that's what you're getting going in).
It definitely suffers from 'I'm going not show important pieces of information so you can be surprised later' a couple of times. It's a good book overall, with good work on various aliens and technology, but parts feel forced, and the ending kind of rushed.
But this isn't pulp, and it isn't action movie fodder. Though it does try for technothriller in a few places.
Published in 1990, and set a few years after that, there's some interesting twists on where things have gone, though the Soviet Union is still there, if heavily eroded in this timeline. At any rate, there's actually a good amount of attention drawn to the reactions of the US and USSR to an alien showing he can shut down all nuclear forces and communications. Attention is paid to the logical consequences.
And... while logical, and actually needed for the novel, it does drag out a bit. Eventually the action gets pried off of Earth, and the main backbone of the novel is the flight out, training, really getting to know a few main characters, and the tension of figuring out how far anyone can trust this alien's motives, and what can be done about it. The 'action' is later, and in many ways not the focus (which is a benefit, just don't think that's what you're getting going in).
It definitely suffers from 'I'm going not show important pieces of information so you can be surprised later' a couple of times. It's a good book overall, with good work on various aliens and technology, but parts feel forced, and the ending kind of rushed.
October 3, 2017
A Sci-Fi book with cool ideas and interesting and well thought out aliens. Not the best book in the genre but some of the ideas were intriguing and made me think. For that alone it was worth the read.
October 29, 2020
Starstrike by W. Michael Gear
Gear has the tendency to tackle big issues, like the fate of humanity. Wide, an Ahimsa, has decided to use humans as strawmen to address what he perceives as a threat to his species.
Wide collects a incredible variety of earth warriors and shows that elite fighting forces are multitalented diplomats as well as warriors. Gear’s depiction of Earth as a cesspool of warring entities is not far off. Putting out that the US government can simultaneous help prop up a dictator while providing arms for an insurrection in another area is really stating the obvious. Our world is a mess, let alone our country. Our planet is interdicted as being insane by the alien race of Ahimsa, sadly for good reason.
No doubt I read more social implications than Gear intended but that is the beauty of a well written book, it provides many paths of focus for the reader.
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
Gear has the tendency to tackle big issues, like the fate of humanity. Wide, an Ahimsa, has decided to use humans as strawmen to address what he perceives as a threat to his species.
Wide collects a incredible variety of earth warriors and shows that elite fighting forces are multitalented diplomats as well as warriors. Gear’s depiction of Earth as a cesspool of warring entities is not far off. Putting out that the US government can simultaneous help prop up a dictator while providing arms for an insurrection in another area is really stating the obvious. Our world is a mess, let alone our country. Our planet is interdicted as being insane by the alien race of Ahimsa, sadly for good reason.
No doubt I read more social implications than Gear intended but that is the beauty of a well written book, it provides many paths of focus for the reader.
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
March 16, 2018
Not as page turning as I was hoping. This book was written in the early 90's and the action takes place in that time period. The story concentrates on the political situation of that time and the problems between the U.S.A. and Russia. I guess if I had read it when it was first written it would have been more interesting but it ended up being a bit slow paced. Eventually at about page 400 the action picks up and the book zooms along for a while. Then it hits another lull and has a somewhat disappointing ending as the end of the book seemed to be rushed to conclusion. The story is about an advanced alien species called the Ahimsa forcing three groups of solders from the U.S.A. , Russia and Israel to fight together against another race of aliens called the Pashti. The story line sounded interesting but I just didn't enjoy it like I thought I would.
July 5, 2025
Interesting book, considering a rather different "First Contact" and not forgetting the consequences on Earth even though the primary storyline goes elsewhere.
It was written during Gorbachev's premiership, set a few years into a possible future. Interesting to consider how various countries now (mid-2025) might react to the same kind of alien contact....
It was written during Gorbachev's premiership, set a few years into a possible future. Interesting to consider how various countries now (mid-2025) might react to the same kind of alien contact....
