Saturn Run

Starred review from July 27, 2015
In this thoroughly absorbing first-contact yarn from author Sanford (the Lucas Davenport thriller series) and photographer Ctein, the Americans and Chinese reenact the fable of the tortoise and the hare in a race to claim the richest scientific find in human history. When Sanders Heacock Darlington takes a position at the Caltech Astrophysics Working Group, it’s only a way to keep himself occupied until his inheritance comes through. By accident, he’s first to observe an alien object decelerating in the solar system. This draws the attention of Crow, security adviser to President Amanda Santeros. Political power and social ideology create a volatile mix, with brinkmanship and errors of hubris that swiftly reduce the characters to their bare humanity. Scenes of wonder and beauty are joined with moments of helpless calamity at a pace that leaves the reader no time to look back and consider what just happened. The authors include plenty of fascinating technology and inside jokes for SF fans, and the conclusion is inevitable and satisfying. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

August 1, 2015
Quite a departure for Sandford, who sets aside his Lucas Davenport crime franchise (Gathering Prey, 2015, etc.) and partners with photographer and sci-fi buff Ctein to leave Earth's gravitational field for the rings of Saturn. Sanders Heacock Darlington may be nothing more than a wealthy, handsome intern assigned to the Sky Survey Observatory, but he's the one who accidentally notices the evidence that something's approaching the gravitational field of Saturn and decelerating. Heavenly bodies don't decelerate that way, but spaceships do, and soon President Amanda Santeros (hey, it's 2066) is pulling out all the stops to send a mission to Saturn to investigate. The stakes are so high that only a few people-Capt. Naomi Fang-Castro, who's quickly drafted as mission commander; Dr. Rebecca Johansson, who's charged with designing the ship's power plant; David "Crow" Crowell, the rough-and-ready security chief; and a handful of others-are told from the beginning that Saturn is the destination of the Richard M. Nixon. The goal behind this deception-to keep the Chinese from launching a competing mission-predictably fails, and the space race is on. Unlike their Chinese counterparts, who seem to get all the smooth sailing in the solar system, the Americans are beset by troubles. One of their two power reactors keeps shutting down. An accident in deep space claims a valued crew member. A mathematician aboard the Nixon starts an orgy club. The authors ladle on the tech details and blossoming romances, but the pacing is frustratingly episodic and discontinuous for both the characters and the readers until the ship reaches its destination, at which point the story assumes the momentum it needs to escape the ringed planet's formidable gravitational pull. James Bond meets Tom Swift, with the last word reserved not for extraterrestrial encounters but for international piracy, state secrets, and a spot of satisfyingly underhanded political pressure.

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September 15, 2015
Naturally occurring objects in space, like meteors, do not decelerate. Spaceships decelerate. In 2066, a Caltech student identifies an object near Saturn doing exactly that. Soon a conclusion is reached: the country that can mount an expedition to reach Saturn first and engage the object may gain a virtually insurmountable technological advantage for decades. When the Chinese learn of the alien craft, they draw the same conclusion, and the race is on. The plot flashes from the U.S. airship to the Chinese and back to Earth, as President Santeros negotiates through some tricky intraspace protocols. The crews are what readers might expect. The Chinese crew is smart and brave but shackled by an inability to express their opinions honestly for fear of offending the Party. The U.S. crew is every bit as smart and brave, but they are also emboldened by a residual cowboy mentality. Saturn Run starts slowly as Sandford and coauthor Ctein set the context for a future in which space exploration is a necessity, not a luxury. Once the race is on, however, the suspense and the surprisingly involving science keep the pages turning.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

October 1, 2015
Prolific author Sanford ("Gathering Prey") teams up with photographer and sf buff Ctein ("Post Exposure: Advanced Techniques for the Photographic Printer") to deliver a stand-alone technothriller that harkens back to sf's early days with a focus on the hard science used to navigate space. It's 2066, and the United States and China are in a tight race to access resources from Mars when the U.S. government picks up a signal near Saturn that an alien spacecraft is decelerating for a landing on the planet. The rivalry between the two countries quickly shifts to the new challenge of being the first to make alien contact and acquire their technology. Each crew's charge to reach the aliens first is hampered by the technical limits of their ships. Ingenuity is paramount for success. VERDICT The combination of both hard and soft sciences makes this story an excellent read. The central characters are well developed, compelling, and realistic. Highly recommended for the multitudes of Sanford fans and all those who revel in speculative fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 4/27/15.]--Deb West, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015

This time 'round, Sandford isn't Prey-ing. He's doing an sf/thriller blend with the help of Ctein, a renaissance man who figures largely in the sf community. In 2066, a Caltech intern notices that an object approaching Saturn is decelerating, which means it's a spaceship. Something out there has technology way ahead of ours, and getting it would confer immense advantage. With a 500,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015

Prolific author Sanford (Gathering Prey) teams up with photographer and sf buff Ctein (Post Exposure: Advanced Techniques for the Photographic Printer) to deliver a stand-alone technothriller that harkens back to sf's early days with a focus on the hard science used to navigate space. It's 2066, and the United States and China are in a tight race to access resources from Mars when the U.S. government picks up a signal near Saturn that an alien spacecraft is decelerating for a landing on the planet. The rivalry between the two countries quickly shifts to the new challenge of being the first to make alien contact and acquire their technology. Each crew's charge to reach the aliens first is hampered by the technical limits of their ships. Ingenuity is paramount for success. VERDICT The combination of both hard and soft sciences makes this story an excellent read. The central characters are well developed, compelling, and realistic. Highly recommended for the multitudes of Sanford fans and all those who revel in speculative fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 4/27/15.]--Deb West, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.