Orphans of Earth [Format Kindle]

Orphans of Earth is the second novel in this new series. In the previous novel, human civilization in the Solar System has been wiped out by the Starfish aliens and some human colonies were also destroyed. The only surviving full human, Caryl Hatzis, has joined Peter Alander's engram in warning the remaining human colonies in the path of the Spinners.

In this novel, they acquire more FTL ships and start organizing the survivors. Caryl is secretly enhancing her engrams with intent to form another personality gestalt. Alander's only other known engram is destroyed. Alander joins the Hatzis engram from Thor in surveying systems in the Spinners path and discover a secret engram colony based on the personality of a project administrator, Frank Axford, who stole a colony ship and has since replicated his engram many times. Since the original was a army general officer and CIA administrator, Axford has a different attitude toward both sets of aliens and has uncovered a few techniques unknown to the other human colonies. Axford has also discovered that the anomalous ship settings are caused by a third set of aliens, the Yuhn/goel, and wants to ally with them against the Starfish.

The Starfish have changed tactics somewhat, still attacking systems where FTL communicators are used, but now are also following up with random seaches of nearby systems. They are gradually sterilizing the whole volume of space in the Spinners path. All the human colonies are threatened. Will the Yuan become allies and help strike back against the Starfish?

This novel continues to be as exciting and immediate as the first. Enjoy, but stay tuned for the sequel.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Having felt a little nonplussed with the way the ending of the first book of the Orphan Trilogy, "Echoes of Earth" I was bowled over by this sequel- absolutely brilliant from start to finish! Just when I think it is getting harder for SF writers to come up with something gripping and original, Williams and Dix have done it in this book. There are numerous plot twists throughout, and many, many, MANY great ideas and 'didn't think that would happen' twists.

Probably the thing I liked best about this book though were the characters - they were real. Too many authors nowadays seem to have 'flawed' characters who obsess endlessly about their neuroses and you just want to smack some common sense into them. Instead, Williams and Dix have characters with some doozy of problems, and they way they deal with them are probably no different to the way the average person would deal with them. It makes it so much easier to relate to the characters!

Having stuck with Williams and Dix through the Evergence series (felt a little rough around the edges, although still an extremely good and novel series) I am so glad to see this partnership seriously hitting its stride now. These guys are great and I look forward to reading the final book and any new stuff, especially as so many of my other favourite authors are not producing so much anymore... Thank goodness there are still some excellent SF writers popping up!

This is the second book in Williams/Dix' presumably three-part EARTH series, and you are well advised to read "Echoes of Earth" first if you want to understand, let alone enjoy, the story. Williams/Dix' delicious obsession with artificial intelligence and the evolution of the human species was a sort of trademark of EVERGENCE. In their OF EARTH series they don't shy away from continuing to chart the most extreme - and often distinctly uncomfortable - but frighteningly realistic options humanity may face, but they are able to spin a golden-age yarn of intrigue and interstellar warfare around it that makes their work so spellbinding. The result is a tour de force combination of a Kurzweil/Penrose scientific analysis, embedded in a sweeping Poul Anderson/Asimov/Star Wars space opera.

What makes "Orphans of Earth" so fascinating, however, also makes it somewhat flawed. The scientific foundations are stronger here than in EVERGENCE, and while it helps establish a very strong sense of reality, it also weighs down the novel a bit. Thankfully, in "Orphans..." the Planck system is pushed in the back to allow more room for character development and a plot that never stops growing in complexity. Still, at times the narrative gets bogged down in insignificant details; at other places the authors seem to end up with completely nonsensical sentences, so over-complicated and obfuscating that one can only hope they were written as such intentionally; and regrettably, the grammar and spell-checking leaves some to be desired as well, especially in the second half. Overall, "Orphans of Earth" is still a thoroughly satisfying read that you will find nearly impossible to put down - but it is also exhausting, and demands strong concentration.

Finally, I thought the pair has always been a bit weak on endings (and the conclusion of EVERGENCE provided clear evidence for that) which makes me fear how they wrap up this trilogy. Still, I can hardly wait for the last book to be published...