Strange Attractors (Chaos Chronicles, Book 2) - Hardcover

Carver, Jeffrey A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312856415 ISBN 13: 9780312856410

Publisher: Tor Books, 1995

Synopsis

John Bandicut is stranded on the artificial structure known as Shipworld, searching for keys to its mysteries, when he discovers a Nemesis that threatens to destroy more than Earth

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Reviews

The second installment in the Chaos Chronicles dispatches genetically altered earthling John Bandicut to a massive planet-like place called Shipworld to help the alien Ik find his friend. In lieu of a preface, John's history and earlier adventures are revealed via one of Carver's several futuristic beings?a chaos-manipulating Quarx that lives inside the protagonist's head. Readers, too, might hope for the Quarx's clarifying assistance: characters' motivations are somewhat hazy here?Why must John battle Shipworld's malevolent elements? What is Ik's secret agenda??and an assortment of odd keystrokes that supposedly identify the speakers in a series of inner and outer voices proves confusing. Also, Carver is slow to deliver on his implicit promise to deliver hard science. Still, his story is capably told, with welcome infusions of humor periodically bolstering the complex narrative.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Neptune Crossing , the first installment of Carver's new galaxy-spanning series, the Chaos Chronicles, introduced John Bandicut, a down-on-his-luck mining engineer relegated to a thankless job on Neptune's moon, Triton. Bandicut's luck changes when an invisible alien entity, which dubs itself Charlie, invades his mind and enlists his aid in saving Earth from a wayward comet. Now millions of light-years from Triton, with both comet and Charlie destroyed in a spectacular collision, Bandicut establishes contact with a resurrected version of Charlie, meets another alien named Ik, and discovers he is needed for another unfathomable mission that may bring him back to Earth. Carver's new yarn has all the ingredients for well-deserved popularity: an original creative angle using the budding science of chaos theory; an intriguing alien life-form in the symbiotic quarx, Charlie; and an irresistibly readable story line reinforced by fascinating speculative science. Readers who come this far will be hooked for the series' duration. Carl Hays

John Bandicut's close encounter with and possession by an alien intelligence transports him from his galaxy to a distant and unfathomable world on the edge of destruction. Continuing the story begun in Neptune Crossing (LJ 3/15/94), Carver's latest novel showcases his own fertile imagination and his talent for creating a host of engagingly sympathetic characters. The vivid descriptions and unusual predicaments encountered by Bandicut and his alien-in-residence cohort "Charlie" transcend the predictable space-opera storyline. Large libraries should consider this for their sf collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312856415
• ISBN 13: 9780312856410
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 351