Michael P. Kube-McDowell

Shield of Lies (Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis, Book 2)

Average customer rating:

Love this series
Kept making me mad...
Wow!
Better than the first
Horrible. This if for the people who defend this trash

Shield of Lies (Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis, Book 2)
Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0553572776
Release Date: 1996-08-01

Book Description

As Leia must deal with a new threat to the fragile alliance that binds the New Republic, Lando becomes a prisoner aboard a runaway spacecraft of unknown origin. The ship is following an unstoppable path to its homeworld, destroyed by Imperial forces. Luke continues his quest to learn more about his mother among the Fallanassi, where his every belief about the use of the Force is about to be challenged. And while Leia ponders a diplomatic solution to the aggression of the fierce Yevetha race, Han pilots a spy ship into the heart of Yevethan space and finds himself a hostage on one of the vast fleet of warships under the command of a ruthless leader.

Customer Reviews:

Love this series.......2007-06-22

I'm not sure why all the negativity...this is a very well-written yarn. I remember reading it 10 years ago, and enjoying the plot but feeling uncomfortable with the characters...yet reading it again now (at age 38) I love it. The characters have great depth, and the story is intricately interesting. It all felt very realistic to me. Maybe this is just not a story for a younger reader, or a reader who just wants action. But this is a thoughtful story, doesn't deserve the kind of panning that The Crystal Star got, certainly.

Kept making me mad..........2007-05-18

By the time I reached this book, I was half tempted to give up while I was ahead. But I must like punishing myself (or be very obsessed about reading each and every Star Wars book), because I started AND finished this one.
Pretty much nothing of consequence happens in this book. Luke is still off with his newfound girlfriend, still hunting for his mother. Han is kidnapped. Lando is having fun exploring his ship while people are dying. Leia is behaving like a whiny child. And Chewie, well, Chewie is Chewie. He is that character everyone brings into the story and then goes, "Uh, oh. What do I do with him?"
I hated how the book was divided into sections dedicated to each character. Instead of learning a bit about everyone throughout the book, you have to wait to reach each section to learn what happens to each character. Though I really shouldn't have been upset since nothing really happens to anyone, or at least nothing that won't be repaired before the end.
I won't blame the series for sounding too much like the Vong, because technically this came before the Vong. Still, I guess (???) this was better than the continuous "Oh, the Empire developed a new superpower. Luke, grab your lightsaber and help Leia and Han defeat it!"
Have I said yet this is a terrible series? Have I warned you to avoid at all cost? In case it isn't clear, buy the books to complete the set. Just don't open them!

Wow!.......2006-03-18

The book rocked. I like the parts were Luke looked for his mom. It recovered for the bad beginning. Part three on Leia just made it even better.

Better than the first.......2006-01-05

Ok so this one started out a lot better. It continued with lando's adventure, which was a great start. The author had the book devided in three sections. THe first section starts with Lando, the next is Luke's story, and the Last deals with leia. Granted the storyline with luke is still awful and he still doesnt do Luke justice he did manage to pull off a decient leia. so all in all I would say better than the first but still not up there with star wars authors like Zahn.

Horrible. This if for the people who defend this trash.......2004-05-30

This book is lousy. Its pointless and dragged out. If these 3 books were made into 1, it may be decent. But this 2nd book is just horrible.

I seen one person say "I am sorry that your limited intellect cannot stand plot development and intricate story lines"

1st of all, plot development is suppose to lead to a plot right? NOTHING HAPPENS. Lando solves nothing in book 2, Luke figures out nothing in book 2. Nothing happens.

2nd of all whats so intricate about a vessal that was made by a long lost race. Sure its in interesting ship, but it could have been wrapped up in about 50 pages. Not page after page, book after book.

Book Description

In the wake of a shattered alliance, the New Republic fights a relentless new enemy in an all-new adventure in the bestselling Star Wars saga...

Faced with an alarming image of Han as a battered hostage of the Yevetha, Chewbacca takes on an urgent mission. Meanwhile, Leia calls upon the Senate to take a stand and eliminate the Yevetha threat--even at the cost of Han's life. As a former Imperial governor takes his battle to the runaway Qella spaceship, Luke's continuing search for his mother brings him dangerously close to Nil Spaar's deadly forces. And as the Yevetha close in on the forces of the New Republic, Luke takes a desperate gamble with an invisible weapon...

