Contact with Chaos (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When an exploration ship from Freehold discovered a planet with intelligent lifeforms—the first which humans had ever encountered—it should have been the most important event in history. And it might be—for all the wrong reasons.

 

               Corporations on Freehold were eager to sell high-tech toys to the Ithkuil, as the inhabitants called themselves, which had the potential to disrupt their society. Then there was the U.N., which controlled the planet Earth. Earth and Freehold were not on good terms, to put it mildly, and the U.N. immediately sent its own ship to make contact with the Ithkuil. If the authoritarians from Earth started throwing their weight around, Freehold would have to push back, causing anything from a diplomatic incident to outright war. And then another ship arrived, full of idealistic do-gooders determined to keep the Ithkuil in their unspoiled state of nature . . .

 

               The whole thing was turning into a cross between a Marx Brothers farce and a Kafkaesque nightmare, with a potential for Greek tragedy. Contact with a more advance civilization might pose a danger to the Ithkuil, but it definitely was becoming more dangerous to the human factions, and the situation was a powder keg just waiting for a spark to cause a very deadly explosion. . . .

About the Author

Michael Z. Williamson was born in Birkenhead, England and raised in Liverpool, and Toronto, Canada, before moving to Columbus, Ohio. An 18-year veteran of the US Army and US Air Force, he is a state-ranked competitive shooter in combat rifle and combat pistol. His other books include Freehold (Baen), the Target Terror series for Harper-Collins, so far including Targets of Opportunity and The Scope of Justice, and Hero, a collaboration with New York Times best-selling author John Ringo for Baen. He currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife Gail, their two children, and various cats that are not to be trusted.

---

Product Details Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Baen; 1 edition (April 7, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 1416591540 ISBN-13: 978-1416591542 Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,244 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

---

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Michael Z. Williamson Page

---

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	44% buy the item featured on this page: Contact with Chaos 3.8 out of 5 stars (13) $16.32
	16% buy Better to Beg Forgiveness... 3.8 out of 5 stars (19) $7.99
	14% buy Eye of the Storm (Legacy of the Aldenata) 4.3 out of 5 stars (34) $17.16
	14% buy Freehold 4.3 out of 5 stars (50) $7.99

Explore similar items

---

Tags Customers Associate with This Product  (What's this?) Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people. Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.  science fiction(11) michael z williamson(8) military science fiction(7) excellent war science fiction(6) sf military(5) first contact(4) multiverse(4) adventure(2) freehold(2) Agree with these tags? Your tags: Add your first tag

Search Products Tagged with   See most popular tags

---

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

---

 

