Rating: 
Summary: From the Winner of the FIRST Heinlein Award!
Review: As many writers that have been compared to Robert Heinlein only to fall short of The Master's works, Michael Flynn is the ONLY one to actually have the credentials to claim this exalted place in Sci-Fi, having received the FIRST Heinlein Award for writings in hard Sci-Fi, voted this new honor by a panel of judges including some of the greatest authorial names in modern Sci-Fi Literature!(See at www.heinleinsociety.org)
I recall having seen Rogue Star(along with the other tomes in the quadrilogy) on the bookstore shelves for years, and am at a loss that I waited until learning of Flynn' Award to finally try his work. As Heinlein did, and all too few have done since, Michael Flynn has written about the near future as if he had his own Time Machine and is returning with reports of what he has seen himself!
To quote Poul Anderson, legendary giant of Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre, "Firestar was a mighty hard act to follow, but Michael Flynn has done so, and brilliantly! Rogue Star continues the story, with the same imaginative realism, suspenseful narration, and vivid humanness, plus all sorts of new ideas and insights."If you are contemplating reading this excellent quadrilogy, buy them ALL, so you don't have to wait for delivery between volumes, and be prepared to set aside any other tomes until you finish the series!
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the 'Sci' part of the SciFi.
Review: Boring. Very little science in this science fiction book. The reviewers on the back cover must not have read the same version of this book that I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Tales of obsession and a vision for mankind's future.
Review: Continuing the storylines begun in FIRESTAR, Michael F. Flynn once again wraps the reader in multiple storylines revolving around one woman's obsessive desire to protect Earth from potential killer asteroid impacts, while getting mankind back into space through corporate means rather than government subsidy. The plots are all fairly straight forward and well told, but the obsessiveness of 90% of the characters in this testosterone laden tale creates a bleak picture of mankind. All the men seem to be cheating on their wives, everyone carries around hidden agendas and obsessions with either their own self importance or their hatred of others. Still, Flynn's vision and strong voice do make this a book worth spending some time with. The U.S. space program, educational institutes and corporate America could learn valuable lessons from his masterful speculations.
Rating: 
Summary: Partial success; mainly falls short
Review: Flynn's sequel, as other reviewers have noted, is overly long with too little meat. The repeated angst of several characters becomes deadening, and the long expositions of satellite construction, etc., are often mind-numbingly detailed and irrelevant. As an excuse, I suppose Flynn tried to give a flavor of life in space. But it made me tend to skip over paragraphs to move on to more interesting sections. Contrary to reviewer kevind's observation, this book is rather a thorough-going libertarian tract. Especially objectionable is the hugely Machiavellian and immoral scheme attributed to the noted and otherwise highly decent consumer advocate of great integrity, Phil Albright. While such individuals in our society may be savvy politically and tough competitors, the likelihood of a sub rosa scheme provoking politicians not in one's pocket to engage in dastardly behavior of such magnitude is quite unbelievable. The President's scheme for a space-based military laser is also quite unbelievable, given the legal and treaty violations involved and the inevitable political consequences and loss of reputation, not to say the international peril as a result. (Sidebar: the Balkans, while politically volatile, are unlikely to come apart as Flynn envisaged.) As minor but annoying, like so many SF writers, Flynn mishandles Russian and Hispanic naming conventions and, perhaps from a meagerness of imagination, draws on famous family names from history for his characters: Marshal Kutuzov of the Napoleonic Wars, and Lady Murasaki no Shikibu, writer of Tokugawa Japan. These names are not particularly frequent in their respective societies; one wonders why the author couldn't have been a bit more creative. Flynn has left us with the tantalizing open issue of whether asteroids' orbits are being modified to target Earth. If he can make this an interesting theme in the final book of the trilogy without the weary, belabored "human interest" threads, the third volume might be a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: Partial success; mainly falls short
Review: Flynn's sequel, as other reviewers have noted, is overly long with too little meat. The repeated angst of several characters becomes deadening, and the long expositions of satellite construction, etc., are often mind-numbingly detailed and irrelevant. As an excuse, I suppose Flynn tried to give a flavor of life in space. But it made me tend to skip over paragraphs to move on to more interesting sections. Contrary to reviewer kevind's observation, this book is rather a thorough-going libertarian tract. Especially objectionable is the hugely Machiavellian and immoral scheme attributed to the noted and otherwise highly decent consumer advocate of great integrity, Phil Albright. While such individuals in our society may be savvy politically and tough competitors, the likelihood of a sub rosa scheme provoking politicians not in one's pocket to engage in dastardly behavior of such magnitude is quite unbelievable. The President's scheme for a space-based military laser is also quite unbelievable, given the legal and treaty violations involved and the inevitable political consequences and loss of reputation, not to say the international peril as a result. (Sidebar: the Balkans, while politically volatile, are unlikely to come apart as Flynn envisaged.) As minor but annoying, like so many SF writers, Flynn mishandles Russian and Hispanic naming conventions and, perhaps from a meagerness of imagination, draws on famous family names from history for his characters: Marshal Kutuzov of the Napoleonic Wars, and Lady Murasaki no Shikibu, writer of Tokugawa Japan. These names are not particularly frequent in their respective societies; one wonders why the author couldn't have been a bit more creative. Flynn has left us with the tantalizing open issue of whether asteroids' orbits are being modified to target Earth. If he can make this an interesting theme in the final book of the trilogy without the weary, belabored "human interest" threads, the third volume might be a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: Solid everyday possible future that brings Sci-fi home
Review: Good follow up to Firestar. The Sci-Fi in this book could well become reality and makes one understand the need for a different route to space other than the one we are on. Science Fiction might be the wrong moniker for this book, perhaps adventure...Can't wait for Lodestar...
Rating:
Summary: Second in the series
Review: Good SiFi and political intrigue on a universal level. If you read Firestar than you must read Roguestar . Lots of return characters might make this a difficult book to read without first reading the first novel in the series though. A good introduction of new characters make me hope they are continued in the Loadstar release. Flynn does use some made up words that have not come true and it's too bad that PDA couldn't have been inserted for 'clipcuter'. I also wonder what the heck 'herbert' is. Perhaps I'm not cool enough to know? elle in orygun
Rating:
Summary: Second in the series
Review: Good SiFi and political intrigue on a universal level. If you read Firestar than you must read Roguestar . Lots of return characters might make this a difficult book to read without first reading the first novel in the series though. A good introduction of new characters make me hope they are continued in the Loadstar release. Flynn does use some made up words that have not come true and it's too bad that PDA couldn't have been inserted for 'clipcuter'. I also wonder what the heck 'herbert' is. Perhaps I'm not cool enough to know? elle in orygun
Rating:
Summary: Yes, dull
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer who wrote, "in a word- dull". I really enjoyed the previous book in the series, Firestar, but this one drags on waaaay too long (which is strange, because it's shorter than Firestar, but seems much longer), and too litle or no end. A big disapointment.
Rating:
Summary: A Long Week
Review: I picked up Rogue Star at the bookstore one weekend, not knowing what it entailed. Although part of a series, Flynn does well to keep new readers in the loop about what is going on. Readers who are new to the series can dive in with this book without feeling lost. Unfortunately, I found the book lacked a great deal of intensity. There are multiple character story lines, but it is a terribly long read with not much in the way of plot development along the way. Although charcters develop over the course of the book, we're still left wondering why it takes 500 pages to get to the bulk of the plot. If you're looking for an epic and enjoy a fairly "true to life" outer space experience, this is for you. Otherwise I recommend to steer clear!
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