Customer Reviews:

Still angry, but at least it's over..........2007-05-18

Finally! We have reached the end of this terrible series!
Luke breaks off with this girl, learning that she lied to him. What a dork! How could he allow himself to be deceived by her and drag him all over the galaxy doing nothing and then just walk away as if nothing happened? Obviously, she must have been HOT.
Lando's little ship journey finally turns out to be not as much of a waste of time as it was in the first two books. Chewie goes out to rescue Han. And the whole Yevetha plotline is neatly wrapped up and thrown away (it was that bad).
This is probably the best of the three books (not saying much). Something actually happens in the book, and it is actually quite exciting (a word not known in the previous two books). I mean, I think my heart rate went up for a brief time (no, it wasn't related to getting closer to the end of the book). The characters are still badly portrayed, but if we were looking at good portrayals, we would be reading Timothy Zahn, not this series.
As I closed this book, I was happy. Happy that there were no more books and that this terrible, terrible series was over. Happy that this author has never written a Star Wars novel since these. Not so happy that I wasted so much time on these, but beggars can't be choosers.
Oh, and by the way, read this series at your own risk!

poorly written, but entertaining.......2007-01-09

I thought this was the best after I got hooked on this trilogy- I really wish i hadn't thoguh!

Didn't Enjoy It At All.......2006-06-23

I didn't like this trilogy. This was the best one but it was still awful. Not going into the plot. Amazon does that for me but this book was boring. I hate the Lando sections. Just wasn't exciting and other than the story of Chewie and his son didn't further the characters. I don't recommend you get this book unless you've suffered through the other two in the trilogy and want to find out how it ends.

Good end to Bad trilogy.......2006-01-13

Ok, so it is finally over. For such a bad series the end was good. It makes much more sense now (not). The only thing that really made sense was the fact that Luke was searching for his mother and basically it boils down to the fact that he was lied to. He went on a wild goose chase. The author did a really bad job with all of the characters except for Chewie and Lando. Luke would never act like that and Leia (it was worse than the other two and that is saying a lot). In the first two books the author didnt do a bad job with Han, but he really was not in the much. But this time he was it quite a bit, he gets kidnapped (Han Solo kidnapped, you have got to be kidding). All and all I would say skip this series it really has no connection to the rest of the star wars universe.

Great Book.......2005-09-05

Michael P. Kube-McDowell is a superb writer. He beautifully conveys his stories and at the same time actively involving his reader in entertaining and fun ways. I would recommend this series to anyone looking for an exciting fast-paced read that will expand on a familiar theme and story line.

As for the seller, the book was in great condition and I appreciated the quick clean delivery. Thank you! ***** for you too!

Before the Storm (Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis, Book 1)

Average customer rating:

These books made me mad...
There is a great disturbance in the Force.
What in the world....
Great purchase
RabidFanboy

Before the Storm (Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis, Book 1)
Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Space Opera | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Shield of Lies (Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis, Book 2)
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ASIN: 0553572733
Release Date: 1996-03-01

Book Description

In the blockbuster bestselling tradition of Heir to the Empire comes this thrilling addition to the Star Wars(r) saga, as peace gives way to a new threat...

It is a time of tranquillity for the New Republic. The remnants of the Empire now lie in complete disarray, and the reemergence of the Jedi Knights has brought power and prestige to the fledgling government on Coruscant. Yesterday's Rebels have become today's administrators and diplomats, and the factions that fought against imperial tyranny seem united in savoring the fruits of peace.

But the peace is short-lived. A restless Luke must journey to his mother's homeworld in a desperate and dangerous quest to find her people. An adventurous Lando must seize a mysterious spacecraft that has weapons of enormous destructive power and an unknown mission. And Leia, a living symbol of the New Republic's triumph, must face down a ruthless leader of the Duskhan League, an arrogant Yevetha who seems bent on a genocidal war that could shatter the fragile unity of the New Republic...and threaten its very survival.

Customer Reviews:

These books made me mad..........2007-05-18

I love Star Wars and pretty much anything related to them. I can stand the unusual circumstances that our characters go through. I put up with the eternal Empire problems that plagued a bunch of the books in that era. I live through the silly plots and junk that are typical of sci-fi. But I can't stand taking Star Wars and pretty much changing everything Star Wars about it. These books might have been good had they not starred Han, Luke, Leia, Lando, and Chewie. However, this is not the case.
To sum up, the New Republic is getting pretty used to being at peace until the Yevetha (think: pre-Vong) come blazing a trail, hacking people up because they just like to. Leia runs around touting "Peace, peace, peace!" like a hippie, Han and Chewie pretty much do nothing of consequence, Lando is off trying to find a fleet of ships, and Luke, well, he hasn't done IT in a while, so when he meets this lady...well, let's just say it's a good thing the books don't center on THAT relationship.
When I finally read these books, I had already learned that Padme was Luke and Leia's mom so the fact that this woman tromps up to Luke and says, "Your mother is one of us" kinda ticked me off. But this is forgivable given Luke and Leia don't actually know their mom. What is not forgiveable is that Luke decides, "Hey, finding my mom is way more important than saving the galaxy like I've been doing the last twelve books and this woman is hot and single, so let's go!" What happened to Luke here? And how did he become the super-Jedi that he is portrayed in here? Rebuilding his dad's sanctuary? Why would Luke even choose Vader's sanctuary given that it is probably filled with a Dark Side presence?
Leia is a complete snob. She is nothing like the fiesty princess we fell in love with in A New Hope. Han is the incompetent daddy. And Lando is off finding these ships...why?
Bad, just plain bad! If Jedi Trial had never come out, these books would have been the worst in the series. As it is, they tie. If you buy to complete your Star Wars set, first off, buy used paperbacks, and second, read at your own risk.

