Threshold [Hardcover]

Eric Flint (Author), Ryk E Spoor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2010

When the strange fossil she'd discovered had ended up giving her a trip to Mars, Helen Sutter thought she'd gone about as far as any paleontologist would ever go in her lifetime. But when you've also married A.J. Baker, overconfident super- sensor expert for the only private agency in space – the Ares Corporation -- and your best friend Madeline Fathom Buckley is a former secret agent who's just signed on as the chief of security for the newly created and already embattled Interplanetary Research Institute of the United Nations, there's always somewhere farther to go.

     The newest discoveries will take her, A.J., and their friends Jackie, Joe, and Madeline to the mysterious asteroid Ceres – and beyond, in a desperate race to Jupiter's perilous miniature system of radiation- bombarded moons. The next gold rush is on – for alien technology, hidden in lost bases around the system. And there are people willing to do anything to get it – even plan the first interplanetary war, four hundred million miles from home!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The whole crew from Flint and Spoor's Boundary are back. The perennially cash-strapped Ares Corporation, the only private agency in space, has teamed with the Interplanetary Research Institute, part of the United Nations, to exploit millennia-old alien technology in abandoned bases on Mars and Phobos. When they discover the existence of a third base on the asteroid Ceres, Ares seeks the help of the European Union and their ship Odin. An agreement is reached, but all is not what it seems; the EU has a hidden agenda, of which even the captain of the Odin is unaware. Tensions run high throughout the Ceres mission and finally come to a head causing things to spin out of control in ways no one could have predicted. This genial, fast-paced sci-fi espionage thriller is light in tone and hard on science and a fine choice for any collection. Despite a character list in the front, full enjoyment of this volume will depend on having already read the first.
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About the Author

Eric Flint is the author/creator of the New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series, the most popular alternate history series today. With David Drake he has written six popular novels in the Belisarius series, and with David Weber collaborated on 1633, and 1634: The Baltic War, two novels in the Ring of Fire series, and on Crown of Slaves, a best of the year pick by Publishers Weekly, and its sequel, Torch of Freedom. Flint received his masters degree in history from UCLA and was for many years a labor union activist. He lives in East Chicago, IL, with his wife and is working on more books in the best-selling Ring of Fire series.

Ryk E. Spoor, while earning his masters degree in Pittsburgh, became a playtesting consultant and writer for the Wizards of the Coast, the leading publisher of role-playing games and related novels. He now lives in East Greenbush, NY, working as a technical proposal writer for a high-tech R&D firm, and spending his non-writing time with his wife and sons. Baen published his first novel, Digital Knight, in 2003.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Baen (June 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439133603
• ISBN-13: 978-1439133606
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #518,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, June 6, 2010

By 

M. Shepherd "Midwest" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Threshold (Hardcover)

Eric Flint has another very good novel on his hands. Not outstanding, but very good. Easily worth 4 stars. "Threshold" is the second
book in the "Boundery" series. It would be a good stand alone novel, but it will be easier for you to get into the story if you read
"Boundery" first.
The basic story is not new, it`s been done several times before. Alien artifacts from a long ago visit have been discovered around
the solar system and the race is on to find more as well as to understand the aliens and their technology.
The book is an odd mixture of science fiction, hard science (with a few liberties taken), political cloak & dagger, adventure, and
humor. That sounds like a strange combination, but Flint & Spoor put it all together into a fun, enjoyable read that that keeps
you turning the pages.
The book is well written and the characters are fairly well developed. Maybe not as well developed as they could be, but as much
as you could hope for without the book being a lot longer and slowing the pace of the story.
They do take a few liberties with the science in the book, but far less than most sci-fi stories do. There is nothing in the book
that would make the average reader shut down their brain to accept story and plot points.
All in all it`s a very good book that you will enjoy reading.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book with an available ebook, June 22, 2010

By 

T. L. Talley (Butte County, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Threshold (Hardcover)

I have really enjoyed this series, by Eric Flint and Ryk Spoor. I like books that embrace history, archeology/paleontology and other sciences of history and move them into the future.

This book takes the ancient history found in the first book Boundary and moves us forward with an exciting story mixing science and adventure.

What I love most is that I can also buy a DRM free ebook version of this direct from the publisher BAEN Books for only $6.00 no need for a kindle only version as it can easily be loaded into the kindle.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not so much a Threshold as a Place Holder, August 15, 2011

By 

Michael - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Threshold (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed Boundary since it mixed just the right amount of mystery, speculative sci-fi, and tension (through accidents and political intrigue).

In Threshold, all of the main characters return for a second outing that mostly ditches the alien story for one involving more political aspects. The aliens take a definite back seat to the competition to reach a distant alien base in orbit of Saturn. This race, and the political pressures to succeed, leads to near complete disaster for both sides.

The story is quick and an easy read. Fans of A.J. will get to see him step up and reveal a ruthless and somewhat scary side. The boy has become a man. With one exception, even the 'bad' guys are shown to be honorable and are simply doing their best for their country.

Unfortunately, the novel glosses over events at the end of the first book and very much reads as 'filler' until the next novel in the series.

Despite that, it is entertaining and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.