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The Cloudships of Orion #1
Siduri's Net
A descendant of Earth's gypsies, Sailmaster Pov Janusz continues the nomadic existence of his ancestors as he guides his cloudship Siduri's Net through the perils of deepspace in search of rich mineral treasures. Original.
- GenresScience Fiction
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 25, 2023
The "Cloudships Of Orion" harvest tritium & other fusion-fuels from comets, nebulae & protostars -- a fine and somewhat Benfordian backstory.
"Siduri's Net" is a newish cloudship, still paying back her construction loan. "Net" has a Gypsy sailmaster and Greek captain & pilot, in a Slav-majority ship and culture. "Net's" parent-ship dumped most of her non-Slavs into the new hull. A Russian-dominated planet is the sole
customer for both cloudships, and is maneuvering to take over the ships to cut their fuel costs. Eastern-Europe political & ethnic tensions, translated to a mid-future setting, is the most distinctive feature of the book, her best to date. The sequel is "Maia's Veil" (Roc pb, 1995); I'm happy to report that "Net" is a self-contained story.
Note that "PK McAllister" = Paula King = Paula Downing. She died in 2017. Her wikibio has the details of her writing career: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_E... . She was a fine, underrated SF author who died too young, at age 66. She is missed.
"Siduri's Net" is a newish cloudship, still paying back her construction loan. "Net" has a Gypsy sailmaster and Greek captain & pilot, in a Slav-majority ship and culture. "Net's" parent-ship dumped most of her non-Slavs into the new hull. A Russian-dominated planet is the sole
customer for both cloudships, and is maneuvering to take over the ships to cut their fuel costs. Eastern-Europe political & ethnic tensions, translated to a mid-future setting, is the most distinctive feature of the book, her best to date. The sequel is "Maia's Veil" (Roc pb, 1995); I'm happy to report that "Net" is a self-contained story.
Note that "PK McAllister" = Paula King = Paula Downing. She died in 2017. Her wikibio has the details of her writing career: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_E... . She was a fine, underrated SF author who died too young, at age 66. She is missed.
September 11, 2014
I read the beginning and the end. There is a lot of hard science, that doesn't seem very well explained, with catching atoms on the electronic sails of the ships. And a lot of explanation of interpersonal relationships, from the captain explaining the politics of ship ownership, and romance on a small ship with ethnic divisions. I might have liked this twenty years ago.
August 11, 2012
Cloud ships! What fun, especially when the clouds are forming stars in the far reaches of space!
It is reminiscent of exploring the seas of Earth in the 1500's.
The immense ships hold communities of family and friends with interesting relationships mixed in with the suspense of space travel.
Another Paula King book(different pen name). You can tell she does her research. This is the first book in a trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews