Endless Blue, 1

Wen Spencer's eighth novel, Endless Blue, can be read as simply a fast-paced, engaging scince fiction novel...but that misses half the fun. Under the action, well-realized characters, and thoroughly unique setting are the kind of questions that science fiction was originally invented to ask. What is the nature of humanity? How do we define, and choose, good or evil? Is there a meaning to the cosmos, and do we have a place within it? What is God? Set in a far-distant future, this is Spencer's first "Pure" science fiction novel. The action is fast enough that it is almost impossible not to read it quickly, but the writing is worth a closer look. Earlier novels have boasted some excellent lines, but the writing here is consistently tight without sacrificing poetry. One caveat: while her "Alien Taste" series is PG to PG-13, and the Tinker Duology is rated R, this book is R shading into NC-17. While occassionally graphic, it is never gratuitous, but I would not be comfortable recommending it to readers much under 18.

Captain Mikhail Volkov has a lot to prove. His 'father,' Tsar Ivan Volkov, is distant and unloving and ruler of the Novaya Rus Empire, and is a clone of the legendary Tsar Viktor, just the same as Mikhail. Mikhail, heir presumptive, has had a career that has been less than stellar, marred by a poor psych exam that has denied him an important posting in the past. But he hopes to try to live up to his genetics when he's assigned a possible suicide mission. A warp engine of a ship that was MIA years ago suddenly warps back into known space. They can send a ship back along its mysterious route, but are not sure where it came from... suspecting a pocket-universe of some kind. Novaya Rus and and its allies in the United Colonies forces are in a losing battle with the alien nefrim. It's imperative to know if the nephrim are involved in this phenomenon and if it's something that may help their war effort. Along with Captain Mikhail is his 'brother' Turk, a creche-born adapted humanoid called a Red that are used as soldiers, without all the rights of true humans, who was raised alongside with Mikhail. The hazards of this mission into the unknown, along with a mutinous plot among the newly acquired Reds, trying to cope with the unknown conditions of the new world and actually trying to complete their mission and find out if there is a way back to their universe is all fascinating. Mikhail and Turk also have to deal with their personal demons and with the social issues that contribute to them. The setting of the Sargasso, the watery pocket-universe with floating islands and settlements grown around the wrecks of great starships is also intriguing. I would happily read more books about this universe (and pocket-universe).

The appearance of the warp drive from a lost spaceship begins a quest for the rest of the ship in ENDLESS BLUE, which tells of genocide, a desperate quest, and Captain Mikhail Volkov, who crashes into the Sargasso and discovers a graveyard of rusting spaceships, both human and alien. The Sargasso holds secrets which could save the human race, but now Volkov's ship is damaged and in danger of never making it home - unless Paige, born on the Sargasso and captain of a salvage boat, can help him. Fast action and drama keep ENDLESS BLUE unpredictable and satisfying to the end - and perfect for discriminating science fiction collections. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

Endless Blue by Wen Spencer is a rolicking good adventure. The characters, even the minor ones, wrap their fingers around your heart and squeeze. I read it in less than a day, nearly in one sitting. The book enveloped me in it's comprehensive world. Afterwards, I walked around in a daze, shocked to be back in my mundane, comfortable mid-west home. Once recovered, I read it again, slowly, to savor it and to shake out all the jewels: the imagery, the subtle foreshadowing, the metaphors, the life-relevant themes... One can connect the dots on many different layers. It is truly a story about life, the universe and everything. Each one of us has to make big decisions based on scant and conflicting data: How do I care for my aging mother? Should I change jobs? Should I marry this guy, or buy that car? WHO do I vote for? How do we decide? How do we choose? In this delicious story, Mikhail, Paige, Turk, Hardin, the Nefrim and assorted colorful lesser characters face many quandries. They each have their own variations on decision techniques sprouting from their own strengths, predispositions and flaws. To start with: In the first chapter we learn that the Nefrim are waging an unprovoked, illogical war against humans. None of their actions make sense. Spaceships disappear. The human alliance is confounded, and losing. Part of a vanished ship reappears, raising countless questions and answering none. The only clear information is that it contains a familiar, but unregistered "weapon". Are the Nefrim responsible? Are they trying to mass-produce these viable, useful things? Mikhail is asked to gather his crew and jump into oblivion to find more facts. Faced with scant, conflicting information, the only thing he can sense for sure is a shade of greed lingering over the request. How does he decide? The stakes are high. If he does nothing, the Nefrim may win. If he goes, he and his crew may disappear, accomplishing nothing for their sacrifice. If he succeeds, he may save the universe. He hedges his bet against the potential greed and jumps. One choice blossoms into a multitude of life or death challenges and opportunities. The external conflicts/decisions drive the captivating plot of this book. The beauty of the story sprouts from the internal conflicts. The stakes of each choice, big or small, are deftly woven into the story, and transmute as the characters grow and interact. Each decision alters the players' lives and souls. In the end, the biggest decisions require the greatest leaps of faith. Get this book. Read it twice. Once for fun, once to contemplate life and to grow.