SPINNERET

by Timothy Zahn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1985

An inventive and modestly intriguing mysterious-alien-gizmo saga which, like A Coming of Age (1984), suffers from Zahn's strained, superficial, pulpish treatment. When humans first venture into interstellar space, they find dozens of habitable planets--all of them already occupied or colonized by various alien races. But, back on earth, population pressures are Critical: finally the alien Rooshrike agree to lease Astra, a lifeless, metal-less, but habitable world. Under UN auspices--the UN by this time has acquired economic superpower status--a colony is established on Astra. Soon, however, all the metal that the colonists have brought with them--including trace-metal fertilizer for crops--vanishes weirdly into the ground. Later, a nearby ""volcano"" expels into space a length of metallic cable with very strange properties. What's going on? Well, the humans have stumbled on a vast, abandoned but still functioning alien machine; the cable produced by the ""spinneret,"" with hundreds of potential applications, is enormously valuable. So, the colonist's leader, Colonel Meredith, must play the various aliens off against one another (paying them in lengths of cable) in order to prevent an invasion. Next, the UN, headed by bad-guy empire-builders, tries to muscle in and make a separate deal with the alien Ctencri; the colonists react by declaring independence--which gives them time to explore the alien Spinner artifacts and manuever a permanent--and profitable--standoff. Passable entertainment, overall, in a brisk, slick, package--and the fans won't be deterred by the cardboard characters, iffy science, implausible politicking, and several alien species too many.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bluejay--dist. by St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1985

Categories: FICTION