Coyote Rising (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "At first, Fernando Baptiste didn't realize he was being spoken to; his attention was on the lunar landscape passing by the maglev..." (more)
Key Phrases: faux birch, social collectivism, universal transformation, New Florida, Rigil Kent, Union Guard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hugo-winner Steele's stirring second entry in the interstellar frontier saga that began with Coyote (2002) dramatizes the growing tensions between groups of pioneers on Coyote, a recently discovered world in the 47 Ursae Majoris system. Coyote's first settlers fled tyranny on Earth, so they're disconcerted by the arrival of starships full of colonists sent by a different dictatorship. Unavoidable conflict between the people who want to be left alone and those who need to dominate leads to intrigue, raids and eventually full-scale revolt. Perhaps inevitably (since it was first published as a series of stories in Asimov's), the novel deals with scattered episodes from that struggle, so that characters appear, perform some necessary action, and vanish just as readers have gotten interested in them. However, Steele presents his characters convincingly enough to account for their selfless or calculating behavior, and it makes sense for the story to focus on larger social evolution rather than individuals. In any event, the book's real center is its setting. Coyote offers forests, mountains, prairies, rivers in a panorama strange enough to rouse awe, vast enough to give all manner of humans room to find themselves. Happily, by the end the little war is finished, but this big, wonderful world is still waiting to be explored.
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From Booklist

The settlers on Coyote from the starship Alabama have a problem. Their fellow humans have followed them and now threaten their refuge with overpopulation and authoritarian governments. Under the name Rigil Kent, Carlos Montero is trying to assemble the human and other resources for a revolution, for which Captain R. E. Lee survives as an inspiring symbol. Meanwhile, the Reverend Zoltan Shirow contributes intelligently depicted messianic fervor to public life, with consequences yet to be determined. Those three characters, a good many lesser ones, and the situation as a whole smack distinctly of Heinlein, especially in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966), and the book is not entirely free of libertarian preaching. On the other hand, it is full of good and even vivid writing, so readers who don't reject on philosophical grounds the strand of the sf heritage that its proclivities represent may thoroughly enjoy it. Such nonrejecting readers are numerous; after all, Steele has two reader-bestowed Hugos to his credit. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover (December 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441012051
• ISBN-13: 978-0441012053
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #771,954 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interstellar Rebellion, November 14, 2006

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

This review is from: Coyote Rising (Mass Market Paperback)

Coyote Rising (2004) is the second SF novel in the Coyote trilogy, following Coyote itself. In the previous volume, five years after the arrival of the URSS Alabama, the WHSS Seeking Glorious Destiny Among the Stars for the Greater Good of Social Collectivism arrived in the 47 Ursae Majoris system carrying colonists and Matriarch Luisa Hernandez. After Mayor Lee met with the Matriarch on her ship, the Alabama colonists fled New Florida, leaving the town of Liberty stripped and deserted, and disappeared into the wilds of Midland.

The Western Hemisphere Union has sent five colony ships to 47 Ursae Majoris. The Glorious Destiny brought a thousand colonists and Union Guard to Coyote, as did New Frontiers, Long Journey, Magnificent Voyage and Spirit. Coyote has not become overcrowded, but Liberty definitely becomes overpopulated and many colonists were forced to camp in the Shuttlefield slums.

In this novel, Allegra DiSilvio arrives on Coyote in the Long Voyage. She is a composer who has been blocked from her creativity and has come to this distant planet looking for new sources of inspiration. After a long and futile search for a place to pitch her tent, she finally sets up near a swamp. Her neighbor is Cecelia -- Sissy -- Levin, mother of the Chief Proctor. Allegra gains Sissy's trust, makes a flute for her, and is soon teaching Sissy to play the instrument.

Benjamin Harlan is intrigued by a religious cult that comes to Coyote on the Magnificent Voyage. The cult leader, Reverend Zoltan Shirow, claims to be a prophet of the Universal Transformation. He looks like a bat, with wings and an animalistic face. However, Ben has his eyes mostly on Greer, a very good looking woman who seems to like him.

James Alonzo Garcia was a famous architect prior to his conscription for the Coyote Colony. He arrives on Magnificent Voyage and is quickly put to work designing a township for Shuttlefield. After the Matriarch approves his plans, Garcia is given the task of designing a bridge over the East Channel connecting New Florida to Midland.

Clark Thompson is a former colonel in the Union Guard. After arriving on Coyote, he soon leaves Shuttlefield and founds the hamlet of Thompson's Ferry. When Allegra, Sissy and other members of the Coyote Wood Ensemble arrive at his village after fleeing from the Matriarch, Thompson sends them across the ferry to Midland. Then he prepares his militia for the Union Guard troopers that are following the musicians.

Captain Fernando Baptiste is commanding officer of the Spirit of Social Collectivism Carried to the Stars. When the revolution begins, his ship is the only Union vessel in orbit around Coyote. Since Captain Baptiste is the senior officer present, he commands all military forces in the system.

This story is about the revolution of the Alabama colonist against the Matriarch and the WHU. The Union Guard outnumber the rebels and have heavier equipment. The satellite communications system aboard the URSS Alabama, has been disabled. The only advantages the rebels have are a better knowledge of the terrain and the planet itself.

This novel is based on eight short stories published in Asimov's SF Magazine between May 2003 and December 2004. These stories are arranged in chronological order, with each depicting a scenario in the evolution of the Coyote Federation. The next volume in this trilogy is Coyote Frontier.

