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Gibraltar Stars #3
Gibraltar Stars
The great debate is over. The human race has rejected the idea of pulling back from the stars and hiding on Earth in the hope the Broa will overlook us for a few more generations. Instead, the World Parliament, by a 60-40 vote, has decided to throw the dice and go for a win. Parliament Hall resounds with brave words as members declare victory inevitable.
With the balance of forces a million to one against Homo sapiens Terra, those who must turn patriotic speeches into hard-won reality have their work cut out for them. They must expand humanitys foothold in Broan space while contending with a supply line that is 7000 light-years long.
If the sheer magnitude of the task isnt enough, Mark and Lisa Rykand discover they are in a race against two very different antagonists. The Broa are beginning to wonder at the strange two-legged interlopers in their domain; while back on Earth, those who lost the great debate are eager to try again.
Whoever wins the race will determine the future of the human species... or, indeed, whether it has one.
With the balance of forces a million to one against Homo sapiens Terra, those who must turn patriotic speeches into hard-won reality have their work cut out for them. They must expand humanitys foothold in Broan space while contending with a supply line that is 7000 light-years long.
If the sheer magnitude of the task isnt enough, Mark and Lisa Rykand discover they are in a race against two very different antagonists. The Broa are beginning to wonder at the strange two-legged interlopers in their domain; while back on Earth, those who lost the great debate are eager to try again.
Whoever wins the race will determine the future of the human species... or, indeed, whether it has one.
390 pages, Paperback
First published April 6, 2010
14 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Michael McCollum
54 books100 followersMichael McCollum was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1946, and is a graduate of Arizona State University, where he majored in aerospace propulsion and minored in nuclear engineering. He is employed at Honeywell in Tempe, Arizona, where he is Chief Engineer in the valve product line. In his career, Mr. McCollum has worked on the precursor to the Space Shuttle Main Engine, a nuclear valve to replace the one that failed at Three Mile Island, several guided missiles, Space Station Freedom, and virtually every aircraft in production today. He is currently involved in an effort to create a joint venture company with a major Russian aerospace engine manufacturer and has traveled extensively to Russia in the last several years. In addition to his engineering, Mr. McCollum is a successful professional writer in the field of science fiction. He is the author of a dozen pieces of short fiction and has appeared in magazines such as Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, Amazing, and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Mr. McCollum is married to a lovely lady named Catherine, and has three children: Robert, Michael, and Elizabeth.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 10, 2011
The end of the Gibraltar earth series, and I for one was sad to put the last book behind me. There was perhaps a bit of a lack of resolution here, I feel there was another book which could have been written. We never really know what happens to Sar-Say, and the confrontation with the 'hiding' faction also just fades away rather than ever coming properly to a head.
Also, the situation was a bit odd. Yes, I can understand the motivation of the Broa in hiding Warp Drive travel from their client races and avoiding using it themselves, but why given the fact they had been ruling the galaxy for 10000 years didn't they maintain a heavily armed reserve fleet of Warp Drive ships. They could even have had these ships be Star Gates themselves. I just felt that there was no shock at the end, everything went just as planned
Also, the situation was a bit odd. Yes, I can understand the motivation of the Broa in hiding Warp Drive travel from their client races and avoiding using it themselves, but why given the fact they had been ruling the galaxy for 10000 years didn't they maintain a heavily armed reserve fleet of Warp Drive ships. They could even have had these ships be Star Gates themselves. I just felt that there was no shock at the end, everything went just as planned
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2020
Interesting end
I guess when you decide to write a trilogy you stick to three books 📚. Furthermore you don't want to write a time for the 3rd one then readers say you shouldn't have limited yourself to a trilogy. However, the 3rd book wraps up fast. Still room for a sequel trilogy, the many unanswered questions.
I guess when you decide to write a trilogy you stick to three books 📚. Furthermore you don't want to write a time for the 3rd one then readers say you shouldn't have limited yourself to a trilogy. However, the 3rd book wraps up fast. Still room for a sequel trilogy, the many unanswered questions.
August 6, 2013
Highly recommend this series!
The only issue I had was that this author writes mail/female interactions so terrible that it is cringe worthy. The sex scenes are like something out of a high school sexual health textbook.
The only issue I had was that this author writes mail/female interactions so terrible that it is cringe worthy. The sex scenes are like something out of a high school sexual health textbook.
June 29, 2020
Its all fun and games until the primitive natives fight back...
This book ties up all of the loose ends rather nicely. Humanity's strategy against the bad guys bears fruit.
