Heaven's Shadow

May 23, 2011
This slick space opera trilogy starter sets up an interesting situation but never quite brings it to life. Rival expeditions from the U.S. and a RussiaâIndiaâBrazil coalition land on a planetoid and discover it's actually an ancient interstellar space ship. Astronauts moving through the ship reawaken machines that alter the environment in strange and dangerous ways and resurrect dead people the explorers loved or hated. The characters attempt to decipher the aliens' purpose while struggling to survive in increasingly hostile surroundings. Meanwhile, back on Earth, NASA administrators try to monitor the situation while fending off political meddling and miscommunications. Both authors are experienced scriptwriters who are better at inventing dramatic spectacles than finding fresh things to say about people. Since the book has already been optioned by Warner Bros., readers may want to wait for flashy CGI special effects to balance out the limp characterization.

July 1, 2011

As an unidentified space object, named Keanu by the popular media, hurtles toward Earth on a near-miss trajectory, rival spaceships--one from the United States and one from a Russian-Indian-Brazilian alliance--race to it, each charged with a mission to explore Keanu's surface and claim it for its own interests. What the astronauts discover is that the object is not a piece of space debris but a cry for help from another civilization. Coauthors Goyer (Batman Begins screenplay) and Cassutt (Missing Man; Red Moon) bring their film and television experience to a fast-paced sf trilogy opener that features a varied cast and an intriguing plot. VERDICT A cinematic style and action-filled plot make this a good choice for readers who enjoy the multivolume space sagas of Kevin J. Anderson and David Drake. [Warner Brothers has acquired film rights to the forthcoming trilogy.--Ed.]

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2011
In 2016 a Near-Earth Object (NEO) was discovered in the sky. Three years later a space race between NASA and the Russian-Indian-Brazilian Coalition is on, the objective to land on this NEO, nicknamed Keanu. Set just far enough in the future to seem plausible, the story starts with the crew of the NASA ship doing some rather routine observations. It could easily be a crew on one of the current space shuttles. With the author deftly weaving pieces of the characters past into the story line, each personality blossoms into an individual that it seems a reader could know. Once the landing has occurred, the crews of both ships discover that Keanu is not at all what they had expected. Reading this book is like riding a rollercoasterfull of unexpected twists and turns that lead to a thrilling conclusion. For those who like a good dose of science with their fiction, enjoy challenging their theological beliefs, and perhaps once wished to become an astronaut themselves, this book will be a great read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)