“He knew that it wouldn’t be long before Joe discovered that he was gone. Indeed, the parole officer was probably already on his way to Hawk’s apartment; once he used his badge to get the landlord to unlock his door, Bairns would find the flat just as he’d last seen it, excerpt for the severed bracelet and discarded patch lying on the table. But the dresser would be empty and a bag would be missing, and the only other evidence that Hawk had once lived there would be his customs uniform, neatly folded on his bed.

… As the fishing boat sailed out into the harbor, Hawk took a moment to gaze back at New Brighton. One last look, then he deliberately turned away from its tenements and smoke. “

Book Review:

Review by Ann Wilkes (MAY 27, 2010)

Coyote Horizon continues the story of the human settlers on Coyote, a moon of the planet Bear in the 47 Ursae Majoris system. Hawk Thompson, nephew of former president, Carlos Montero, is on parole after spending time in jail for killing his abusive father. As the story opens, he has a boring, dead-end job as customs inspector at the spaceport. “His name was Hawk Thompson, and he’d killed his father. And now he was waiting to die.” That line cracked me up. I’m guessing Steele is a fellow Princess Bride fan.

Hawk’s job becomes more bearable when he has someone to go home to: Melissa, a neighbor he met when he rescued her from a beating.

Carlos Montero asks Hawk to conduct his customs inspection of the hjadd Cultural Ambassador near his ship rather than in the terminal like the average traveler. With his boss’ permission, he meets the ambassador with his uncle a short distance from his ship.

That short meeting with the alien changes the course of Hawk’s life. The hjadd ambassador gives him a book, the Sa’ Tong, which is an interactive manual to the philosophical beliefs of the hjadd and most star faring peoples in that part of the galaxy.

Hawk invites Melissa to join him in his search for guidance to deal with his new found knowledge. His mission intersects with that of a small group led by Joseph Walking Star Cassidy. Walking Star and his associates created a remote commune where, with the help of the indigenous pseudowasps, they have learned telepathy. It is Walking Star who explains to Hawk that by giving the Sa’ Tong to him, the emissary was choosing him to be the chaaz’ maha, the spiritual teacher who would bring those beliefs to humanity.

While Hawk is becoming the chaaz’ maha, several main characters join an Exploratory Expedition to circumnavigate the planet on its Great Equatorial River. Steele draws their fates together, but is clearly not done with them. The story continues in Coyote Destiny.

Unrest on Earth results in an influx of immigrants from Earth that Coyote is not prepared to adequately feed and shelter. The people of Coyote must welcome refugees from the very Union on Earth which refused to recognize its sovereignty.

Coyote Horizon is a space western rich in atmosphere, with believable characters who adapt and evolve. If Coyote were a real place, I’d be on the next transport. And I’d know my way around and recognize some of the locals. Steele creates a world I love to immerse myself in.

AMAZON READER RATING:	from 9 readers
PUBLISHER:	Ace; Reprint edition (January 26, 2010)
REVIEWER:	Ann Wilkes
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK?	YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE:	Allen M. Steele
EXTRAS:	Excerpt Ann Wilkes’ interview with Allen M. Steele
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION:	More Space Travel: Hyperion by Dan Simmons Mars Life by Ben Bova

Bibliography:

• The Jericho Iteration (1994)
• The Tranquility Alternative (1995)
• Oceanspace (2000)
• Chronospace (2001)

Near Space Series:

• Orbital Decay (1989)
• Clarke County, Space (1990)
• Lunar Descent (1991)
• Labyrinth of Night (1992)
• The Weight: Novella (1995)
• A King of Infinite Space (1997)

Coyote Trilogy:

• Coyote (2002)
• Coyote Rising (2004)
• Coyote Frontier (2005)

Coyote Universe:

• Spindrift (2007)
• Galaxy Blues (2008)
• Hex (2011)

Coyote Chronicles:

• Coyote Horizon (March 2009)
• Coyote Destiny (March 2010)

Coyote Novella:

• The River Horses: Novella (2007)

Short Stories:

“I wonder if what we call ‘goodness’ is actually a maladaptive trait.”

Book Review:

Reviewed by Mike Frechette (JUL 31, 2009)

If there can be one criticism of Orson Scott Card’s nearly perfect science fiction masterpiece Ender’s Game, it’s that the ending feels rushed. After destroying the Formics, Ender is carted off across space, where, in just one chapter, he learns to govern a colony and discovers the complex truth about why the Formics allowed him to annihilate them. Over twenty years later, Card has addressed this shortcoming in his most recent endeavor Ender in Exile. As Ender fans know, there have been a number of Ender-related books since 1985 such as the origal series which includes Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide and Children of the Mind and then the more recent “Ender” books, such as  Ender’s Shadow. This newest addition, however,  constitutes a direct sequel to Ender’s Game, where Card expands and fleshes out the final chapter.

While Ender’s Game skips over Ender’s passage to the Formic world, Ender in Exile spends a significant bulk of its pages on the journey itself. Readers witness Ender’s parents accepting his fate as an exile from Earth, his sister’s decision to join him in his new life, and the difficult relationships he must negotiate with the other passengers aboard the ship. For those who read Ender’s Game years ago and have since lost track of his adventures, Ender in Exile is an excellent place to pick back up. A nostalgic romp through space and time, this latest piece of the Ender story will transport you back to your first encounter with this precocious child and the unique universe he inhabits.