There is a great disturbance in the Force........2006-06-02

This trilogy is probably THE worst in the ENTIRE SW series (possibly even worse than TPM). Do yourself a favor, avoid this trilogy. You will thank those of us who warned you. Probably the worst turn in the trilogy (and probably the one that angered me the most, because it just seemed so cliché and not completely thought out) was finding out why Luke was dragged all over the galaxy: because his guide wanted to find out if she could trust Jedi. So, she based whether or not she could trust him on how he reacted to her lie (the lie that she knew ANYTHING about Padme, which was nothing).

And really, how many times are we going to have another Empire, or another form of the Yevetha or Yuuzhan Vong? Having yet ANOTHER form of the same old thing has really gotten tired. Yes, that's a word I would use for this trilogy: tired, with a healthy helping of not-thought-out.

What in the world...........2006-01-02

Ok I gave this book there stars for effort. there were some good parts to the story, but not many. The book is far to slow and makes no since to me. Luke is off trying to find his mother who has some force talent called the "white current", that really makes no since to me, seeing that im relatively new to the star wars universe beyond the movies, I was under the impression that Padme had no talent whatsoever with the force, not to mention, they have luke's mother being from a planet i have never heard off before, padme was from naboo. the author did a horrible job with luke and leia both, Han was done alright but he is not in it much, same with chewie, in fact he sends chewie back to his home planet in the first few moments of the book. he did ackbar decently not great. and characters like Wedge Antilles, were just thrown in there for what reason I dont know, he didnt have any part in the story but the one time he was mention. so all in all, 3 stars for effort 1 for the actually story. If I was you i would just skip this triliogy as I dont see and revelance to the rest of the star wars story line and this triliogy will just confuse you.

Great purchase.......2005-09-05

I would recommend The Black Fleet Crisis series to anyone looking for a fast-paced fun read that expands on the popular Star Wars story line. It gives some excellent character insight for the reader and gives the Star Wars universe a weight and gravity (or anti-gravity depending on the situation) that provides the majority of the excellence in Mr. Kube-McDowell's storytelling.

RabidFanboy.......2004-06-09

As of today I'm quite happy to say I've read through all the printed Star Wars books that fit into the storyline. It's got ups and downs. This trilogy is one of those downs. There are some decent parts, the idea for the villians are very much like the Vong (with some major exceptions) from the New Jedi Order series and sometimes it seems they might even be the template. But many aspects fall through as you continue.

Amazon.com

The early 21st century ushers in a revolution in unified field theory, and free-thinking physicist Jeffrey Horton and his team are pushing the cutting edge. Sequestered on a maximum-security research campus, the scientists are testing "Baby," a device they hope will create "a laser for gravity," a tractor beam. But during an early run, every gun in the area (and even a secret stash of fireworks) simultaneously explodes. Follow-up tests soon prove their device was responsible--that it can in fact neutralize every conventional gun, bomb, and explosive--and that's when Baby becomes the "Trigger."

This speculative novel by sci-fi legend Arthur C. Clarke and genre workman Michael Kube-McDowell follows the vast sea changes such an invention would bring, reading as part thriller, part social tract. Horton and his Trigger follow a course not unlike that of Einstein and the A-bomb, but ratcheted up by an order of magnitude--idealistic scientists, overwhelmed politicians, rabid lobbyists, and entrenched generals must deal with the device's deployment and consequences, both political and social, in a gun-rich, gun-dependent culture. A well-researched, plausible plot line keeps The Trigger not just readable but downright engrossing, despite its sometimes distracting lack of subtlety. All in all, a worthwhile, entertaining meditation on how technological progress always proves as unpredictable as it is inevitable. --Paul Hughes

Book Description

From Arthur C. Clarke, bestselling author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Creator Of The Rama Series, and Michael Kube-Mcdowell comes a breathtaking new novel of bold scientific speculation and edge-of-your-seat suspense: a riveting thriller in which the fate of humanity depends on whose finger is on... The Trigger

It is the ultimate anti-weapon. A device that can render guns and bombs virtually harmless. At least that is how Dr. Jeffrey Horton, the brilliant young physicist who developed the Trigger, hopes his discovery will be used. Yet, like the scientists who first believed nuclear weapons would be the ultimate deterrent to war, could Horton and his colleagues be wrong? Will this new technology bring peace, or chaos? Will it be used to protect people, or control them? Will it mean the end of war, or a whole new kind of war? Not even Horton could have foreseen the fierce power struggle emerging for control of the Trigger. Soon it becomes clear that no one can be trusted. Not even those closest to him. Someone has already betrayed the project. Others will do anything to stop it--or co-opt it for their own ends. And the greatest enemy may be those with the best intentions.

Customer Reviews:

So godawful as to defy description.......2006-06-03

Clarke can be a wonderful writer when (1) he alone is in charge of the writing and (2) the stories are true sci-fi...the Rama series, Childhood's End, 2001. At one time it was possible to say "Good reading, bad pleading" but both are just incredibly bad. It's almost (but not quite) as bad as the one in which the Earth is divided into various time zones - Jeez Louise, what a flop.

Clarke has never been strong in the character department and that includes all facets from relationships to dialogue to growth. This weakness is highlighted here. Not one memorable character exists, none is interesting or believable, everyone speaks like a bad made-for-TV movie. The conversations were about as authentic as plastic dinosaurs and just as predictable - the president is commanding and strong, the scientists are full of noble thoughts, the generals are reprobates craving guns and violence, etc. There are no gray areas here - you're either against guns or support violence. The Trigger, one of the worst-described devices in fiction, destroys all ammunition and was created almost by accident. Being nice guys (a few female flunkies make cameo appearances) the scientists immediately see its worth in a world gone mad with gun violence. The fact that 99.99& emenates with criminals or the military is not important.

It is not that the message is wrong (I have no guns), it's all so preposterous,. Each chapter begins with a phony news story about gun violence. These events do happen but the presentation here is the height of artificiality. The authors never explain why African, Arab or Asian dictators would willingly relinquish control of the very thing keeping them in power. Clarke, who lives in Sri Lanka, has always seen the Third World through rose-colored glasses. It is no different here.

ALthough the story could have been bold - the ideas of blowing old land mines was great - the writing is so bad that only the author's plea (ban guns) remains in this quagmire of syrup. When in the first chapter, a world-renowned scientist shows up at the home of a gadget guru and asks him to work in his new science lab you know you are in for rough sledding. The idea of a universal ban on guns is not new. The two problems are: (1) rogue states refuse to obey & (2) the alternative may be nuclear or biological weapons. If you want anything remotely related to literature, try something else.

Clarke & Baxter at the top of their game.......2004-11-04

A group of scientists given free reign to explore their heart's desires are attempting to devise a tractor beam when they accidentally stumble upon emission of a field that detonates all explosives. The story tracks the political intrigue surrounding a discovery that will rewrite modern warfare, and the scientific refinements that play into this intrigue. Eventually, the Trigger gives way to the Jammer, which renders explosives useless without detonating them. Everyone seems happy with the exception of military warhawks, and domestic militia and gun rights advocates, who scheme in various ways to blunt the spread of the devices. In the chilling conclusion, a further refinement to the technology gives the controller the ability to kill any creature whose DNA is on file.
The Good and the Bad:
This is perhaps the best Arthur C. Clarke book I've read, with the possible exception of 2001, and I'm only saying that because 2001 is so famous. Clarke's vision of the science and the potential cultural impacts is apparent throughout, and that is completely entertaining. He's also somehow successfully integrated a lot of social-benefit philosophical arguments into the dialogue without it appearing to be too contrived, and that is entertaining. The attention to detail when presenting the inner workings of the scientist's lab and, especially, the military, are entertaining. I suspect his writing partner had a lot to do with the humanity of the characters; unlike his previous novels, this one read like a mainstream political thriller, and things like a love story were handled with a professional touch so that they didn't intrude on the storyline. All of those things were so well done that the book was a joy to read.
The drawbacks, however, were all the more glaring in this context. The gun advocates are all shown to be crazy and delusional by the end of the novel, resorting to murder in the face of a losing battle (there is an exception to this, but it proves the rule). This seemed more jarring at the tail end of a lot of intellectual discussion about the issues of gun control. The book also kind of leaves us hanging. One of the thing I liked about "The Lights of Other Days" is that the book projected far enough into the future that you got a very clear grasp of the furthest-reaching impacts of society. This is lacking here.
What I learned:
The issues surrounding gun ownership remain muddied. A scientist who creates an invention of military significance has virtually no chance of keeping the government out of dictating its use.

