Sunday, January 18, 2009

Prophets-S. Andrew Swann

Prophets
S. Andrew Swann
Daw, Mar 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780756405410

By 2525, two centuries have past since the collapse of the Confederacy civilization. From those ruins two major rivals form: The Roman Catholic Church and the Eridani Caliphate compete for dominance on earth and on other planets in other solar systems. Both groups believe there are lost colonies in space who prefer not to belong to either power; instead they keep low profiles hoping nether empire find the needle in the haystack. However, a super intelligent AI who can pass as human has noticed an anomaly in the star Xi Virginis sector.

The AI Tjele Mosasa is headquartered on the planet Bakunin. Since an AI is banned in most places as are self-replicating nanotech and genetically engineered sentient beings, Masassa arranges to have mercenaries Nikolai the descendent of genetically engineered tigers and Julia Kugara, a genetically engineered human, as well as Father Francis Mallory join his expedition to Xi Virginis; there he plans to investigate the anomaly. When they arrive at their destination, they are greeted by the vanishing of the star and a saboteur’s explosion on board their ship cripples the vessel. The survivors make an emergency landing on the xenophobic planet Salmagundi.

The first book in the Apotheosis saga sets the slope for the next tale Heretics while containing an action-packed futuristic science fiction. The story line is told from many viewpoints so readers obtain a 360 degree perspective of what is happening though that somewhat subtracts from character development yet enables the audience to understand how different factions perceive reality. S. Andrew Swann provides an intriguing look into life a half millennium from now.

Harriet Klausner

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