Rogue Star (Firestar Saga) [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael Flynn (Author)

Book Description

Series: Firestar Saga | Publication Date: April 15, 1999

It is the early twenty-first century. There's a space station being built, and the first manned flight to the asteroids is in progress. The grand plan of Mariesa Van Huyten to give humanity a big push back into space, and in the process save the human race from terrible disaster, continues. And there are enemies who will kill to stop it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this sprawling, near-future saga of power politics and space exploration, a sequel to Flynn's well-received Firestar (1996), billionaire industrialist Mariesa van Huyten continues to battle wrongheaded government officials, well-meaning but naive liberals and shortsighted businessmen to put in place an orbital defense against potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroids. The novel features a number of interconnected subplots. In one, Mariesa must come to terms with a U.S. president who wants to co-opt her not-yet-completed space station and turn it into an illegal and top-secret weapons platform. In another, a group of colorful blue-collar characters who might easily have come out of an Allen Steele novel build Mariesa's station and live their boisterous, occasionally violent lives. In yet another, the poet Roberta Carson, once Mariesa's disciple but now her sworn enemy, schemes to bring about the industrialist's downfall, supposedly for the good of the people. In perhaps the novel's most interesting plot thread, astronaut Forrest Calhoun and his crew intercept a near-Earth asteroid in deep space and find tantalizing hints that someone or something may have been there before them. Meanwhile, Mariesa, a talented amateur astronomer, has discovered evidence that a number of near-Earth asteroids may have subtly changed orbit in recent years in ways that increase their threat to our planet. Like all middle books in a series, this one is dependent on what has come before it and, despite a slam-bang closing battle, ends with everything of importance up in the air. Still, Flynn has produced a well-written hard SF novel brimming with vivid characters, realistic scenes of life in outer space and just a touch of genuine strangeness.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Mariesa van Huyten's fear for the safety of Earth triggers a crisis that plays out on the dual battlefields of the halls of corporate politics and the darkness of Low Earth Orbit. This sequel to Firestar (Tor, 1996) brings together familiar characters in a taut, suspense-filled sf novel that mixes personal drama with action-adventure and high intrigue. Flynn's excellently choreographed alternating of Earth and space scenes impels the action, while his characters provide a vivid cross-section of 21st century Earth. Highly recommended for most sf collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Tor Science Fiction; 1st edition (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812542991
• ISBN-13: 978-0812542998
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best, so far, of an excellent series, July 6, 2001

By 

Perry M. Duncan (Norfolk, Virgina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rogue Star (Firestar Saga) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoy Flynn's near-future series, with its rich characters, intricate plots, and imaginative cultural-political landscape. I especially liked the asteroid trip, the ongoing Mareisa-Roberta interaction, and the intense action at the climax. Mareisa is more interesting because she "screwed up", and thus is more human. Some of the space-station construction details became a bit tedious, but it was done carefully. I don't read a lot of non-SF books, but I am pretty sure that Flynn's development of his characters is unusually good for SF writing, and is on a par with much current mainstream fiction. He even does the sex scenes rather well, including enough, but not too much, erotic detail. The interplay of the skilled workers was a nice contrast to the scenes featuring politicians, movers-shakers, scientists and astronauts. He creates a vivid, believable world and tells a great, complex tale. In my opinion Rogue Star is the best of the first three of this series, although it has been a while since I read Firestar. When I finished this book I went right out and bought Lodestar. I am pleased to see that a fourth book is now available. Flynn is probably a much better writer than good old Bob Heinlein, but of course middle-aged guys like me read Heinlein when we were young and new to SF, so he will always have a special place in our hearts and minds. Bravo, Michael Flynn!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid near term science fiction book, February 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rogue Star (Firestar Saga) (Mass Market Paperback)

While I think this book is a little slower than the first book, Firestar, it is still a solid science fiction book. It is difficult to write near term science fiction as actual events always overtake the fiction, but I did not mind it with this series (the second book blended a lot of the actual events into the mix). I work for Boeing and have worked on the Space Shuttle. One of the things that I like the most about this series is that it brings out all the different flavors of human beings involved in space endeavors for both good and bad. It is also very acurate on the science and politics.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than the first book in the series, April 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rogue Star (Hardcover)

With Rogue Star, even more than with his previous works, Michael Flynn has joined the forefront of the ranks of practitioners of hardward science fiction. His depictions of life on a space station construction crew rival Allen Steele's and his loving depiction of a deep space mission to an asteroid are a match for Stephen Baxter. If I'm comparing Flynn to Baxter and Steele instead of the other way around, it is only because those authors are more prolific that Flynn.

Rogue Star is a sequel to Flynn's novel Firestar and picks up shortly after the earlier novel ends. While Firestar was the story of Mariesa van Huyten, who continues figure prominently in Rogue Star, the character who really steals the novel is Mariesa's former protege-turned-antagonist, Roberta Carson.

Like Mariesa, Roberta suffers from her own obsession, notably the feeling of betrayal and abandonment. Ignored by her mother, Roberta turned to Mariesa in the first book, only to turn her back on Mariesa when she discovered that Mariesa was "using" her. In Rogue Star, Roberta looks at everyone, from Mariesa, to Phil Albright to Simon Fell to see how they are using people, the ultimate in dishonesty in Roberta's mind. Innever seems to occur to Roberta that she, too, might be using people.

Although at times Roberta's character almost descends into a caricature of political activists, Flynn always manages to pull back before he makes her too two-dimensional. Because of this, the reader is able to maintain sympathy for Roberta, as well as the other characters who populate the novel.

Many of the characters from Firestar make appearances in Rogue Star, although only Forrest Calhoun plays a sizable role as the leader of an expedition to a Near Earth asteroid which Mariesa is behind. Flynn adds a new dimension to his universe with the asteroid expedition and results which may indicate the existance, in the past or present, of alien life.

In many ways, Flynn lucked out with the timing of the release of this novel. Mariesa's obsession, Near Earth asteroids and the possibility of a collision, is extremely timely as the novel was released within a week of the announcement that an asertoid was likely to strike Earth in 2028. Although the calculations behind that prediction turned out to be incorrect, it only serves to drive home the fact that organizations such as SkyWatch may prove vital to the continuing existance of the human species.

Rogue Star is the middle novel of a series, but it does not read like one. A reader can begin with Rogue Star and understand enough of what happened before the novel started without feeling lost. Similarly, although Flynn has left several loose ends to be collected and tied up in the third book in the series, he has done so in a way which permits the reader to put Rogue Star down without feeling as if they are been left high and dry waiting for the final book in the trilogy to be published.