November 13, 2017
1990s scifi--interesting to see the guesses at the future, plot not bad for the times
March 15, 2018
I wanted so much to like this one and I did not the only once I did care about was sheila and svetleana
September 8, 2019
Apart from referring to all the Jewish characters as "gnomelike," this book was more enjoyable than it had any right to be.
June 15, 2020
Excellent
October 11, 2024
Good reading, good action and story, just a bit outdated
August 2, 2014
Star Strike by W. Michael Gear
Review: "Two barbaric, uncivilized species are locked in the death struggle which will kill them all!"
A statement that shows the spectacular dynamics and broad stroke of genius that is StarStrike. Michael Gear has created a book that looks into the divisions of the cold war, the Russian war in Afghanistan, the division of the armies of the world and the adaptation of humanity in a dynamic and unique way. This book is predictive of occurrences and relations happening twenty years after the book was created.
Ahimsa who see themselves as a “civilized" society are a peaceful alien species. They are scientists, explorers; saviors of lower civilizations find that they are becoming lost to their own kindness. They attempt to gain the aid of benevolent aid of a crab like species, Pashti, saving them from their environmentally oppressive world. Their world's cycles of warm and cold create a dynamic and undeniable genetic adaptation that causes them to gather commodities, and resources in obsessive amounts, taking over more and more of the galactic resources of the Ahimsa.
Wide is the only Ahimsa that is ready to do something to solve the problem of the Pashti. He will take the quarantined Human species to space, in a secret mission to solve the Pashti problem for ever. He has thought of everything, researched everything and believes he knows how to solve the problem, and get away with it. But much of what he plans does not happen to occur as he expects. The use of a human contingent of the cold war army taking characters from intelligence personnel from the American, Russian and Israeli forces adds a dynamic note to the story. He believes their political divisions will help him control the situation.
Humanity has a lot to learn from this situation, and this book shows that sometimes when the threat is bigger than your political ideals, its mutual appreciation and respect that will solve insurmountable problems.
Review: "Two barbaric, uncivilized species are locked in the death struggle which will kill them all!"
A statement that shows the spectacular dynamics and broad stroke of genius that is StarStrike. Michael Gear has created a book that looks into the divisions of the cold war, the Russian war in Afghanistan, the division of the armies of the world and the adaptation of humanity in a dynamic and unique way. This book is predictive of occurrences and relations happening twenty years after the book was created.
Ahimsa who see themselves as a “civilized" society are a peaceful alien species. They are scientists, explorers; saviors of lower civilizations find that they are becoming lost to their own kindness. They attempt to gain the aid of benevolent aid of a crab like species, Pashti, saving them from their environmentally oppressive world. Their world's cycles of warm and cold create a dynamic and undeniable genetic adaptation that causes them to gather commodities, and resources in obsessive amounts, taking over more and more of the galactic resources of the Ahimsa.
Wide is the only Ahimsa that is ready to do something to solve the problem of the Pashti. He will take the quarantined Human species to space, in a secret mission to solve the Pashti problem for ever. He has thought of everything, researched everything and believes he knows how to solve the problem, and get away with it. But much of what he plans does not happen to occur as he expects. The use of a human contingent of the cold war army taking characters from intelligence personnel from the American, Russian and Israeli forces adds a dynamic note to the story. He believes their political divisions will help him control the situation.
Humanity has a lot to learn from this situation, and this book shows that sometimes when the threat is bigger than your political ideals, its mutual appreciation and respect that will solve insurmountable problems.
January 13, 2016
Starstrike by W. Michael Gear is a very imaginative story. The aliens are unusual but very believable. However, this book develops so slowly that it is painful. Eventually at about page 400 the action picks up and the book zooms along for a while. Then it hit another lull and has a somewhat disappointing ending.
February 26, 2012
Good old fashion space opera
January 19, 2016
Not as page turning as I was hoping. A bit slow paced. Interesting ideas though. The end of the book was rushed to conclusion.
February 27, 2016
Did not finish, could not get into the book at all. Does not develop the characters enough, and then moves from one part to another of the story to quickly. Tries to do too much.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews