Book Review: Mutiny Springs Eternal by Steven H. Wilson
Approaching the planet Beta Antigone, the Confederate Naval Vessel, Arbiter, discovers the Faraday, a ship that had been missing for a century, lost in interstellar travel through a region called L-Space. Since that time, rumors of mutiny and murder have led to tall tales and even movies about its mixed crew of Quintils (genetically engineered humans) and Leonids, the first alien race encountered by humans.
Captain Jan Atal calls his senior staff to the bridge upon the detection of life forms on Beta Antigone, possible descendants of the Faraday's crew. Atal orders Lieutenant Terry Metcalfe to lead a team consisting of Midshipman Kevin Carson, the captain's daughter Kaya, and Cernaq. The latter is a Phaetonian, a branch of humanity that also happens to be telepathic.
Arriving on the planet, the landing party is greeted by a lovely young woman named Trace, to whom Metcalfe becomes immediately attracted, much to the consternation of Kaya. Trace takes the Arbiters to meet their community leader, L'lanck, a 217-year-old Leonid. It is then that they learn the truth of the Faraday's fate. There was, in fact, a mutiny--led by L'lanck. The ship had been on an archaeological expedition when precious Leonid artifacts had been uncovered. L'lanck and his people wished them to remain on Leonid soil, but the Faraday's human captain, Ian Trat, disregarded the request and stole the artifacts, thus angering the Leonid crew to the point of mutiny. Kaya is immediately disgusted both at L'lanck for taking human lives, but even more so at the deeply religious Metcalfe for showing sympathy for the Leonids' feelings at the violation of their heritage.
After the team splits into pairs to explore the village, a group of Renegades attacks and captures Carson, Kaya, Cernaq and Trace, leaving Metcalfe frustrated and disappointed in what he perceives to be a failure of his first command.
He returns to the Arbiter, taking the elderly and ill L'lanck and his attendants, Dawson and Andrews, to meet Captain Atal. Metcalfe, desperate to return to the surface to find his shipmates, is diverted to explore the Faraday along with Aer'la, a young Varthan that had been bred as a pleasure slave on her planet--a life from which she had managed to escape and join the Arbiter as a Bos'n. The two are forced to look beyond their intense disdain for one another and work together to find clues as to what truly happened on the Faraday 100 years before. While there, Metcalfe discovers that the ship's log had been completely erased, save for a few garbled seconds recorded by the Faraday's captain that speak of dangerous information and immortality.
Meanwhile, using wine laced with tranquilizer, Dawson manages to render Atal, and the Arbiter's wiccan Chief Medical Officer Celia Faulkner, unconscious for six hours during which he manages to lock down the bridge and arrange for more of his fellow Renegades to board the ship using the shuttle. L'lanck is shocked by this betrayal...or is he?
Dawson and the Renegades were well aware that Atal had every intention of rescuing the Faraday's descendants and bring them home, so why would they need control of the Arbiter...unless it isn't the ship they're after. And how are those precious Leonid artifacts linked to Captain Trat's warning about dangerous findings and immortality? For that matter, who erased the Faraday's logs?
Mutiny Springs Eternal does a thorough job of introducing the reader to a cast of unique, credible characters while delivering a fun, solid SF story with a few unexpected twists. Wilson displays considerable world-building prowess as well, but what truly stood out for me were the characters. The senior crewmembers of the Arbiter help one another grow even as each questions and ridicules the beliefs and lifestyles of the other. However, when the situation is dire, they are fiercely loyal to both each other and their captain.
This story was the first episode in Steven H. Wilson's Parsec and Mark Time award-winning SF auldio series, The Arbiter Chronicles . Now, Wilson is releasing these stories as e-novellas on Smashwords and Amazon. Mutiny Springs Eternal is available now on Smashwords for .99 cents and also from Amazon . I highly recommend these adventures. At.99 cents each, how can you go wrong?
Captain Jan Atal calls his senior staff to the bridge upon the detection of life forms on Beta Antigone, possible descendants of the Faraday's crew. Atal orders Lieutenant Terry Metcalfe to lead a team consisting of Midshipman Kevin Carson, the captain's daughter Kaya, and Cernaq. The latter is a Phaetonian, a branch of humanity that also happens to be telepathic.
Arriving on the planet, the landing party is greeted by a lovely young woman named Trace, to whom Metcalfe becomes immediately attracted, much to the consternation of Kaya. Trace takes the Arbiters to meet their community leader, L'lanck, a 217-year-old Leonid. It is then that they learn the truth of the Faraday's fate. There was, in fact, a mutiny--led by L'lanck. The ship had been on an archaeological expedition when precious Leonid artifacts had been uncovered. L'lanck and his people wished them to remain on Leonid soil, but the Faraday's human captain, Ian Trat, disregarded the request and stole the artifacts, thus angering the Leonid crew to the point of mutiny. Kaya is immediately disgusted both at L'lanck for taking human lives, but even more so at the deeply religious Metcalfe for showing sympathy for the Leonids' feelings at the violation of their heritage.
After the team splits into pairs to explore the village, a group of Renegades attacks and captures Carson, Kaya, Cernaq and Trace, leaving Metcalfe frustrated and disappointed in what he perceives to be a failure of his first command.
He returns to the Arbiter, taking the elderly and ill L'lanck and his attendants, Dawson and Andrews, to meet Captain Atal. Metcalfe, desperate to return to the surface to find his shipmates, is diverted to explore the Faraday along with Aer'la, a young Varthan that had been bred as a pleasure slave on her planet--a life from which she had managed to escape and join the Arbiter as a Bos'n. The two are forced to look beyond their intense disdain for one another and work together to find clues as to what truly happened on the Faraday 100 years before. While there, Metcalfe discovers that the ship's log had been completely erased, save for a few garbled seconds recorded by the Faraday's captain that speak of dangerous information and immortality.
Meanwhile, using wine laced with tranquilizer, Dawson manages to render Atal, and the Arbiter's wiccan Chief Medical Officer Celia Faulkner, unconscious for six hours during which he manages to lock down the bridge and arrange for more of his fellow Renegades to board the ship using the shuttle. L'lanck is shocked by this betrayal...or is he?
Dawson and the Renegades were well aware that Atal had every intention of rescuing the Faraday's descendants and bring them home, so why would they need control of the Arbiter...unless it isn't the ship they're after. And how are those precious Leonid artifacts linked to Captain Trat's warning about dangerous findings and immortality? For that matter, who erased the Faraday's logs?
Mutiny Springs Eternal does a thorough job of introducing the reader to a cast of unique, credible characters while delivering a fun, solid SF story with a few unexpected twists. Wilson displays considerable world-building prowess as well, but what truly stood out for me were the characters. The senior crewmembers of the Arbiter help one another grow even as each questions and ridicules the beliefs and lifestyles of the other. However, when the situation is dire, they are fiercely loyal to both each other and their captain.
This story was the first episode in Steven H. Wilson's Parsec and Mark Time award-winning SF auldio series, The Arbiter Chronicles . Now, Wilson is releasing these stories as e-novellas on Smashwords and Amazon. Mutiny Springs Eternal is available now on Smashwords for .99 cents and also from Amazon . I highly recommend these adventures. At.99 cents each, how can you go wrong?
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