A great read, similar to a Frank Herbert short story.......2004-10-19

A great book which instantly reminded me of a short story by Frank Herbert ("Dune" series), called "Ceasefire". Both stories share a similar premise, contemplating the inevitable paradigmatic shift that will come with this (un)earth-shattering development. From Ceasefire: "War will never be eliminated, battles instead being fought with horse cavalry, swords, crossbows & lances...augmented with modern innovations; poison gases, curarae-tipped crossbow bolts, bacteria...espionage, poison gas, germ warfare - all of these become a necessity! Violence is a part of human life. The lust for power is a part of human life. As long as people want power badly enough, they'll use any means to get it-fair or foul! Peaceful or otherwise!" At the conclusion of Herbert's story, a general hands to the inventor of the new technology a book: "The next generation will need to understand this", it being a copy of the works of Niccolo Machiavelli!

The Clarke collaboration is a heated, thrilling tale well worth the money I spent on it. Thought-provoking, intelligent, the only downside for me was its excessive length. Give it a go!

Biased gun debate players won't like it but all else will.......2004-01-31

This is a sensational masterpiece of fiction that has you asking questions as it goes along and wondering what if this were true? This analyses the gun debate from both sides of the story. If read with an open mind you'll get more out of this novel then if you read with a tunnel very pro gun or very anti gun vision.

This is one of the greatest books ever written and is about twice the size of a normal novel so is extremely good value for money. If you want a work of fiction that debates the issue of society without guns while taking you along for a fast paced thrill ride from cover to cover then this is for you. Warning though, once you start you won't be able to put this masterpiece down so buy some blank tapes because you won't be watching TV for a while.

Jeffrey Horton working for Terabyte Laboratories unwittingly invents a device that makes bullets and any other explosive devices explode when 'the trigger' is turned on thereby making guns or terrorist bombs useless in an area covered by the machine. At first this seems like the greatest invention in mankind's history with cowards no longer being able to use guns to rob, murder or even intimidate society. Not everyone however is pleased by this. Not only are there gun totting rednecks who think it is their constitutional right to have guns but the US army can see they will be at a disadvantage to more populous countries without being able to use bombs and guns. The Trigger asks the question will society really be better of without these sorts of weapons? Will Horton be able to manufacture and get his product out world wide before those who oppose it stop him? He soon realises his life will be short lived if he can't get develop, test and get this machine to everyone who needs it before it is too late. Sensational novel, just buy it!

Interesting..........2004-01-12

This collaberation between Clarke and Kube-McDowell takes a simple `what if?' question and develops it in a logical manner to its eventual cyclical conclusion. In this case the `what if?' is `What if we were able to render all nitrate-based munitions impotent?' What would the global, political and social consequences be?
In `Trigger' our authors seek to pursue this to its ultimate conclusion with a massive dose of cutting edge physics and mathematics thrown in along the way.
The story focuses on the Terabyte corporation, whose bright young spark, Dr Jeffrey Horton, experiences scientific serendipity one day and discovers that he has created a machine that destabilises any nitrate-based compound, effectively acting as a detonator. Not only that, it has a range that is dictated only by its power. Inevitably, the realization occurs that this can act as an invisible shield as all known munitions simply explode or decay on contact with the edge of the shield thus paving the way for a fiercely debated topic as to the constitutional legitimacy of effectively removing the second act of the US constitution.
Very quickly, Horton and his boss, Karl Brohier, decide to release the discovery to the US government and President Mark Breland authorizes the development of the Trigger, thus loosing all the inherent issues that come with it. Over the next few hundred pages we are treated to debate at the highest level, amongst all forums possible as to the constitutionality of the trigger, its global impact and the social upheaval that it brings. This debate in its various forms dominates most of the book, Senator Wilman and Senator Trent taking it to its personal conclusion.
As the politics and debate rage, the Trigger continues to be developed, version 2 giving some ability to control a `beam' and then the discovery that a Jammer can be developed that takes the initial `hammer' effect that the Trigger version 1 has and convert it to a tool that safely disables all munitions. This is based on the scientific realization that the universe is simply a set of information instructions that binds energy and that if you change the instructions you can change anything. In a lot of respects, it's the ultimate alchemical answer - lead can truly be turned to gold.
The book's lengthy conclusion has Horton being kidnapped by a group demanding to know how to shield themselves from the effects of the Trigger and his final rescue before the final logical scientific step is taken in the last pages when they realize that as DNA enables them to isolate any specific individual then any single person can be uniquely targeted for expiry. So, by the end, we have come full circle and discovered that the ability of universal alchemy not only gives the means to save lives, but also to take it away.
I found this an intriguing piece of science fiction from the acknowledged master of the genre and Clarke's co-authorship with Kube-McDowell is written in a manner that makes compulsive reading. Laced throughout with the necessary debate that such an invention would engender, this is another fine effort.

