One Jump Ahead (Jon & Lobo) [Hardcover]

Mark L. Van Name (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2007 | Series: Jon & Lobo (Book 1)

Jon Moore: A nanotech-enhanced warrior who wants nothing more than a quiet life and a way back to his strange home world. Lobo: An AI-enhanced Predator-Class Assault Vehicle, a mobile fortress equipped for any environment from the seabed to interstellar space. TWO WOLVES IN A GALAXY OF LARGER PREDATORS

Jon Moore wanted only to relax on the pristine planet of Macken--but Macken was the secret battleground of two megacorporations, both determined to control the local jump gate and the riches of an undeveloped world. Moore was too valuable a tool not to be used, whether or not he was willing. What the corporations didn't realize was that Moore had a mind of his own and a conscience that wouldn't let him quit until he'd righted the wrong they'd tricked him into making. And Moore had Lobo--or just possibly Lobo had Jon Moore, because this Assault Vehicle had a mind of its own. . . .

Finding allies and enemies among terrorist groups and elite mercenaries, gun-runners and the only kind of government possible on a frontier short on rules and long on riches, Jon and Lobo fight to a climax with a corporate army that can't afford to leave any witnesses. Exotic settings, fast action, real tech, mechanically-enhanced animals--and a beautiful woman who's as deadly as a cobra!

"One Jump Ahead: " the first novel in the Jon & Lobo series

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Military SF fans will welcome Van Name's solid debut, the first in a projected series, though they should be prepared for a layer of irony rare in this popular subgenre: the introspective hero's most complex relationship is with his artificially intelligent tank, Lobo. Jon Moore, a soul-weary soldier with a nanotech secret, becomes involved against his wishes with an effort to rescue a kidnapped innocent. As usual in a corporate-dominated multiple-worlds setting, double- and triple-crosses complicate what should be a simple task. Old vet buddies get involved, and space jet–setting corporate elites receive righteous (and occasionally misdirected) vengeance. Jon finds time to appreciate the mysteries of the universe and muse on the hollowness of his mercenary lifestyle. An attention to the details of future military tech and service, along with several scenes of them in action, will reward those expecting the more standard military SF for which Baen is known. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Mark L. Van Name, whom John Ringo has said is "going to be the guy to beat in the race to the top of SFdom," has worked in the high-tech industry for over 30 years and today runs a technology assessment company in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. A former Executive Vice President for Ziff Davis Media and a national technology columnist, he's published over a thousand computer-related articles and multiple science fiction stories in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including the Year's Best Science Fiction. Jon & Lobo stories have appeared in a Baen anthology and Jim Baen's Universe.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Baen; 1ST edition (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416520856
• ISBN-13: 978-1416520856
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,439,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark L. Van Name is a writer, technologist, and spoken word performer. As a science fiction author, he has published four novels (One Jump Ahead, Slanted Jack, Overthrowing Heaven, and Children No More) as well as an omnibus collection of his first two books (Jump Gate Twist); edited or co-edited three anthologies (Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology, Transhuman, and The Wild Side), and written many short stories. Those stories have appeared in a wide variety of books and magazines, including Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, many original anthologies, and The Year's Best Science Fiction.

As a technologist, he is the CEO of a fact-based marketing and technology assessment firm, Principled Technologies, Inc., that is based in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. He has worked with computer technology for his entire professional career and has published over a thousand articles in the computer trade press, as well as a broad assortment of essays and reviews.

As a spoken word artist, he has created and performed two shows: Science Magic Sex, and Wake Up Horny, Wake Up Angry. He also frequently leads humor panels at SF conventions.

For more information, visit his Web site, www.marklvanname.com, or follow his blog, markvanname.blogspot.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another marvelous debut from Baen, May 23, 2007

By 

Geoffrey Kidd (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Jump Ahead (Jon & Lobo) (Hardcover)

This book is the third debut by a new author in as many months, following Russian Amerika by Stoney Compton in April and Lucy's Blade by John Lambshead in May. I loved both of those books and I'm happy to say this one completes a Trifecta.

As mentioned in the blurb, it's the first of a series, and it has both the virtues and drawbacks of a "meet the characters" novel. The virtues are, of course, that you get to meet some very nice people *and* some not-so-nice people, and learn about their backgrounds and the world in which they play. The drawback is that you do have to spend a bit of time learning both the playing field and the players. In the end, it's worth it.

Jon, the human half of the team, is a seriously universe-weary ex-mercenary with a few extra things going for him that I'll leave for you to read about. He's smart, tough, confident and very much on the side of doing well by doing good. I ended up thinking of him as Simon Templar's attitudes inside an intelligent wolf.

Lobo, on the other hand, is the AI for what I thought of as a "mini-battleship." Like his human partner, he too wants to do well, but he resents the fact that, since it's kind of hard to hide the _Graf Spee_ in your pocket when you're trying to sneak around a town gathering intel, he's frequently left to sit on the sidelines. I ended up thinking of him as an Orca with a sense of humor and a supply of "Sarcasm - just one of many services I offer." T-shirts.

The environment in which we meet this duo is about what we would expect if we want stories with lots of action and conflict. It's the Wild West with plasma weapons, multi-way fights between governments, criminal elements, and multi-planet corporations that make Halliburton and the RIAA look like the very implementations of honor and generosity. Like James H. Schmitz' classic "Federation of the Hub," just staying alive in a mix like that requires a lot of careful footwork. On top of this is Jon's quest, which I'll leave you to enjoy discovering.

It's a fun book, and over the course of the story, I got to like both Jon and Lobo a lot. They're not quite friends of mine, but I'd at least trust them at my back in a dark alley.

This was well worth the time and money spent on it, and I'm very much looking forward to Slanted Jack (Jon & Lobo), the next adventure.

Thank you, Mark. Bring it on!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go Jon and Lobo, More, More, More!!!, June 9, 2007

By 

Walt Boyes "Walt Boyes" (Aurora IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Jump Ahead (Jon & Lobo) (Hardcover)

Imagine a galaxy where a mysterious set of gates exists and keeps growing; gates that allow humans to travel faster than light throughout the galaxy...and nobody knows how they work or who built them, and why the number of gates keeps growing...

Imagine a genetically altered retarded man from the planet Pinkelponter (!) who is now brilliant, a former mercenary, and who has a deep abiding relationship with a cloud of nanomachines who live in his body...

Imagine a world where all the machines are AI-enabled and talk to each other like old folks gossiping...

Imagine a tank with a heart and maybe a soul...

Now you have the world of Jon and Lobo in Mark L. Van Name's first novel, One Jump Ahead.

This book rocks.

I wish I could write as well as Mark does.

I am going to nominate this book for the Hugo next year.

If you liked what John Scalzi is trying to do in resuscitating intelligent action science fiction, you will love this book.

Go out and buy it. Selfishly, I want to see more Jon and Lobo stories, and in order to do that, I have to convince you to buy this book. So why are you still reading this review???

Walt Boyes
Associate Editor/Marketing Director
Jim Baen's Universe magazine

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great adventure story!, June 2, 2007

By 

JJF (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Jump Ahead (Jon & Lobo) (Hardcover)

Don't be put off by descriptions of this book that pigeon hole it as military science fiction. Yes, it does have an intelligent tank and main character who was once a mercenary, but what it has that really matters is heart, plot, action, and characters you care about. I don't read military SF but I loved this book, as have the other women I know who have read it, so this isn't just a book for boys. If you love a good adventure story or are a fan of mysteries or thrillers you will really enjoy this book.