‘In the century since the devastating War of a Thousand Suns, humanity has stagnated, staying in the cocoon of the Centrist Worlds while the rapacious pirates of Golen Space prey on ships that venture too far into the interstellar flux. And starship Impris, lost in the war years, has become the stuff of legend – used by the pirates as bait, even as the Centrist authorities deny her existence.Renwald Legroeder, escaped prisoner and star rigger pilot, has seen what the government doesn’t want anyone to see. Framed for treason he flees – to save himself and clear his name. he returns to the realm of the pirates to find the truth behind Impris… to unmask the conspiracy that cost him his freedom… to tear off the blinders that have kept humanity from fulfilling its destiny among the stars.Between Legroeder and redemption lie the pirates’ vengeance, if he is caught – and the perils of the Deep Flux, where no man has dared to fly. But with the help of a beautiful pirate renegade named Tracy-Ace/Alfa, he risks everything to uncover the secrets that can restore his reputation – and change the future of humanity.’Blurb from the 2001 Tor paperback editionThe first hundred pages of this book were, I am sure, trying to persuade me that I would hate it. It begins with the escape of Netrigger Renwald Legroeder from the space-pirates of Golen Space.A netrigger is a pilot who links into a cybernetic interface in order to guide a ship through ‘The Flux’ which is – as far as I can gather – that which we have until now called hyperspace.Renwald returns to the civilised worlds and finds himself unaccountably charged with endangering the ship from which he was originally kidnapped by the pirates.The keenness of the authorities to commit Legroeder seem to be linked to the disappearance of the ‘ghost-ship’ Impris and Legroeder’s claim that the ship appeared just before the pirates did.Legroeder is bailed by a friendly female lawyer, attacked, and flees to an asteroid run by the Narseil (an amphibian alien race who were originally blamed for the disappearance of Impris.The only way for Legroeder to clear his name is to join a Narseil mission to infiltrate the pirates (and investigate their links with the Cyborg Kyber humans) in order to discover their location and the truth about the missing Impris.Despite my initial qualms it is an enjoyable read, although it is little more than a swashbuckling tale of derring-do transferred to outer space. Carver (his face is on the inside back cover) seems like a nice bloke and has even provided his e-mail address, for which I applaud him.On the negative side, the romantic episodes are a little clumsy and the aliens an easily be imagined as men in rubber suits borrowed from Star Trek for the afternoon.Carver evidently has a large fan base however, as this was nominated for the 2002 Nebula Award running against some stiff competition, which seems to me rather like giving Jeffrey Archer the Booker Prize, narrowly pipping Danielle Steele to the post.However I would recommend reading this book. It’s fast paced, it’s engrossing. It’s fun. But a Nebula nominated novel in the 21st century needs to have far more than this to even get within a light year of consideration. It’s old-fashioned Space Opera, and although there’s nothing wrong with that it lacks the excitement and sense of wonder that some of the original pulp novels can still produce.I suspect that there is a certain section of the SF author community who are – consciously or unconsciously – overinfluenced by TV or movie SF. Admittedly there is always the lucrative possibility that one’s work might be optioned for a film or a series, as this must be a very real consideration for modern writers.. Benford’s ‘Artefact’ is a classic case of a bad novel which yearns to grow up into a bad film and this book, although not so cinematically structured, has the same feel to it.All the aliens are bipedal, humanoid and speak English.The Kyber are – to all intents and purposes - The Borg, or at least have their machine-interface culture.There is also an unconscious arrogance in novels like these which stems – I suspect – from an exigent attitude ingrained within US society whereby Americans see little of interest beyond their own borders. Indeed, Carver implies – from what we see of the society of Faber Eridani – that colonised planets will – if not colonised by Americans – at least follow an American social and political ideal. The planet has an Attorney General and – apart from Legroeder’s olive skin – nothing to suggest there is any ethnic mix.
