Ctein

Part first-contact sci fi, part political thriller, and entirely fun to read. Sandford, the author of the popular Lucas Davenport suspense series, has found himself a whole new niche in which he will be successful, and the book is a natural for film, to boot.

It's about 50 years in the future and the US and China are still at it. China is building a ship to colonize Mars when a US observer notices an interstellar ship approach the rings of Saturn and park next to a previously unnoticed alien show more artifact. The US alters the space station and China repurposes its ship, and the race for first contact is on. Political intrigue between the two countries (and ships) is intense and leads to dangerous espionage and a desperate race. What they find is enough to change humanity's view of itself in the universe (although, truthfully, that aspect of the story isn't really addressed). The science is interesting (I can't judge whether it's accurate), and the story moves right along through preparations, the journey, and the discoveries made. Characterization is largely ignored here, but in suspense that isn't necessarily a negative. It's the action that's important, and here there is plenty. show less

John Sandford is probably my favorite detective fiction author. His Lucas Davenport series and his Virgil Flowers series are both consistently good. So I was amazed when I found he had co-authored a science fiction novel.
It's a suspense novel set 50 years in the future in the context of a race between the US and China to reach the site amid the rings of Saturn where telescopes had detected the landing (and subsequent departure) of what could only be an alien spacecraft. And it's a good read. show more The characters are intriguing (the US President is a total bitch) and the action is gripping. What the competing teams of astronauts discover at the site is totally mind blowing.
And the science underlying the technology that underlies the space travel appears to be sound. A lengthy appendix documents the propulsion technologies used by the two teams. Whoever co-author Ctein is he seems to know his stuff.
A good read. But still not as good as a fresh Davenport or Flowers book would have been. show less

After scientists detect a spaceship entering Saturn's orbit, the Chinese and the Americans race to get their own manned crafts to Saturn to find out who the aliens are. The political maneuvering and ultimate question of what the scientific discovery means for the balance of power on earth are covered in the discussions among the characters in a very realistic (and humorous) way. I read this because it is by John Sandford, and I liked it way more than I thought I would. There is a great cast show more of characters which you would expect in a Sandford novel. I can't judge how accurate the scientific spacy kind of details were, but they fit as far as I could tell. show less

Just about every enjoyable aspect of 1970s science fiction is dragged out of the cliché cupboard, given a 21st century splash of dazzle and delivered here with dash and panache. There’s stacks of solid science, credibly extended into the realm of speculation without breaking (or even mildly infuriating) the laws of physics, and deftly rendered easily digestible by John Sandford’s superlative story-telling skills.

The fascinating science stuff is attached to a pretty geopolitical problem, show more and the thrill of maybe meeting aliens for the first time. The authors assemble a credible cast of characters and then ramp up the tension by turning the perilous trip to Saturn into a flat-out race between the American and the Chinese nations.

There's precious little new here; all this has been done before, even down to using ion cannons for propulsion. But there are some nifty twists in the narrative and Sandford’s excellent dialogue makes the tense exchanges between staffers, spacemen, engineers, journos, spooks and politicians both rippingly entertaining and entirely believable. His characters behave, pretty much, like real people – even the super-smart science guys and the glossy, ambitious embedded reporters.

I also struggled slightly with how far ahead the novel is set (2066) yet how little progress had been made. Folks are still using ‘slates’ and have ‘wrist wraps’ to alert them; tech which is doable right now. It’s hard to credit that in another half century, tech development will have slowed so much – even allowing for a couple of major future history events which the authors cannily hint at, but never quite explain.

On any level, Saturn Run is a romp. It’s smart, well informed, and constructed to make the pages fly by. Every stage brings an intriguing revelation, and it certainly succeeds in making a slow-motion race (where neither party knows if the other has a lethal trick up a sleeve) utterly gripping. It may not do much new, but it does everything extremely well.
8/10

There's more on this book and similar titles at
https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress.com/2015/12/26/saturn-run-the-science-of-f... show less