Though set in the deep recesses of space, Card’s stories, like all good science fiction, are much more about humanity itself than any other life form or physical place in the universe. Ender must exist in a world – much like our own – where hostile people and societies vie for power. In this newest adventure, our protagonist must once again resort to psychological manipulation in order to contend with those who wish to divest him of his standing and authority. During their journey to the colony, Ender must feign submission to the ship’s captain, Admiral Morgan, who foolishly believes that, once they land, the colonists will recognize him as their governor instead of a mere child. At the end of the novel, Ender confronts another warped soul who has used Ender’s writings to portray him as a xenophobic murderer to the peoples of earth. In this contest, however, Ender displays what he has learned from the Formics and mimics their wisdom, allowing himself to be beaten to the point of death. By allowing himself to lose, Ender discovers he can achieve truth, harmony, and reconciliation with his opponent, ideals forever out of reach if sought through aggression and war.

Clearly, Card possesses a real gift for deepening his science fiction with a thoughtful dose of mystical paradox. This assessment extends to his treatment of the space/time continuum as well, which should please those readers who are real suckers for time travel. For Ender and the other passengers, the journey to the colony lasts only two years due to “the relativistic effects of time travel.” For the colonists and those back on Earth, however, forty years have passed, leaving Ender’s family very old or nearly dead by the time he reaches his destination. By contrast, the more evolved Formics “are always connected to the real time of the universe.” Their “hive queens never needed to subdivide time into hours and minutes and seconds, because…everything was infinitely now.”

Although a worthy direct sequel, the storyline of Ender in Exile seems aimless at times compared to the tightly managed plot of Ender’s Game. For example, almost out of nowhere, Card introduces Allesandra Toscano and her mentally unstable mother, two Italians who end up journeying to the colony with Ender. At one point, it feels like Ender and Alessandra might marry and have children, but Ender eventually leaves the colony for a new one, essentially ending Alessandra’s part in the story. In another instance, Card belabors a seemingly irrelevant scene of the colony before Ender’s arrival, where scientist Sel Menach, an even more peripheral character, and his fellow researcher struggle with sexual temptation.

With that said, please note that this criticism comes from someone who has now read only two books in the ever-bulging Ender phenomenon. Perhaps these characters and small subplots answer questions from other parts of the series or will play a larger role in future projects. Some superficial Google research reveals a persistent interest in the Ender character, spawning a comic book series and even a movie idea. With this latest novel, Card continues to expand on Ender’s adventures, and hopefully we have not seen the end of a character who has captured our imaginations now for over twenty years. Ender’s final line in the book sounds like a pledge to his fans: “I’ll try not to get killed. I still have things to do.”

AMAZON READER RATING:	from 217 readers
PUBLISHER:	Tor Books (November 11, 2008)
REVIEWER:	Mike Frechette
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK?	YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE:	Orson Scott Card
EXTRAS:	Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION:	Read reviews of: Ender’s Game Speaker of the Dead Ender’s Shadow

Bibliography:

The Ender Wiggin Series

• Ender’s Game (1985) /
• Speaker for the Dead (1986) /
• Xenocide (1991)
• Children of the Mind (1996)
• First Meetings: Four Stories from the Enderverse (2003)
• A War of Gifts (2007)
• Ender in Exile (2008)

Shadow Saga

• Ender’s Shadow (1999)
• Shadow of the Hegemon (2001)
• Shadow Puppets (2002)
• Shadow of the Giant (2005)
• Shadow in Flight (January 2013)

The First Formic War

• Earth Unaware (April 2013)
• Earth Afire (June 2013)
• Earth Awakens (June 2014)

The Homecoming Saga Series

• The Memory of Earth (1992)
• The Call of Earth (1993)
• The Ships of Earth (1994)
• Earthfall (1995)
• Earthborn (1995)

The Alvin Maker Series

• Seventh Son (1987)
• Red Prophet (1988)
• Prentice Alvin (1989)
• Alvin Journeyman (1995)
• Heartfire (1998)
• The Crystal City (2003)

The Mayflower Trilogy (with Katheryn Kidd)

• Lovelock (1994)
• Rasputin

Women of Genesis Series

• Sarah (2000)
• Rebekah (2001)
• Rachel (2003)
• Rachel and Leah (2004)

Mithermages

• Stonefather (2008)
• The Lost Gate (2011)
• The Gate Thief (March 2013)

Pathfinder

• Pathfinder (2010)
• Ruins (2012)

And More:

• Songmaster (1980)
• Ainge (1982)
• Hart’s Hope (1983)
• Saints (1984)
• Wyrms (1987)
• Treason (1988)
• The Folk of the Fringe (1989)
• The Worthing Saga (1990)
• Maps in a Mirror: Short Fiction (1990)
• Lost Boys (1992)
• The Changed Man (1992)
• A Storyteller in Zion (1993) (essays)
• Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1995)
• Treasure Box (1996)
• Stone Table (1997)
• Homebody (1998)
• Future on Ice (1998)
• Enchantment (1999)
• Magic Street (2005)
• Empire (2006)
• Invasive Procedure (2007) (written with Aaron Johnston)
• Keeper of Dreams: Stories (2008)
• Hidden Empire (2009)
• Visitors (September 2014)

Collaborative works:

• Robota (2003) illustrated by Doug Chiang

E-Book Study Guide:

• Study Guide for ENDER’S GAME (2002)

Other:

• Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing) (1988)
• How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (2001)