Average customer rating:

The Black Fleet crisis (Star wars)
Michael P Kube-McDowell
Manufacturer: Guildamerica Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1568652925

Isaac Asimov's Robot City, Volumes 1 and 2

Average customer rating:

humans and robots? thats unheard of!
Fantastic piece of reading
Robot City book 1 & 2
An excellent book
Asimov gave them permision

Isaac Asimov's Robot City, Volumes 1 and 2
Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell , and Mike Mcquay
Manufacturer: I Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Isaac Asimov's Robot City 2
Have Robot, Will Travel: The New Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery (Isaac Asimovs Robot Mystery)
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Asimov's Aurora: The New Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery
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ASIN: 0671038931

Book Description

BEYOND AURORA AWAITS A BRAVE NEW WORLD....OF ROBOTS </p>

A man without a memory is stranded in a world-enveloping city filled with robots gone wild. At his side is a mysterious young woman who claims to know who he is but refuses to tell him. According to The Three Laws of Robotics,"A robot may not injure a human being," which narrows the suspects dramatically when the robots find a dead human body. </p>

The man calls himself Derec; the woman is know as Katherine. Their real identities, along with that of the murder victim and the murderer, are just a few of the life-and-death mysteries the unlikely pair are forced to solve to survive on the fantastic streets of Isaac Asimov's Robot City. </p>

The late Isaac Asimov challenged a talented group of science-fiction writers to resolve the conundrums he set for them in this complex robot mystery set early in the timeline of his robot and Foundation universes.

Customer Reviews:

humans and robots? thats unheard of!.......2002-08-12

to a person outside looking in, it seems like a typical robot book. humans and robots trying to co-exist, but things are thrown in the mix to make the overall journey a bit more interesting.

Isaac Asimov gave the authors a set of rules to live by when writing this book. certain behaviors that govern the behavior of the robots. which creates dilemma and affects certain behaviors of the main character, derek.

throw in amnesia, a few aliens and a girl, you got yourself robot city.

Fantastic piece of reading.......2000-07-16

Absolutely brilliant, in my humble opinion. I picked it up to read one night in bed, and apart from sleeping & eating, I didn't stop till the next evening. Through Asimov's helpful attitude & guidance, these authors have turned out an excellent read, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm potentially worried about diffferent authors doing a story along the same lines, while it allows for changes & invididualism, sometimes reading a series of books means you'll get the same 'writers attitude' whereas with this series you'll encounter a few different 'attitudes'... if this was anything to go by though, I have no concerns. :)

Robot City book 1 & 2.......2000-05-25

What can I say 4 of the best stories I have ever read I am a long time asomov fan and thought after his death nothing would be as good but I have been proved wrong these stories could have come right out of asimovs own pen GREAT FABBY FANTASTIC if you havn't read them then I sugest you do you won't be dissapointed...

An excellent book.......2000-05-07

Many years ago, I read this series of books when they came out in paperback, while Asimov was still alive. I had forgotten how entertaining they were. All the classic elements, including continuity between different authors in the series exist. A must read for people who like a substantial, yet easy to read book. Definately not for those with a short attention span or someone who would rather see the movie then read the book.

Asimov gave them permision.......2000-03-17

First of all you have to understand that Asimov had planned for this book to be written and set out guidelines for the authors to follow. Michael P. Kube-McDowell and Mike McQuay have done an excelent job of honoring the foundation/robot universe and their interpretations only improve the depth and color of the story. I think Asimov is smiling on this one.

Average customer rating:

A Twist on a Classic SF Theme
Cheap Sci - Fi
A (Mostly) Worthy Successor to Arthur C. Clarke
Overblown and ordinary
Unpleasantness well told

Emprise (Trigon Disunity)
Michael P. Kube-McDowell
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Empery (Trigon Disunity, Book 3)
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ASIN: 0425102394

Book Description

The devastating Food and Fuel Wars have turned once-powerful nations into isolated farming communities. Barter has replaced currency, and scientists-considered responsible for the world's misery-are burned at the stake. Hidden in the Idaho hills, astronomer Allen Chandliss secretly monitors his radiotelescope, listening for signs of intelligent life, hoping that aliens will come and improve things on Earth. For seventeen years he has waited patiently. His patience is about to pay off. . . .

Customer Reviews:

A Twist on a Classic SF Theme.......2007-01-29

EMPRISE was Michael Kube-McDowell's first novel, originally published by Berkley in 1985. It was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award (for best original SF paperback novel), was on Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading list, and finished second (to Carl Sagan's much-higher profile CONTACT) in the Locus Poll balloting for Best First Novel. This reprint edition from the late Byron Preiss's iBooks imprint is in the trade paperback format, and contains as a bonus one of the three uncollected Trigon Disunity short stories ("The Inevitable Conclusion," first published in Amazing Stories).

