Anomalous Thrust | Sliding Void Series by Stephen Hunt

Posted by Wolf McTavish February 21, 2016

Anomalous Thrust | Sliding Void Series by Stephen Hunt | Quicklooks

Anomalous Thrust is the 4th book in the Sliding Void series and like most of Stephen Hunt's novels I found it to be an easy and enjoyable read. There wasn't any plot points which distracted me from the narrative, which make it difficult to review. I read it, and had fun doing so.

After completing the third novella and I left the Sliding Void universe I was left with a sneaking suspicion that there was more to the ship, The Gravity Rose, than we were being shown in the story. There were also a lot of loose end concerning the ships, and her captain Lana Fiveworlds, background. A sort of larger backstory lurking in the shadows waiting to emerge.

Anomalous Thrust answers some of these suspicions and raise even more questions and in doing so we are presented with a compelling and enjoyable story, as well.

I really enjoy Sci-Fi books where the author has created a history in which to place their story. Stephen Hunt has done this nicely without getting bogged down in a three chapter long exposition of the universe's history. In this universe events that have happened in the past are still affecting present day events and consequently affecting our characters.

When exposition of the past is needed to be explained we have Calder, a new crew member who was a prince on a Medieval ice age planet (similar to life north of The Wall on Westeros). If an event happens that requires some history, he asks what's happening and we get a brief explanation without stopping the action. Which I think is a nice use of characters.

I wont give you a blow by blow retell of the story because I want you to enjoy the story for yourselves, however the basic outline is that a catastrophic system failure on The Gravity Rose causes them to look for the nearest port to effect repairs. The only one available is owned by a fascist dictator who is enslaving the local sentient population. There's no money to complete the repairs so 'favours' need to be called in. Throw in some Solar Sail racing and a Rendezvous with Rama and you have an enjoyable read.

I'm looking for to the next book in the Sliding Void series.

Interested? Use this link to grab yourself a copy from Amazon.
Anomalous Thrust
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Other books in the Sliding Void Series

Another of my favourite series from Stephen Hunt is the Jackelian World series a fantasy steampunk world that includes magic in various forms and where steam power, rather than oil, drives the economy.