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Viridian System #1
The Perihelix
Two asteroid miners, three women, one spacecraft, and five pieces of a legendary weapon scattered around the galaxy.
Big Pete and the Swede are rich, or so they discover after bringing their latest haul of orichalcum in from the asteroid belt. So some well-deserved vacation awaits them. It starts out just fine, with one of the men winning the big flyer-race of the season, but they start to receive odd messages, and despite the attentions from the girls, both realise that someone is trying to drag them back to their pasts, pasts they have tried hard to erase.
As they set out to discover who’s bugging them, they are kidnapped by some particularly nasty aliens, which leaves the girls in a mess – stranded on the spaceship with very little idea how to fly it.
Big Pete and the Swede are rich, or so they discover after bringing their latest haul of orichalcum in from the asteroid belt. So some well-deserved vacation awaits them. It starts out just fine, with one of the men winning the big flyer-race of the season, but they start to receive odd messages, and despite the attentions from the girls, both realise that someone is trying to drag them back to their pasts, pasts they have tried hard to erase.
As they set out to discover who’s bugging them, they are kidnapped by some particularly nasty aliens, which leaves the girls in a mess – stranded on the spaceship with very little idea how to fly it.
- GenresScience Fiction
360 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
397 people want to read
About the author
Jemima Pett
28 books340 followersJemima Pett has been living in a world of her own for many years. Writing stories since she was eight, drawing maps of fantasy islands with train systems and timetables at ten. Unfortunately no-one wanted a fantasy island designer then, so she tried a few careers, getting great experiences in business, environmental research and social work. She finally got back to building her own worlds, and wrote about them. Her business background enabled her to become an independent author, responsible for her own publications.
Her first series, the Princelings of the East, is now complete, with ten mystery adventures for advanced readers set in a world of tunnels and castles. There's a strong element of time travel, and relies on thinking yourself out of difficult situations! Jemima does chapter illustrations for these.
Shehas also published two volumes of Christmas stories for young readers, the BookElves Anthologies, and her father's memoirs White Water Landings, about the Imperial Airways flying boat service in Africa. Her current work-in-progress is the third in her (adult) science fiction series set in the Viridian System, in which the aliens include sentient trees.
Jemima now lives in Hampshire with her guinea pigs, the first of whom, Fred, George, Victor and Hugo, provided the inspiration for her first stories, The Princelings of the East. She is currently writing short stories for anthologies, and working on ideas for a new climate-related fiction book.
See my blog at jemimapett.com
The Princelings series at Princelings of the East series
My science fiction books at Viridian System series
Her first series, the Princelings of the East, is now complete, with ten mystery adventures for advanced readers set in a world of tunnels and castles. There's a strong element of time travel, and relies on thinking yourself out of difficult situations! Jemima does chapter illustrations for these.
Shehas also published two volumes of Christmas stories for young readers, the BookElves Anthologies, and her father's memoirs White Water Landings, about the Imperial Airways flying boat service in Africa. Her current work-in-progress is the third in her (adult) science fiction series set in the Viridian System, in which the aliens include sentient trees.
Jemima now lives in Hampshire with her guinea pigs, the first of whom, Fred, George, Victor and Hugo, provided the inspiration for her first stories, The Princelings of the East. She is currently writing short stories for anthologies, and working on ideas for a new climate-related fiction book.
See my blog at jemimapett.com
The Princelings series at Princelings of the East series
My science fiction books at Viridian System series
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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January 15, 2019The Perihelix edition 2 is now (April 2018) available as an ebook on all platforms. It also has a new cover, which I hope will update soon on Goodreads.
In response to some of the criticisms in the first reviews, I removed it and rewrote the start, had professional editorial advice and made further changes to the first half. I hope it now flows better. If you downloaded the first version, you should be able to get the new edition from your retailer at no extra cost.
New reviews would be welcome!
In response to some of the criticisms in the first reviews, I removed it and rewrote the start, had professional editorial advice and made further changes to the first half. I hope it now flows better. If you downloaded the first version, you should be able to get the new edition from your retailer at no extra cost.
New reviews would be welcome!
March 24, 2019
I enjoyed it! It's an action packed story filled with some odd characters! I found both Big Pete and Lars interesting and I want to know more about their mysterious past!
April 9, 2016
i was the lucky winner of a copy of the perihelix for free from goodreads.this is a good action filled race set in space. two friends who are tasked with looking for pieces to a powerful weapon fight many obstacles and bad guys. a map would have been helpful to visualize the different areas in space that they need to go to.
March 6, 2016
I'm a little ambivalent about this one. Maybe somewhere like a 2.25? 2.5?
The Perihelix, book 1 of the Veridian System, follows Pete and the Swede in an intergalactic adventure as they race to find the five pieces of a legendary weapon before their enemies do. It's an exciting, action-packed story, with Pete, Lars, and their friends dodging kidnappers and murderers, running away from both the Federation and the Imperium, as well as attempting to keep their pasts buried. But pasts don't like to stay hidden, especially when someone is trying very hard to bring them to light.
I struggled to follow the beginning as Pett tried to set the tone for the rest of the story, but fortunately, it started to flow better somewhere in the middle of chapter 2 or 3. It isn't a kind of starting that pulls you in, but one that you have to work at a little. I found this a bit strange because Pett has published many books before this, including the Princelings Trilogy, so this shouldn't be an issue. Maybe a side effect of writing in a new genre?
The story sometimes suffers from having too many things happen at the same time, including a random stray miner saved by Pete and Lars. The 5 of them dash back and forth from planet to planet, and it sometimes get a little difficult to keep track. There's also a lot of allusions to hidden pasts and pasts that are being actively forgotten, but not all of them have been revealed yet, and I'm not sure if they will be, or if they are relevant. One person's past, which I would have been interested to find out about will likely not be revealed because she dies in the book (Not naming names! But yeah, people die in this book.) I can't really pinpoint anything specific though - just an overall feeling of it being cluttered.
