Permanence

Adult/High School-In this future, humans have long-since mastered the art of surviving in alien environments but have become divided. Pioneer Halo Worlders settled brown dwarfs between the visible stars, and adapted with daring, art, and creativity. But when faster-than-light travel was discovered, the richer, more monolithic Rights Economy claimed the Earth-like planets of the "lit" stars; that society's overriding principle has been ownership-of everything. The human need for enlightenment expresses itself through Permanence, a non-metaphysical religious order seeking the eternal survival of our species. In a beginning reminiscent of classic Heinlein, scrappy young Rue daringly escapes from a bad situation and heads for her home in Halo World; she happens upon an alien artifact that promises to make her rich but instead lands her in a galactic crisis and she must find her sea legs fast. Meanwhile, in a Rights Economy project, Michael, a monk in the outlawed NeoShinto order, is assisting in a scientific study of extinct alien civilizations as he covertly collects their kami, or essence. Rue, Michael, and a large cast of equally colorful characters must determine the correct use of mysterious alien technology and then fight like the dickens if their species is to survive. This suspenseful, complex tale asks many intriguing questions and illustrates more scientific principles than a semester of science labs. Some readers might not quite follow all of the rapid twists and turns, but they will want to hang on to reach the story's satisfying conclusion, where a thoughtful solution emerges amid plenty of fireworks.
Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

After his well-received first SF novel, Ventus (2000), Canadian Schroeder offers a complex, conceptually satisfying story of interstellar intrigue, cosmology, theology and nanotechnology. The scattered members of the book's far-future intergalactic culture inhabit either space stations (aka "halo" communities) around brown dwarf stars that are supplied by Cycler craft on prescribed, intergalactic routes or "lit" planets with fusion-based suns that are linked by faster-than-light ships. Meadow-Rue Rosebud Cassels, a young woman living on the space station Allemagne and eager to escape her violent half-brother, discovers an alien artifact once possessed by a succession of militaristic individuals, both human and alien. Rue's artifact, apparently a new Cycler, ignites a struggle for money and power that alternately switches her from outcast to important property owner. As Rue masters political infighting and battle tactics, she picks up such loyal followers as Michael, a mystic and anthropologist, and Max, her resourceful cousin. Amid all the fast-paced space adventure, some readers may wish for clearer details to help guide them from one scene to the next. The narrative fairly bursts with interesting ideas, like the religion of Neo-Shintoism and the philosophy of Permanence, but the result too often resembles digressions that belong in an anthropology study, not a novel. In truth, the author packs in enough material for several volumes. Yet Schroeder knows how to entertain and should continue to build an audience across a broad range of SF fans.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Pursued by a brother who wants to deprive her of her inheritance, Rue Cassels leaves her home in the Cycler Compact, a civilization linked to a group of remote brown stars, and flees in a single-person spaceship in the hopes of making a new life for herself. When she discovers and lays claim to an alien starship, she embarks on a journey that will place her squarely in the midst of intergalactic politics and high intrigue. The author of Ventus showcases his gift for panoramic storytelling in this story of a young woman's struggle to find her place in a world where trust and friendship are rare treasures. A good choice for most sf collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Rue's bullying brother Jentry is intent on selling her after their parents' deaths. Fleeing that fate, she accidentally discovers an unclaimed cycler, a starship making a looping voyage through their dark corner of the galaxy. The discovery makes her rich and famous but puts her in the crosshairs of rival military organizations that want the cycler and its astonishingly alien technology. As Rue grows into captaining the coveted ship, she accumulates a fascinating crew: her very wealthy, manic-depressive cousin; a handsome reporter; two scientists on the verge of a profound breakthrough concerning a long extinct alien race; and several exiles from the same isolated community she had fled. As this motley group eludes the Rights Economy empire, which nanotechnologically price-tags every object in its purview, and the rebels against it, Rue examines her loyalties. By turns exciting and thoughtful, pitiless and romantic, Schroeder's excellent novel is the best kind of coming-of-age tale, one that seizes the imagination and the emotions. Roberta Johnson
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