Highly recommended for Steele fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of space colonization and the fight for independence.

-Arthur W. Jordin

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chock full of fascinating characters and vivid descriptions , January 22, 2005

By	Bookreporter.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

Hugo Award-winning author Allen Steele follows up his imaginative novel COYOTE with the sequel, COYOTE RISING. I've read all of Allen Steele's novels and most of his short stories. Why? Because he never disappoints. Steele's stories always have the ring of truth because he populates them with believable characters, fast-paced plots, and technology that is understandable to the average Joe. All of these traits are in abundance in COYOTE RISING.

In the first novel, a group of interstellar colonists hijack a prototype starship named Alabama and flee a right-wing dictatorship to settle on the distant planet Coyote. Coyote is a harsh world with long and bitter winters and dangerous wildlife. The struggle to set up the first human colony on this planet is fraught with peril and makes for a great read. Steele recaps events from COYOTE nicely in COYOTE RISING, but I recommend reading the original first. It's like watching The Empire Strikes Back --- you don't need to see Star Wars to get it, but you will enjoy it more if you do.

In COYOTE, the first settlers fled tyranny on Earth and fought hard to explore the new world and build the settlement of Liberty. But the rulers of Earth have not given up on Coyote. They cannot. A majority of Earth has become uninhabitable, so mankind needs a new home. At the end of COYOTE, more spaceships are sent to Coyote with colonists and soldiers. The original settlers don't take too kindly to these interlopers led by tyrannical colonial governor Matriarch Luisa Hernandez, so they abandon Liberty and set up a new colony.

COYOTE RISING picks up from there, with the newcomers living in the now overcrowded Shuttlefield that has cropped up next to Liberty. Steele's strength is writing about things you actually believe can happen. The colonists are limited in what they can bring to the new world, so they must use the planet's natural resources. Most of the colonists live a brutal frontier life that many modern-day people would find unbearable.

The climate and wildlife on the planet Coyote are bad enough, but the new colonists also must deal with the oppressive Matriarch Hernandez who rules with an iron fist. Many newcomers abandon their miserable situation and join the rebels --- aka, the original colonists Steele introduced to us in COYOTE. Hernandez eventually pushes the rebels too far. Led by Alabama's Captain Robert E. Lee and Coyote's first explorer, Carlos Montero, the rebels lead a revolution to free Coyote from the new oppressive government. Steele is a talented action scene writer. They unfold at logical points and help move the plot. They aren't there only for the sake of action. He puts you into the minds of the characters and the heat of battle with just enough of the right details.

The novel is chock full of fascinating characters and vivid descriptions of this alien world. However, I did have one small problem. Both novels began as short stories serialized in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. Throughout both novels, it feels like you're reading a series of short stories with a common backdrop. Readers are reintroduced to characters they have met before and some of the previous action is recapped several times --- making redundancy and repetition an issue. However, this is a minor flaw and I still thoroughly enjoyed COYOTE RISING. In fact, on some level it was interesting to see the same event explained from different characters' viewpoints.

I read most of COYOTE RISING in a small Laundromat not far from my apartment in Los Angeles. The novel whisked me away from the dreary setting and transported me to the world of Coyote. I was so completely lost in the story of old characters like Carlos Montero and new characters like prophet Zoltan Shirow that I didn't hear the buzzer when my laundry was done. So if you're looking for a good read that will let you escape this world for a new one, then pick up COYOTE RISING.

--- Reviewed by Sean Doorly

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What is Freedom Worth?, September 25, 2006

By	J. Brian Watkins (San Dimas, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This second installment in the Coyote trilogy was every bit as enjoyable as the first. In "Coyote" Mr. Steele presents the story of the first interstellar colonization, cast in a light similar to that of the American Revolution. The intrepid colonists have managed to escape a repressive right-wing government only to find that they must now defend their freedoms against the efforts of a left-wing government (that has arisen to power in the 200 or so years that have passed on earth) to subjugate the colonists and reap the benefits of the new world via slave labor. Owing to time-dilation inherent in the travel between the stars, Steele is able to have his original colonists face yet another repressive government and he makes excellent use of the themes and characters presented in Coyote.

The Coyote trilogy belongs to the adventure genre rather than that of science-fiction. Sure, there are some elements of science fiction, but this is purely a story of colonization and discovery--discovery not only of geography but of the importance of good government and leadership. Adventure seems to have fallen out of favor. Our world is too well understood to support adventure tales. Honestly, can anyone even get lost anymore? If so, where is your cell phone? No, adventure these days requires either an alternate history, a third-world militaristic setting, or going beyond the moon. Want to go to Everest? Hire a guide and get in line. Want to go to space? Join the crowds. How about the exotic South Pacific--boring, Survivor has been there and done that. Our world has lost the spirit of discovery. We have become more worried about disturbing the local flora and fauna than seeing new sights and paving new trails. Accordingly, we need to get our butts into space and recapture the spirit of the western expansion. But enough philosophizing...

Not only has discovery become passe, we have also forgotten the importance of fighting for what we believe in. In our astonishingly successful economy it has become more important to consume than to discover--more important to celebrate diversity than to seek after truth. Too many have bought into the fallacy that all forms of government are acceptable--as long as our oil remains cheap. In the adventure genre our heroes fight for important things--they take risks and explore new places and ideas. We need much more of this kind of literature.