Customer Reviews

13 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:  (2)           Average Customer Review 3.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 7 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A new frontier for MadMike, April 7, 2009 By  Dexter C. Guptill (Centreville, VA United States) - See all my reviews This is a transition from Mike's usual straight-up military SF, to something more in the way of "hard" science fiction. In hard SF, the science and the world-building are more central to the plot. In some ways, they ARE the plot. The earlier books explore the human condition in familiar settings. Earth, Grainne, and the other human polities in this universe are aspects, or in some cases caricatures, of cultures in the here-and-now. In "Contact", we're exposed to a nonhuman race that is very definitely NOT human, and in fact is INhuman. There's also the minor issue of underestimating someone because they don't have metals and are running a civilization on stone and ceramic technology. There's a slight parallel to one aspect of the European landings in North America, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. John Smith quickly found out that Powhatan and his "savages" could be as politically devious and Byzantine as the Middle Eastern potentates whom he'd met in his younger days. By the same token, the nonhumans in this book are as culturally and sociologically sophisticated, if not more so, than the humans with whom they're dealing. I eagerly await the sequel. I also want to see the Haka scene as the cover for the paperback. 8 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Dealing With Aliens, March 30, 2009 By  Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    Contact With Chaos (2009) is the fourth SF novel in the Freehold series, following Better to Beg Forgiveness.... But the previous work was actually a prequel to the first two books -- Freehold and The Weapon -- in the series. This story, however, takes place after the prior volumes. In the past, the United Nations had fought a war with Freehold and lost. Technically, they won on points, but the UN -- a much larger and powerful polity than Freehold -- brought back its armies from Grainne and paid restitution. Now Freehold is an independent nation state. At this time, a private survey ship from Freehold has discovered another sentient species in a newly charted star system. This is the first intelligent extraterrestrial species ever discovered by humanity. The ship crew is aware that they are making history, but they also realize that they could easily become very wealthy. In this novel, Damon Egan is an executive at Halo Materials Group. He is on the survey ship Hound Dog when the sentients are found. Egan finishes a cursory survey, returns to the Grainne system, and prepares his company for first contact. Mark Ballenger is a Citizen of Freehold. As such, he is one of the ruling elite. After word gets around about the aliens, he is selected as the Official Envoy to head the diplomatic mission to the newly found aliens. He is assigned a cruiser from the Freehold navy and whatever scientists have the appropriate skills and are readily available. Captain Betang commands the Healy, the armed starship assigned to this mission. He has most of his normal crew, but some are left behind due to short notice of the movement order. He also has some additional crew who happen to be in the vicinity. Nurin Russ is a UN diplomat and the newly appointed undersecretary of Indigenous Persons Affairs. Apparently, the UN has also heard the rumors and have rapidly responded. Although Ballenger cannot trust the UN itself, he finds Russ to be reasonably honest and highly competent. Tayalin Margov is an executive at Deep Space Resources. Ballenger has had previous contacts with Taya. She is a cunning and cold-blooded negotiator. In this story, Ballenger loads his scientists on the Healy and they jump to 107 Piscis. The HMG ship is within the system when they arrive. The UN and DSR ships arrive two days later. Eventually, a respectable flotilla is within the system. Since a Freehold ship discovered the aliens, Ballenger is the senior diplomat among the humans. The ships scan the inhabited planet from the halo and then move to high orbit. Eventually, they send down probes into the atmosphere. Then the scientists pool their information. The data indicate that the natives probably don't have workable metals. Although the surrounding space has metallic bodies and the planet has an iron core, the planetary surface has few ores that can be readily refined into free metals. Aluminum is present in the form of bauxite, but the natives do not have a means of smelting this ore. So the natives have only a lithic technology. Naturally, they do not have electricity. Yet they have very large urban centers. How are they sustaining such a large population without metals? One thing is clear. The humans must hide their use of metals insofar as possible. Otherwise, they may well repeat some of the tragic interhuman contact fiascos of the past and overwhelm the social confidence of the natives. From low orbit, they notice the natives have cut symbols in the grass within an isolated area. Apparently, the aliens