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1 Hawthorne Science Fiction and Fantasy- A to Z

This title in other editions

The Stars Down Under

by

The Stars Down Under Cover

ISBN13: 9780765316448
ISBN10: 0765316447
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Chief Terry Myell and Lieutenant Commander Jodenny Scott are in that most precarious of military situations, a mixed marriage. Enlisted and officer. Its unnatural.

 

Terry and Jodenny have been assigned to duty on the planet Fortune, away from the huge ships that carry colonists from the wreckage of polluted Earth to clean new worlds across the galaxy.

 

But theres another way besides spaceships to travel from world to world. A group within Team Space is exploring the Wondjina Spheres, a set of ancient alien artifacts that link places and times. Now those spheres have shut down and Team Space thinks that Terry and Jodenny are part of the key to make them work again —no matter how the two of them feel about it. They can volunteer, or be “volunteered.”

 

What the researchers cant anticipate is that the status quo, in which Team Space holds the monopoly on travel between worlds, is about to change. And as a result, Terry and Jodenny will be tested to their limits and beyond….

Review:

"Military SF thriller, xeno-archeological adventure, interstellar romance and shamanistic vision quest combine in this ambitious but flawed sequel to 2007's The Outback Stars. Chief Petty Officer Terry Myell — whose taboo enlistee/officer marriage to Lt. Cmdr. Jodenny Scott has landed him a tedious desk assignment — is kidnapped and forced to join a mission seeking a group of researchers who disappeared while investigating a network of spherical gateways that allow almost instantaneous travel between the stars. Inexplicably, Myell is the only one who can get the system to work. As he and his captors explore strange worlds for signs of the missing scientists, they discover a hostile reptilian race bent on controlling the secrets to the gateways and wiping out anyone in their way. McDonald leaves substantial questions of crucial backstory unanswered, and the divergent plot lines laden with Australian Aboriginal myth and folklore references leave this sophomore effort disjointed." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

Alien artifacts, political tension, and a freshly married pair of heroes populate this sequel to the military-adventure science fiction novel, "The Outback Stars."

Synopsis:

Alien artifacts, political tension, and a freshly-married pair of heroes in the sequel to the military-adventure SF novel The Outback Stars.

Synopsis:

Chief Terry Myell and Lieutenant Commander Jodenny Scott are in that most precarious of military situations, a mixed marriage. Enlisted and officer. Its unnatural.

 

Terry and Jodenny have been assigned to duty on the planet Fortune, away from the huge ships that carry colonists from the wreckage of polluted Earth to clean new worlds across the galaxy.

 

But theres another way besides spaceships to travel from world to world. A group within Team Space is exploring the Wondjina Spheres, a set of ancient alien artifacts that link places and times. Now those spheres have shut down and Team Space thinks that Terry and Jodenny are part of the key to make them work again —no matter how the two of them feel about it. They can volunteer, or be “volunteered.”

 

What the researchers cant anticipate is that the status quo, in which Team Space holds the monopoly on travel between worlds, is about to change. And as a result, Terry and Jodenny will be tested to their limits and beyond….

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About the Author

Sandra McDonald has been a Hollywood production assistant, a software instructor, a bureaucrat, and an officer in the United States Navy. Her short fiction has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, and elsewhere. Her previous novel was The Outback Stars. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Pandababy, May 17, 2009 (view all comments by Pandababy)
Science Fiction and Fantasy genres overlap in many ways, and none more clearly than in this second book of Sandra McDonald's. The plot threads that I most strongly hoped she would develop from the first book, The Outback Stars, are the focus of this second novel in a series.

The story is a mosaic of hard science and myth, wonders and the ordinary, aliens and regular people. I love the way McDonald writes, a combination of matter-of-fact space travel and unexpected intrusions by powers beyond the control of any human being. I love the way her characters struggle to keep their plans and their lives on track in the midst of being thrust into events that change everything.

Reading McDonald, I sometimes have a sense of magical realism as done by Gaiman or by Charles de Lint. Once in a while the science under the phenomenon is revealed but most often we are left with tantalizing questions, which may or may not be answered farther along in the story.

I like the way McDonald wraps up the story threads in a satisfying conclusion, but still leaves enough openings for the next book. I suspect she could easily write the same novel in twice length and keep me interested. At 336 pages, The Stars Down Under was over too soon. There is no doubt I'll pre-order the next one in the series.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780765316448
Author:
Mcdonald, Sandra
Publisher:
Tor Books
Author:
McDonald, Sandra
Subject:
Science Fiction - General
Subject:
Science / General
Subject:
Science Fiction - Military
Subject:
Science Fiction - Adventure
Subject:
Science fiction
Copyright:
2008
Publication Date:
20080318
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
336
Dimensions:
6.83 x 4.15 x 0.93 in
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » Adventure

The Stars Down Under Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$6.95 In Stock
Product details 336 pages Tor Books - English 9780765316448 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Military SF thriller, xeno-archeological adventure, interstellar romance and shamanistic vision quest combine in this ambitious but flawed sequel to 2007's The Outback Stars. Chief Petty Officer Terry Myell — whose taboo enlistee/officer marriage to Lt. Cmdr. Jodenny Scott has landed him a tedious desk assignment — is kidnapped and forced to join a mission seeking a group of researchers who disappeared while investigating a network of spherical gateways that allow almost instantaneous travel between the stars. Inexplicably, Myell is the only one who can get the system to work. As he and his captors explore strange worlds for signs of the missing scientists, they discover a hostile reptilian race bent on controlling the secrets to the gateways and wiping out anyone in their way. McDonald leaves substantial questions of crucial backstory unanswered, and the divergent plot lines laden with Australian Aboriginal myth and folklore references leave this sophomore effort disjointed." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Synopsis" by , Alien artifacts, political tension, and a freshly married pair of heroes populate this sequel to the military-adventure science fiction novel, "The Outback Stars."
"Synopsis" by ,
Alien artifacts, political tension, and a freshly-married pair of heroes in the sequel to the military-adventure SF novel The Outback Stars.
"Synopsis" by ,

Chief Terry Myell and Lieutenant Commander Jodenny Scott are in that most precarious of military situations, a mixed marriage. Enlisted and officer. Its unnatural.

 

Terry and Jodenny have been assigned to duty on the planet Fortune, away from the huge ships that carry colonists from the wreckage of polluted Earth to clean new worlds across the galaxy.

 

But theres another way besides spaceships to travel from world to world. A group within Team Space is exploring the Wondjina Spheres, a set of ancient alien artifacts that link places and times. Now those spheres have shut down and Team Space thinks that Terry and Jodenny are part of the key to make them work again —no matter how the two of them feel about it. They can volunteer, or be “volunteered.”

 

What the researchers cant anticipate is that the status quo, in which Team Space holds the monopoly on travel between worlds, is about to change. And as a result, Terry and Jodenny will be tested to their limits and beyond….

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