11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
slow start, July 15, 2010
This review is from: Grand Central Arena (Mass Market Paperback)
I enjoyed this book - even though I thought it got off to a slow start. For me, there was too much explanation of 'the amazing construction' that they were seeing and not enough action. The action came along later and I found it quite entertaining.
But I also had the continual impression that this was the second book in some kind of a series - as there was frequent mention of "Hyperion" - which may be another book?
that is one thing that I would like to see publishers and Amazon change - whenever there is a series, I would like them to put it into position with other books - as 'this is the 2nd book in John Doe's Hyperion series - which is the second series chronologically in the XYZ universe' and so on.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Earth's first FTL explorers discover that the universe is fundamentally different than anybody realized!, May 14, 2010
This review is from: Grand Central Arena (Mass Market Paperback)
A group of eight explorers from the not too distant future set out to test-fly The Holy Grail, the very first faster-than-light experimental ship. Instead of finding themselves in interstellar space, they find themselves at a massive artificial construct that houses thousands of different intelligent species, and has existed for long enough to house creatures that have evolved to live within it. The Grand Central Arena is vast in ways that defy comprehension: it is apparently large enough to provide for a large population of every intelligent species in the universe, and has a history dating back though occupation by many species that have since become extinct. It has rules of conduct that it rigidly enforces, and a culture that is beautifully diverse yet may be suddenly deadly.
For Ariane Austin, the beautiful rocket racing pilot and default skipper of the expedition; for Dr. Carl Edlund, Ariane's crew chief and design expert; Dr. Marc DuQuesne, survivor of a massive genetic and psychological experiment; for Dr. Simon Sandrisson, inventor of the FTL drive and the rest of this elite crew the challenge becomes far greater than a simple test flight. The stakes in this arena run from full partnership in an interstellar trading community far beyond their greatest dreams, to slavery or destruction of the entire human race. Spoor does an outstanding job of bringing together a disparate party of human adventurers and an eclectic set of aliens with a wide variety of motivations. He also dragged this reader right into the midst of the battle to create a place for humanity amongst the stars.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Universal Commons, April 22, 2010
This review is from: Grand Central Arena (Mass Market Paperback)
Grand Central Arena (2010) is a standalone SF novel. It is set about two centuries in the future. Mankind has achieved breakthroughs in fusion power and artificial intelligence. Now they have developed a faster-than-light drive.
Humanity has also had calamities during this period, including the Hyperion experiment. Government has been reorganized to prevent the reoccurrence of such disasters. The new government has strict limits on their surveillance of the population and the capabilities of AIs.
In this novel, Ariane Austin is an obstacle racer. She flies her ships through especially constructed courses in space. She gets high on adrenaline and risk.
Carl Edlund is Ariane's crew chief and control engineer. He has an advanced degree and certification in control and interface design and another in small-craft drives.
Simon Sakuraba Sandrisson is a renown physicist and creator of the FTL drive. He has tested the concept with probes, but the results are anomalous. Now he is gathering a crew for a manned craft.
Steve Franceschetti is a renown structural designer. He is designing the FTL spaceship.
Marc C. DuQuesne is an expert in power systems. He is also a Super from the Hyperion experiment.
Thomas Cussler is a nanotechnology engineer. Tom is a Transcender, although he hasn't completely downloaded his consciousness into the nanotech. To do so is to lose his citizenship, since the law considers such downloads as artificial intelligences.
Gabrielle Wolfe is the physician on Ariane's crew. She has broad experience in emergency medicine.
Laila Canning is a renown biologist. She wishes to monitor the humans on the FTL ship.
In this story, Ariane is close to winning against the reigning champion of obstacle racing. She and Hawke are far ahead of the pack. Carl warns her about the keyhole coming up.
Ariane tries to lag behind or get ahead of Hawke, but he matches the velocity of her ship. They enter the keyhole together and Hawke makes his move. But Ariane avoids his ship's wings and tries a counter move.
Then they exit the keyhole and Ariane gains time in the driftmaze. She wins the race and eagerly rejoins her crew to celebrate their triumph. She hugs Carl and the rest of the crew.
Simon is waiting at the dock to talk to her, but first he gets the attention of Carl. Then Carl waves Ariane over to meet Simon. They settle around a table and Simon makes his pitch.
He wants Ariane to join his crew as the backup pilot. All the surviving probes seem to have lost the use of their AIs. Mechanical devices and some simpler electronics had continued to work and test animals seemed unharmed. But smart devices did not appear to function at all.
Ariane agrees and brings Carl and Gabrielle with her. The ship is under construction by Steve, but will be ready in a couple of weeks. The main problem is providing manual controls and instruments that will work without smart devices.
When the time comes, Ariane is at the controls of the Holy Grail as her AI starts the FTL drive. Immediately, Simon screams and the lights go out as the fusion reactor goes offline. She discovers that they are within a huge enclosure and rapidly approaching the far wall.
The fusion pulse rocket is also inoperable, so she lights the chemical rockets and decelerates. The ship loses velocity under four gees of thrust. It barely hits the wall, but breaks off one of the mass-driver coilgun tendrils and bends the others.
Ariane and Marc are fine, but other crewmembers suffer from the shock of losing their embedded AIs. Tom has lost most of his abilities to monitor and control the ship functions. Laila, however, was connected to more smart devices than the others and is now in a catatonic state. Her brain scans indicate some cerebral activity, especially in her speech center.
They are within a space containing a very large model of their solar system. They find a ledge at the apex of the space that seems to be a dock. It has standard docking ports. It even uses standard signals -- with nonstandard IDs -- in response to the docking communicators.
When the three man scouting party enters the structure, they find air with the proper mix of gases. Yet no other particles or organisms are detected other that those that came from their ship. Then the gravity comes on.
This tale confronts the crew with a series of circumstances that are impossible according to current scientific knowledge. Then they find the alien inhabitants of the structure. The alien calling himself Orphan becomes their guide to the Arena.
This story is inspired by the space operas of E.E. (Doc) Smith, most particularly the
Skylark series. One character -- DuQuesne -- is even named after the sometimes opponent of Richard Seaton.
The author definitely generates a sense of wonder. There does not yet appear to be sequel to this novel, yet a new volume --
Threshold -- in the Boundary series is forthcoming. Read and enjoy!
Highly recommended for Spoor fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of alien contact, improbable situations, and personal courage.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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