The passage of time makes it necessary to read the first few pages as alternate history (perhaps another timeline from Kube-McDowell's ALTERNITIES) rather than as future history. But once we get past that point, we're off on a fast-paced globe-spanning struggle to make a fractious and dispirited Earth ready for the arrival of visitors--for First Contact.

Cheap Sci - Fi.......2005-05-24

A novel must be auto-contained: it creates and develops characters, puts them in an imaginative situation and plays with them and the reader at the same time, traveling through different places, ideas and emotions.

I've been looking forward to the the new edition of the Trigon Disunity since I can remember and found myself exhilarated when I found a copy in my local bookshop. Never have I been so misled.

Kube-McDowell starts with a great premise, a great beginning for a dark-age Earth. Early in the book he fills his new world with lots of characters, page after page of new ones. Suddenly he doesn't know what to do with them. Before you know it he starts a character massacre or gives the novel an Alzheimer-quality of forgetting mostly everyone.

Farther into the story, the plot ponders on interesting and thought provoking ideas and situations, which are regretfully solved with stupid solutions or plot holes: going through dozens of pages looking for a solution which is solved by unknown and uninventive methods in less than three paragraphs.

The worst of all is the so-called climax that the story builds up almost at the end of the book. McDowell is presented with such an important moment and historical situation, that he apparently gets afraid with what he might say and do and find the cheap and easy way out, making it an "anti-climax". All the thoroughly discussed moral and ethic concerns are forgotten and thrown to the trash.

And something else, the novel does sound racist in some parts: making black and latino people seem savage and uncivilized. THAT is simply beyond a good writer.

A (Mostly) Worthy Successor to Arthur C. Clarke.......2002-04-24

Emprise is a novel that feels more like three novellas flying in loose formation. The first is an intimate tale about a group of scientists trying to make sense of a message from an alien civilization. The second is a sprawling story about the political intrigue that follows once they figure it out. The third is a classic "first contact" story, with a twist that sets up the two books to follow.

Oddly enough, this structure works in the book's favor: Each of the three stories works well at 100 pages or so, and none of them (I think) could carry a full-length novel. The interwoven characters and contrasting textures add interest--it is (for you fellow SF fans in the audience) a little like reading condensed versions of _The Andromeda Strain_, _Foundation_, and _Childhood's End_ in rapid succession. Kube-McDowell keeps the ideas flowing thick and fast . . . fast enough, for the most part, to cover the flatness of most of the major characters. I kept reading less because I cared about the people than because I wanted to see what rabbit was coming out of the hat next.

_Emprise_, at its best, is good enough to stand next to middle-of-the-pack novels by Arthur C. Clarke (say, _The Fountains of Paradise_ and _Imperial Earth_). It's worth a try for SF fans who like Clarke's austere, idea-heavy, emotion-light style of storytelling. [Kube-McDowell, by the way, improved markedly in later works: his _The Quiet Pools_ is as good as Clarke's best.]

Overblown and ordinary.......2001-09-22

It's evident that Kube-McDowell cut his literary teeth watching nebbish tv shows and mediocre movies. The plot structure carries the story as well as can be expected, but the language and characters are pedestrian at best. Where Kube-McDowell strives for passion, he loses control and becomes hackneyed. If the author can't truly care for his characters, why should I? Not recommended.

Unpleasantness well told.......2001-03-04

I've never cared for the political or religious ideas that Kube-McDowell appears to favor. His characters portray attitudes toward their fellow humans that I believe are unfortunately typical of most politicians: they are the only ones capable of rational thought--the rest of us need to be controlled for our own good. Even more unfortunately they are sometimes right. One of the hallmarks of a great writer is that he can present characters and situations that I would normally find distasteful, but pull me in regardless. Emprise is a great story. I've read it three times now....

Average customer rating:

Too bad it's out of print.

After the Flames (Allied Stars, Vol 11)
Robert Silverberg , Norman Spinrad , and Michael P. Kube-McDowell
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671559982

Customer Reviews:

Too bad it's out of print........1998-06-10

This is a 3-story anthology with nuclear war as a common theme. By far the best is Spinrad's entry, which (I think) is not available anywhere else. It's a hilarious tale of a pot-smoking Arab oil sheik bent on acquiring nukes to annihilate Israel, and an attendant power struggle between a screwball American president (a former used-car salesman) and a computer-animated corpse of the Soviet Communist Party Secretary General. All the comdey ingredients are there and Spinrad makes the best of them!

