The Broken Places

Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda #2

by Ethlie Ann Vare, Daniel Morris

When Beka Valentine's ne'er-do-well brother Rafe limps onto the Andromeda Ascendant in a stolen junker with a sputtering Slipstream drive, Beka can't turn him away, because he claims to have found the mother they never knew.
Unfortunately, right now the Andromeda is the linchpin in a precarious negotiation between the Drago-Kazov Pride and the Human Interplanetary Alliance, which seeks to free Earth and other old-school planets from the Nietzschean yoke. But the HIA may also be allied with the pure-human-supremacist Knights of Genetic Purity, who, in their evangelical fervor, have become every bit as fanatical as the genetically engineered devil they oppose. If the HIA allies with the Genites, the Milky Way will see yet another Human-Nietzschean bloodbath. Captain Dylan Hunt has survived one already and will do just about anything to prevent another such debacle.
Dylan can't count on Seamus Harper, the only unmodified human in his crew, who is naïvely susceptible to the appeal of the Genite cause. He needs every level-headed crewmate he's got, and Beka, for all her emotional Sturm und Drang, is the best pilot in three galaxies.
But Beka can't resist the chance---however remote---to find her long-lost mother. Years before, Magdalena Valentine went on a quest . . . the same one Beka has made her own. A quest to find the advanced technology of the lost Vedran race. A technology so powerful it lets the Vedrans hide their solar system in the fabric of the Slipstream itself; so powerful it could destroy the universe as we know it.
This quest is where it all must lead---where, if you ask a certain purple alien, it was always, inevitably, destined to lead. Now only Dylan Hunt can stop Beka Valentine from activating the Vedran device. And he may have to kill her to do it. That is, if Tyr Anasazi doesn't kill him first. Or the Knights of Genetic Purity. Or the Human Interstellar Alliance . . . led by one Seamus Harper.
The fate of the universe hinges on what Dylan Hunt and his crew do next!

Genres: Science Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

The wit behind Affection Deficit Disorder, the hot humor blog about behavioral addiction (yes, there is a funny side to addiction), Ethlie Ann Vare started out as a rock'n'roll disc jockey and became known as a camera-friendly expert on pop culture. That led to the internationally syndicated newspaper column ROCK ON, the founding of ROCK Magazine, and articles in everything from Billboard Magazine to the New York Times. She then became a sought-after lecturer on the college circuit talking about women's history, and later an award-winning TV screenwriter. Chalk it up to wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, ADHD, or a combination of the two.The much-lauded LOVE ADDICT: Sex, Romance and Other Dangerous Drugs was written about her own addiction and recovery, as well as providing a road map to relief for others. Other works include biographies of superstars (Stevie Nicks, Ozzy Osbourne, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand), adventures in distant galaxies (Andromeda: The Broken Places), and stories of women inventors and discoverers (Mothers of Invention and Patently Female.) She has written for TV shows from the ridiculous (Beastmaster) to the sublime (CSI). Her latest project is WOOF!, a children's picture book about a rescue dog who is actually a wolf mistaken for a dog. At least, he thinks he is.

Reviews

[Ezra Estephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Season 1½ of Andromeda. After the events in the episode “Ouroboros” unfolded, I feel the series all but jumped the shark and turned into a pile of ****. Well, I’m happy to say I quite enjoyed this novel. For fans of the show who pay close attention to the show’s continuity, it’s clear this novel takes place post-“Ouroboros”, but ignores the stupid changes that episode brought forward, essentially placing this novel in an alternate universe where my two favourite characters weren’t neutered. Even all that aside, the story is great on its own, providing good character development en par with what was delivered in the series at its creative peak. With a little plot restructuring, this novel would’ve made an excellent two-parter for the series proper.

[Viridian5 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't generally expect much of media tie-in books, especially recent ones, but Ethlie Ann Varre wrote some of my favorite episodes of the show, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, so I had some hope.

As in the episodes, there's a main plot and a subplot. The main plot is that Beka and her brother locate their missing mother, who's chasing the same artifact that they've been after for most of their lives. (I'm told that the show itself will talk about Beka's mother soon, so this novel will probably be turned into an AU.) The subplot involves a rebellion on one of the Dragan slave worlds--thank you that somebody remembered that bit--and Dylan's feeble attempt to negotiate a peaceable settlement.

This story manages to show the most obnoxious traits of Tyr, Trance, Rev, and Harper. How is that possible? And given the time frame, why is Rev there anyway? Despite the presence of plot material that should bring out Harper's serious and/or dark side, he's portrayed as nothing more than a lecherous dork. Beka's mother doesn't get our sympathy or dislike or anything because she's just there.

There are a few nice moments--such as the revelation that after the Fall many people kept dates in a different way, substituting the hundreds of years AFC, starting years at the Fall, for the thousands of years CY--and the quotes that start out each chapter are a kick, but otherwise The Broken Places is a big letdown.

"The Divine loves equally the Vedran who cossets her young, and the Nightsider who eats hers. This is a problem with the Divine."
-- Keeper of the Way
Vision of Faith VII, CY 9874

"Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell so elegantly that he packs for the trip. War is the simpler matter of bringing hell to him."
-- High Guard Admiral Constanza Stark
CY 9779

[Anki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book based on the Andromeda television series (but in an alternate timeline, near as I can tell). I enjoyed reading it, but it showed me that the ability to craft a tight, moving script does not necessarily translate to an ability to write smooth, polished prose. There were some technical/stylistic issues surrounding tense shifts that kept throwing me out of the story, and I'm fairly certain they were due to the inherent differences between scriptwriting and normal prose.

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story based on the Andromeda TV series.