‘Netherspace’ is the first installment of a new series which is titled the same name and is penned by the writing duo of Andrew Lane and Nigel Foster. The publisher describes it as “a witty, high-action sci-fi adventure” and I have to agree completely! We’re placed in the future where humanity has met a group of aliens called the Gliese and even negotiated a mostly peaceful trade between the two races. Interestingly enough, we’ve negotiated this deal without actually being able to communicate with them.
In fact, we were able to get a faster-than-light technology which allowed us to navigate the stars in exchange for human lives. In the novel, we’re following Marc, Tse, and Kara as they are recruited by the GalDiv, the organization which oversees all trade between humanity and the aliens. Only, this group isn’t the most obvious of choices for the mission as Marc is a conceptual artist, Tse is a pre-cog who insists Marc has to be there, and Kara is an assassin. Oh, and Kara’s sister is also one of the humans who were traded for a drive.
You almost have to wonder if there is an ulterior motive to this mission even before it begins.
The mission is that a group of aliens has been kidnapped by aliens and these three must work together to retrieve them.
With the world that is vastly different from our own due to the rampant changes in technology having destroyed governments and societies as we know them, we’re not just thrown into a future that you would usually see. Think of it as a hodgepodge of dystopian governments with nearly utopian technology giving us an interesting blend of the fantastic and just an absolute mess.
One of the most fun aspects of this world is that in almost every movie or book out with aliens involves is that you see humanity able to use science to reverse engineer the technology and make it our own, which isn’t something we’ve pulled off here.
A unique world that happens to be familiar, great character development, a fun change for the human race, and fast pacing leaves this as one science fiction book that you’ll want to pick up! The only reason I would say to wait though is that it looks like this will be part of a trilogy or ongoing series and at this time I haven’t seen an announcement for the sequel.
‘Netherspace’
By: Andrew Lane and Nigel Foster
Titan Books
May 23rd, 2017
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