This is not a bad trilogy and worth reading but, there are issues. The author doesn't really write exciting battle sequences. The author doesn't really write exciting anything. Every story has the main plot and a bunch of supporting passages to give the story depth. The mix between the main story and the supporting passages, is an art form. This series is a little too heavy on the supporting passages. There are two characters that matter, with the possible addition of the alien monkey in the first two books. The author made a real attempt to give those characters depth, but there was an emotional disconnect somewhere. I feel like I understand the alien monkey better than the human characters...
Worth reading.
This book ties up all of the loose ends rather nicely. Humanity's strategy against the bad guys bears fruit.
This is not a bad trilogy and worth reading but, there are issues. The author doesn't really write exciting battle sequences. The author doesn't really write exciting anything. Every story has the main plot and a bunch of supporting passages to give the story depth. The mix between the main story and the supporting passages, is an art form. This series is a little too heavy on the supporting passages. There are two characters that matter, with the possible addition of the alien monkey in the first two books. The author made a real attempt to give those characters depth, but there was an emotional disconnect somewhere. I feel like I understand the alien monkey better than the human characters...
Worth reading.
July 19, 2024
I've already reviewed "Gibraltar Earth" and "Gibraltar Sun". This book ends the series with a reasonable opening for a sequel, but nothing seems in the offing.
The major threads that were introduced in book 1 have been tied up in this book. We are left to imagine what might happen in the future. The characters have started a war that will not be concluded within their lifetimes.
I might read this book again if I decided to read the entire series again. I certainly want to go back and re-read some of the author's previous works.
The major threads that were introduced in book 1 have been tied up in this book. We are left to imagine what might happen in the future. The characters have started a war that will not be concluded within their lifetimes.
I might read this book again if I decided to read the entire series again. I certainly want to go back and re-read some of the author's previous works.
March 5, 2019
Despite the continued icky romantic scenes and sexist comments, the series ends "OK". I particularly liked the idea that by examining a species' physiology, one could deduce what sort of world they came from. This seemed a major threat in regard to the aliens' discovering Earth if they got their hands on a human, but for some reason it wasn't such a no-brainer for humans to follow that path when they were trying desperately to find the aliens' home world -- even though they had an alien in captivity. Oh well, overall an enjoyable yarn.
March 27, 2019
Absolutely loved the entire series!!
December 29, 2013
I really enjoyed this well-conceived series, and this third installment was my favorite, as the major plot of the series began to play out to resolution. The overall concept was brilliant, and it held my attention fully through the series. I enjoyed the carrot-dangling balance of juicy action with more mundane politics.
My only regrets seem fairly consistent with other reviewers. First, the effort to color the series with the primal, sexual escapades of the main characters went a bit too far. I've always appreciated books in which some passing references and implications allow the reader to fill in these gaps to a degree appropriate for her/his own maturity. This book—this third book even more so than the earlier two—seems to try too hard, leaving me with a really enjoyable SciFi thriller that I can't share with my sons (not the author's objective, if course).
Secondly, what made this series so incredibly engaging for me was the anticipation of the final strategy execution. But when the climax finally arrived, it received the attention if only a handful of pages. There was so much left on the table. I would love to have read a great deal more about the alliance recruitment efforts and the seeding of terrestrial technology among the slave worlds. I would have enjoyed some sort of confrontation, whether intentional or accidental, between human and Broan leaders. I realize the open-endedness contributes to the sense that there is no quick resolution, but I felt there was so much opportunity to add truly interesting and supporting detail that was just left unexplored.
Those two elements held this back from a higher rating. More fully explored (with a bit less of the forced sexuality), and this might well have been a 5-star rating. Great read as highly recommended!
My only regrets seem fairly consistent with other reviewers. First, the effort to color the series with the primal, sexual escapades of the main characters went a bit too far. I've always appreciated books in which some passing references and implications allow the reader to fill in these gaps to a degree appropriate for her/his own maturity. This book—this third book even more so than the earlier two—seems to try too hard, leaving me with a really enjoyable SciFi thriller that I can't share with my sons (not the author's objective, if course).
Secondly, what made this series so incredibly engaging for me was the anticipation of the final strategy execution. But when the climax finally arrived, it received the attention if only a handful of pages. There was so much left on the table. I would love to have read a great deal more about the alliance recruitment efforts and the seeding of terrestrial technology among the slave worlds. I would have enjoyed some sort of confrontation, whether intentional or accidental, between human and Broan leaders. I realize the open-endedness contributes to the sense that there is no quick resolution, but I felt there was so much opportunity to add truly interesting and supporting detail that was just left unexplored.
