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Gigaparsec #1
Void Contract
Max Culp escaped his low-tech home world by serving in the marines as a medic. Unable to adapt to civilian life as a medical intern, he joined Special Forces to track down the Phib war criminals who caused his recurring nightmares. By the time the final Phib is captured, Max has become an urban legend among the aliens. He isn’t sure how to apply those skills to a new life until someone kidnaps his last surviving friend.
This series continues the story of humanity’s expansion into galactic space 400 years after the Jezebel’s Ladder series left off. Fans of Heinlein, Star Wars, and Babylon 5 should enjoy this action-filled quest to other planets.
This series continues the story of humanity’s expansion into galactic space 400 years after the Jezebel’s Ladder series left off. Fans of Heinlein, Star Wars, and Babylon 5 should enjoy this action-filled quest to other planets.
- GenresScience Fiction
262 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
14 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
About the author
Scott Rhine
39 books57 followersScott Rhine wanted to find a job that combined his love of reading with math problem solving, so he studied both short stories and computer languages. As a techno-gypsy, he worked on optimizing some of the fastest and largest supercomputers in the world. A couple of degrees, patents, and children later, at forty-eight, he still didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up. When his third publication "Doors to Eternity" unexpectedly hit #16 on the Amazon epic fantasy list, he decided to retire from engineering in order to become a full-time author. Humor is a part of every story he writes because people are funny, even when they don't think so. In the real world, something always goes wrong and people have flaws. If you can't laugh at yourself, someone is probably doing it for you. Strong female characters also play a major role in his stories because he's married to a beautiful PhD who can edit, break boards, and use a chainsaw.
Leave comments on his wall at http://www.facebook.com/ScottRhineBooks
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 18, 2015
This book is REALLY far out (to borrow from the slang of many years ago).
This book has borrowed much of the art of w airfare and advanced technology and blended it with believable human and otherwise characters to create an adventure built on the past, but rocketing to the future using a unusual blend of characters with unusual and necessary skills to bring a long war to an end in both clandestine and spectacular events.
This establishes the scenario for the sequels to explode as the small group of sentient beings learn to thrive and survive in a unique and alien ship that has been rescued while most of the rescuers are being rescued, with most willingly joining the "crew".
The plot has the glorious twists, tweaks, and hiccups that make real life fascinating and scary to those deep in it, but is not as common in fantasy and science fiction genres, making this a must read series if you have any interest at all in theoretical consciousness expansion without the drugs frequently used by those that overused the phrase "far out" in everyday conversation. This book will go far on its own.
This book has borrowed much of the art of w airfare and advanced technology and blended it with believable human and otherwise characters to create an adventure built on the past, but rocketing to the future using a unusual blend of characters with unusual and necessary skills to bring a long war to an end in both clandestine and spectacular events.
This establishes the scenario for the sequels to explode as the small group of sentient beings learn to thrive and survive in a unique and alien ship that has been rescued while most of the rescuers are being rescued, with most willingly joining the "crew".
The plot has the glorious twists, tweaks, and hiccups that make real life fascinating and scary to those deep in it, but is not as common in fantasy and science fiction genres, making this a must read series if you have any interest at all in theoretical consciousness expansion without the drugs frequently used by those that overused the phrase "far out" in everyday conversation. This book will go far on its own.
June 17, 2015
I have to admit, this was a pretty darn good book once it got going. It was a little slow at the beginning since I had to get familiar with the characters who all are aliens, well, almost all.
The initial scene starts with a mission. You have to get situational awareness really quick because you’re introduced to Max Culp as the main guy, but he apparently is working for or with a bunch of Saurians. Saurians are like big lizards while Max is just a human that has some really good multi-species medical skills. He can patch up about anything. The mission they are on is to take out some kind of Phib compound. This Phib is a drug smuggler as well as a war criminal so he’s wanted by the Union for a lot of different things. Read the book to find out just what a Phib is.
The action is pretty fast at the beginning and kind of hard to keep up with, but it gets to the point of showing that Max is also an exception to the rule about humans and other species. It seems like most humans and other species have some kind psi abilities which enables them to notice other living creatures. So, those who have a high psi ability are now used as sentries since they can detect a heartbeat several miles away from their location. Max, on the other hand, has no psi abilities, in fact, he comes up completely blank to a psi scan. He, therefore, has the ability to sneak up on people who primarily use their psi to detect others.
