Asgard's Secret (The Asgard Trilogy)

Rating:
Summary: thrilling complex SF
Review: Asgard is not a planet, but instead is a man made edifice consisting of a series of shells with spaces called levels between them. Each level contains habitats with their own ecosystem, but no one has found a way to traverse past level five. Levels one through five are for practical purposes dead and no portal to go beyond has been found though various species from across the galaxy have come here seeking the way in to the legendary treasure supposedly at level six and beyond.

Mike Rosseau has been on Asgard for more than twenty-five years seeking the access beyond the known levels. Mike's friend Saul has found the key to level six, but before he can mount an expedition he is killed and the newcomer Myrlin he was mentoring has vanished. Star Forces convince Mike to travel through the levels using Saul's book and glyphs as a guide. They seek the death of Myrlin, an android, who, if not stopped, could end human civilization.

Asgard is a fascinating place with worlds within worlds and by book's end the exciting story line has barely scratched the surface of the artifact sort of like a contained string theory. There is plenty action that in some ways will remind readers of Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. Brian Stableford shows why he is regarded as a grandmaster of science fiction with this terrific novel and it is no secret that more treks to uncover ASGARD'S SECRET will follow soon.

Harriet Klausner