Those two elements held this back from a higher rating. More fully explored (with a bit less of the forced sexuality), and this might well have been a 5-star rating. Great read as highly recommended!
August 23, 2016
The strongest of the Gibraltar trilogy. Lots of meaty sci-fi, strategy, and just the right balance of politics, both human and alien.
More than once I found myself plotting along with the characters, awarding a virtual nod when their solution proved the more clever, and allowing myself congratulations when I arrived at the same conclusions. I don't know that I've had that experience from a novel before. It was most gratifying.
Given the practical and logical pacing throughout the series, I found the events in the final act unconvincingly brief, and somewhat incredible. Still, the alternative would be for the author to drag out several chapters with the reader simply waiting for the story to catch up to the understood and inevitable conclusion, so I'll give it a pass.
I could have done with a little less of Mark and Lisa's insatiable libido — really, these two go at it like rabbits every time they're in the same room. By mid-way through the second of the trilogy I was pleading for a cut away to goings-on elsewhere, rather than endure another play-by-play of their carnal gropings.
These are but small and minor distractions from an otherwise strong series. Recommended.
More than once I found myself plotting along with the characters, awarding a virtual nod when their solution proved the more clever, and allowing myself congratulations when I arrived at the same conclusions. I don't know that I've had that experience from a novel before. It was most gratifying.
Given the practical and logical pacing throughout the series, I found the events in the final act unconvincingly brief, and somewhat incredible. Still, the alternative would be for the author to drag out several chapters with the reader simply waiting for the story to catch up to the understood and inevitable conclusion, so I'll give it a pass.
I could have done with a little less of Mark and Lisa's insatiable libido — really, these two go at it like rabbits every time they're in the same room. By mid-way through the second of the trilogy I was pleading for a cut away to goings-on elsewhere, rather than endure another play-by-play of their carnal gropings.
These are but small and minor distractions from an otherwise strong series. Recommended.
December 22, 2014
Quick and fast and fun. Read the entire series this week.
This is the book where the human Foil fails us most of all.
Some weak sexism and male/female relations that are clumsy. Still, it's got some great orbital mechanics--which is more important for the purposes.
Could easily be adapted by that horrible network who can't spell Sci/Fi into several seasons of fun ala Babylon 5. But it won't be because it has no sharks flying through the streets of New York.
This is the book where the human Foil fails us most of all.
Some weak sexism and male/female relations that are clumsy. Still, it's got some great orbital mechanics--which is more important for the purposes.
Could easily be adapted by that horrible network who can't spell Sci/Fi into several seasons of fun ala Babylon 5. But it won't be because it has no sharks flying through the streets of New York.
March 19, 2011
This has been an Ok fairly hard science series. THere definitely seems to be a lot of unfinished business at the end of this third volume, leading me to believe there further books in the series. I really like the plot, and the setting is pretty believable, my main problem are the somewhat wooden characters throughout the series, they just don't feel like real people.
August 10, 2022
These got progressively worse and more cringe inducing as the series went on.
There's a decent sci-fi book in there somewhere, but the terrible character writing over the top of it just made it painful. It's wildly sexist and there are some sex passages in here which would have to be in the running for the worst of all time.
There's a decent sci-fi book in there somewhere, but the terrible character writing over the top of it just made it painful. It's wildly sexist and there are some sex passages in here which would have to be in the running for the worst of all time.
October 1, 2013
I listened to the audiobook version, read by Ramon Deocampo.
Not great. Missing potential.
started: 2013-09-07.Sep.Sat 19:06
finished: 2013-09-15.Sep.Sun 13:42
Not great. Missing potential.
started: 2013-09-07.Sep.Sat 19:06
finished: 2013-09-15.Sep.Sun 13:42
October 3, 2014
Excellent wrap up to the Gibralter series. This is a very good "hard" science fiction about first contact. While the "hard" sci-fi is there, it doesn't get in the way of the story, nor does it detract from the excellent writing. Two thumbs up for a very solid series.
October 5, 2010
An "ok" series. There's a number of loose ends making me wonder if a fourth book is in the works.
June 16, 2013
Conclusion on the Gibraltar series. Not as action-packed as the Antares series but still very well written a must for Sci-Fi fans.
July 25, 2015
the interactions between Mark and Lisa read like a prepubescent boys idea of what he imagines true love to be. really takes from the book overall.
January 7, 2017
Great start of this series. Very bad finish. Miss some kind of AI, its year 2350? More like 2035.
February 23, 2013
-1 star for the cheesy human interactions
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews