Agent Cornell Novak is sent through the government's energy portal and translated into a creature adapted for another world on a mission to redeem the dreams of his father, a frustrated UFO researcher. By the author of Black Milk.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Reed's latest is a fascinating pairing of two science-fiction scenarios. The first focuses on the inexplicable "Change," that moment when the sky suddenly inverted itself, casting back a mirrorlike image of the other side of the planet. During the day, the sky now looks as it always has, but at night no stars appear, just a clear bright view of Earth's day-side. Cornell Novak has spent his childhood roaming with his father and his father's buddy Pete on their amateur investigations of UFOs. Though at first the Change, by vindicating the elder Novak's odd ideas, seems to bring father and son closer, it eventually pushes them apart, and Cornell leaves home in anger. At this point, where another writer might focus on worldwide reactions to the Change, Reed takes a more intriguing tack, moving on to a second scenario in which, years later, Cornell joins a government project studying the Change. The sky-shift, it seems, revealed strange space-time warps through which humans can be sent to other worlds, though they are reconfigured in the process, taking the form of a creature indigenous to the new planet. Traveling to the world called "High Desert," where humans emerge as rodent-like beasts composed of several telepathically linked bodies and one central "mind," Cornell takes part in efforts to contact a powerful alien consciousness. Reed ( Black Milk ; The Remarkables ) goes on to add yet another dimension to this tale of first contact, paralleling it with the story of Cornell's reconciliation with his past and his father. With a delightfully strange backdrop and so moving a human drama at its heart, this may be one of the best science-fiction novels of the year.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The abrupt transformation of Earth's sky into a mirrorlike surface signals the beginning of an age of uncertainty for humanity. Drawn into secret government experiments involving dimensional portals between worlds, Cornell Novak-the son of an inveterate UFO researcher-discovers the unexpected reality behind his father's misguided dreams and confronts the specters of his own distorted memories. The author of Black Milk (LJ 3/15/89) and Down the Bright Way (Bantam, 1991) has constructed an eerie tale of dissimulation and self-deception set against the background of an altered, yet strangely familiar, world. A good choice for most sf collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great characters no surprises,
By
This review is from: Beyond the Veil of Stars (Hardcover)
Good writing and characterization but not much on plot and definitely no action. Don't be fooled by the interesting looking cover. The surprises didn't surprise. It's like a 1st contact story that condenses the contact to 10 pages after 300 pages of setup and then ends abruptly with nothing happening in between.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Premise,
By
This review is from: Beyond the Veil of Stars (Hardcover)
The book started off a little slow , but I like the premise of becoming an alien, even though the other aliens know the posers are different. I think Reed is an excellent writer, having read Marrow, The Well of Stars and The Cuckoo's Boys.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, mature Sci-Fi.,
By Holofernes "Holofernes" (United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Beyond the Veil of Stars (Hardcover)
Concerning both "Beyond the Veil of Stars" and "Beneath The Gated Sky", Mr. Reed is one of the better "new" sci-fi writers in the field... if you like original ideas, exploration themes, shape-shifter plots, or that "high lonesome" feeling of old Bradbury novels, this might be for you.
Reed's 2 related novels in this series will make you ~think~, and perhaps dream, of alternate realities. I have re-read both books numerous times since. They are quite original, and devastatingly believable. Please Mr. Reed, write a third book in this series!
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