Humans exploring the Pollux star system, while investigating an alien military installation left behind by a long-gone species, inadvertently trigger a terrible weapon that threatens the destruction of their entire colony. Data found at the base indicates that the weapon's technology comes from an even more ancient alien species, and the only hope of making the colony safe is traveling to their interstellar trading outpost: the Spider Star. Immortalized in a translation of an alien tale:
"The Spider Star is no star, and the Spider Star is no planet, but it is a place anyway, and its ...
Humans exploring the Pollux star system, while investigating an alien military installation left behind by a long-gone species, inadvertently trigger a terrible weapon that threatens the destruction of their entire colony. Data found at the base indicates that the weapon's technology comes from an even more ancient alien species, and the only hope of making the colony safe is traveling to their interstellar trading outpost: the Spider Star. Immortalized in a translation of an alien tale:
"The Spider Star is no star, and the Spider Star is no planet, but it is a place anyway, and its golden heart is the source of all good an evil. But mostly evil. For that which comes last colors all that has come before."
The colonists plan a desperate star-spanning mission to save their new homeworld, in an attempt to deactivate a device beyond human technology that has turned fiery Pollux itself into a time bomb. Led by a young explorer eager to make his own legend, and a reluctant retiree who is the only man to previously encounter an intelligent alien, the team departs. Alien cultures, however, can be strange and dangerous to deal with, if in fact they still even exist in a form that can be dealt with rationally.
Human colonists undertake a risky deep-space expedition hoping to learn how to use ancient alien technology to save their planet from destruction…space adventure in the Niven tradition…well worth reading.
Fred Cleaver
University of Wyoming astronomer Mike Brotherton’s second novel uses dark matter as the background for an exciting story of exploration and survival...Spider Star has a classic sense of wonder with a vivid picture of astronomical marvels.
This novel of interstellar archaeology and adventure recalls a young Larry Niven at the height of his ability, but with greater scientific literacy. Brotherton's second novel shows a marked improvement over his promising first, Star Dragon, and brands him as a significant new hard science fiction author.
Russell Leston
Mike Brotherton's second novel, Spider Star, merges interstellar archaeology and ancient galactic history, multiple alien encounters, and the exploration of a really big Big Dumb Object into a kind of Second-Contact-on-steroids adventure...The book is a bit reminiscent of Jack McDevitt in the way the adventure is framed by happy domesticity and bureaucratic and organizational tensions...The denizens of the Spider Star evoke Larry Niven in the species-psychology portraits....Fortunately, the hand
Sally Estes
The author of Star Dragon (2003) returns with another compelling work of hard sf, this time involving a human colony on the planet Argo and some terrifying human-alien contact...The sciences and technics involved in the story run the gamut from astrophysics, astronomy, and meteorology to high-tech engineering, robotics, and astrobiology. Once again, Brotherton meticulously creates fully integrated, three-dimensional characters and complex interrelationships and rivalries, which with vivid depict
Product Details
BN ID: 2940014020442
Publisher: Mike Brotherton
Publication date: 2/7/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 448
Sales rank: 123,471
File size: 995 KB
Meet the Author
Mike Brotherton is the author of the well-received hard science fiction novels Star Dragon and Spider Star and editor of the anthology Diamonds in the Sky. He is also an astronomy professor at the University of Wyoming specializing in observational studies of quasars and other active galaxies. He's a graduate of Clarion West and founder of the Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers. He blogs at www.mikebrotherton.com.
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Overview
Humans exploring the Pollux star system, while investigating an alien military installation left behind by a long-gone species, inadvertently trigger a terrible weapon that threatens the destruction of their entire colony. Data found at the base indicates that the weapon's technology comes from an even more ancient alien species, and the only hope of making the colony safe is traveling to their interstellar trading outpost: the Spider Star. Immortalized in a translation of an alien tale:"The Spider Star is no star, and the Spider Star is no planet, but it is a place anyway, and its ...