have telescopes and have noted their arrival. So Ballenger leads a shuttle landing near the symbols. Of course, the shuttle contains metals, but this is not apparent from the outside. The landing party is stripped of all visible metals and the term is even deleted from their conversations. The guards are equipped with spears and bows constructed with faux wood and fake stone. This tale puts Ballenger in the middle of the whole mess, with everybody presenting problems. At least the natives and the UN diplomatic complement are cooperative, but the commercial interests are overeager. Only the talents of his assistants keep Ballenger from going mad. The natives have a very advanced technology despite the lack of metals. They find other ways of doing things that humans would do with metal tools. For example, telescopes only require shaped glass; nonmetallic materials can be used to contain the working parts. The policy of reticence about refined metals turns out to be untenable. Unauthorized landings occur on the planet and they all seem to be trying to trade metal with the natives. The local natives still seem unaware of the issue, but who knows? This work describes a realistic attempt to make contact with aliens. The problems are almost overwhelming to the Official Envoy. Read and enjoy. Highly recommended for Williamson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of sapient aliens, exotic technology, and crass commercialism. -Arthur W. Jordin 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining First Contact Story, April 18, 2009 By  Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews In the 26th century, humanity has its first encounter with intelligent alien life. The aliens are limited to a single world, their technological development restricted by an extremely metal-poor environment. The story follows Citizen Mark Ballenger, ambassador for the Freehold of Grainne and leader of the official human contact effort, as he establishes communication with the aliens, learns about their society, and battles the machinations of interstellar corporations and foreign governments in order to protect the aliens from his own species. //Contact with Chaos// is an enjoyable first contact story that nicely combines action, intrigue, and an interesting look at an alien society. Williamson's speculations about the possible technology of intelligent species without access to workable metals are especially interesting. This the fourth book in the fictional universe Michael Z. Williamson began with his novel //Freehold//, but it stands alone well for new readers. Reviewed by John Markley		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars A story line with many strong twists and turns Michael Z. Williamson's CONTACT WITH CHAOS provides any military science fiction collection with a strong story revolving around the first aliens humans encounter and a mass of... Read more Published 2 months ago by Midwest Book Review 1.0 out of 5 stars Really, really..Not Good This is the sort of thing pre-pubescent boys might like but for anyone who as read any good science fiction it falls far short. Read more Published 3 months ago by Book buyer 3.0 out of 5 stars I expected more What can I say? I love the author's other books. He is absolutely top notch. But here, I felt like I was constantly waiting for something to happen. Anything. Read more Published 4 months ago by John Martin 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent continuation of an excellent series I enjoyed Contact with Chaos very much. While set in the same universe as Freehold, The Weapon, and Better to beg Forgiveness, it is different from those books in that there is... Read more Published 6 months ago by Bruce A. Dennison 2.0 out of 5 stars Boring! Goes nowhere. I thought there might be a major twist later in the book but was disappointed. Nothing varies. No surprises. Save your money. Published 6 months ago by S. Bridgeford 5.0 out of 5 stars Very Enjoyable Reading I throughly enjoyed this book. Although technically military Sci Fi, Williamson did an outstanding job of blending in generous amounts of sociology and political influence to... Read more Published 6 months ago by Darryl Tyler 4.0 out of 5 stars New Idea For First Contact There's a lot to be said about how humanity would handle a first contact scenario with an alien race. Read more Published 6 months ago by Jason Cordova 1.0 out of 5 stars Just terrible. Having successfully strung together some cliches and stereotypes and then stuck them in the future, the author seems to have felt like their responsibilities were fulfilled... Read more Published 7 months ago by James Zona 5.0 out of 5 stars super The United Nations and Freehold fought war over the latter's sovereignty. In spite of overwhelming superiority and winning the battles, the United Nations left Freehold and the... Read more Published 7 months ago by Harriet Klausner 5.0 out of 5 stars Top-notch world crafting What i like most about this book is how relevant some of the lessons are today. When dealing with other nation/states, always start with the belief that they know what they are... Read more Published 7 months ago by William Howe Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

