Wasteland of Flint

Thomas Harlan's "Wasteland of Flint" is among the most engrossing examples of alternative history and space opera I'm aware of in science fiction. It introduces us to several key characters whose adventures we follow in the splendid "House of Reeds". Here Harlan introduces us to the intriguing premise of an interstellar human empire ruled by a technologically sophisticated Aztec and Japanese nobility, which stumbles upon artifacts left by long-dead, and more powerful, interstellar civilizations. Company archaeologist Gretchen Anderssen is in search of one of the fabled "First Sun" artifacts and a lost Company archaeological expedition on the remote world of Epheseus III. Accompanying Dr. Anderssen is Commander Mitsuhara Hadeishi, the skipper of the light cruiser Cornuelle, and her crew, especially Mexica Imperial judge and agent Green Hummingbird. Together they will make a discovery that could potentially shake the foundations of the human interstellar empire. To his credit, Harlan offers us a very exciting tale told in crisp, well-written prose.

In Wasteland of Flint, Thomas Harlan creates not only a mysterious new world, but also plunks it down in the middle of a surprising and tantalizing new social order. Wasteland uses a slate of interesting and powerful characters to peel away layers of intrigue that surround the planet of Ephesus 3, which exists within the auspices of the futuristic society controlled by the Mexica, the eventual (future) result of an intact and hegemonistic Aztec Empire on Earth. The tale unfolds in only about 430 pages; it comes up to full speed quickly and holds the reader's attention fast throughout. The plot is well developed and the story grows more compelling with each chapter.Called upon to reveal to the readers the elusive secrets of Ephesus 3 is one Gretchen Anderssen, a talented young xenoarcheologist with more than her share of backbone, a trait that will serve her well in this assignment. Directed to Ephesus 3 to investigate an accident that has befallen the Palenque, an exploration ship in orbit around Ephesus, the Anderssen character immediately brings the new Mexica social order into play for the reader. Anderssen is the future equivalent of a disenfranchised minority, a person of Swedish decent; we learn that the Swedes, final opponents of Mexica's bid to take over Earth in its entirety, have been banished to other planets and are now treated as second-class citizens. The resulting social tension between Swede and Aztec is painted well enough by Harlan that it survives the duration of the story, and begins the process of depicting the complicated social order in Harlan's universe. As the pages turn, the setting becomes increasingly compelling, and the underlying social interplay is a sub theme that adds an important and colorful dimension to the novel.As powerful a character as Gretchen becomes, she often plays second fiddle to a number of rich and interesting secondary characters. My personal favorite is Magdalena, a Hesht (a feline alien species). Cat-aliens have always seemed to me to be a bit cliché in contemporary science fiction (plus, I'm more of a dog person), but "Maggie" is a cut above. Maggie's character literally flies off the pages, drawing on many layers of development to become a compelling supporting character. I was fond of the imagery surrounding Maggie's mannerisms -- in particular her claws and several amusing nervous habits. Green Hummingbird, an Imperial Mexica judge, begins as a minor character, but develops into a surprisingly powerful one, and is an important tool for the reader to learn about Mexica. Gretchen and Green Hummingbird form an improbable, but highly effective team through which Harlan tells much of his story. Hadeishi, a Japanese ship captain and his first officer also form an interesting and rich subplot that I enjoyed quite a bit. Finally, it's difficult to know whether to consider the elusive scientist, Russovsky, a character or not, but she is extremely intriguing, and not like any other character I can ever

Thomas Harlan has written a book that encompasses the styles of Isaac Asimov, Fred Saberhagen and John W. Campbell all in one book. The technology is very Asimov, the aliens and other techno-creatures are Saberhagen and the interpersonal relationships and suspense are Campbell. I would highly recommend this book to any Sci-Fi reader or any reader period. This book is truly worth buying.

Mystery and adventure in an intriguing alternate future, on an alien world.Where Thomas Harlan's first fantasy series comprised the Alternate History 'Oath of Empire', his new 'Sixth Sun' saga, of which Wasteland of Flint is the first, is set in an alternate future. What could have been a standard space opera is given a number of distinct and original dimensions, the most obvious being the domination of Human Space by the Méxica Empire, the descendants of the Aztecs. Humanity is now subject to the Méxica and their allies, foremost being the Japanese Nisei, who in colonising North America many centuries ago, brought horses, rice and metalworking to the New World. After a century of war in the Core of Human Space the defeated populations of the European Great Powers - Swedish-Russia and the Danish Empire have mostly scattered to the Rim World colonies. All of Old Earth, Anáhuac as the Méxica name it, is now ruled from the imperial centre of Tenochtitlán. One interpretation of the name Méxica has it denoting the centre of the world, and in this reality the ambition of the Aztecs has found full expression. Human Space, however, is a small sphere compared with the gigantic scale of the galaxy, and the interstellar domain of Imperial Méxica is a minor power in a universe littered with remnants of inimical and ancient alien civilisations.The basic premise of the story is familiar. The presentation and expression of it in Wasteland of Flint is sufficiently different to make the novel fresh and, as the questions mount up, a page turner.What prevents the novel from being a rehash of the old haunted house in space is both the historical background and the gradual dawning of the realisation of the nature of the mystery. Just as Oath of Empire rested on a substratum of Greek and Persian Myth, Sixth Sun has aspects of Aztec mythology hidden beneath it, as well as hints that might tenuously relate to the Cthulhu Mythos. Certain vague resonances stirred memories of HP Lovecraft's 'At the Mountains of Madness' and 'The Call of Cthulhu'. Other dimensions of the story also reminded me very slightly of Tim Power's 'Declare' and the Babylon 5 television series and its IPX archaeologists "Exploring the Past to make a better Future." This is not to say that Wasteland of Flint is derivative, it isn't. At most, aspects of the novel pay homage to these and earlier Golden Age sources.Contact has been lost with a commercial archaeology team conducting excavations on Ephesus III on the edge of known space. The Company redirects the xeno archaeologist Gretchen Anderssen and her team, uneasily supported by the crew of the IMN Cornuelle to recover the missing starship and her crew. Also aboard is the Méxica political officer and judge Green Hummingbird, who demonstrates both the traditions of a shaman and a disturbing fore knowledge of events. When the Cornuelle arrives it finds the ship in orbit, utterly deserted, and the desperate ground crew still alive. One geologist is mis