Overall, it's still a good story. I guess I just didn't like the execution as much as I wanted to.
The Perihelix, book 1 of the Veridian System, follows Pete and the Swede in an intergalactic adventure as they race to find the five pieces of a legendary weapon before their enemies do. It's an exciting, action-packed story, with Pete, Lars, and their friends dodging kidnappers and murderers, running away from both the Federation and the Imperium, as well as attempting to keep their pasts buried. But pasts don't like to stay hidden, especially when someone is trying very hard to bring them to light.
I struggled to follow the beginning as Pett tried to set the tone for the rest of the story, but fortunately, it started to flow better somewhere in the middle of chapter 2 or 3. It isn't a kind of starting that pulls you in, but one that you have to work at a little. I found this a bit strange because Pett has published many books before this, including the Princelings Trilogy, so this shouldn't be an issue. Maybe a side effect of writing in a new genre?
The story sometimes suffers from having too many things happen at the same time, including a random stray miner saved by Pete and Lars. The 5 of them dash back and forth from planet to planet, and it sometimes get a little difficult to keep track. There's also a lot of allusions to hidden pasts and pasts that are being actively forgotten, but not all of them have been revealed yet, and I'm not sure if they will be, or if they are relevant. One person's past, which I would have been interested to find out about will likely not be revealed because she dies in the book (Not naming names! But yeah, people die in this book.) I can't really pinpoint anything specific though - just an overall feeling of it being cluttered.
Overall, it's still a good story. I guess I just didn't like the execution as much as I wanted to.
September 14, 2016
Willis Group Holdings can’t catch a break. In 2009, after spending millions of dollars, the iconic Sears Tower in Chicago was renamed Willis Tower. But in the far, far, far future of The Perihelix, the building is back to being known as The Sears Tower. That’s history for you, folks! (Ha ha ha.)
The book is mostly heavy science fiction. Plenty of details for the sci-fi “geek” reader. Then there’s a bit of fantasy mixed in. A sword, knights, a dragon– fantasy. It is listed as Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy. However, it felt much more like science fiction to me. (See the genre: Speculative Fiction)
It was an interesting story with some unusual characters.
And now a song from the band Cake is stuck in my head.
The book is mostly heavy science fiction. Plenty of details for the sci-fi “geek” reader. Then there’s a bit of fantasy mixed in. A sword, knights, a dragon– fantasy. It is listed as Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy. However, it felt much more like science fiction to me. (See the genre: Speculative Fiction)
It was an interesting story with some unusual characters.
And now a song from the band Cake is stuck in my head.
I don’t wanna go to Sunset Strip
I don’t wanna feel the emptiness
Old marquees with stupid band names
I don’t wanna go to Sunset Strip
March 8, 2016
First, I have to state right up front that I may be biased, as Jemima Pett is a writing pal and a friend. I also read two or three drafts of the book and offered feedback, so of course I think it's great!
But seriously, when I proofed the final copy, even knowing the story quite well (that was the 3rd reading) I couldn't stop reading. The story just grabs me, and I'm definitely in love with the characters! So, you can discount my bias and still know you should read it if you like some good science fiction with just a touch of fantasy, some grin-inducing situations, and a few things that Asimov never put in his books.
The first of a series, the story comes to a satisfying conclusion but does prepare us for the next book--which I'm eagerly awaiting!
4 stars: I really liked it.
But seriously, when I proofed the final copy, even knowing the story quite well (that was the 3rd reading) I couldn't stop reading. The story just grabs me, and I'm definitely in love with the characters! So, you can discount my bias and still know you should read it if you like some good science fiction with just a touch of fantasy, some grin-inducing situations, and a few things that Asimov never put in his books.
The first of a series, the story comes to a satisfying conclusion but does prepare us for the next book--which I'm eagerly awaiting!
4 stars: I really liked it.
March 30, 2016
I absoloutely loved The Perihelix, I found it engaging, exciting, and I love how the author wove in George and the Cavies in a nod to her other works (The Princelings series).
The pacing and action keeps the book constantly firing on all four cylinders as Pete, Lars and their companions blast their through space; planet hopping to keep just one step ahead of their enemies.
There's secrets enough to fill a cargo freighter, and the hints to the boys' pasts are agonising. The need to know is almost unbearable and there are those who would go to any lengths to obtain what they know, what they have.
I'm desperate to know more about the boys' backgrounds, and I'm even more intrigued by the potential directions their future adventures could take.
The pacing and action keeps the book constantly firing on all four cylinders as Pete, Lars and their companions blast their through space; planet hopping to keep just one step ahead of their enemies.
There's secrets enough to fill a cargo freighter, and the hints to the boys' pasts are agonising. The need to know is almost unbearable and there are those who would go to any lengths to obtain what they know, what they have.
I'm desperate to know more about the boys' backgrounds, and I'm even more intrigued by the potential directions their future adventures could take.
September 4, 2025
The Perihelix edition 2 is now available as an ebook on all platforms. It also has a new cover, which I hope will update soon on Goodreads.
In response to some of the criticisms in the first reviews, I removed it and rewrote the start, had professional editorial advice and made further changes to the first half. I hope it now flows better. If you downloaded the first version, you should be able to get the new edition from your retailer and no extra cost.
New reviews would be welcome!
In response to some of the criticisms in the first reviews, I removed it and rewrote the start, had professional editorial advice and made further changes to the first half. I hope it now flows better. If you downloaded the first version, you should be able to get the new edition from your retailer and no extra cost.
New reviews would be welcome!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews