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Amazon.co.uk Review
Novels written in tandem can often be somewhat faceless but this is assuredly not the case in Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen's' admirable SF epic Wheelers, an ambitious and galaxy-spanning piece that is crammed full of character. In the 23rd century, civilization is recovering from a massive freeze that has decimated the population of the earth. The Moon and the asteroids are under the control of a Tibetan Zen Buddhist sect, and the task of exploring the planets is the province of a motley group of outcasts. This is the background for Stewart and Cohen's high-concept thriller. The authors are scientists, and (as so often when this is the case) they're best at the technology--but, nevertheless, the characters here have infinitely more solidity than is customary. And how confidently the concepts are delivered here! This is high-flying stuff.
Synopsis
Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen - internationally popular scientists - present a richly-imagined novel of high adventure and earthshaking concepts, in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke and Greg Bear Twenty-third-century civilisation is recovering from a decades-long anti-technology freeze that has left the world underpopulated, the Moon and asteroids controlled by a Tibetan Zen Buddhist sect from a deep-space habitat, and interplanetary exploration in the hands of a few eccentric outcasts. One such loner - Prudence Odingo - returns to Earth to report that she has recovered 100,00-year-old wheeled artifacts, from under the ice of Callisto, a moon of Jupiter. She is arrested, and about to be convicted on criminal fraud when the 'wheelers' abruptly come to life - and several of Jupiter's moons change their orbits, ready to propel a vast planet-destroying comet towards Earth. The unimaginable and incredibly powerful creatures that live in Jupiter's hellish atmosphere have apparently declared war on humanity. Prudence must somehow discover why - with the help of her Zen Buddhist friends, and the archenemy pedant who once destroyed her career.
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Novels written in tandem can often be somewhat faceless but this is assuredly not the case in Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen's' admirable SF epic Wheelers, an ambitious and galaxy-spanning piece that is crammed full of character. In the 23rd century, civilization is recovering from a massive freeze that has decimated the population of the earth. The Moon and the asteroids are under the control of a Tibetan Zen Buddhist sect, and the task of exploring the planets is the province of a motley group of outcasts. This is the background for Stewart and Cohen's high-concept thriller. The authors are scientists, and (as so often when this is the case) they're best at the technology--but, nevertheless, the characters here have infinitely more solidity than is customary. And how confidently the concepts are delivered here! This is high-flying stuff.
The best aspects of the book are the monstrously powerful (and truly grotesque) aliens that somehow survive in Jupiter's inhospitable atmosphere and appear bent on conflict with the inhabitants of our planet; Stewart and Cohen's heroine Prudence Odingo is forced to discover why they have declared war on the earth--and her determination leads to some terrifying physical challenges. Despite some flaws, this is vigorous, richly imagined stuff, with passages of genuine wonder:
Outside the control complex the world had gone mad. Pele's normal fountainlike jets had quadrupled in volume, now subject to wild bursts of activity as millions of tons of liquid silicates spurted into space ... Jupiter was growing a new ring, a ring of sulfur-silca dust...--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Synopsis
Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen - internationally popular scientists - present a richly-imagined novel of high adventure and earthshaking concepts, in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke and Greg Bear Twenty-third-century civilisation is recovering from a decades-long anti-technology freeze that has left the world underpopulated, the Moon and asteroids controlled by a Tibetan Zen Buddhist sect from a deep-space habitat, and interplanetary exploration in the hands of a few eccentric outcasts. One such loner - Prudence Odingo - returns to Earth to report that she has recovered 100,00-year-old wheeled artifacts, from under the ice of Callisto, a moon of Jupiter. She is arrested, and about to be convicted on criminal fraud when the 'wheelers' abruptly come to life - and several of Jupiter's moons change their orbits, ready to propel a vast planet-destroying comet towards Earth. The unimaginable and incredibly powerful creatures that live in Jupiter's hellish atmosphere have apparently declared war on humanity. Prudence must somehow discover why - with the help of her Zen Buddhist friends, and the archenemy pedant who once destroyed her career.
See all Product Description