Customer Reviews

Anywhere But Here

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In an unspecified time in the future, the global conquering United States is ready to go to war at anytime with countries that don't bow down to America's superiority. Meanwhile the hyperdrive engine makes it cheap to travel to other planets. Those people who value freedom and resent the heavy-handedness of the United States colonized planets all over the galaxy.

It is now illegal to build a hyperdrive vehicle and leave the planet because much of America's most precious resources, the people, are gone. After Trent and Judy Stinson lose their jobs they decide to visit the colonized worlds but while on the French planet of Mirabeau, the United States attacks using asteroid rocks as bombs. When they leave, they become lost in space and end up in an unexplored part of the galaxy. They find a habitable planet so they can fix their damaged hyperdrive but must depart quickly though there are no direct life forms dangerous to humans, the game and water is inimical to Earthlings.

Freedom is a powerful motivator for people to leave their homeland and go to the stars but the Stinsons really want to find a way to change how government operates so it could once again be the land of the free. Homeland security has become a dictatorial giant imagining enemies when none exist and drive people to do the very things they outlaw. Jerry Oltion is a master storyteller who takes readers on a spaceship ride that is exciting, dangerous and fun. Visiting inhabited colonized worlds and orbs where no sentient life exist makes this work of science fiction a great treat for armchair travelers who want to go stellar from their home.

Harriet Klausner

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This is a weaker sequel to his lively and entertaining The Getaway Special (2002, recommended), which, you may recall, was cheap star travel in septic-tank spaceships. Here they've advanced to sealed-cab electric pickups, with the Secret Stardrive™ module hidden inside. Which is illegal in a cartoonishly-obtuse USA. Does have a nice Heinleinian wild-planet romance/problem-solving story nested within. C+, has moments.

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

What if you could save the planet, but you had to do things that you might not agree too? The idea of cheap space exploration is nothing new, but what happens when the people who do leave the planet cause problems to the planet that they leave. This is one of those issues that have been explored in many other books, but Oltion does it in a surprisingly refreshing way. Equipping your pickup truck with an interstellar drive, is a unique way of doing things, but what if you really didn't want to save the earth? If you liked the Getaway Special, you will probably like this book as well. In some cases the writing could focus a bit less on detail and more on plot or characters, and something about a pickup truck, interstellar drives, and the need for beer evokes the idea of interstellar white trash, but then you can't have it all.

A marvelous read. It's a fun, no-holds barred "what if" story that combines the best of action/adventure SF with intellegent, likeable, commonsense characters. What if anyone with a little ingenuity could leave the planet? Oltion gives us his answer in a tightly-written, well-thought out narrative that works as an adventure, a commentary on politics and social issues (what's a good space story without some soapboxes thrown in), and a survival story -- all painted in realism with a brush of good physics, astronomy, and a touch of biology. Enjoy!

I happened to see this on the shelf at the library and the initial premise caught my eye and made me take it home. And the book *is* fun - after all, who wouldn't like dirt-cheap interstellar travel, and the image of a pickup truck as a mini-starship was a blast. The places the protagonist visits are just about all friendly and welcoming, which kind of gave the book a kid's story feeling, something I might recommend to an avid 12-year-old reader. However, the authors distaste, and perhaps even hatred for his own country tainted the book for me beyond repair - in the story, the only real villain is the United States. I don't understand why Oltion feels this way - judging by the number of books and short stories he's published he's doing reasonably well for himself. Maybe its something in the water in Eugene? Bottom line: a fun way to spend an afternoon, but don't give it to anyone young and impressionable.

A very strong politcal statement on today's issues set in the near future... It's an entertaining story but very light in the details. You will need to fill in a lot yourself.

The book bogs down in the middle but over-all I'd recommend it. You can kill it in one or two sittings.