“Let’s stick to governments,” Hanna said. “Letting lovers have it would be much too dangerous.”
Space Heroes Wed
June 4, 2378: An estimated viewing audience of three billion people watched the celebrated spacers of Golden Hind tie the knot today at the Illimani Paradiso in La Paz, Bolivia, one year to the day after their return from exoplanet Cacafuego. Former Captain Jordan Spears and Prospectors Seth Broderick and Meredith Tsukuba exchanged vows in a three-way civil ceremony attended in person by only a few close family members and former crewmates.
Invitations specified nineteenth century costume. Plog star Broderick was appropriately dressed as Victorian explorer Henry Morton Stanley, the man who rescued Dr Livingstone, and the brides wore crinolines of white starsilk, topped with diamond tiaras.
The happy trio later left for an undisclosed destination, rumored to be either Mr. Broderick’s nuclear-powered yacht or his recently purchased castle in the Italian Alps.
Review
“What an excellent read! This book is fast paced and gripping. It is set in a well thought out world with interesting and complex characters in a challenging situation. It is a feast for the imagination — thoughtful with parallels in modern life on the nature of race and prejudice.”
“…when you’re looking for a good adventure, Dave Duncan is a sure thing. Mostly in fantasy, but he can certainly do SF as well, & Pock’s World is a good example of his sly & fast paced plotting, his ability to construct intriguingly different worlds, & his knack for quick & entertaining characterization & dialogue. All in all, it’s a fun read, with just a little hidden kick of ethical philosophizing about the future of post-humanity (although he’d never use such a term).”
“Prolific Canadian author Dave Duncan provides an interesting view of people and landscapes in Pock’s World. Some aspects resemble human adaptations of Paul McAuley’s The Quiet War and Gardens of the Sun. Duncan adds his own touch with super intelligent aliens created from human genomes. Because of one discovered on Pock’s World, the galaxy space agency, STARS, plans to sterilize the planet and kill all the people on it to stop the aliens polluting the galaxy.”
“Dave Duncan writes rollicking adventure novels filled with subtle characterization and made bitter-sweet by an underlying darkness. Without striving for grand effects or momentous meetings between genres, he has produced one excellent book after another.”
“Dave Duncan has long been one of the great unsung figures of Canadian fantasy and science fiction, graced with a fertile imagination, a prolific output, and keen writerly skills. With this new novel, Duncan again forges a bold new world, populated with varied and complex characters, distinctive cultures, and a complex system of mythology and science.”
“Duncan writes with unusual flair, drawing upon folklore, myth, and his gift for creating ingenious plots.”
Copyright
Copyright© 2012 by Dave Duncan
Published by E-Reads. All rights reserved.
Cover illustration by Ralph Kermunski