Confused yet? Well, don’t be. The author explains it all much better than I did and it’s not something that’s dwelled on throughout the book. Just get through the first few chapters and then you find Max going back to Eden, his home planet, for a mission he isn’t really going to complete the right way. He’s now working for Saurian starship Captain who’s not the best type to work for, but when you’re broke and need a job, you take what you can get. And Max plans on taking it all.
Once on Eden, Max is thinking about getting his own starship and crew and heading out to do stuff good for a change. He’s tired of killing, but he has to deal with his current mission first. He finds a number of new characters, some human, some not, that will become part of his crew. He’s initial side-kick is a “Goat” or at least that’s the human name for his species, but Max calls him Reuben. Now I don’t know if he looks like a goat or not. Haven’t figured that out, but he must be somewhat similar to a human since Max sets about giving him some rudimentary military skills. Otherwise, Reuben might just get them both killed.
The story takes off once on Eden, with Max’s plan falling into shape. Unfortunately, one of his previous bad encounters turns at the worse moment, just as he and his new crew were going to depart Eden. Every time you think the book is about to end, something else keeps happening. This is probably going to turn into a very good series now that the main characters have all gotten together. It’ll be interesting to see what happens once they have to operate like a crew and a team on new missions.
I look forward to the next book.
The initial scene starts with a mission. You have to get situational awareness really quick because you’re introduced to Max Culp as the main guy, but he apparently is working for or with a bunch of Saurians. Saurians are like big lizards while Max is just a human that has some really good multi-species medical skills. He can patch up about anything. The mission they are on is to take out some kind of Phib compound. This Phib is a drug smuggler as well as a war criminal so he’s wanted by the Union for a lot of different things. Read the book to find out just what a Phib is.
The action is pretty fast at the beginning and kind of hard to keep up with, but it gets to the point of showing that Max is also an exception to the rule about humans and other species. It seems like most humans and other species have some kind psi abilities which enables them to notice other living creatures. So, those who have a high psi ability are now used as sentries since they can detect a heartbeat several miles away from their location. Max, on the other hand, has no psi abilities, in fact, he comes up completely blank to a psi scan. He, therefore, has the ability to sneak up on people who primarily use their psi to detect others.
Confused yet? Well, don’t be. The author explains it all much better than I did and it’s not something that’s dwelled on throughout the book. Just get through the first few chapters and then you find Max going back to Eden, his home planet, for a mission he isn’t really going to complete the right way. He’s now working for Saurian starship Captain who’s not the best type to work for, but when you’re broke and need a job, you take what you can get. And Max plans on taking it all.
Once on Eden, Max is thinking about getting his own starship and crew and heading out to do stuff good for a change. He’s tired of killing, but he has to deal with his current mission first. He finds a number of new characters, some human, some not, that will become part of his crew. He’s initial side-kick is a “Goat” or at least that’s the human name for his species, but Max calls him Reuben. Now I don’t know if he looks like a goat or not. Haven’t figured that out, but he must be somewhat similar to a human since Max sets about giving him some rudimentary military skills. Otherwise, Reuben might just get them both killed.
The story takes off once on Eden, with Max’s plan falling into shape. Unfortunately, one of his previous bad encounters turns at the worse moment, just as he and his new crew were going to depart Eden. Every time you think the book is about to end, something else keeps happening. This is probably going to turn into a very good series now that the main characters have all gotten together. It’ll be interesting to see what happens once they have to operate like a crew and a team on new missions.
I look forward to the next book.
November 29, 2015
The contract may be void but the novel is far from void.
