Hellstar

Rating:
Summary: Decent early work
Review: Being a big fan of Perry's "Matador" series, I recently picked up a used copy of "Hellstar". While I enjoyed reading it, I can't really recommend it all that highly.

The book is set on a ship about halfway through a 50+-year journey from earth to Alpha Centauri. The ship is coasting at this point, and weight is provided by a rotating toroid. There are several subcultures specializing in things like working at the hub where there's no gravity, or working outside the ship, but there aren't any radical differences between groups. Most of the first generation crew members are still alive, so the ship still runs reasonably well, and the journey seems to be going pretty smoothly.

Then, of course, strange things start happening. There are weird temporary failures of basic laws of physics, escalating from subatomic particle experiments misbehaving, through failures in coriolis effects and eventually, far more serious things. The reasons for these failures are never really satisfactorily explained. There is some pseduo-physics mumbo-jumbo about macroscopic quantum effects and massless singularites, but it contains more than the usual proportion of handwavium[1].

The "science fiction" aspects of this story are, as a result, somewhat unsatisfactory. The description of the ship itself is good, but the "universe gone mad" eastern philosophy fusion bits really don't quite work. I've seen similar themes handled far better in many other works.

The real strength of the book is when it focuses on martial arts sequences or delves into Zen and the martial arts. There are major subplots involving a serial killer and political intrigue that are really the book's saving graces. Steve Perry has handled both far better in other works, however. You really can't beat his "Matador" series on that score.

I think Michael Reaves may be the weak point here. He was also a collaborator on "The Omega Cage", and that book also has some relatively weak science that detracts from the action. It could also be that this book was written fairly early in both authors' careers, and represents a time when they were still forming their respective styles.

I'd recommend this one only if you've already ready everything in the "Matador" series and are looking for something else by Steve Perry.

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[1] Handwavium: n. 1. Any fictional substance or element used to explain how speculative technology might work. Example: "Dilithium crystals are made of pure handwavium." 2. Any argument known to be in contravention of one or more scientific principles, used to explain a technological plot device in a work of fiction.