---

Customer Discussions

This product's forum Discussion Replies Latest Post No discussions yet Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight Start a new discussion Topic: First post: Receive e-mail when new posts are made Prompts for sign-in   Guidelines Active discussions in related forums Discussion Replies Latest Post science fiction Want To See Something Really Scary? 0 7 minutes ago science fiction Best Sci-Fi personal computer game? 1 1 hour ago science fiction Face on Mars 52 1 hour ago science fiction Other Universes Detected? 7 4 hours ago military science fiction Looking for bad guy books 8 4 days ago space opera Craft Propulsion in Space Opera 74 10 days ago military science fiction trilogies 45 15 days ago Search Customer Discussions Search all Amazon discussions

The Science Fiction community Latest activity 12 minutes ago 30,594 customers have contributed 27,683 products, 1,023 discussions and more... › Explore the community The Military Science Fiction community Latest activity 2 hours ago 3,293 customers have contributed 1,557 products, 115 lists & guides and more... › Explore the community The Sf Military community Latest activity 16 hours ago 418 customers have contributed 382 products, 5 lists & guides and more... › Explore the community Related forums michael z... military... (11 discussions) science fiction (1023 discussions) sf military space opera (12 discussions) Explore more › See all Customer Communities › Your communities

---

Listmania!

Freehold Series by Michael Z. Williamson: A list by Arthur W. Jordin   Best Sci-fi/ Fantasy: A list by Shawn Arthur   Military SiFiction from a combat vet: A list by James A. Thurman "traumajunkie" Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

---

So You'd Like to...

Use Amazon Advanced Search - Books: A guide by Arthur W. Jordin   Find A Great Si-Fi Book: A guide by Claressa Create a guide

Search Guides

---

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.

› See featured Amapedia.com articles

---

Look for Similar Items by Category

• Books > Literature & Fiction
• Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Adventure
• Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Opera

---

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:
Fantasy
American Science Fiction And Fantasy
Fiction
Fiction - Science Fiction
Science Fiction
Fiction / Science Fiction / Adventure
Fiction / Science Fiction / General
Fiction / Science Fiction / Space Opera
Science Fiction - Adventure
Science Fiction - Space Opera
Human-alien encounters
Life on other planets
Science Fiction & Fantasy


i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Ad feedback

 

Feedback If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? Is there any other feedback you would like to provide? Your comments can help make our site better for everyone. Please note that we are unable to respond directly to all feedback submitted via this form, but we'll ask you to sign in so we can contact you if needed.

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

› View and edit your browsing history

Get to Know Us Careers Investor Relations Press Releases Amazon and Our Planet Make Money with Us Sell on Amazon Join Associates Self-publish with Us › See all Let Us Help You Shipping Rates & Policies Amazon Prime Returns Help

Canada | China | France | Germany | Japan | United Kingdom  And don't forget: Amazon Windowshop | AmazonWireless | Askville | Audible | DPReview | Endless | IMDb | Shopbop | SoundUnwound | Warehouse Deals by Amazon | Zappos Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Baen; 1 edition (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416591540
• ISBN-13: 978-1416591542
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,244 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new frontier for MadMike, April 7, 2009

By	Dexter C. Guptill (Centreville, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This is a transition from Mike's usual straight-up military SF, to something more in the way of "hard" science fiction. In hard SF, the science and the world-building are more central to the plot. In some ways, they ARE the plot. The earlier books explore the human condition in familiar settings. Earth, Grainne, and the other human polities in this universe are aspects, or in some cases caricatures, of cultures in the here-and-now.

In "Contact", we're exposed to a nonhuman race that is very definitely NOT human, and in fact is INhuman. There's also the minor issue of underestimating someone because they don't have metals and are running a civilization on stone and ceramic technology.

There's a slight parallel to one aspect of the European landings in North America, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. John Smith quickly found out that Powhatan and his "savages" could be as politically devious and Byzantine as the Middle Eastern potentates whom he'd met in his younger days.

By the same token, the nonhumans in this book are as culturally and sociologically sophisticated, if not more so, than the humans with whom they're dealing. I eagerly await the sequel. I also want to see the Haka scene as the cover for the paperback.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dealing With Aliens, March 30, 2009

By	Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Contact With Chaos (2009) is the fourth SF novel in the Freehold series, following Better to Beg Forgiveness.... But the previous work was actually a prequel to the first two books -- Freehold and The Weapon -- in the series. This story, however, takes place after the prior volumes.

In the past, the United Nations had fought a war with Freehold and lost. Technically, they won on points, but the UN -- a much larger and powerful polity than Freehold -- brought back its armies from Grainne and paid restitution. Now Freehold is an independent nation state.

At this time, a private survey ship from Freehold has discovered another sentient species in a newly charted star system. This is the first intelligent extraterrestrial species ever discovered by humanity. The ship crew is aware that they are making history, but they also realize that they could easily become very wealthy.

In this novel, Damon Egan is an executive at Halo Materials Group. He is on the survey ship Hound Dog when the sentients are found. Egan finishes a cursory survey, returns to the Grainne system, and prepares his company for first contact.

