- Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
- Publisher: Bantam USA; Reissue edition (31 May 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553577395
- ISBN-13: 978-0553577396
- Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 2.8 x 17.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 607,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Earth has been ravaged by galactic disaster--but the real devastation is yet to come.
The end draws nigh....
The year is 2053, and Earth has barely recovered from the Alpha Centauri supernova that destroyed much of the planet's infrastructure. Now the supernova's residual effect--a storm of high-energy particles--is racing toward Earth, and an international effort has been launched out of the Sky City space colony to save the planet. But the controversial plan--to build a giant protective shield for Earth--is falling dangerously behind schedule. A series of unexplained murders has disrupted the Sky City workforce, so much so that a brilliant but monstrous criminal has been enlisted to track down the Sky City killer.
Then comes more startling news. Evidence indicates that the original supernova was caused deliberately, and that the lethal particle storm will arrive sooner than anyone expected. But who--or what--tried to destroy the Earth? And will the answer come in time to save it from its final apocalypse?
The end draws nigh....
The year is 2053, and Earth has barely recovered from the Alpha Centauri supernova that destroyed much of the planet's infrastructure. Now the supernova's residual effect--a storm of high-energy particles--is racing toward Earth, and an international effort has been launched out of the Sky City space colony to save the planet. But the controversial plan--to build a giant protective shield for Earth--is falling dangerously behind schedule. A series of unexplained murders has disrupted the Sky City workforce, so much so that a brilliant but monstrous criminal has been enlisted to track down the Sky City killer.
Then comes more startling news. Evidence indicates that the original supernova was caused deliberately, and that the lethal particle storm will arrive sooner than anyone expected. But who--or what--tried to destroy the Earth? And will the answer come in time to save it from its final apocalypse?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I think that this novel is better than Aftermath. Altough I read this book only two months after reading Aftermath, I couldn't help feeling somewhat nostalgic while reading the prologue(no spoilers!). There is a mystery in this novel, and the end is by far more satisfying. The only drawbacks are that the Madeline character wasn't developed enough, and that the characters seemed to be too much comic-book like: The power mad dwarf, the geek, and the sly semi-good-guy. But in contarst to these examples, the charcter of Oliver Guest is very intriguing. Overall, this is a book worth reading, especially if you've read Aftermath.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
11 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Terrific hard SF intertwined with a good murder mystery
28 Dec 1999
Format:Paperback
I read this book without realizing it is a second part of a series. It gives enough background information to stand on its own - and stand very tall indeed. "Star Fire" is both a good science and a good fiction fiction, with a scientifically plausible yet totally unexpected ending. At least one unexpected ending - I figured out the killer's identity about halfway through the book, but it does require careful attention to details. While it is hard to imagine detectives who would keep their mind on solving a murder while the world is about to end, Sheffield manages to make it believable. The most complex and interesting character in the book is one of two detectives - a Hannibal Lecter type genius serial killer enlisted to catch another serial killer, - but other characters are good also. The weakest point - indeed the reason I am giving the book 4 stars instead of 5, - is one major female character who starts out as an incredibly tough and ruthless "corporate Mata Hari", then suddenly falls in love and comes totally unglued. Considering the nature of organization she works for and the fact that she managed to reach Number 2 in it, this is pathetic.
I am looking forward to the sequel, but I don't think I will bother reading the first book in the series ("Aftermath"). It did not get very good reviews, and "Star Fire" seems to adequately summarize what happened before.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Now this is cool SF
17 July 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The most striking thing about this book is its exploration of emotional intelligence. Scheffield constantly plays with the stock images of the engineer, the polititian, and the business person, turning them upside down. Nothing is really what it seems...it seems. He takes the reader deeply into the motives, weaknesses and strengths of individuals who happen to have those roles. And that's just one of the threads deftly woven into the story. Scheffield makes a supernova cool (sorry 'bout that!).
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Solid, old-fashioned
22 Oct 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Sheffield's work reminds me of the hard-science multi-plot future history works of the writers of the 50s and early 60s. The work has very much the feel of a serialized sci fi mag piece from Astounding or some such. The usual ingredients are there--a collection of disparate characters enmeshed in a handful of subplots, the mildly dystopian but recognizable earth of fifty years hence, a global threat, eccentric yet capable minds that work to solve it, and, finally, not one but two little puzzle mysteries, with punch line endings to both inquiries. Sheffield's plotting is a real strength; the characterization is a bit pat. I recommend this one, though, as the central dilemma is compelling, and the book lacks the gratuitious glandular or violent juvenalia which infects so many more modern sci fis. This is a fun afternoon, rather than an epic voyage, but not every unmanned satellite can discover a new universe....
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