I was asked to read and review this novel. I downloaded it via Kindle Unlimited rather than receive a free copy. My initial reaction to this book was similar to that I had when I first examined Timothy Gwane's CHRONICLES OF OLD GUY. The idea seemed silly, but it turned out to be an excellent sci-fi novel. The premise of VOID CONTRACT didn't seem silly but the list of characters did. Turtle Special Forces, Black Sheep Goats, a Neanderthal guard? Fortunately I persevered and was rewarded with a very entertaining story. Mr. Rhine has tied some of his aliens to earth's mythology. For instance the first, ancient contact with the Goats gave rise to the story of satyrs. All of the species of the Union have and use animal knick names. Humans are called space monkeys by the others. Turtle Special Forces is not a silly name for a human special forces unit but an inter-species military unit formed by the race known as Turtles. A very few scenes seem to be a bit of a stretch of the reader's credulity but not enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the novel. The main thing I had trouble believing was the value of diamonds. As a jeweler and geology enthusiast, I just don't believe that crystallized carbon would be a precious material in such a technologically advanced society. But that's me. The author had his reasons for selecting diamonds as a store of value. The only other caveat I have is the use of what I would describe as endings, but for those of us who have a sense of loss when a good book ends, this is really a way to more gently exit Mr. Rhine's universe. I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
I was asked to read and review this novel. I downloaded it via Kindle Unlimited rather than receive a free copy. My initial reaction to this book was similar to that I had when I first examined Timothy Gwane's CHRONICLES OF OLD GUY. The idea seemed silly, but it turned out to be an excellent sci-fi novel. The premise of VOID CONTRACT didn't seem silly but the list of characters did. Turtle Special Forces, Black Sheep Goats, a Neanderthal guard? Fortunately I persevered and was rewarded with a very entertaining story. Mr. Rhine has tied some of his aliens to earth's mythology. For instance the first, ancient contact with the Goats gave rise to the story of satyrs. All of the species of the Union have and use animal knick names. Humans are called space monkeys by the others. Turtle Special Forces is not a silly name for a human special forces unit but an inter-species military unit formed by the race known as Turtles. A very few scenes seem to be a bit of a stretch of the reader's credulity but not enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the novel. The main thing I had trouble believing was the value of diamonds. As a jeweler and geology enthusiast, I just don't believe that crystallized carbon would be a precious material in such a technologically advanced society. But that's me. The author had his reasons for selecting diamonds as a store of value. The only other caveat I have is the use of what I would describe as endings, but for those of us who have a sense of loss when a good book ends, this is really a way to more gently exit Mr. Rhine's universe. I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
July 27, 2015
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Said review initially appeared at the New Podler Review of Books.
This is the first book in a new series, but it takes place in the same universe as Jezebel's Ladder , just 400 years later. While several books followed Jezebel's Ladder, they are not required reading for this book. However, if you enjoy this book and want to know how Earth got to this point, then you should consider picking them up.
The book starts off with a fair amount of action. Rhine does a good job introducing us to Max and the universe he lives in without drowning us in background. Once Max is forced to accept the job from the alien mobster, the action is replaced by intrigue as Max rides a starship to find the fugitive. While there's FTL travel, it's slow enough (weeks instead of years) that Max has time to work on a way to manipulate the situation to accomplish his goals. The action returns in time for an early climax. The last 20% of the story, while still interesting, serves more to set up the next book in the series.
The blurb made it sound to me like Max was an old world bushman living in the Star Wars universe, but that's definitely not the case. Max may have grown up among the !Kung, but he has a modern education and has been culturally assimilated. He was given a new name to fit in. "Max Culp" is actually derived from mea maxima culpa—through my most grievous fault. The story is told from Max's POV, and Rhine is adept at revealing his character and why that name suits him. His past haunts him and affects how he conducts himself. When it comes to planning operations or assessing a rapidly changing situation, Max is sharp as a tack. But when it comes to relationships with women, not being around humans for several years has left him weak. He grovels at the feet of the first one and is hopelessly naive with the second. He's a bit too much the perfect gentleman with the third, but there's still hope he'll get it right.
Rhine makes good use of dialogue to advance the story, and the pacing is solid. His characters have depth, even the aliens. While Rhine tries to keep the story accessible to most adult readers, he's smart about how he does it (i.e. alien foul language gets mistranslated by translator tech). And while there's plenty of the usual sci-fi stuff like spaceships and cool tech, it never steals the show. With Rhine, the plot and the characters keep us engaged.
Rhine has kept busy since Jezebel's Ladder, writing over a dozen books since then. While he's been prolific, I can see that his writing has matured as well. It's nice to see an indie writer work to improve his craft instead of just churning out product.