Mark Ballenger is a Citizen of Freehold. As such, he is one of the ruling elite. After word gets around about the aliens, he is selected as the Official Envoy to head the diplomatic mission to the newly found aliens. He is assigned a cruiser from the Freehold navy and whatever scientists have the appropriate skills and are readily available.

Captain Betang commands the Healy, the armed starship assigned to this mission. He has most of his normal crew, but some are left behind due to short notice of the movement order. He also has some additional crew who happen to be in the vicinity.

Nurin Russ is a UN diplomat and the newly appointed undersecretary of Indigenous Persons Affairs. Apparently, the UN has also heard the rumors and have rapidly responded. Although Ballenger cannot trust the UN itself, he finds Russ to be reasonably honest and highly competent.

Tayalin Margov is an executive at Deep Space Resources. Ballenger has had previous contacts with Taya. She is a cunning and cold-blooded negotiator.

In this story, Ballenger loads his scientists on the Healy and they jump to 107 Piscis. The HMG ship is within the system when they arrive. The UN and DSR ships arrive two days later. Eventually, a respectable flotilla is within the system. Since a Freehold ship discovered the aliens, Ballenger is the senior diplomat among the humans.

The ships scan the inhabited planet from the halo and then move to high orbit. Eventually, they send down probes into the atmosphere. Then the scientists pool their information.

The data indicate that the natives probably don't have workable metals. Although the surrounding space has metallic bodies and the planet has an iron core, the planetary surface has few ores that can be readily refined into free metals. Aluminum is present in the form of bauxite, but the natives do not have a means of smelting this ore.

So the natives have only a lithic technology. Naturally, they do not have electricity. Yet they have very large urban centers. How are they sustaining such a large population without metals?

One thing is clear. The humans must hide their use of metals insofar as possible. Otherwise, they may well repeat some of the tragic interhuman contact fiascos of the past and overwhelm the social confidence of the natives.

From low orbit, they notice the natives have cut symbols in the grass within an isolated area. Apparently, the aliens have telescopes and have noted their arrival. So Ballenger leads a shuttle landing near the symbols.

Of course, the shuttle contains metals, but this is not apparent from the outside. The landing party is stripped of all visible metals and the term is even deleted from their conversations. The guards are equipped with spears and bows constructed with faux wood and fake stone.

This tale puts Ballenger in the middle of the whole mess, with everybody presenting problems. At least the natives and the UN diplomatic complement are cooperative, but the commercial interests are overeager. Only the talents of his assistants keep Ballenger from going mad.

The natives have a very advanced technology despite the lack of metals. They find other ways of doing things that humans would do with metal tools. For example, telescopes only require shaped glass; nonmetallic materials can be used to contain the working parts.

The policy of reticence about refined metals turns out to be untenable. Unauthorized landings occur on the planet and they all seem to be trying to trade metal with the natives. The local natives still seem unaware of the issue, but who knows?

This work describes a realistic attempt to make contact with aliens. The problems are almost overwhelming to the Official Envoy. Read and enjoy.

Highly recommended for Williamson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of sapient aliens, exotic technology, and crass commercialism.

-Arthur W. Jordin

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining First Contact Story, April 18, 2009

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

In the 26th century, humanity has its first encounter with intelligent alien life. The aliens are limited to a single world, their technological development restricted by an extremely metal-poor environment. The story follows Citizen Mark Ballenger, ambassador for the Freehold of Grainne and leader of the official human contact effort, as he establishes communication with the aliens, learns about their society, and battles the machinations of interstellar corporations and foreign governments in order to protect the aliens from his own species.

//Contact with Chaos// is an enjoyable first contact story that nicely combines action, intrigue, and an interesting look at an alien society. Williamson's speculations about the possible technology of intelligent species without access to workable metals are especially interesting. This the fourth book in the fictional universe Michael Z. Williamson began with his novel //Freehold//, but it stands alone well for new readers.

Reviewed by John Markley