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Now in paperback, returning to the universe of New York Times Notable book This Alien Shore comes a new space opera from an acknowledged master of science fiction. When deep-space travel altered the genes of the first interstellar colonists, Earth abandoned them. But some of the colonies survived, and a new civilization of mental and physical “Variants” has been established, centered around clusters of space stations known as the outworlds. Now the unthinkable has happened: a suicide assault has destroyed the life support system of a major waystation. All that is known about the young men responsible is that in their last living moments they were receiving messages from an uninhabited sector of space, and were playing a virtual reality game. Two unlikely allies have joined forces to investigate the incident: Ru Gaya, a mercenary explorer with a taste for high risk ventures, and game designer Micah Bello, who must find the parties responsible for the attack in order to clear his name. From the corridors of a derelict station lost to madness to an outlaw stronghold in the depths of uncharted space, the two now follow the trail of an enemy who can twist human minds to his purpose, and whose plans could bring about the collapse of outworld civilization.
Featured Series
2 primary booksAlien Shores is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 1998 with contributions by C. S. Friedman and C.S. Friedman.
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A decent sequel to “This Alien Shore” but at the same time it's somewhat disappointing, the novel's scope is much smaller than the first previous book and, while that's not a bad thing in itself, the story takes it's time to get moving.
I can't get much into the plot without spoilers so I won't go over specifics, but there are some interesting ideas and characters - although perhaps not as interesting as those explored in the previous work.
The final act of “This Virtual Night” felt anti-climatic to me and was somewhat abrupt (although somewhat abrupt endings is largely a hallmark of C. S Friedman's storytelling.)
If, for some reason, you're reading this review wondering if it's worth a read, the short answer is ‘yes' but I'd recommend not to expect an epic adventure this time around.
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