This is the first book in a new series, but it takes place in the same universe as Jezebel's Ladder , just 400 years later. While several books followed Jezebel's Ladder, they are not required reading for this book. However, if you enjoy this book and want to know how Earth got to this point, then you should consider picking them up.
The book starts off with a fair amount of action. Rhine does a good job introducing us to Max and the universe he lives in without drowning us in background. Once Max is forced to accept the job from the alien mobster, the action is replaced by intrigue as Max rides a starship to find the fugitive. While there's FTL travel, it's slow enough (weeks instead of years) that Max has time to work on a way to manipulate the situation to accomplish his goals. The action returns in time for an early climax. The last 20% of the story, while still interesting, serves more to set up the next book in the series.
The blurb made it sound to me like Max was an old world bushman living in the Star Wars universe, but that's definitely not the case. Max may have grown up among the !Kung, but he has a modern education and has been culturally assimilated. He was given a new name to fit in. "Max Culp" is actually derived from mea maxima culpa—through my most grievous fault. The story is told from Max's POV, and Rhine is adept at revealing his character and why that name suits him. His past haunts him and affects how he conducts himself. When it comes to planning operations or assessing a rapidly changing situation, Max is sharp as a tack. But when it comes to relationships with women, not being around humans for several years has left him weak. He grovels at the feet of the first one and is hopelessly naive with the second. He's a bit too much the perfect gentleman with the third, but there's still hope he'll get it right.
Rhine makes good use of dialogue to advance the story, and the pacing is solid. His characters have depth, even the aliens. While Rhine tries to keep the story accessible to most adult readers, he's smart about how he does it (i.e. alien foul language gets mistranslated by translator tech). And while there's plenty of the usual sci-fi stuff like spaceships and cool tech, it never steals the show. With Rhine, the plot and the characters keep us engaged.
Rhine has kept busy since Jezebel's Ladder, writing over a dozen books since then. While he's been prolific, I can see that his writing has matured as well. It's nice to see an indie writer work to improve his craft instead of just churning out product.
April 30, 2015
Max Culp is a man of his times. He represents the Gigaparsec War, the first armed conflict between members of the great Union of Souls. After the war, he hunts the Phibs whom he watched perpetrate numerous atrocities. Now that the revenge is over, Max puts together a crew of talented misfits of every species to answer the age old question “what are we going to be when we grow up?” In the tradition of 70’s space-exploration fiction, we visit strange, new places and buy things from them, all while wielding blasters. The difference with Star Trek is that five parsecs takes a month instead of a minute. The aliens and technology are familiar, but the characters are well-developed, complex, and evolving. Each book in the series is told from the point of view of a different partner in Far-Traveler Unlimited. The last chapter gives us a lead in to Roz, the chief engineer and pilot of the prototype craft.
July 12, 2018
Void Contract
It's been years since I've read much sci fi. At first I wasn't to sure about it but as I kept reading it got my interest and turned out to be a pretty good good.
Once I got into it, I read through it pretty quickly and now I'm curious about what happens next. So that shows that Scott achieved his goal!
It's been years since I've read much sci fi. At first I wasn't to sure about it but as I kept reading it got my interest and turned out to be a pretty good good.
Once I got into it, I read through it pretty quickly and now I'm curious about what happens next. So that shows that Scott achieved his goal!
October 22, 2020
Great author and hero!
Void Contract is an interesting part of a 70s style space opera about diversity and misfits who struggle to unearth truths about how space travel works and plots by several species.
It is a joyful read for the fans of this genre.
Void Contract is an interesting part of a 70s style space opera about diversity and misfits who struggle to unearth truths about how space travel works and plots by several species.
It is a joyful read for the fans of this genre.
January 3, 2016
Amazing!
There are so many great characters in this one. Action, adventure, budding relationships; this book has it all! Loved it.
There are so many great characters in this one. Action, adventure, budding relationships; this book has it all! Loved it.
February 23, 2017
A fun, fast-paced space adventure, Void Contract is lifted out of the general run by snappy humour and a varied cast of engaging characters.
January 28, 2021
I liked it enough to decide to read the second book. It was a page turner for me with a few twists that I did not see coming. That is always appreciated when it is not done in an arbitrary manner.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews