Code name: Sparta. Her beauty veils a mysterious past and abilities far surpassing those of a normal human being: Sparta is the first product of advanced biotech engineering. But crucial memories of the past three years are locked away in the dark recesses of her brain. Who is she really? Why is she here on Earth now? And what has she been doing on Venus Station? As Sparta desperately searches for answers, she realizes that she must unlock the mystery of who she is before she can solve the greater mystery of what has been done to her and why.
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Amazon Review
More and more of the grandmasters of science fiction these days are taking part in a collaborative process: usually a theme or idea by a writer such as Isaac Asimov is developed and elaborated by a younger writer. The results can be exhilarating or simply workaday. In Paul Preuss' Arthur C Clarke's Venus Prime, we have the first volume in what promises to be a truly satisfying series, with Preuss adding sweeping imagination and commanding characterisation to the marvellous original concept by the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Clarke's story Breaking Strain has been elaborated by Preuss into a narrative that is both a taut thriller and a colourful tale of artificial intelligence. The protagonist Sparta has a mysterious beauty hinting at her hidden past, and she is in possession of abilities greatly beyond those of normal human beings. Sparta is more than human: she is the initial product of advanced biotech engineering. But she has no access to the crucial memories of the last three years that are locked away in her brain. The questions that torment Sparta are: who is she? Why is she on Earth now? The solution seems to lie in her job at Venus station. But what does the crippled space freighter Star Queen have to do with her plight? Sparta's mission becomes the unlocking of this mystery--and considerable danger awaits as she investigates her own past. Like Asimov's The Caves of Steel (to which Clarke alludes in his introduction), this is a cutting-edge synthesis of the crime and SF genres, with both elements feeding vigorously into each other. Occasionally in this kind of cross-genre, there is an uncomfortable shifting of gears--but that is never the case here, with Preuss maintaining a masterful grip on the steadily unfolding revelations. With a special selection of computer-generated blueprints of vehicles and robots, this is definitely a series to follow. Preuss is particularly good at delivering the sting in the final sentence of a paragraph:
He was still bent over her. He drew a long hypodermic from his sleeve, a seemingly primitive instrument frightening in its undisguised purpose. He dipped the tip of the barrel in disinfectant in a small clear vial. He felt for the bridge of her nose, pressed his fingers down to widen her nostrils, then carefully, inexorably--watching its progress on the miniature screen--he shoved the long telescoping shaft into her brain.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
PAUL PREUSS EXCEED EXPECTATIONS WITH THIS EXPANSION OF CLARKE'S MYSTERY SET ON A CARGO SHIP.FIRST RATE SF--WITH A STRONG LEAD HEROINE.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars
6 reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Science Fiction Series
24 April 2001
By MartyHansen
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
As a semi-avid science fiction and Arthur C. Clarke fan, I was intrigue when... recommended the Venus Prime series (Volumes 1-4) to me. I had read other works written by Mr. Clarke when paired with other writers, (The Light of Other Days with Stephen Baxter, and the Rama series with Gentry Lee, both of which were excellent). Venus Prime, written exclusively by Paul Preuss, but based upon some earlier works by Mr. Clarke, at first glance didn't seem appealing, (probably due to the overly-comely and simplistic illustration of a young female space explorer on the cover), but my interest eventually grew as I read more editorial and customer reviews, (and as... computer kept recommending it to me based upon the product ratings I awarded to other science fiction novels I had read).
I eventually succumbed and ordered Volume 1. I read it over a weekend (and as I took my son to his piano lesson) -- and it was excellent! As I write this review, I'm now reading Volume 3, after having just finished Volume 2, each of which is as engaging as the first.
Venus Prime is an excellent science fiction novel -- and an excellent series -- taking place on the future Earth settlements of the Moon, Venus and Mars. The main character, Ellen Troy, is a young woman with a mysterious and forgotten past which, during each episode, she slowly attempts to uncover as she searches for her parents whom she suspects, from her shattered and brainswashed memory, may be dead. Through the scientific manipulation of her body when she was younger, she has been endowed with super-human intellect and para-normal physical capabilities, the latter of which enable her to interact directly with computers and their machinery (think the Bionic Woman from Intel and you'll be close) which she puts to good use solving mysteries -- and, in the process, saving a few lives -- in her duties as an inspector for the Board of Space Patrol. In her travels, she eventually stumbles across Blake Redfield, a young man also from her past, who slowly becomes her love interest.
For those familiar with other science fiction series, the big advantage of employing multiple novels to tell a saga is that it permits the writer to slowly reveal the larger mysteries -- while solving smaller mysteries in each episode. This format also allows for greater character development and in-depth storytelling regarding the future technologies and social structure of extraterrestrial Earth societies. All of these opportunities are well leveraged by Paul Preuss in Venus Prime.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fact-based novel that is a mixture of light mystery and science fiction built around an attractive heroine with innate (but modestly displayed) super-human perceptual and analytical abilities. The plotting of the work is very linear, which makes for easy reading, but the book's glimpse of the future is highly thought provoking and intriguing nonetheless.
Each book stands alone as an individual novel. And even though I haven't yet completed all of the episodes, I can assure you that the Venus Prime series is both highly engrossing and extremely satisfying. Enjoy!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging, thoughtful, sexy and enjoyabl
19 April 2000
By Bradley Morrow
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I first read the entire series when they first came out. I am missing the fourth one which is what brought me to amazon.com again. I highly recommend reading all of them. I find the caliber of work somewhere around the same level as Zelanzy, Anthony, Donaldson...In fact the "Gap" series and Venus prime are close indeed.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece of Drama, Technology, and Sci-Fi!
7 Mar 2003
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
After 30 years experience in the Space Program, NASA, and deep Space probes, I have to say this is one of the more intellectuall accurate, and stimulating stories I have read. I am an Clarke fan, having read 2001 when it first came out in 1968, but the combination of Clarke's vision and Preuss's writing skills makes this Venus Prime Series a set of books you will not be able to put down!
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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