Average customer rating:

Flawed but imaginitive
A first-choice alternate worlds story
Great Read!
I Celebrate the Reissue of Alternities
Excellent - thought provoking w/ good characterizatiom

Alternities
Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell
Manufacturer: I Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743497805

Customer Reviews:

Flawed but imaginitive.......2007-04-10

Alternities
by Michael P. Kube-McDowell

Parallel universes. Reminiscent of "Sliders". A nuclear blast around 1950 has somehow triggered a 5-way split of multiverses which start to diverge from each other. No explanation is given of who discovered or created "gates" between the "Alternities".
In the 21st century the USA from 1 alternity seeks to obtain hi-tech secrets from another alternity in a bid to overthrow Soviet dominance...but their attempts come unstuck.

A first-choice alternate worlds story.......2007-01-08

This is not a perfect parallel worlds story, and is slightly unsatisfying to the extent it doesn't tie up all the plot developments. Overall, however, "Alternities" is a superior work of this genre; a satisfying, even thought-provoking read. The non-science components of the book turn heavily on modern politics and world history, and, hooray, they ring very true. Kube-McDowell obviously is a student of history, and understands the American political system down to the nuances of rank and custom.

The novel provides, as these things go, a relatively high sense of verisimilitude, especially in its media extracts (book reviews, news articles, encyclopedia entries and so forth, provided to give quick context to the events in the multiverse that we are invited to observe).

Even though the book was first published in the late '80s, it makes for a great cautionary tale about 21st Century politics in general and a certain US president in particular. The subplots and supporting characters are well developed -- in several cases to an extent that's electric and eye-opening, In other aspects the book is your standard, science-fictional, one-man-against-all tale, but everything is not as it seems and villains and heroes seem quite interchangeable, depending on your point of view and the passage of events.

Overall: A good, solid read, especially for lovers of contemporary politics and SF in general.

Great Read!.......2005-06-25

This was the perfect combination of SF and political drama. It really outlined the dangers of too much power falling into the wrong hands. All of the characters' stories were compelling. It really pulled you right in from the start. Definitely worth the read!

I Celebrate the Reissue of Alternities.......2005-04-16

Alternities is a sometimes frightening, but all the time captivating novel that shows, among other things, some of the othe paths the Cold War might have taken. My only wish is that we coud see more stories set in these set of alternate universes.

--Mark R. Whittington (...)

Excellent - thought provoking w/ good characterizatiom.......1999-07-16

An excellent parralel universe novel. Good characters investigating several alternative 1970s universes. Worth reading if you can find it.

Enigma: Book2 of the Trigon Disunity (Book Two of the Trigon Disunity)

Average customer rating:

A Challenging Mystery
Starts Slow, But Ends Well
Thouroughly enjoyed, prior earth civilization theory/mystery

Enigma: Book2 of the Trigon Disunity (Book Two of the Trigon Disunity)
Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell
Manufacturer: I Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743479165

Customer Reviews:

A Challenging Mystery.......2004-04-14

Overall this book is quite good. Its flavor is a tad more subtle than the previous book in the series, and marks the difficult middle ground between the dramatic Emprise and the conclusive Empery. As a yarn, I place it rather high, and Kube-McDowell manages to hold onto his audience in this one, better than say, Inherit the Stars did with its sequel. The story here is quite clever: Humans went to the stars thousands of years ago, but how did they get there, and why did the initial attempts at interstellar travel fail. Good stuff!

Starts Slow, But Ends Well.......2002-04-26

Second books of trilogies are notoriously weak--maybe because you don't get the thrill of discovering a fictional world for the first time *or* the satisfaction of (hopefully) seeing the plot threads wrapped up. _Enigma_, the second book in Kube-McDowell's "Trigon Disunity" trilogy, is no exception. It takes forever to get moving, bogging down for nearly half its length following its bland, seemingly unlikable hero--Meritt Thackery through early adulthood and into the business of surveying the galaxy.

Character has never been Kube-McDowell's greatest strength, and this book is no exception. Thackery doesn't grab your attention or, for most of the book, engage your emotions. I found myself wanting *someone* to solve the huge, multi-faceted mystery at the center of the story . . . but not caring a bit whether it was him or someone else.

Then, about the halfway point in the plot, _Enigma_ begins to pick up speed. The Mystery (and the solving of it) takes center stage, and Kube-McDowell ratchets the pace up to the headlong rush that he sustained throughout _Emprise_. By the end of the book, the Mystery has been satisfyingly solved (revealing a very clear but even bigger Problem to be worked out in _Empery_), and (glory be!) Merrit Thackery has become an interesting character.

My overall judgement of _Emprise_ goes for this one, too: It's similar in flavor and tone to the works of Arthur C. Clarke, and well worth a look for those who like Clarke's cool, austere, galaxy-spanning style of storytelling.

Thouroughly enjoyed, prior earth civilization theory/mystery.......1999-10-30

Brooding flavor, some times pessimistic. I would almost call this high adventure, but for the somber tones and mystery. I just happened to pick this book up on vacation and still have not read Emprise (1st book) or Empery (3rd book).

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