The Stars Down Under

The book was in excellent condition! I can not wait to read more from the author!!

Even though I had not read the first volume in this series, I dove in and was pleasantly surprised by the way the plot and characters engage the reader. "The Stars Down Under" definitely works as a stand alone novel and brings a wonderfully complex storyline which never fails to satisfy. The Australian bent to the story is very refreshing to this reader in the USA. The incorporation of elements tying into aboriginal customs and mythology is fascinating and the science fiction elements are handled deftly and with purpose. The author has created a work which is both entertaing and thoughtful, making for a very good read. Highly Recommended.

Chief Terry Myell and Lieutenant Commander Jodenny Scott are only just figuring out how to be married and an officer and enlisted when Team Space kidnaps Myell to force him to operate the mysterious Wondjina Spheres that work as transport only when he's getting them to work. Meanwhile, Terry is also suffering at the hands of his co-workers who think less of him for not leaving his wife to go be initiated (read humiliated) because he's been promoted to Chief. Because he won't go through that, his co-workers are hazing him on the job. At the same time, his wife has important work, that she loves. This novel is a delightful mix of straight- ahead military sf and Aboriginal religion/ myth/ folktale that I expect in Neil Gaiman and Charles de Lint and frankly, love to see in other authors, too.

I have a fondness for space opera, and Sandra McDonald delivers the perfect blend of realistic space-faring military life, aliens, mythology and technology in THE STARS DOWN UNDER. In her first novel we learned about the Wondjina Spheres, ancient alien artifacts that link time and space in a series of rings, allowing travel between worlds. Now the rings have shut down and Team Space thinks protagonists Terry Myell and Jodenny Scott had something to do with it. Co-opted against his will into reactivating the Wondjina Transportation System, Terry and his team meet up with an alien race who want to control the spheres just as badly as Team Space does. Jodenny is packed off to Earth on a nice long voyage to keep her from causing the military public relations problems, including going after her husband. Then things get really weird. I liked this very much. It confidently mixes detailed, pragmatic military life with the mysticism of a universe containing a very real Rainbow Serpent. The tension of the separated Terry and Jodenny trying to deal with first contact, hallucinatory experiences, Aboriginal culture, alien artifacts, a maze of lies, difficult truths, and a desperate desire to find one another again kept me turning the pages. It doesn't stand alone, but it's a fascinating follow-up to THE OUTBACK STARS and I look forward to the next in the series.

Science Fiction and Fantasy genres overlap in many ways, and none more clearly than in this second book in the series by Sandra McDonald's. The plot threads that I most strongly hoped she would develop from the first book, The Outback Stars, are the focus of this second novel in a series. The story is a mosaic of hard science and myth, wonders and the ordinary, aliens and regular people. I love the way McDonald writes, a combination of matter-of-fact space travel and unexpected intrusions by powers beyond the control of any human being. I love the way her characters struggle to keep their plans and their lives on track in the midst of being thrust into events that change everything. Reading McDonald, I sometimes have a sense of magical realism as done by Gaiman or by Charles de Lint. Once in a while the science under the phenomenon is revealed but most often we are left with tantalizing questions, which may or may not be answered farther along in the story. I like the way McDonald wraps up the story threads in a satisfying conclusion, but still leaves enough openings for the next book. I suspect she could easily write the same novel in twice length and keep me interested. At 336 pages, The Stars Down Under was over too soon. There is no doubt I'll pre-order the next one in the series.