The star rigger's Flux: a higher-dimensional realm where reality and fantasy became strangely merged, where landscapes of the mind intersected with the real fabric of space, where space itself flowed and surged with movement—and where a rigger's skills could vault him across light-years, or send him spiraling to his death.I love seeking out the lost gems in Science Fiction. This is only the second Carver book I’ve read, but it was the first I became aware of. I actually saw the Stephen Youll cover art for Eternity’s End in Paradox: The Art of Stephen Youll and thought to myself: “now that looks like something I’m going to have to read.” These novels are fairly hard to come by, so I’m reading them out of sequence. I don’t think Carver’s style is for everyone, but it seems to suit me just fine.Eternity’s End is just about as complete a Science Fiction Adventure as you’re ever likely to read. It really does seem to have everything: Ghost Ships, Space Pirates, Criminal Investigations, Aliens, Space Battles… and a heck of a lot in between. Then of course there is the Flux…”Now, what would any intelligent person's response be to a pattern like that?"There is a fair amount of exposition concerning the Flux (a totally unique look at FTL travel), but it fills the reader with a sense of wonder as the story unfolds and I never felt bogged down. The navigational technique used by riggers in this Universe is somewhat similar to concepts explored in films like The Matrix and Inception. Bearing in mind that this takes place in Space there are one or two sequences that remind of the closing scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey. In other words: acid trip – big time! I think this is the first novel that I’ve read that comes with its own built in Special Effects! Expect some mind-warping sequences dealing with Time Dilation and the Time Space Continuum. He had never felt quite so exposed to space as he did during that crossing, surrounded by an awesome myriad of stars, suspended untold light-years from the nearest world. The net felt nothing like this, even when he was looking at the same view. In the net, he was anchored and secure; here, he could fall forever.So, if you want to read a good ol’ Science Fiction story with lots of Intrigue, Explosive Action and Sense of Wonder… check out Eternity’s End. "I don't know what you hope to do there, but you'll have to be mighty clever indeed.”In closing, I really liked the Narseil with their Tessa’chron ability; these are basically aliens who are able to see the immediate past, the present, and the immediate future as a single smear of time. I’m probably not explaining it correctly – but it’s a rather nifty trick anyhoo.Oh, and just because this is so awesome – I am including a bonus quote:The raider ship Flechette, coursing through scarlet-glowing clouds of the Flux, joining battle. Nose flickering, lightning flashing, booming sounds reverberating through the Flux. On her bridge, a cyborg captain bent on leading them into conquest.
Do You like book Eternity's End (2001)?
Eternity's End is a Space Opera Sci-Fi book written by Jeffrey Carver. It's part of Carver's Star Rigger universe but it's a standalone book in the sense that you don't have to be familiar with any of the other books in the Star-rigger series to follow the plot. Eternity's End is set in a fictional universe, wherein humans can perform interstellar travel through 'rigging'. Rigging is heavily influenced by actual marine travel, so be prepared to find a lot of marine analogies. To rig, one must clear their head, and control their emotions. The main character, Legroeder, is shown to be a fine rigger, and this influences the trajectory the story takes. Marine analogies, permeate the entire story. In fact one of the alien species that the main character gets to interact with is a marine species (the Narseil). The writing style in Eternity's End is rather pedestrian. Some may class it into the young adult category. However, there are quite a number of sexual scenes in the book that are perhaps too explicit for a younger crowd. For the most part the story is told through Legroeder's POV. Occasionally the supporting characters get a chance to shine but for the most part it's a mostly Legroeder show. Adults reading the book may be dismayed by the split personality that Legroeder showcases. At times he's immaturity is manifest, whereas in others he displays great sensitivity and maturity. Eternity's End is an ambitious piece of work. Comparing it to a well known series, it is perhaps most similar to Star Wars, in the sense that it is grand in scope and incorporates a lot of drama and romance, in a environment that's primarily set in space. I'll be honest. I did not like this book at all. It was very difficult to read. Usually I can plow through a book of this size within a week, but for this particular one it took me almost a month. The story was boring, predictable and the main character Legroeder was insufferable. The only reason I finished Eternity's End is because I hate, hate, HATE not finishing a book once I've already started reading it. 10 pages in to reading this book I knew I didn't like it. I probably should've listened to my instincts. Anyways, that's my $0.02. Maybe your experience might be different!My verdict:2/5
—Traze
